It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

Truth and then Reconciliation - the Way Forward for Congress

Introduction

"Organizations which are personified in the mind of the public have the effect of making their members unconsciously submerge their own personalities and adopt the personality of the organization while they are acting as a part of it." (Thurman Arnold)

At a time when the country requires substantial action to address a number of difficult issues, Congress has been overwhelmingly incapable of passing much significant legislation. The tone in Congress is bitter, and it looks increasingly unlikely that it will be able to overcome partisan politics to meet the country's needs. As President Obama tries to use the power of the bully pulpit to convince Congress to pass some of his agenda, the question arises: can external pressures compel an end to the intransigence, or must the change come from within the first branch itself?

The Problem

Evan Bayh recently wrote in an "op-ed" explaining why he's retiring from the Senate that some members of Congress used to socialize with each over and help with re-election efforts regardless of party affiliation. Now they spend their time plotting the demise of their colleagues from the other party. The ideological divide between the two sides is at such a high that it was considered a substantial victory when Republican Olympia Snowe voted to send a healthcare bill out of the Senate Finance Committee (story here), despite the fact that it would still face tremendous opposition by every other Republican Senator. Taking an all-or-nothing approach, Congressmen are unwilling to cross the aisle to enact legislation - assuming they can reach a consensus within their own party.

Overcoming conflict

Some political bodies confronted with overcoming significant divides have successfully done so in the recent past by using truth and reconciliation commissions. Instead of searching for parties to blame for political and social problems, these commissions focus on facing the past and looking to the future without seeking to impose punishment. It is a type of ceremony that has been ridiculed by some, but has proven to be effective for its members in certain circumstances. An honest attempt at truth and reconciliation could allow Congress to overcome its acrimony and advance some of the legislation that the country requires.

Before investigating how such an attempt could help Congress, it is necessary to explore examples of a successful and an unsuccessful effort.

South Africa

Greensboro, NC

Overcoming the Intransigence

Pressure from Without

Pressure from Within

Conclusion

---

You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" on the next line:

# * Set ALLOWTOPICVIEW = TWikiAdminGroup, NathanStopper

Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of that line. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated list