Both parties know that prison populations are one of the easiest ways to make partisan gains during redistricting time.
Sarah Binder
Sarah Binder is a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and professor of political science at George Washington University.
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When it rains, it pours: More on the Senate
The Forum’s December issue, Governing through the Senate, is now available on-line. It offers eleven short, accessible pieces on the state of the Senate. An overview of the issue appears below: The Senate is often the institutional pivot for political conflict in the United States, so this issue of The Forum focuses on ‘governing through […]
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Is the president playing fair during recess? The Cordray appointment
President Obama today will give a recess appointment to Richard Cordray to serve as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established under Dodd-Frank. With Senate Republicans vowing to oppose any nominee absent structural reform of the CFPB, a Republican filibuster last month blocked the Senate from securing cloture on Cordray’s nomination. Because recess […]
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In Memoriam: The Conference Committee
Partisan polarization is to blame for the near extinction of the conference committee.