Paul Kane of The Washington Post recently featured the work of Fixing Congress at Penn Washington in his article about lawmakers’ desires to change how the legislative body functions. He discussed how a potential Democratic House majority, led by a new generation of leaders, could bring about reforms to address a broken system. Kane also highlighted Fixing Congress’…
About the Author Steven Pearlstein was a Pulitzer-prize winning columnist for the Washington Post. He is now the Robinson Professor of Public Affairs at George Mason University and a senior fellow at Penn Washington’s Fixing Congress Initiative. According to recent polls, more than three quarters of Americans believe democracy is on the line in this year’s presidential…
The Senior Fellows will lead two programs focusing on higher education and Congress and policy. Penn Washington, which serves as the physical and programmatic home for the University of Pennsylvania in the nation’s capital, is pleased to appoint distinguished scholars, The New York Times best-selling author Julian Zelizer and Pulitzer Prize-winning business and economics columnist Steven Pearlstein of The Washington Post, as…
In a recent article by Carl Hulse of The New York Times, the focus was on the ongoing challenges that Congress faces. The piece sheds light on the structural issues that hinder legislative progress, as discussed at the inaugural “Fixing Congrees” seminar held at Penn Washington. Former lawmakers highlighted institutiPennsylvania’ssuch as short workweeks, deep-seated partisan…
On June 18, 2024, Interim President J. Larry Jameson and Provost John L. Jackson Jr. announced the creation of Penn Washington, a physical and programmatic home for the University of Pennsylvania’s engagement in the nation’s capital.
Their ideas ranged from a major rethinking of how the body works to symbolic changes that could be implemented next month if anyone had the willpower. Eliminate partisan gerrymandering for House districts. Reshape campaign laws to give candidates almost full power over their own races. Make even modest tweaks to the legislative calendar to produce…
Learning the inner workings of Washington, D.C., typically comes after a long career inside the Beltway, from how politicians manage to reach across the aisle and make successful policy decisions to understanding the role of think tanks and media. But thanks to funding from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Paideia Program, a few dozen students at…