What if congress voted in secret?

We might expect fewer straight party line votes, but it would also open the door for direct corruption. Well heeled special interests could pay for a certain vote to be taken directing vast Federal resources to themselves for their enrichment, and every legislator could claim to have voted Nay. It doesn’t fit at all with the democratic process, which relies on openness and transparency.

Government is barely accountable under current situation, Secret votes would eliminate all accountability!

One of the rare occurrences where I agree with @ETpro . To make matters worse we would be left with the politicians word for what he is doing in congress. We wouldn’t know how he voted. In other words, there would be no track record to verify. I smell corruption of the worse kind (not that there’s a good kind).

If Congress voted in secret, this country probably would no longer exist.

Don’t you mean openly voted in secret.

@wundayatta Oh it would exist, it would just be a banana republic owned by a small handful of oligarchs who were, when secret voting was instituted, billionaires with the means and desire to mount a hostile takeover.

No, @ETpro, I don’t think people would stand for that. There’d be a revolution. We’d have a different country. One where our elected officials had to do their work in public.

@wundayatta Thanks to the Second Amendment.

@ETpro That’s old-fashioned. These days it’s all torches and pitchforks. If Battleship Potemkin is any indicator, we’ll all become able to deflect bullets with our patriotic fervor and manly Russian pecs.

@Nullo Sorry to disappoint you, but Battleship Potemkin is not any indicator. Tha Matrix shows us a world where all the laws of physics are suspended for those with “skills”. They can walk upside down on the ceiling, fly, move faster than sound. And yet a single bullet kills them. Oh please!

What makes you think they’re not already doing that? All the backroom deals, committee meetings, etc., then they go out there and put on a dog and pony show for the C-SPAN cameras. The entire system is broken.

It might get different results because the people voting wouldn’t have to keep appearances up as much, but I don’t really think it would make that big a difference, honestly.