Michael Hager in WaPo editorial suggests that Congress could use a neutral mediation facility for its innumerable roadblocks to any kind of agreement. This continuing polarization is bringing nothing but skepticism that Congress can actually get much done. We did get a health bill, but it was without any kind of bipartisan support from Republicans. Mediation as a source for some kind of meaningful and thoughtful discussion of possible compromises in the Congress seems like it has real merit.

When senators or representatives find themselves locked into irreconcilable positions on issues of national importance, third-party mediation could help overcome a stalemate. What if Congress were to establish a politically neutral service for legislative mediation, organized along the lines of the Congressional Budget Office?

By highlighting information in a nonpartisan manner, legislative mediation could even enrich the policy debate in Congress by strengthening the platform for that debate. Mediation would provide an instrument for promoting agreement in a divided Congress. Neutral legislative mediators employing alternative dispute resolution techniques would assist legislators at their request to find common ground.

We must discover more constructive processes for building consensus in the halls of Congress and other public policy forums. What we need now is policy research to ascertain whether and how legislative mediation could be a practical tool for resolving congressional gridlock.

L. Michael Hager

WaPo 6-18-10