“Is Congress Broken? Constitutional Deliberation and the Administrative State”

From Hillsdale College:

First Principles on First Fridays

“Is Congress Broken? Constitutional Deliberation and the Administrative State”

John Marini

May 1, 2010

With public approval ratings of Congress at an all-time low, many people wonder if the institution is broken. Focus on the Senate filibuster or other procedural matters, however, obscures the legislative branch's systemic problems, which are tied less to procedure or party than to profligate disregard for constitutional restraint that is the heart of the administrative state. With attention to the real reasons why Congress is broken, then, this lecture will also outline what first steps can be made to restore constitutional deliberation.

John Marini a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno, is a graduate of San Jose State University and earned his Ph.D. in government at the Claremont Graduate School. He has also taught at Agnes Scott College, Ohio University and the University of Dallas. He is on the board of directors of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy and a member of the Nevada Advisory Committee of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Dr. Marini is the author or co-author of several books, including The Progressive Revolution in Politics and Political Science; The Politics of Budget Control: Congress, the Presidency, and the Growth of the Administrative State; andThe Founders on Citizenship and Immigration.