This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Wednesday, November 17th, 2010.

I'm Caleb Brown.

With the House and White House now in the hands of different parties, let the hand-ringing begin.

Pundits will invariably soon claim that Congress and the President won't be able to get anything done.

As if getting most things done is a feature rather than a bug of our constitutional republic.

William F Connolly is author of James Madison rules America.

In it he argues that partisan polarization in Congress has its roots in Madison's own Constitution, and he argues that in many cases,

gridlock, the lack of a better word, is good.

Connolly spoke at the Cato Institute in October. Conflict sometimes is the premise for compromise.

Moreover, as political scientists Nelson Polisbee and Charles O Jones have argued,

gridlock may be good.

Gridlock may be a form of governing.

Jones says, for example, quote,

the prevention of legislation may also represent effective governance, end quote.

At times the status quo may be preferable to legislative change.

Who has not agreed with this observation at one time or time? may be preferable to legislative change.

Who has not agreed with this observation at one time or another?

For example, Republicans in the 2010 health care reform, they would have preferred gridlock or

stalemate to the passage of that comprehensive legislation.

But also another example would be the Pelosi-led Democrats on President Bush's Social Security

reform effort in 2005 and 2006.

Limited government as opposed to activist government may be desirable.

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