The Foundation of Legislative Politics

When Congress can't pass laws, is the problem in the Constitution—or in the rules that govern how legislators actually do their work? In this episode, Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey welcomes back Dr. Lauren Bell to discuss her new book, Transatlantic Majoritarianism: How Murder, Migration and Modernity Transformed 19th Century Legislatures.

Dr. Bell reveals how 19th-century lawmakers in both the United States and Britain wrestled with a fundamental democratic dilemma: how to allow majority rule without descending into chaos or obstruction. From the "vanishing quorum" that paralyzed the House of Representatives to Irish members weaponizing parliamentary procedure in the House of Commons, Bell traces the parallel crises that forced both nations to rethink legislative power.