Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

10-1-2014

Publisher

Brookings Mountain West

Abstract

Too often, earmarks, pork barrel politics, and other types of federal spending are seen as a problem in American politics. Nothing could be further from the truth. Congress’ abandonment of earmarks, the deconstruction of the appropriations process, and the breakdown in regular order in the House and Senate has coincided with a period of intense gridlock. For decades, pork greased the wheels of the legislative process, ensuring legislators could fund local needs in exchange for support on key legislation. Returning to the politics of pork offers a possible pathway to fixing a broken legislative process and meeting mounting public needs at the state and local levels. In an era where Congress has record low approval ratings—due in large part to its inability to address the nation’s problems—we should seek solutions (however unorthodox) to rehabilitating our institutions of government. Embracing earmarks is a controversial recommendation and one of the most commonsense solutions to a major source of legislative dysfunction.

Keywords

Earmarks; Legislation; Legislators; Political science; United States. Congress

Disciplines

American Politics | Political Science

File Format

pdf

File Size

285 KB

Additional Streaming Media

Language

English

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