Thomas E. Mann
Thomas E. Mann
Thomas E. Mannis the W. Averell Harriman Chair and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, a non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. He primarily studies and speaks on elections in the United States, campaign finance reform, Senate and filibuster reform, Congress, redistricting, and political polarization...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSociologist
Date of Birth10 September 1944
CountryUnited States of America
Thomas E. Mann quotes about
adds advantage buck congress divide environment foster layer members popular rather sentiment seriously top wrestle
Incumbency adds a layer of advantage on top of this party dominance. But rather than foster an environment in which members of Congress feel free to buck popular sentiment and wrestle seriously with the problems confronting the country, it reinforces the ideological divide between the parties.
approaches domestic increased policies policy popularity republican translated
Second, the President's popularity has not translated into increased support for the Republican party or for the policies and approaches on domestic policy championed by the President.
elections government increased republican since unified
Partisanship particularly increased after the 1994 elections and then the appearance of the first unified Republican government since the 1950s.
message politics serious symbolic
Incumbents are safe, but party majorities are not. This fosters symbolic votes, message politics and little serious legislating in Congress.
believe dismiss frankly golden hard platform polar policy science wisdom
I don't believe in a golden mean; I don't believe you find policy wisdom between two polar points. I don't dismiss that possibility, but I look at the platform that's so ideologically based, that's so dismissive of facts, of evidence, of science, and it's frankly hard to take seriously.
continue losses membership private public sector suffer
Private sector labors unions continue to suffer losses in their membership while public sector and service unions grow.
best democrats outer suburbs
Democrats do best in urban centers, Republicans in outer suburbs and rural areas.
candidate mandates objective realities sold subjective
Mandates are not objective realities but subjective interpretations of elections sold successfully by the winning candidate or party.
designed ensure fair ideology interests meaningful norms order oversight party process regular serious traditions trump
Party and ideology routinely trump institutional interests and responsibilities. Regular order - the set of rules, norms and traditions designed to ensure a fair and transparent process - was the first casualty. The results: No serious deliberation. No meaningful oversight of the executive. A culture of corruption.
act break country hardened itself leadership might partisan provide recent sorted
The country has sorted itself ideologically into the two political parties, and those partisan attachments have hardened in recent years. It will take an extraordinary event and act of leadership to break this partisan divide. I thought 9/11 might provide such an opportunity, but it was not seized.