@article{347135,
      recid = {347135},
      author = {Fisher, Louis.},
      title = {On appreciating Congress : the people's branch /},
      publisher = {Paradigm Publishers,},
      address = {Boulder :},
      pages = {x, 182 p. ;},
      year = {2010},
      abstract = {This book explains why Congress is the indispensable  institution for safeguarding popular, democratic, and  constitutional government. Even though its record over the  past two centuries presents a mixed picture, the record of  the other two branches is also decidedly mixed. The author  has worked for Congress for the past four decades and  writes from a perspective that intimately understands its  shortcomings while appreciating its strengths. He contends  that portraying Congress as so inherently inept that it  must be kept subordinate to presidential or judicial power  is misguided and uninformed. The Constitution looks to  Congress as the first branch because it is the institution  through which citizens at the local and state level engage  in self-government. Although Presidents claim to be the  national representative, they cannot substitute for the  knowledge and legitimacy brought by members of Congress.  Congress, after all, is the people's branch and this book  restores it to its rightful claim.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/347135},
}