Most people who follow the events in Washington (I am talking about that rare bread of individual who actually watches C-SPAN) would agree that it is as partisan as it has ever been. Unfortunately, there is a certain level of cynicism built into people's understanding of Congress and how it works that makes "partisanship" seem like an essential component of lawmaking.

A better definition of lawmaking, however, would be: compromise and agreement through consideration and debate to find the best solutions to the problems that most people would agree exist. While that definition of lawmaking leaves a lot of room for interpretation, I think attempts to find common ground are things that most people would recognize when they saw it. And "partisanship" is simply shorthand for an absence of efforts in Congress to find that common ground.

In other words, a high level of partisanship in Congress is not something to be dismissed. Usually, when Congress is considered more partisan, it means either nothing is getting passed, or that one party is essentially steamrolling the other. The later describes the current environment, especially in the House of Representatives.

Today, it is common for important legislation to pass the House without any debate. Not because there is unanimous consent, but because it is drafted by a handful of representatives behind closed doors and shuttled through the House with some members not even aware of its content. In some cases, specific legislation appears to be handled in this way precisely because of the narrow, sometimes extreme, ideology it represents.

While it is in the interest of the controlling party in Congress to advance its political agenda, it is becoming more common for that process to include tactics that undermine the democratic principles our government was founded on. This includes changing the rules in order to prevent members from offering substantive amendments. It includes secretly altering the language in legislation thousands of pages long and then requiring members to immediately vote on it. In short, it involves gaming the system in order to pass legislation that, based on its merits, might not otherwise become law.

Common Cause will soon be releasing a study documenting the various ways the current leadership of the House essentially denies the minority party - and the constituents they represent - a voice in Congress.