ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents a judicious and comprehensive performance appraisal of the institution that examines all aspects of its life—its representation function, procedures, organizational design, relationship with other branches, and policy outputs. It also presents the fundamental aspirations that undergird the analysis. The book looks at Congress's capacity to represent both national and local interests. It examines the transparency of congressional proceedings and how amenable members and their staff are to the world outside Capitol Hill. Both contribute greatly to a healthy representative democracy. The book recognizes explicitly both the efficiency and productivity benefits of centralization and the informational and political legitimacy gains to be made by decentralization. It concludes with an assessment of members' actions, specifically their responsibility to constitutional principles and to conduct themselves in a manner that maintains the public's trust in Congress.
