BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  JAN 30, 2025

A new year has dawned and so will a new opportunity to reshape the way we are governed and clean up the way we conduct our politics.

There is hope among many Americans that the new Congress will be better than the one just concluded, which had among the worst records in history.

The reason for the optimism may be grounded in pessimism: How can it get any worse? Public trust in government is in the tank.

The governing crisis we are in is not new, of course. The crisis has been creeping up on us like nasty vines that wind their way around the tree, in this our body politic, grown from roots dating back almost a half century. Continue reading →