
Season 3, Episode 17 | Congress Underrated: Representation, Gridlock, and What We Miss
From This Constitution by Savannah Eccles Johnston & Matthew Brogdon
April 6, 2026 · 36 min · Season 3 · Episode 17
About this episode
The episode challenges the narrative that Congress is broken by discussing its intended functions and the misconceptions surrounding gridlock.
Is Congress the most underrated institution in American government? Widely criticized for gridlock, partisanship, and dysfunction, it’s often seen as the weakest branch. But what if that frustration reflects a misunderstanding of what Congress is designed to do? In this episode of This Constitution, Matthew Brogdon sits down with Princeton professor Frances E. Lee, author of A Case for Congress, to challenge the narrative that Congress is broken. They begin by rethinking “gridlock.” While few...
People in this episode
Host: Matthew Brogdon
Guest: Frances E. Lee
Topics covered
- Congress
- representation
- gridlock
- partisanship
- government dysfunction
Keywords
- Congress
- gridlock
- partisanship
- government
- representation
- Frances E. Lee
- A Case for Congress
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Princeton
Books & works: A Case for Congress
More episodes of This Constitution
- Season 4, Episode 2 | Splitting Sovereignty: How the Colonies Defended Local Control · June 1, 2026 · 55 min
- Season 4, Episode 1 | A Watery Revolution: How the Sea Decided American Independence · May 18, 2026 · 49 min
- Season 3, Episode 19 | Saving Principles: Frederick Douglass, the Declaration, and the Soul of Civic Education · May 4, 2026 · 52 min
- Season 3, Episode 18 | Who Counts as the Press? From Printing Presses to Afroman · April 20, 2026 · 33 min
- Season 3, Episode 16 | Religion in the Public Square: When Protestants, Catholics, and Jews Learned to Get Along (Mostly) · March 23, 2026 · 33 min
- Season 3, Episode 15 | For God and Country: How Religious Pluralism Shaped the American Founding · March 9, 2026 · 33 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the This Constitution podcast page.