These are plausible concerns, but I don’t think they match what I see as a longtime DC person.
We know that the legislative branch is less productive in the US than it has been in any modern period, and fewer bills get passed (many different metrics for this, but one is https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-CONGRESS/PRODUCTIVITY/egpbabmkwvq/) . Those bills that do get passed tend to be bigger swings as a result—either a) transformative legislation (e.g., Obamacare, Trump tax cuts and COVID super-relief, Biden Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS) or b) big omnibus “must-pass” bills like FAA reauthorization, into which many small proposals get added in.
I also disagree with the claim that policymakers focus on credibility and consensus generally, except perhaps in the executive branch to some degree. (You want many executive actions to be noncontroversial “faithfully executing the laws” stuff, but I don’t see that as “policymaking” in the sense you describe it.)
In either of those, it seems like the current legislative “meta” favors bigger policy asks, not small wins, and I’m having trouble of thinking of anyone I know who’s impactful in DC who has adopted the opposite strategy. What are examples of the small wins that you’re thinking of as being the current meta?
These are plausible concerns, but I don’t think they match what I see as a longtime DC person.
We know that the legislative branch is less productive in the US than it has been in any modern period, and fewer bills get passed (many different metrics for this, but one is https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-CONGRESS/PRODUCTIVITY/egpbabmkwvq/) . Those bills that do get passed tend to be bigger swings as a result—either a) transformative legislation (e.g., Obamacare, Trump tax cuts and COVID super-relief, Biden Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS) or b) big omnibus “must-pass” bills like FAA reauthorization, into which many small proposals get added in.
I also disagree with the claim that policymakers focus on credibility and consensus generally, except perhaps in the executive branch to some degree. (You want many executive actions to be noncontroversial “faithfully executing the laws” stuff, but I don’t see that as “policymaking” in the sense you describe it.)
In either of those, it seems like the current legislative “meta” favors bigger policy asks, not small wins, and I’m having trouble of thinking of anyone I know who’s impactful in DC who has adopted the opposite strategy. What are examples of the small wins that you’re thinking of as being the current meta?