Reforming Congress – Bryan Jones, The University of Texas at Austin

0:13 – Introduction
3:50 – About the Policy Agendas Project
6:40 – Difficulty of creating this database
9:12 – How is the ontology of the data maintained?
10:34 – How did you apply your standards to the data? And what datasets use your standards?
13:16 – What new knowledge have you uncovered from this activity?
19:39 – What grabs Congress’s attention and how does direct its focus to solve problems?
25:19 – What kind of problems should Congress solve?
30:43 – How the sources of information that flow into Congress have changed over the years
34:12 – How Congress prioritizes its activities
38:19 – On oversight
41:45 – Models of decision-making
48:36 – On omnibus bills
52:31 – Has the number of topics mentioned in a single bill increased over time?
54:53 – How to measure the impact of policy
59:24 – Creating measures beyond GDP
[Lightning round]
1:02:06 – What do you think congressional representation should mean?
1:06:11 – How would your ideal congress allocate its time?
1:08:05 – How should debate, deliberation, or dialogue occur or be structured in Congress?
1:11:35 – What fundamental institutional improvement should Congress make within 50 years?
1:12:08 – What book or article most shaped your thinking with respect to congressional reform?
1:13:47 – Upcoming research plans