Yeah, I remember in high school civics I could not understand in what sense the tripartite system of government we have constituted a “balance of powers”, when the only branch of government with any meaningful amount of guns was the executive, ruled by a singular president[1].
Until very recently it felt like a miracle anything worked at all, and my impression is that it worked so well in the past because congress had much much more day-to-day decision making power and was much more plugged into the information sources, then the “seniority system” was instantiated, congress became senile, and FDR got unprecedented control over the war-time economy, and took the opportunity to transfer many decision making roles and bodies from congress to the executive.
When congress is made up of the old and senile, and relies on the president to be their eyes, ears, hands, and brain, it just makes more and more sense to delegate broader and broader powers to the executive, who has the better qualified staff, more information, and a quicker reaction time.
The courts have never been all that powerful, except when they had the implicit backing of the president or congress. When they haven’t clearly had that, my impression is they have made sure not to command the executive to take any meaningful actions.
My teacher’s response to these questions & my confusion over their responses was kick me out of the classroom into the hallway. I gained quite a positive reputation among students and teachers after that!
then the “seniority system” was instantiated, congress became senile, and FDR got unprecedented control over the war-time economy, and took the opportunity to transfer many decision making roles and bodies from congress to the executive.
I’ve had an inkling that a lot of things that are broken about the US political system can be traced back to congress being ineffective, which can be traced back to power being held predominantly by the most senior congresspeople. But I don’t really know enough to know if this is right, or even the ways in which the “seniority system” has impacted how congress works.
But I would eagerly read a post describing how this change came about and what downstream factors it impacted.
But I would eagerly read a post describing how this change came about and what downstream factors it impacted.
I cannot recommend more strongly the first three chapters of Robert Caro’s Master of the Senate on this subject. It gives a full political history of the senate, and essentially its fall from grace, starting as the most powerful single component of the US government, hailed the world over for being the most competent and thoughtful political organization on the planet, to its ineptitude becoming the butt of jokes on TV and barely being considered during the signing of routine treaties.
Caro is extremely comprehensive and will write small mini-books on the history of every significant institution or person LBJ ever touched. That means that The Master of the Senate begins in like 1810 and gives a complete history of the Senate up until LBJ is elected into the body.
Yeah, I remember in high school civics I could not understand in what sense the tripartite system of government we have constituted a “balance of powers”, when the only branch of government with any meaningful amount of guns was the executive, ruled by a singular president [1] .
Until very recently it felt like a miracle anything worked at all, and my impression is that it worked so well in the past because congress had much much more day-to-day decision making power and was much more plugged into the information sources, then the “seniority system” was instantiated, congress became senile, and FDR got unprecedented control over the war-time economy, and took the opportunity to transfer many decision making roles and bodies from congress to the executive.
When congress is made up of the old and senile, and relies on the president to be their eyes, ears, hands, and brain, it just makes more and more sense to delegate broader and broader powers to the executive, who has the better qualified staff, more information, and a quicker reaction time.
The courts have never been all that powerful, except when they had the implicit backing of the president or congress. When they haven’t clearly had that, my impression is they have made sure not to command the executive to take any meaningful actions.
My teacher’s response to these questions & my confusion over their responses was kick me out of the classroom into the hallway. I gained quite a positive reputation among students and teachers after that!
I’ve had an inkling that a lot of things that are broken about the US political system can be traced back to congress being ineffective, which can be traced back to power being held predominantly by the most senior congresspeople. But I don’t really know enough to know if this is right, or even the ways in which the “seniority system” has impacted how congress works.
But I would eagerly read a post describing how this change came about and what downstream factors it impacted.
I cannot recommend more strongly the first three chapters of Robert Caro’s Master of the Senate on this subject. It gives a full political history of the senate, and essentially its fall from grace, starting as the most powerful single component of the US government, hailed the world over for being the most competent and thoughtful political organization on the planet, to its ineptitude becoming the butt of jokes on TV and barely being considered during the signing of routine treaties.
The Master of the Senate covers the 50s and early 60s? I thought the seniority system in congress was younger than that.
Caro is extremely comprehensive and will write small mini-books on the history of every significant institution or person LBJ ever touched. That means that The Master of the Senate begins in like 1810 and gives a complete history of the Senate up until LBJ is elected into the body.
I’m reading Caro’s Path to Power now, and he says seniority system was well established in the house by Johnson’s arrival in the depression.