WomenMatter: Facts and Trade-Offs takes a close look at what government does --and can do -- to affect our personal lives. This show, Congress Watch: Compromise or Backbone? continues to track the promises that parties and politicians make, and the trade-offs that they face when they vote to turn those promises into policies.

Dr Bauer talks with Thomas A. Mann about the pressures that congressional leaders feel both to produce for their constituents and to create meaningful legislation for a diverse nation. The majority party needs some minority votes and the minority party has to decide what to do about a major philosophical split between the president and the majority party.

Click here for a look at how the senators running for the presidency in 2008 are creating policy pressures in the Congress. What is the strategy behind Democrats choosing votes that are certain to be vetoed rather than forcing the Republicans to filibuster and shut the government down?

Thomas E. Mann is W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution and author of numerous books and articles on American government, including "The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track".

Congress Watch: Compromise or Backbone? is part of our ongoing focus, Congress Watch, featuring Dr. Mann. In this series along with our issues updates, WomenMatter Facts & Trade-Offs analyzes how Congress carries out its Constitutional responsibilities -- and how each of us can use www.WomenMatter.com to keep our representatives accountable to the standards we choose.







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