Mann, Thomas E. 1944-

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Mann, Thomas E. 1944-

PERSONAL:

Born September 10, 1944, in Milwaukee, WI; married; wife's name Sheilah (a political scientist); children: Ted, Stephanie. Education: University of Florida, B.A., 1966; University of Michigan, M.A., 1968, Ph.D., 1977.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Bethesda, MD. Office—Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20036; fax: (202) 797-6144. E-mail—tmann@brookings.edu.

CAREER:

Political scientist. University of Michigan Survey Research Center, Ann Arbor, assistant study director, 1968-69; American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, legislative assistant to Representative James G. O'Hara and Senator Philip A. Hart, 1969-1970; director of Congressional fellowship program, 1970-80, staff associate, 1970-76, assistant director, 1977-81, executive director, 1981-87; Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, director of governmental studies, 1987-99, W. Averell Harriman Chair and senior fellow in governance studies, 1991—. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, DC, visiting fellow and codirector, Congress Project, 1979-81, and adjunct scholar, 1981-85. Has taught at Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, University of Virginia, and American University. Consultant to IBM and the Public Broadcasting Service; chaired the Board of Overseers of the National Election Studies.

MEMBER:

American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Council on Foreign Relations, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences fellow, 1987-88; National Academy of Public Administration fellow, 1989; Hubert Humphrey Award (shared with Norman J. Ornstein), Policy Studies Organization, 1997; Pi Sigma Alpha Award, National Capital Area Political Science Association, 1999; Frank J. Goodnow Award, 1999, American Political Science Association; Charles E. Merriam Award, 2001, American Political Science Association; Civic Education Recognition Award (shared with Sheilah Mann), Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, 2001; Excellence in Public Service Award, Ohio State University, 2005.

WRITINGS:

Unsafe at Any Margin: Interpreting Congressional Elections, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (Washington, DC), 1978.

(Editor, with Norman J. Ornstein) The New Congress, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (Washington, DC), 1981.

(Editor, with Norman J. Ornstein) The American Elections of 1982, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (Washington, DC), 1983.

(Editor) A Question of Balance: The President, the Congress, and Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution (Washington, DC), 1990.

(With Norman J. Ornstein) A First Report of the Renewing Congress Project, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and Brookings Institution (Washington, DC), 1992.

(Editor, with Gary R. Orren) Media Polls in American Politics, Brookings Institution (Washington, DC), 1992.

(With Norman J. Ornstein) A Second Report of the Renewing Congress Project, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and Brookings Institution (Washington, DC), 1993.

(Editor, with M. Kent Jennings) Elections at Home and Abroad: Essays in Honor of Warren E. Miller, University of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 1994.

(Editor, with Norman J. Ornstein) Congress, the Press, and the Public, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and Brookings Institution (Washington, DC), 1994.

(Editor, with Henry J. Aaron and Timothy Taylor) Values and Public Policy, Brookings Institution (Washington, DC), 1994.

(Editor, with Norman J. Ornstein) Intensive Care: How Congress Shapes Health Policy, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and Brookings Institution (Washington, DC), 1995.

(Editor, with Norman J. Ornstein) The Permanent Campaign and Its Future, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (Washington, DC), 2000.

(Editor, with Sasaki Takeshi) Governance for a New Century: Japanese Challenges, American Experience, Japan Center for International Exchange (New York, NY), 2002.

(Editor, with Anthony Corrado and Trevor Potter) Inside the Campaign Finance Battle: Court Testimony on the New Reforms, Brookings Institution Press (Washington, DC), 2003.

(Editor, with Bruce E. Cain) Party Lines: Competition, Partisanship, and Congressional Redistricting, Brookings Institution Press (Washington, DC), 2005.

(With Norman J. Ornstein) The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get ItBack on Track, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to books, including New Perspectives on the House of Representatives, edited by Robert L. Peabody and Nelson W. Polsby, Rand McNally, 1977; Before Nomination: Our Primary Problems, edited by George Grassmuck, American Enterprise Institute, 1985; The Politics and Law of Term Limits, edited by Edward Crane and Roger Pilon, Cato Institute, 1994; and Red and Blue Nation? Characteristics and Causes of America's Polarized Politics, edited by Pietro S. Nivola and David W. Brady, Brookings Institution, 2006. Contributor to periodicals, including Brookings Review, New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Philadelphia Inquirer,Public Opinion, and National Civic Review. Member of editorial board, American Political Science Review, 1989-91, and Legislative Studies Quarterly, 1988-93.

SIDELIGHTS:

Thomas E. Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution, is the author, with Norman J. Ornstein, of The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track. In the work, Mann and Ornstein contend that, over the course of a few decades, "legislators have increasingly subordinated earnest deliberation to partisan tribalism, eroding that branch into division and dysfunction," observed Booklist contributor Brendan Driscoll. "Party and ideology routinely trump institutional interests and responsibilities," Mann told Washington Post interviewer Charles Babington. "Regular order—the set of rules, norms and traditions designed to ensure a fair and transparent process—was the first casualty. The results: No serious deliberation. No meaningful oversight of the executive. A culture of corruption. And grievously flawed policy formulation and implementation."

To remedy the problems, the authors suggest a number of changes to legislative behavior, including five-day congressional workweeks, as well as independent oversight of lobbyists. "Mann and Ornstein provide some useful history here," noted Washington Monthly reviewer Kevin Drum, adding that the authors "make clear that although firebrand Republicans exaggerated the problems of regular order in the 1980s, there really were problems. After 40 years in the majority, Democrats had grown a little too accustomed to power—and woefully insensitive to the seething anger that their casual exercise of it inspired even in many moderate Republicans."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2006, Brendan Driscoll, review of The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track, p. 28.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2006, review of The Broken Branch, p. 621.

Publishers Weekly, June 5, 2006, review of The Broken Branch, p. 53.

Reference & Research Book News, November, 2006, review of Party Lines: Competition, Partisanship, and Congressional Redistricting.

Washington Monthly, July 1, 2006, Kevin Drum, "Out of Order: How the GOP Broke Congress," p. 50.

Washington Post, October 11, 2006, Charles Babington, "Q&A: Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein," p. A17.