ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with a set of simple and somewhat abstract ideas taken from normative political theory and American public life, with particular emphasis on the Founders and other influential thinkers about politics and government. It identifies these areas as the representation of the American public; the accessibility, openness, and trustworthiness of the institution; congressional organization; the consideration of legislation; policy outcomes; and checking and balancing the other branches. It focuses on shared moral values among members of a community. The chapter presents the derived benchmarks, justifying, and providing an appraisal of congressional performance against each. It suggests that Congress is meeting the benchmarks or at least moving in the direction of them, we have evidence that the institution is performing at a level we should want it to and that popular assessments of what it does are inaccurate and unfair.
