Walter Bagehot Research Council on National Sovereignty

Joseph Prud’homme, jprudhomme2@washcoll.edu (Washington College)

The Walter Bagehot Research Council invites papers for a panel to be held at the 2010 annual meeting of the APSA. The panel will explore the impediments to deliberation in lawmaking at the federal level in the United States. Has “government by discussion” become imperiled at the federal level? What role does the separation of powers play in encouraging or discouraging lawmaking by dialogue and a respectful exchange of views? In what ways has the development of American political parties threatened the extent to which lawmaking arises from deliberative practices? Papers addressing these issues from historical, theoretical, and contemporary public policy perspectives are welcome.