bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1991) — Spring 1991 // Printemps 1991, pp. 44–45
The Power Game — How Washington
Works by Hedrick Smith. New York:
Ballantine Books, 1988, 789 pp. $7.95.
Shortly before leaving office, Harry Truman made a famous remark about his successor, Dwight Eisenhower: “He’ll sit right here and he’ll say, ’Do this. Do that!’ And nothing will happen. Poor Ike — it won’t be a bit like the Army. He’ll find it very frustrating.”
Truman’s term in office had taught him that although the U.S. President is vested with tremendous constitutional authority, he must exercise his powers under enormous restraints. Indeed, as former New York Times reporter Hedrick Smith argues in The Power Game, the attention lavished on the Presidency significantly distorts the actual political leverage of the President. To be effective, the President must be able to build coalitions to pass legislation in Congress. Yet the wide diffusion of power in Washington makes the process of forging coalitions a difficult and exacting exercise.
The central theme of Smith’s book is that power in Washington continually floats and shifts, “gravitating to whoever is daring enough to grab it and smart enough to figure out the quickest way to make a political score.” Smith believes that the conventional concept of the division of powers has little relevance in modern Washington. He prefers the analogy of “fast-action basketball, where anyone can steal the ball, change the flow of the game, and then score from practically anywhere around the basket”.
The book examines how the legislative reforms of the mid-1970s significantly altered the U.S. political system. The reforms asserted the authority of Congress vis-à-vis the President, through such measures as the War Powers Resolution (which required Congressional approval for the commitment of U.S. forces to a combat zone for longer than 90 days), or the creation of the Congressional Budget Office, which gave the legislative branch an independent source of analysis and advice on economic affairs.
More importantly, the reforms also dramatically changed the internal workings of Congress. Previously, Congress had been divided into a relatively small number of standing committees, and the President could ensure the passage of a bill by reaching an agreement with their powerful chairmen. This changed in the mid-1970s, when a group of newly-elected members managed to wrest power away from committee leaders by establishing numerous sub-committees. In the House of Representatives, for example, 22 standing committees were divided into 172 sub-committees, each with its role to play in the legislative process. The result, according to Smith, has been the creation of “an impossible legislative steeplechase”. (Jimmy Carter once noted with exasperation that his energy legislation — his top legislative priority — was required to pass through more than twenty different committees and Another important change in recent years has been the growing influence of television in U.S. political life. Smith observes that television has largely replaced political parties as the intermediary between candidates and voters. He argues that television has contributed to the diffusion of power in Washington by enabling political leaders to build their own mass appeal and organization. Once such political “lone rangers” are elected to office, they are often less responsive to party leaders. Moreover, television allows relatively obscure members of Congress who can capture national media attention on an issue to become major policy entrepreneurs. Consequently, he notes, “the highest ranking leaders on Capitol Hill are sometimes forced to chase after junior backbenchers to find the head of the political parade”.
Smith examines the role of the major “players” in the U.S. political system. These include not just the President and Congress, but also important — albeit less visible
– groups such as the public service, Congressional staff, lobby groups, and the military. The book is more anecdotal than analytical, and draws heavily on the major events of the Reagan era. At times the book is more detailed than it need be. For example, non-specialist readers might wish to skim over Smith’s thorough descriptions of certain drawn-out budget battles.
The Power Game provides a fascinating, often compelling, insight into political life in Washington. It is highly recommended for those seeking a greater understanding of the key players in the U.S. political system, and how they make critical decisions both in domestic and foreign affairs.
View the original scanned pages →
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1991) — Spring 1991 // Printemps 1991, pp. 44–45. Read the rest of this issue →
