5 charts that prove Congress really is getting worse
Protesters demonstrate outside the Capitol
Tish Wells/MCT via Getty Images
It's conventional wisdom now Congress has become pretty dysfunctional.
But people have always complained about Congress. "If con is the
opposite of pro," goes the old joke, "is Congress the opposite of
progress?"
But the evidence is stacking up: Congress really is getting worse.
And, at the same time, it's getting more expensive. These charts tell
the tale.
A new paper
by Sarah Binder of the Brookings Institution finds that gridlock has
been on a consistent upward trend for the past 50 years, and is still
increasing.
The number of bills Congress passes can be a misleading indicator of
how much Congress gets done, as a whole lot of law can end up in a
single, multi-thousand page package. So Binder developed a clever test:
she checked whether an issue was mentioned in the New York Times
editorial page, and then whether Congress passed any legislation on that
issue that year. This was meant to go beyond regular statistics about
how many bills become law and get information about whether Congress
acts on issues of importance. She found that, increasingly, they don't — and the
2011-2012 Congress was "the most gridlocked in the postwar era." The
numbers aren't yet in on the 2013-2014 Congress, but there's little
reason to believe they've improved.
This chart, from Gallup,
is self-explanatory. Congress's approval rarely managed to climb above
20 percent in the past 4 years. Its recent approval ratings are the
lowest on record. Practically anything polled manages to get a higher approval than Congress. That includes traffic jams, lice, and Nickelback.
According to political scientists Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal,
party polarization in Congress is at a modern-day high. This
polarization makes it more difficult for members from different parties
to collaborate on important issues. Read our card on the issue, or head over to the VoteView site for more. The bottom line, though, is if you think the two parties in Congress seem further apart than ever — you're right.
Spending on Congressional elections — which includes money spent by
the candidates themselves, PACs, and outside groups, as totaled by the Center for Responsive Politics — reached an unprecedented $3.6 billion in 2010, and a similar number in 2012. And already, it's starting to look like the 2014 midterms will set a new record.
So this Congress is among the most gridlocked, least popular, most
polarized and least productive ever. Oh, and it's also the most
expensive on record. Apart from that, though, things are going great.
But people have always complained about Congress. "If con is the
opposite of pro," goes the old joke, "is Congress the opposite of
progress?"
But the evidence is stacking up: Congress really is getting worse.
And, at the same time, it's getting more expensive. These charts tell
the tale.
1) According to a new paper, gridlock is rising
by Sarah Binder of the Brookings Institution finds that gridlock has
been on a consistent upward trend for the past 50 years, and is still
increasing.
The number of bills Congress passes can be a misleading indicator of
how much Congress gets done, as a whole lot of law can end up in a
single, multi-thousand page package. So Binder developed a clever test:
she checked whether an issue was mentioned in the New York Times
editorial page, and then whether Congress passed any legislation on that
issue that year. This was meant to go beyond regular statistics about
how many bills become law and get information about whether Congress
acts on issues of importance. She found that, increasingly, they don't — and the
2011-2012 Congress was "the most gridlocked in the postwar era." The
numbers aren't yet in on the 2013-2014 Congress, but there's little
reason to believe they've improved.
2) Congress is horribly unpopular
is self-explanatory. Congress's approval rarely managed to climb above
20 percent in the past 4 years. Its recent approval ratings are the
lowest on record. Practically anything polled manages to get a higher approval than Congress. That includes traffic jams, lice, and Nickelback.
3) Congress is more polarized than it's been in over 100 years
party polarization in Congress is at a modern-day high. This
polarization makes it more difficult for members from different parties
to collaborate on important issues. Read our card on the issue, or head over to the VoteView site for more. The bottom line, though, is if you think the two parties in Congress seem further apart than ever — you're right.
4) This Congress is the least productive in the postwar era
Out of over 7,000 bills and joint resolutions introduced during
this Congress, only 107 have become law so far — fewer, by this point,
than in any other Congress since at least the 1970s. And last year's
Congress already had the lowest number of new laws in modern times. Political scientist Jonathan Bernstein has some smart thoughts on this data here.
this Congress, only 107 have become law so far — fewer, by this point,
than in any other Congress since at least the 1970s. And last year's
Congress already had the lowest number of new laws in modern times. Political scientist Jonathan Bernstein has some smart thoughts on this data here.
5) Yet Congressional elections are more expensive than ever
the candidates themselves, PACs, and outside groups, as totaled by the Center for Responsive Politics — reached an unprecedented $3.6 billion in 2010, and a similar number in 2012. And already, it's starting to look like the 2014 midterms will set a new record.
So this Congress is among the most gridlocked, least popular, most
polarized and least productive ever. Oh, and it's also the most
expensive on record. Apart from that, though, things are going great.
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