Word: offing
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Dates: during 1970-1970
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Many of the men who run Congress are stodgy and opposed to new ideas. But their age is only part of the problem. To get to the top they must be elected over and over again; generally those constituencies that give such automatic approval are in rural, one-party districts...
There are, to be sure, significant arguments in favor of seniority. It provides stability and expertness, it eliminates the possibility that outside pressure groups or cliques could elect compliant chairmen, and it guarantees access to power to representatives of minority groups-if they will only wait their turns. Without the...
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Still, the price of these boons is exorbitant. No other American institution respects seniority the way Congress does. "Of all the institutional failings of American Government," says Political Scientist James MacGregor Burns, "the seniority system of Congress is by far the most serious."
Several Alternatives. Paraphrasing Churchill, House Majority Leader Carl Albert admits that the seniority system may be "the worst possible system-except for all the alternatives." Albert notwithstanding, several alternatives have been proposed by angry congressional juniors. One plan would give a party caucus the authority to choose a chairman (or...