Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, “The Broken Branch” Response
The anecdote at the beginning of Mann and Ornstein’s text highlights the opening of a long series of examples of how partisan politics have shaped the political process in Congress into something contrary to the ideal envisioned by the Framers of the Constitution. This breach in the Framer’s ideological vision is exemplified in the text by issues such as the partisan behavior of the Speaker of the House. The Framers envisioned a Speaker who would be above influence of partisan politics. However, the role of the speaker in recent years has transformed into another position whose primary concern is advancement of the majority party’s agenda. This is demonstrated in the anecdote used …show more content…
This partisanship started to become more pronounced after the House Democratic majority of the 1930s through the 1970s, once populated by both Southern conservatives and Northern liberals, lost almost all its Southern conservative members, leaving a more polarized left-of-center party. Because of this realignment, the Republican Party, , became even more distinctly conservative. This ideological sorting extended to voters, activists, and elected officials, creating many seats in the House that were predetermined to be safe for one party or the other. Therefore, the only opposition from these seats came from ideological extremists in their parties moving Democrats further left and Republicans further right. The resulting sharp partisan differences created an atmosphere where legislative ends could justify any procedural means.
Examples of this extremist partisanship can be observed in both chambers of Congress, such as the arm-twisting seen in the House to pass the Medicare bill, as well as the Senate employing methods such as exploiting the budget reconciliation process to avoid filibusters – thereby setting the odds of the bill passing in the majority party’s