Group 2’s Chapter 5 Overview

Eric Ervine, Kenzie Thorpe, Michael Banerjee, & Zack Springer

Legislative Deliberation

Eric Ervine

Civility in Congress

• Congress is designed to curb passions of factions

• Congressional practices have been growing less civil, especially since the 1970’s.

• Increasing partisanship has led to less deliberation oriented conversation.

• The incivility of Congress has led to a hindrance of policy.

Speeches of Substance

• Congressional floor speeches are “karaoke” speeches

• Congressional speeches are not conducive to deliberation, but to stubborn commonplaces.

• Floor etiquette allows debate, but not deliberation.

Secret Life of Committees

• The most deliberative part of Congress is found in small, private Committees.

• Practice in Committees is to have open dialogue.

• 3 goals of legislator: Virtue, Power, and Security

Lobbying and the Public Voice

• Lobbying often presents narrow views on an issue and can slow or stop deliberation.

• Lobbying depends on wealth and influence• Lobbying is generally exclusive to wealthy

citizens.• Public voice leads to changes in deliberation• Deliberation is often absent from certain

factions and groups

Lobbying

Kenzie Thorpe

Lobbying and the Public’s Voice

• Lobbyist: one who works on behalf of a company or interest group to educate and persuade members of Congress with the goal of passing legislation favorable to their company or group– Lobbying beneifts government deliberation

indirectly; their research and arguments can contribute to discussion.

– Lobbying itself is nondeliberative discourse; generally narrow or partisan viewpoints/research/ arguments

Lobbying and the Public’s Voice (Continued)

– Wealthy lobbying groups can influence policy and government candidates by witholding or granting the votes of their members or monetary support in exchange for beneficial policies.

– Ex: AARP, which lobbys in favor of Social Security and relevant policies, will use its considerable membership in the general public and funding to support candidates who act in favor of the AARP's ideals.

– Lobbyists generaly don't deliberate much. Oftentimes, the public meetings and televised debates sponsored by certain interest groups are theatrics that support existing policy. The groups don't seem to deliberate amongst themselves, either.

Deliberation in the Executive Branch

• The chapter discusses to main points:– The Executive branch contributes to deliberation

through research– The Executive branch can be prone to

"groupthink"

Deliberation in the Executive Branch (Continued)

• Research:– Information is critical to deliberation. The executive

branch appoints tons of committies, agencies, offices, etc. dedicated to research.

– The research is generally objective and neutral, which makes it more valuable than the frequently one-sided research provided by lobbyists. However, certain administrations may be prone to skewing or ommitting certain research in order to support or undermine certain ideas. (The book specifically mentions the Bush administration as being guilty of "cooking the books"

Deliberation in the Executive Branch (Continued 1)

• Groupthink:– Even if the members of an executive cabinet or

advisory council are intelligent professionals, they can devolve into "groupthinking".

Deliberation in the Executive Branch (Continued 2)

• Groupthink:– Symptoms of groupthink:• illusion of invulnerability• unquestioned belief in group morality• rationalization of warnings• stereotyped view of the opposition• self-censorship of doubts• pressing dissenters into accepting group consensus

Deliberation in the Executive Branch (Continued 3)

• Groupthink:– Groupthink leads to flawed policies due to lack of

representation from opposing views, which leaves weak-points in policy undetected by the group. Some examples of policy made flawed by groupthink: the Bay of Pigs (failed invasion of Cuba) and the failure to anticipate the Pearl Harbor attacks.

Deliberation in the Executive Branch (Continued 4)

• Groupthink:– Conditions ideal for groupthink:• high group cohesion, or a group whose members

generally align with the same ideas• structural faults (like a partisan or biased leader)• provocative or high-stress content that demands fast

development of policy

Deliberation in the Executive Branch (Continued 5)

• Groupthink:– Ways to avoid groupthink:• inviting outside experts to contribute opposing

research• deliberately generating competing proposals to test

policy for weaknesses• meeting without the committee leader so that the

members feel they can speak more freely

Judicial Deliberation

Michael Banerjee

Deliberation & the Supreme Court

• “The branch of government that serves as the exemplar of public reason” – John Rawls

• Judicial deliberation is private– Closed-door meetings and secret cert conferences– Due to this privacy, it is difficult to gauge the level

of discussion typical at the court

Deliberation & the Supreme Court

• The Supreme Court of 1975– Underperformance characterized by a “depressing

absence of intellectual content or meaningful discussion”

– Deliberation?• The Supreme Court and its members are like

everyone else

Conclusion

Zack Springer