Legislative hearings function as displays of raw power, not deliberation.

Evidence

But it wasn’t what the speakers said that mattered, but what they represented. They represented power, enough power to defeat anyone in the state—even a Mayor of New York City—and to defeat him easily. As the perceptive Schanberg was to put it, “The hearing was a pro forma charade. It was like the Green Bay Packers playing a high-school team. Lindsay never had a chance.” Moses didn’t stay around to review the parade of power brokers he had marshaled—and there was no reason why he should. Lindsay should have—he might have lost face, but he would have learned something—he would have learned the identity of those “power brokers” he was always talking about. His foe had lined them up and paraded them before him. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 4571

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Modern theories expose legislatures as not purely public-interested bodies. — Richard A. Posner, What Has Pragmatism to Offer Law?, 107; Public hearings are preference tallies, not meaningful deliberation; Hearing transcripts rarely influence committee bill decisions — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 665 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Modern theories expose legislatures as not purely public-interested bodies. #expands (0.75) — Richard A. Posner, What Has Pragmatism to Offer Law?, 107