Sen. George Mitchell On Congress and Bureaucracy
George John Mitchell is a former Democratic Party politician and United States Senator from Maine who currently serves as chairman of the worldwide law firm DLA Piper and also as the Chancellor of the Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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| 1. What reasons does Senator Mitchell give for the deliberative policymaking process in Congress?
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| 2. Why does he describe the Senate as a microcosm of the American political process? |
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How has Washington changed?
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David S. Broder is best known for the twice-weekly political column he writes for the Washington Post, where he has been on staff since 1966.
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| 3. How would you briefly summarize David Broder’s comments about how Congress has changed in recent decades? |
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| 4. Based upon your reading of the text, and your knowledge of current political events, do you agree with this perspective? Why or why not? |
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Is there a leadership drought in the U.S.?
Lee Hamilton was vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission and currently serves on the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. Prior to these appointments, Hamilton served for 34 years in Congress as a Democrat, representing Indiana’s Ninth District. In March 2006, Hamilton, along with James A. Baker III, was announced Democratic co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, organized by the United States Institute of Peace.
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| 5. Why does Lee Hamilton argue that it is difficult to identify political leaders in contemporary America? What does he argue a good political leader does? |
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