This course will focus on three main areas: (1) the intellectual origins of the design of the government based upon a complex system of checks and balances; (2) how has Congress changed over nearly two and a half centuries of its existence and how it is organized and how does it operate contemporarily; (3) what are the structural and underlying features of the American political system that complicate effective governance and what innovations might mitigate these obstructions or inequities; is it possible to do so and maintain the federal system envisioned by the Founders or is a new model of government required in the 21st century? If so, how is that goal to be achieved without fragmenting the country even further?
About the Instructor:
Professor John Lawrence served as a senior staff person in Congress for nearly four decades, the last eight as Chief of Staff to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He also served as staff director of two committees and on personal staff. He has taught at UCDC since 2013, and at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and has lectured widely on history and contemporary American politics at Columbia, Princeton, Oberlin and other venues. Professor Lawrence holds a Ph.D. in American History from the University of California (Berkeley), and an undergraduate history degree from Oberlin College.