11.1: Introduction

Beneath the dome of the U.S. Capitol, a marble statue of George Washington guards the corridor to the House of Representatives.

Congress Beneath the dome of the U.S. Capitol, a marble statue of George Washington guards the corridor to the House of Representatives. is broken—at least that’s what everyone seems think. The legislative branch of the American government has long been its least popular, even as its members continue to be reelected at high rates (as illustrated in Figure 11.1 below). Citizens decry it as filled with out-of-touch politicians who bicker endlessly instead of working together to pass the commonsense laws we need. Presidents and presidential candidates accuse it of playing politics and obstructing progress, sometimes threatening to use executive orders to go around it. Even its members join in on the dogpile, claiming that Washington is dysfunctional and that only they (and certainly not their electoral opponents) can fix it.

Figure 11.1: Congressional approval and reelection rates, 1974–2024 (Sources: Gallup, Open Secrets)

It is easy to wonder why anyone ever thought Congress could function efficiently. Thomas Jefferson himself expressed skepticism, admitting, “That one hundred and fifty lawyers should do business together ought not to be expected.” Yet the Founders clearly expected Congress to “naturally predominate” (in the words of Federalist No. 51). Moreover, they intended for it to do so, regarding it as a safer repository of power than either the presidency or the judiciary.

Many current traits and features of Congress were not anticipated by the Founders who originally formulated it. They would probably regard some of those traits and features as negative developments. Yet much of what Americans dislike about Congress is also what the Founders expected and hoped would happen. Squaring its original purpose with its modern reputation requires an awareness of both how Congress was designed in 1787 and how it operates more than two centuries later.