Tag Archives: Elizabeth Theiss-Morse

Congress Needs Servant Leadership

BY GARY ANDRES

Reprinted from the Weekly Standard

Congress has a black eye, and it’s starting to swell. As an institution, its approval ratings bounce near all time lows, creating a crisis in confidence among voters.  Can Americans count on an institution so anemic in trust to heal the difficult and major problems confronting the nation?

Many believe the legislative branch is insular, arrogant, and dominated by special interests — and not without cause.

The current Democratic majority’s polarizing behavior has only reinforced these views by passing partisan and controversial legislation — like the health care bill — opposed by a majority of Americans, according to the most recent average of polls aggregated at Real Clear Politics.

The House and Senate will never win popularity contests.  Congress underperforms other institutions when it comes to stirring good feelings.  Analyzing polling data from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, political scientists John R. Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse in their book Congress as Public Enemy: Public Attitudes Toward American Political Institutions show the legislature nearly always lags the presidency and the Supreme Court when it comes to public confidence.

This pattern continues today. President Obama’s approval now hovers around the 48 percent mark, but Congress’s is only half that (23 percent), according to Real Clear Politics.

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Exposing an American Myth

BY GARY ANDRES

From the Weekly Standard

Voters elected Barack Obama in November 2008 – at least in part – based on an American myth. Seventeen months later, the same allegory is creating a host of consequences for individual politicians, as well as the way citizens view political institutions like Congress.

The myth concerns the level of political consensus in America. It’s a lot lower than most people think.  Polls may show high levels of agreement on generic aspirations like peace, prosperity, or even a better education system.  But when it comes to specific steps to achieve these goals, things begin to unravel.

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