Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on TrialWill some form of direct democracy supplant representative, deliberative government in the 21st century United States? This question is at the heart of Donald R. Wolfensberger's history of Congress and congressional reform, from the creation of an elected House of Representatives and forward to the surreal ending of the 105th Congress, featuring barrels of pork, resignation of the speaker and impeachment of the president. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Making a Constitution | 9 |
Madison Gets Religion | 21 |
The Long Drive | 28 |
4 Congress and the Progressive Era | 41 |
5 The Initiative and Referendum Movement | 56 |
National Referendum Proposals and the Isolationist Impulse | 71 |
The Dawning of the Sunshine Seventies | 86 |
The Road to the Republican Revolution | 147 |
Revolution Reform and Reality | 175 |
The Complete Revolution? | 192 |
Term Limits and the Scarlet Letter | 211 |
14 The Electronic Congress | 229 |
The Curtain Falls Twice on the House | 249 |
16 The Future of Deliberative Democracy | 267 |
Voter Turnout in States with and without | 287 |
Televising Floor Debates | 103 |
The Revival of Direct Democracy Proposals | 129 |
Bibliography | 293 |
Copyright | |