Finding the Common Good in an Era of Dysfunctional Governance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9685738 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thomas E Mann (Brookings Institution, corresponding author), Norman J Ornstein (American Enterprise Institute) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 142 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 15-24 |
| Publication date | 2013-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Daedalus (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0011-5266 • E-ISSN: 1548-6192 |
| Publisher | MIT Press - Journals (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1162/daed_a_00200 |
| OpenAlex | W2121349484 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
The framers designed a constitutional system in which the government would play a vigorous role in securing the liberty and well-being of a large and diverse population. They built a political system around a number of key elements, including debate and deliberation, divided powers competing with one another, regular order in the legislative process, and avenues to limit and punish corruption. America in recent years has struggled to adhere to each of these principles, leading to a crisis of governability and legitimacy. The roots of this problem are twofold. The first is a serious mismatch between our political parties, which have become as polarized and vehemently adversarial as parliamentary parties, and a separation-of-powers governing system that makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act. The second is the asymmetric character of the polarization. The Republican Party has become a radical insurgency – ideologically extreme, scornful of facts and compromise, and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. Securing the common good in the face of these developments will require structural changes but also an informed and strategically focused citizenry
Adversarial system · Compromise · Deliberation · Democracy · Ideology · Law and economics · Legislature · Legitimacy · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Political system · Politics · Population · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2021 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |