On a typical day, you cant turn on the news without hearing someone say thatCongress is broken.
The implication is that this dereliction explains why the institution isinert and unresponsiveto the American people.
I mean that literally.
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Members district offices only got connected tosecure Wi-Fi internet service in 2023.
Before 2020, whiteboards, sticky notes and interns with clipboards dominated the halls of Congress.
Thats just 1% of the amount theater fans have spent to see Hamilton on Broadway since 2015.
Congressional testimony discusses meetings being cut off at 40 minutes.
Finding a happy medium between innovation and caution can result in alivelier public discourse.
The House Natural Resources Committee was also an early adopter of technology for collaborative lawmaking.
People post their ideas online and respond to others posts.
Then the systems canscreen and summarizeposts so usersbetter understand each others perspectives.
Governments inFinland,the U.K.,CanadaandBrazilare already piloting deliberative technologies.
Finding benefits
Modernization effortshave opened connections within Congress and with the public.
Members areregularly scheduledto be two places at once.
Earmarks were abolished in 2011 amidconcerns of abuse and oppositionby fiscal hardliners.
Additional reformscould make the federal governmenteven more responsiveto the American people.
Some recent improvements are already familiar.
Before, different procedures in the House and Senate caused time-consuming snags in this delivery system.
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