i prefer the congress of lyndon johnson, tip o'neill, or howard baker. you are giving this presentation in 2011. if you're giving it was noted years ago in 1911, it would have had some of similar tones. if you would have been railing against a powerful speaker, joseph cannon. all the other hand, if you had given this presentation 50 years ago in 1961, he would have been going again sam rayburn to prevailed in a vote to expand the house rules committee. that gives you the bracket of the extremes. i wonder how one square that circle. these are extreme forms of legislative organization. >> thank you for the question. i know it is frustrating for profs because we never get it right. i think it is the saving grace of our democracy. our government is like an antique grandfather clock. the giant pendulum is allowed to swing back and forth. it does two things. it provides energy and gives us something to watch. [laughter] democracy is a spectator sport. we want the people to be involved. congress today is becoming a channel on reality dvd. -- reality tv. there i

former senator howard baker once said that there are three things you could not possibly understand -- the holy ghost, the middle east, and a palace rep. most people do not understand the house fully, but most people do think it is badly broken. i am had been in congress off and on for almost 30 years. i have seen the decline. it is not the decline that worries me. what worries me is that we as the world was the only superpower cannot afford a breakdown donaldo. -- break down the nile. it worries me -- break down now. our great strength has always been our ability to bounce back. our great strength is resilience. as winston churchill once said, "america can always be counted on to do the right thing after she has exhausted all the alternatives." [laughter] you are about to hear a very fundamental critique on congress. i will focus on the house more so than the senate. forgive me for speaking in a short set this -- short sentences, but there is a lot to cover. do not get too depressed. there is still time for a cure. not much time, but enough. first, i see a congress that is willfully

i prefer howard baker. i'm instruct by the fact that you are giving this presentation in 2011. it exactly 100 years ago in 1911, it would have had similar tones. you have have been railing against a power speaker, joseph cannon, and there was a revolt in that year against him. on the other hand, if you would have given this presentation on 1961, you would have been on the side of sam rayburn to expand the overly powerful house rules committee. that seems to bracket. powerful speaker and decentralized. we seem never to get it quite right. i wonder how you square the circle. how do you balance the two extreme forms of legislation organization? >> well, thank you for your question. i know it's frustrating for professors that we never quite get it right. i think this is a saving grace of democracy. our government is a whole lot like an antique grandfather clock. it's 200 plus years old. that's a giant pendulum that swings back and forth that does two things, not only provides energy, it also gives us something to watch. democracy is a spectator sport. we want the people to be invol