Congress as Problem Solver: Building Consensus and Remaining Policy Productive Despite Polarization

Abstract We examine the contributions Congress makes to problem solving in contemporary American government. We offer a more positive assessment of the institution than is the norm for political science. In terms of representation, institutional processes, and policy outcomes, the polarized Congress has underappreciated virtues. Congress’s membership and party composition do a credible job reflecting the political diversity that exists in the country, and its institutional processes show respect for that diversity. Congress’s policy outcomes typically command broad support across party lines. Amid the intense polarization of contemporary American politics, the contemporary Congress enacts as much or more legislation by sheer volume than it did in the 1980s and the 1990s, and it normally does so in ways that large majorities and both parties support.