This book is a collection of essays that explore the relationship between media coverage of Congress and the current
public
animosity toward it. Mr. Mann is the director of the Governmental Studies Program at the Brookings
Institution. Mr. Ornstein is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. A summary of the book follows.
Congress is under siege. The healthy skepticism that long characterized
public attitudes toward the institution has degenerated into corrosive cynicism. The support it once enjoyed among the most politically active also appears to have crumbled. The frequently heard criticism of Congress, charging that it is filled with unethical professional politicians who are out of touch with ordinary Americans, is undergirding the movement to limit terms in office.