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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMajor Science Advocacy Organization Joins Call for Senate to Eliminate Filibuster
https://www.politicususa.com/2021/07/22/major-science-advocacy-organization-joins-call-for-senate-to-eliminate-filibuster.htmlPosted on Thu, Jul 22nd, 2021 by Alan Ryland
Major Science Advocacy Organization Joins Call for Senate to Eliminate Filibuster
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a science advocacy organization, has joined the call for the Senate to eliminate the filibuster as calls grow for Democrats to take decisive steps to codify their most popular proposals into law.
Johanna Chao Kreilick, president of UCS, also provided a statement in which she derided the filibuster for lacking a Constitutional basis.
Every scientist, engineer, and science advocate understands that design principles matter, and the same holds for the design of political institutions. If the theoretical purpose of the filibuster is to create bipartisan consensus, it has clearly failed on its own terms, she continued. Our opposition to the filibuster, and principled stance to abolish, is both science-based and evidence-backed; by privileging a minority that supports the status quo and election subversion, the filibuster distorts the policymaking process and inhibits our capacity to address the countrys most pressing challengesfrom climate change to safeguarding our democracy.
UCSs statement comes after more than 30 former top Senate Democratic aides called for changes to the filibuster rules.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Now, how can we use science to push Manchin, Sinema, DiFi, and (apparently) Biden to support democracy in the only way that matters?
BeckyDem
(8,361 posts)Finding the Common Good in an Era of Dysfunctional Governance
AUTHORS Thomas E. Mann and Norman Jay Ornstein
Abstract
The framers designed a constitutional system in which the government would play a vigorous role in securing the liberty and well-being of a large and diverse population. They built a political system around a number of key elements, including debate and deliberation, divided powers competing with one another, regular order in the legislative process, and avenues to limit and punish corruption. America in recent years has struggled to adhere to each of these principles, leading to a crisis of governability and legitimacy. The roots of this problem are twofold. The first is a serious mismatch between our political parties, which have become as polarized and vehemently adversarial as parliamentary parties, and a separation-of-powers governing system that makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act. The second is the asymmetric character of the polarization.
( The Republican Party has become a radical insurgency ideologically extreme, scornful of facts and compromise, and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. Securing the common good in the face of these developments will require structural changes but also an informed and strategically focused citizenry. )
https://www.amacad.org/publication/finding-common-good-era-dysfunctional-governance