ABSTRACT
Public doubt about the legitimacy of congressional use of no confidence may easily provoke a crisis of system loyalty and maintenance focusing on political succession, one of the most critical and fragile components of any political system. Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the rationale noted for the Henry Reuss proposal is how its supporters can reconcile a desire to curb inflated presidential power with provision of a new mechanism that channels congressional and public attention even more fixedly on the president as the sun-center of the governmental universe. However well intentioned the no confidence proposal, and even if it were to operate solely as expected by its sponsors, it would be only marginally relevant to the goal of strengthening the Congress or of improving the vitality of the checks-and-balances system. When so modest a maximum benefit is set against the array of potential serious costs, the Reuss plan must be awarded a resounding vote of no confidence.
