Two presidents in recent history, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, were elected with a mandate to reduce the scale of government, but met resistance from an increasingly dominant Congress and its allied agencies. In The Imperial Congress (The Heritage Foundation/The Claremont Institute), Washington experts take a revealing look at the constitutional crisis posed by Congress as it is today, explain why this has happened, and offer workable solutions to prevent it in the future. In three parts the authors: * Explore the origins and growth of the bureaucratic state in this century * Explain how Congress works today, and how long incumbencies, huge staffs, and connections to special interest groups enable individual members to augment and maintain their power * Discuss the effects of such power in domestic and foreign policies * Focus on strategies for restoring the vital separation of powers, the cornerstone of our constitution. For Washington insiders, students of government, and all concerned citizens, The Imperial Congress provides insightful and provocative reading. The contributors to The Imperial Congress include: Charles R. Kesler, Adjunct Fellow of The Claremont Institute; Douglas A. Jeffrey, Director of Scholarship at The Claremont Institute; John Adams Wettergreen, Professor of Political Science at San Jose University; Michael E. Hammond, General Counsel to the Senate Steering Committee; Peter M. Weyrich, Writer and analyst at the Free Congress Center for Child and Family Policy; Margaret Davis, Legislative Assistant for Senator Phil Gramm; W. Mark Crain, Professor of Economics at George Mason University; L. Gordon Crovitz, Assistant Editor of the Editorial Page of The Wall Street Journal and Thomas G. West, Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Dallas.