OLLI Course: Congressional Deadlock: It’s Worse Than You Think

Congressional Deadlock: It’s worse than you think

Lead by: Bob Holt, Teacher for 45 years, BA from Hamlin University, MPA & Ph.D. from Princeton.

Wednesdays, January 24th  – February 28th , 1:00 – 2:30 pm

Very few major pieces of legislation have been passed in the past 6 years. Party line votes became the norm. This is a dramatic change from the period 1945 to 1990 when about 300 major bills were passed – 75% with a majority of both parties in both houses. Before addressing the reasons for this dramatic change, we will look at 3 cases in western democracies in the 20th century when there were systemic deadlocks: the U.K. 1910-1912, Weimar Germany 1928-1933, and France 1956-1958. The deadlocks in all three cases were only overcome by major constitutional changes in all three countries which greatly increased the power of the executive. Is this the fate of the US or can we find a better solution?

**If you are a community member who wishes to attend this course, please see the OLLI Website for registration.  https://olli.umn.edu/.

Seating is limited and registration is required.

If you are a Resident at the Kenwood, please see Brandy in Activities to register. Thank you