Re: 0) and 3), Matt Yglesias occasionally mentions Secret Congress as one way of how things still get done in the legislature: namely, if there’s no public scrutiny on a topic, then it doesn’t necessarily get embroiled in partisan conflicts, and then politicians are actually willing to cooperate, strike deals, and pass legislation. Whereas any public attempts at legislating quickly become or look like zero-sum conflicts (if one side wins, the other side loses), so there’s little incentive for politicians to cooperate or make compromises, and then due to a plethora of veto points (like the filibuster), the default outcome is that no legislation gets passed.
Re: 0) and 3), Matt Yglesias occasionally mentions Secret Congress as one way of how things still get done in the legislature: namely, if there’s no public scrutiny on a topic, then it doesn’t necessarily get embroiled in partisan conflicts, and then politicians are actually willing to cooperate, strike deals, and pass legislation. Whereas any public attempts at legislating quickly become or look like zero-sum conflicts (if one side wins, the other side loses), so there’s little incentive for politicians to cooperate or make compromises, and then due to a plethora of veto points (like the filibuster), the default outcome is that no legislation gets passed.