Law and Liberty
Joseph Postell
Aug. 20, 2018
Back in 2000, David Frum wrote a fascinating and oft-overlooked book, How We Got Here: The 70s, the Decade that Brought You Modern Life for Better or Worse, which traced the roots of contemporary politics and culture to the 1970s, rather than the 1960s as is typically argued. Scholars of Congress also frequently get their historiography wrong, arguing that Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and the Republican “revolution†of 1994 put Congress on its current path of decline.
Better accounts, such as John A. Lawrence’s new book The Class of ’74: Congress after Watergate and the Roots of Partisanship, understand that Congress started down that path long before the Gingrich-led GOP takeover of the House of Representatives after 40 years of Democratic control. The origins of today’s dysfunctional legislature really go back to the transformative reforms of the 1970s, which were instituted by liberals intent on democratizing Congress.
Other scholarship extensively supports Lawrence’s claims—so much so that the Congress after 1975 is typically called the “post-reform Congress.†The Class of ’74 is an interesting, readable exposition about the reformers, their struggle to transform the legislative branch, and the consequences of their choices. Reading The Class of ’74 reveals as much about Congress today as it does about Congress 44 years ago. Lawrence, a visiting professor at the University of California who spent several years serving as chief of staff to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), tells a story that is not only interesting in its own right but helps explain, in Frum’s words, how we got here.
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https://www.lawliberty.org/2018/08/20/congressional-decline-deja-vu-all-over-again/
