Politics with Paul #40: Are Congress and State Legislatures Productive...or "Do-Nothing"?

We often lament our Congress as a “do-nothing” body, but are they truly unproductive? What about state legislatures? “Productivity” in legislatures is often thought of as simply how many bills they get passed or whether they address certain issues. However, “productivity” is not a clearly defined term, and there are some complications that arise when trying to define it. Today’s episode of Politics with Paul delves into both data and philosophical considerations of the productivity of Congress and state legislatures. How often do congressional and state legislative bills get passed? Why do so many bills die so early in the legislative process? Is the failure of so much legislation a good or bad thing? How should we define “productivity”?

Speakers

AI Chat

Paul Rader

Host • 100%

Chapters

0:00	Introduction to Legislative Productivity
2:27	4 of the Key Differences Between Legislative Processes
13:07	Statistics on the Success of Congressional Bills
21:19	Statistics on the Success of State Legislative Bills
30:38	4 of the Major Reasons Why Bills Often Die So Early
42:35	Is it a Bad Thing That So Many Bills Die Early?
47:13	How Should We Define “Productivity” in Legislatures?
54:47	Final Thoughts and Closing

Transcript

Clip

Loading transcript...