A NEW Look at American Institutions |
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In order to combat the severe economic and health threats posed by the Coronavirus, Congress took unprecedented bipartisan action to keep the country afloat. Months ago, the thought of passing a $2 trillion, bipartisan economic relief package would have been unthinkable, let alone passing it in less than a week. But right after Congress took action — providing hope that it might put partisanship aside to govern in this time of crisis — it adjourned for an undetermined amount of time without a plan to continue working, leaving programs like the Paycheck Protection Program unfunded while punting on taking further action for weeks. Why is Congress broken, and what happened to make Congress so unpopular and unproductive as an institution? Are other institutions across our country seeing similar developments? How will increasing distrust in institutions impact our country and ability to respond to further crises?
To explore these questions, this week on the NEW Look podcast Rep. Gallagher is joined by Yuval Levin, who among many other titles is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Yuval has established himself as one of the leading academics in Washington, and an expert in American institutions and their impact on our families, communities, and country. In addition to discussing why Congress and other institutions are losing the trust of the people, Mike and Yuval also break down conservative thought, the importance of mentorship, and the value of physical books over kindles. Watch the full interview by clicking HERE or the image above, or read some highlights from the conversation below.
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Yuval Levin: "On the one hand, you can look at this crisis and say, 'Here's Congress rising to the occasion of a national emergency. Who says they can't get things done on a bipartisan basis?'...On the other hand, this is the only way that Congress works: in an emergency, under pressure, where members don't really get to legislate. Although it's true that Congress has moved three significant pieces of bipartisan legislation, it's also true that it's not functioned as a legislature in the course of that period...after the enormous third bill passed, Congress just left town right away with no clear intention of coming back, and without having made arrangements to be able to work -- whether that's remote voting or even just oversight hearings...And I think what we're seeing on display is not Congress rising to the occasion exactly so much as making the most of its own weakness and doing what it can."
Rep. Gallagher: "What's interesting is how this relates to enabling the Executive...Has it always been thus, where, you know, legislation is imperfect and we'll find out what's in the bill after we pass it and fix it via executive fiat?"
Yuval Levin: "No, certainly it hasn't always been. So I think this is a 21st century problem in most respects....You always hear the story that at the beginning of the Civil War -- for more than four months -- Lincoln had to run everything on his own because Congress was out of session and the trains weren't running so there was no way to get in. And so there was no Congress. What's happening here now, it's as if on purpose, Congress is creating that situation. It could be more engaged. It could be more involved, but it's chosen to get out of town and leave it to the President to make every decision. And I just think there needs to be more of a shared responsibility given the nature of our system."
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Rep. Gallagher: "...I think most people would agree that Congress is dysfunctional, you obviously see this reflected in polling. Congress has an abysmal approval rating as an institution. Maybe take that as a way to kind of tell us a little bit about the work you've done on institutions, the crisis of trust in institutions we have in this country, and your latest book about how we can rebuild that trust in institutions."
Yuval Levin: "Congress is one example of the way in which Americans have been losing confidence in their institutions -- political institutions, but also professional, academic, civic and all kinds of institutions from top to bottom...A lot of what we've seen over the last few decades in the way that people relate to institutions that they're a part of is a move from what I would call thinking of the institution as a mold, as forming you, to thinking of it as a platform, as displaying you and giving you a stage to stand on and be seen. And in more and more of our institutions, we find people who basically think of those institutions as platforms for themselves to build their own brand. Think about what happens in journalism. Journalism is a very powerful institution precisely because it can make a claim on the public's trust...But we now find a lot of journalists stepping out of that institutional framework, putting themselves on a platform on their own on social media or cable television and building their own brand...And you find that all over American institutional life now in ways that very powerfully contribute to the public's loss of trust."
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On Trusted Sources of Information |
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Yuval Levin: "So I basically have no engagement with Twitter at all. I'm not on Twitter myself. You know, if someone sends me a link for something I ought to see, then I see it but generally speaking, I don't spend any time on Twitter and very little time on other social media. And you know, that's not all good -- that means you miss some things. But I think eventually it all catches up with you. I do try to read a lot of journals. I try to read, you know, the opinion world that I'm part of, because you can't really be part of it if you're not keeping up with it. But I also do try to stay engaged with books. I think there's just something important about really sitting down with a book, whether that's a new book or a classic, and spending time immersing yourself in it."
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Advice for Students in Northeast Wisconsin |
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Yuval Levin: "I think that the most important thing to say is that experience really matters. Policy work is -- generally speaking not really book -- work you have to have some expertise in...But I think that working in and around government, whether that's in Congress or in the Executive Branch, is really absolutely irreplaceable as a way to enable yourself to function in this sphere. A lot of what policy making is about requires knowing what's doable and how things get done in the institutions of government. So for me, having having worked as a congressional staffer, having worked at the White House, and in an executive agency matters a lot more than the formal education I might have had, and a lot more really than anything else could. And I would say you have to be a specialist in something before people will let you be a generalist. Everybody wants to be a generalist, and it can be fun. But before you can be taken seriously, you've got to show that you actually understand what you're talking about. I would say when I talk to younger people who want to get involved in this world, the biggest sort of advice that has to be corrected is the tendency to just want to jump in and be a writer and and do opinion writing on everything and anything. I would say first and foremost be a practitioner and get to know a subject that matters especially to you."
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De Pere
1702 Scheuring Rd., Ste. B
De Pere, WI 54115
www.gallagher.house.gov
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Washington, DC
1230 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
www.gallagher.house.gov
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