The U.S. Senate: Paralysis or a Search for Consensus

An insider's analysis of why today's Senate doesn't work that examines the human motives and intricate behaviors of ritual and maneuver that determine what the Senate can and can't accomplish

As director of the Senate Majority Policy Committee during the 1950s, Reedy (Lyndon B. Johnson, etc.) had an opportunity to see the World's Most Exclusive Club in operation. He shows that it does not accomplish its goals through floor debate nor in committees, but through personal contacts, wheeling, dealing and horse-trading. For senators, he stresses, this involves an understanding of the constituent pressures on other senatorsthe member who does not grasp this is doomed to be a powerless outsider. Thus the Senate is a series of constantly shifting blocs, depending on the issue at hand. How Lyndon Johnson made use of this to line up the Democrats behind President Eisenhower, making Ike's own party look like obstructionists, is the essence of this study. In his concluding chapters, Reedy also demonstrates why the Senate today is, and is likely to remain, impotent. (October 24
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Reedy ( The Twilight of the Presidency ) here offers his views on the U.S. Senate. The book is both a commentary on the inner workings of the Senatean institution whose purpose and method, according to Reedy, are largely misunderstood by most citizensand a historical analysis of its achievements during the 1950s, a period which stands as one of the most effective and productive eras in its history. Since Reedy served as staff director of the Senate's Democratic Policy Committee during those years he offers a unique perspective on both topics. The book's final chapter provides a comparison of the 1950s with the current political scene. Overall, a well-written and insightful discussion which will be of interest to students of political science and history as well as informed observers of the contemporary scene. Highly recommended. Scott Wright, History Dept., Coll. of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.