Congressional government : $b a study in American politicsWilson, Woodrow
History
Congressional government : $b a study in American politics
Wilson, Woodrow
Executive power -- United States; United States -- Politics and government; United States. Congress
If a new Senator knock
about too loosely amidst the free spaces of the rules of that august
body, he will assuredly have some of his biggest corners knocked off and
his angularities thus made smoother; if he stick fast amongst the
dignified courtesies and punctilious observances of the upper chamber,
he will, if he stick long enough, finally wear down to such a size, by
jostling, as to attain some motion more or less satisfactory. But it
must be said, on the other hand, that even if the Senate were made up of
something better than selections from the House, it would probably be
able to do little more than it does in the way of giving efficiency to
our system of legislation. For it has those same radical defects of
organization which weaken the House. Its functions also, like those of
the House, are segregated in the prerogatives of numerous Standing
Committees.[38] In this regard Congress is all of a piece. There is in
the Senate no more opportunity than exists in the House for gaining such
recognized party leadership as would be likely to enlarge a man by
giving him a sense of power, and to steady and sober him by filling him
with a grave sense of responsibility. So far as its organization
controls it, the Senate, notwithstanding the one or two special
excellences which make it more temperate and often more rational than
the House, has no virtue which marks it as of a different nature. Its
proceedings bear most of the characteristic features of committee
rule.[39] Its conclusions are suggested now by one set oL its members,
now by another set, and again by a third; an arrangement which is of
course quite effective in its case, as in that of the House, in
depriving it of that leadership which is valuable in more ways than in
imparting distinct purpose to legislative action, because it
concentrates party responsibility, attracts the best talents, and fixes
public interest.
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