Why is Congress like this?
About this episode
The episode explores the design of Congress as outlined in Article I and discusses the perspectives of James Madison with scholar Jack Rakove.
Today in our continued exploration of why the US is the way it is, we get to Article I. Why did the framers design Congress the way they did? Why did the small states come out so far ahead? And what, potentially, would James Madison think if he saw its operation in 2026? To help us navigate the thoughts of men long-dead, we talk to Madison scholar Jack Rakove. He shares his insights on representation, the electoral college, and much more. Click here to listen to our episode on the Articles of Confederation, our shaggy dog of a first draft of government! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More episodes of Civics 101
- Do we have separation of church and state?
- Why is our union so imperfect? (With Jill Lepore)
- How we started, how it's going
- America's other origin story
- When a flag is against the rules... or the law
- Lessons from the American Revolution (with Ken Burns)
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