The Broken Branch

The Broken Branch
Author: Thomas E. Mann
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195368711

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Two nationally renowned congressional scholars review the evolution of Congress from the early days of the republic to 2006, arguing that extreme partisanship and a disregard for institutional procedures are responsible for the institution's current state of dysfunction.

Is Congress Broken?

Is Congress Broken?
Author: Gary J. Schmitt
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2017-03-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0815730373

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" Making Congress Work, Again, Within the Constitutional System Congress for many years has ranked low in public esteem—joining journalists, bankers, and union leaders at the bottom of polls. And in recent years there's been good reason for the public disregard, with the rise of hyper-partisanship and the increasing inability of Congress to carry out its required duties, such as passing spending bills on time and conducting responsible oversight of the executive branch. Congress seems so dysfunctional that many observers have all but thrown up their hands in despair, suggesting that an apparently broken U.S. political system might need to be replaced. Now, some of the country's foremost experts on Congress are reminding us that tough hyper-partisan conflict always has been a hallmark of the constitutional system. Going back to the nation's early decades, Congress has experienced periods of division and turmoil. But even in those periods Congress has been able to engage in serious deliberation, prevent ill-considered proposals from becoming law—and, over time, help develop a deeper, more lasting national consensus. The ten chapters in this volume focus on how Congress in the twenty-first century can once again fulfill its proper functions of representation, deliberation, legislation, and oversight. The authors offer a series of practical reforms that would maintain, rather than replace, the constitutional separation of powers that has served the nation well for more than 200 years. "

It's Even Worse Than It Looks

It's Even Worse Than It Looks
Author: Thomas E. Mann
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2016-04-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0465096735

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Acrimony and hyperpartisanship have seeped into every part of the political process. Congress is deadlocked and its approval ratings are at record lows. America's two main political parties have given up their traditions of compromise, endangering our very system of constitutional democracy. And one of these parties has taken on the role of insurgent outlier; the Republicans have become ideologically extreme, scornful of compromise, and ardently opposed to the established social and economic policy regime.In It's Even Worse Than It Looks, congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein identify two overriding problems that have led Congress -- and the United States -- to the brink of institutional collapse. The first is the serious mismatch between our political parties, which have become as vehemently adversarial as parliamentary parties, and a governing system that, unlike a parliamentary democracy, makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act. Second, while both parties participate in tribal warfare, both sides are not equally culpable. The political system faces what the authors call &"asymmetric polarization," with the Republican Party implacably refusing to allow anything that might help the Democrats politically, no matter the cost.With dysfunction rooted in long-term political trends, a coarsened political culture and a new partisan media, the authors conclude that there is no &"silver bullet"; reform that can solve everything. But they offer a panoply of useful ideas and reforms, endorsing some solutions, like greater public participation and institutional restructuring of the House and Senate, while debunking others, like independent or third-party candidates. Above all, they call on the media as well as the public at large to focus on the true causes of dysfunction rather than just throwing the bums out every election cycle. Until voters learn to act strategically to reward problem solving and punish obstruction, American democracy will remain in serious danger.

Broken Branch (Novella)

Broken Branch (Novella)
Author: John Mantooth
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2013-05-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101620447

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Broken Branch, Alabama, serves as a refuge for the God-fearing, a shelter from the evils of the outside world. But who will protect them from the evil within? Trudy first met Otto and James after World War I, two traveling ministers, preaching the good word to anyone who’d take the time to listen. Together, they founded Broken Branch, a hideaway in Alabama where the faithful would be able to isolate themselves from the impurity of the rest of the world and live blessed lives in the eyes of God. But then the storms came, tearing apart their small compound, God’s punishment for hidden wickedness in their hearts. And when an old man wanders into Broken Branch, ranting about a secret hideaway and uncovers an old storm cellar that’s been hidden for years, Trudy begins to wonder what other secrets lie under the surface of their safe haven… Includes a preview of The Year of the Storm Praise for Broken Branch "The community of Broken Branch in John Mantooth's fine novella enacts the familiar American quest to found a religiously-pure settlement whose members might escape the evils and ills of the larger world—in this case, Depression-era America. A descendant of Hawthorne's Blithedale Farm, not to mention Puritan Plymouth, its inhabitants come the same discovery as their forebearers, namely, that they themselves contain more than sufficient darkness to undo their enterprise. Through a tight focus on the woman whose largesse has made Broken Branch possible, Mantooth portrays the movement from willful ignorance to painful wisdom. In these pages, tornadoes churn, stars fall burning from the sky, and a strange storm shelter offers a glimpse of another world full of awful beauty. Broken Branch offers compelling evidence of John Mantooth's ambitions and abilities as a writer."—John Langan, author of The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies "John Mantooth's Broken Branch is filled with claustrophobic, creeping dread. It's a story of lies and belief, fear and deception, and it will stay with you long after you've finished the last page."—Damien Walters Grintalis, author of Ink

The Broken Branch

The Broken Branch
Author: Keith Cambell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 180
Release: 19??
Genre:
ISBN:

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The Broken Branch

The Broken Branch
Author: Gunnar Alutalu
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2016-06-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1365214885

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A branch on a wire fell down, --- The wire that powers the town. That branch from a tree Indeed did break free And started this story renown. This story, I feel, I must tell While still I remember it well. It was all in the papers, The tricks and the capers. In turbulent times did folks dwell...

The Broken Olive Branch: Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and the Quest for Peace in Cyprus

The Broken Olive Branch: Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and the Quest for Peace in Cyprus
Author: Harry Anastasiou
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2009-01-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780815631972

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In the second volume, Anastasiou focuses on emergent post-nationalist trends, their implications for peace, and recent attempts to reach mutually acceptable agreements between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. He documents the transformation of Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey within the context of Europeanization and globalization. While leaders of both communities have failed to resolve the conflict, Anastasiou argues that the accession of Cyprus into the European Union has created a structure and process that promises a multiethnic, democratic Cyprus. With great depth and balance, The Broken Olive Branch presents a fresh analysis of the Cyprus conflict and new insights on the influence of nationalism.

The Broken Branch

The Broken Branch
Author: Yan G. Venter
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
Total Pages: 72
Release: 2014-07-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781500459680

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This book deals with one of the main problems in our society today, namely the "Orphaned Spirit". It's in our homes, our schools, in the streets and in our churches.

Congress Overwhelmed

Congress Overwhelmed
Author: Timothy M. LaPira
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2020-12-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 022670257X

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Congress today is falling short. Fewer bills, worse oversight, and more dysfunction. But why? In a new volume of essays, the contributors investigate an underappreciated reason Congress is struggling: it doesn’t have the internal capacity to do what our constitutional system requires of it. Leading scholars chronicle the institutional decline of Congress and the decades-long neglect of its own internal investments in the knowledge and expertise necessary to perform as a first-rate legislature. Today’s legislators and congressional committees have fewer—and less expert and experienced—staff than the executive branch or K Street. This leaves them at the mercy of lobbyists and the administrative bureaucracy. The essays in Congress Overwhelmed assess Congress’s declining capacity and explore ways to upgrade it. Some provide broad historical scope. Others evaluate the current decay and investigate how Congress manages despite the obstacles. Collectively, they undertake the most comprehensive, sophisticated appraisal of congressional capacity to date, and they offer a new analytical frame for thinking about—and improving—our underperforming first branch of government.

The Broken Branch

The Broken Branch
Author: Keith Campbell (Writer)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 180
Release: 1944*
Genre:
ISBN:

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