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I recently had a bit of time on my hands, so I read @GovernorTomWolf's 1981 doctoral dissertation. It's 603 pages of riveting commentary on the turn-of-the-(20th)-century House of Representatives ... and, as I write for @PennCapitalStar, points to some possible next steps. (1/9)
I argue that while the governor has, for six years, tried to project that he's not a politician and is bemused by partisanship, he literally wrote the best dissertation in America on the subject (according to @APSAtweets) while a grad student at MIT 39 years ago. (2/9)
In it, he argues that the political environment shapes legislative behavior: politicians follow the incentives presented to them, and, accordingly, astute political actors make change by working to change those incentives. (3/9)
So, I wonder, now that working with a GOP legislature for the remaining two years of his term (and thus the entirety of his tenure as governor) is in the offing, why doesn't Wolf take a stab at trying to change the legislature's incentives? (4/9)
In other words, if, as Wolf argues, change happens at the intersection of the political environment and institutional structures, why not try to bend the institutional structure to accommodate the political environment? (5/9)
Specifically, I argue that Wolf may want to reconsider the notion of convening a task force involving legislatures to manage the next stage of the pandemic. The GOP has gotten off blaming everything on him; why not give them the seat at the table they purportedly want? (6/9)
If they prove to be good faith partners, great! He has a good faith partner in managing the pandemic. If they don't, he certainly won't lose political clout among PA voters for having attempted bipartisanship, which is about the only thing that polls well these days. (7/9)
The bottom line is that the governor has called for unity, and unity seldom flows from total capitulation by either side. A task force was a GOP idea that could serve Wolf's political needs ... and he wrote about that concept 40 years ago.
Here's my case: https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/advice-for-tom-wolf-on-dealing-with-the-legislature-during-the-pandemic-from-tom-wolf-opinion/
Here's my case: https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/advice-for-tom-wolf-on-dealing-with-the-legislature-during-the-pandemic-from-tom-wolf-opinion/
And as a brief post script, on page 474 of 603, Wolf sneaks in a shoutout to his beloved York, Pennsylvania that, in context, seems a little out of place. But who can fault a future governor for taking a liberty here and there to buck up his hometown. (9/9)
