Hollywood Logrolling

The hit series “ House of Cards” on Netflix follows House Majority Whip Frank Underwood in his pursuit of power and vengeance. While many parts of the film are admittedly dramatized (such as murdering of other congressmen and last-second, single-vote losses) this interview with the show’s female lead, Robin Wright, claims that she has talked to actual politicians claiming some of the show may have a base in reality.

A specific instance in the show that relates to our class is the idea of logrolling. Frank has been charged with getting a new education bill to pass. The way that Frank goes about doing this is by meeting other representatives and entering into an exchange like that we talked about in which reps trade their support for bills. Because of Frank offering up his support for other bills supported by other representative, the education bill gets passed within 100 days of its announcement. While we do not get an in depth look at the other bills to be passed and their costs and benefits, we cannot say whether this is a case in which cost outweighs benefit and ultimately harms society. What we can see is the way in which logrolling helps get things done and bills passed. If this is actually the way things get done, as Wright’s contacts would suggest, we do have to be vigilant of this possible harm to society due to logrolling politicians.