Yuval Levin offers a novel approach to improving congressional operations.
C-SPAN has also contributed to the deformation of Congress’ work—and of our political culture. This is not a function of how the network has approached its work, but of the very nature of its core purpose: televising floor and committee proceedings.
Since its launch, transparency has been C-SPAN’s watchword. Its purpose was to bring the People’s House to the people and let Americans see and hear what their representatives were up to. Yes, transparency is an essential democratic good. But all good things are a matter of degree, and there is such a thing as excessive transparency in political institutions.
Cameras have turned all of Congress’ deliberative spaces into performative spaces, leaving less and less room and time for members to speak and work in private. The most obvious consequence of this transformation has been the explosion of grandstanding in both chambers. …
… But more important is what is not happening in Congress because of the presence of cameras. The institution’s core work is legislative negotiation, and negotiation cannot really happen in public. Politicians can’t afford to be seen making concessions or trading among key priorities in real time. They can be held accountable in public for what they ultimately produce or how they vote on a compromise bill, but to publicize the process is to suffocate it. …
… One useful step might seem counterintuitive: To make Congress just a little less performative, C-SPAN should push for a loosening of the reins on its coverage of the floors of both chambers. …
… That broader effort should particularly focus on creating space for some committee work to be done in private. Formal hearings will surely continue to be televised, and the case for undoing that is not one many politicians could afford to embrace. But committees in both houses could openly treat hearings as public performances and officially use them for that purpose while formally organizing a new mode of core legislative work: private working sessions devoted to floating proposals and hammering out legislative deals.