A Tale of Two Congresses: Social Policy in the Clinton Years
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Description
Students of American politics have long been accustomed to viewing Congress as an obstacle course, if not a graveyard, for complicated and controversial legislative proposals. And, in many domains—most recently, campaign finance and health care reform—this image still seems to have much validity. But in other contentious policy arenas, recent Congresses have been surprisingly successful in enacting controversial policy proposals into law. The accomplishments of the 103d and 104th Congresses include, among other things, NAFTA, the renewal of GATT, telecommunications reform, a major crime bill, family leave legislation, minimum wage legislation, the line item veto, and, not least, welfare reform. This is a fairly impressive list of achievements. But the two Congresses also left behind an equally impressive list of failures. Most notable were the collapse of health care reform and the disappearance of welfare reform in the 103d Congress and the failure of the 104th Congress to reform or cut entitlements or to enact significant tax cuts.
Source Publication
The Social Divide: Political Parties and the Future of Activist Government
Source Editors/Authors
Margaret Weir
Publication Date
1998
Recommended Citation
Ferejohn, John A., "A Tale of Two Congresses: Social Policy in the Clinton Years" (1998). Faculty Chapters. 529.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/529
