Norman Ornstein Explained

Norman Ornstein should not be confused with Norman Orenstein.

Norman Ornstein
Birth Name:Norman Jay Ornstein
Birth Date:14 October 1948
Birth Place:Grand Rapids, Minnesota, U.S.
Alma Mater:University of Minnesota (B.A.)
University of Michigan (Ph.D.)
Occupation:Political scientist, author, scholar
Spouse:Judith L. Harris
Children:2
Party:Democratic

Norman Jay Ornstein (; born October 14, 1948) is an American political scientist and an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington, D.C., conservative think tank. He is the co-author (along with Thomas E. Mann) of It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism.

Biography

Norman Jay Ornstein was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota[1] on October 14, 1948.[2] His father was a traveling salesman, and the family spent much of Norman's childhood in Canada. He was a child prodigy, graduated from high school when he was fourteen and from college when he was eighteen.[3] He received his BA from the University of Minnesota,[4] and subsequently, received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan in 1974.[5] By the mid-1970s, he had become a professor of political science at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and was establishing a reputation as an expert on the United States Congress.[6]

Ornstein studies American politics and is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post and many magazines, such as The Atlantic and the National Journal.[7] He wrote a weekly column for Roll Call from 1993 until April 10, 2013, and was co-director, along with Thomas E. Mann, of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project. He helped draft key parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, also known as the McCain-Feingold Act.[8] Ornstein is a registered Democrat,[9] but considers himself a centrist, and has voted for individuals from both parties.[10]

Ornstein is a member of the advisory board of the Future of American Democracy Foundation,[11] a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation in partnership with Yale University Press and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies "dedicated to research and education aimed at renewing and sustaining the historic vision of American democracy".[12] He also served on the advisory board of the Institute for Law and Politics at the University of Minnesota Law School.[13] Ornstein is also a member of the board of directors of the nonpartisan election reform group Why Tuesday?. He is on the advisory council of the cross-partisan grassroots campaign Represent.Us,[14] where he served as a consultant in the crafting of the American Anti-Corruption Act.

Foreign Policy named Ornstein, along with Thomas E. Mann, one of its 2012 Top 100 Global Thinkers "for diagnosing America's political dysfunction".[15]

As of 2013, Ornstein has become known for "blistering critiques of Congress", which he has been following for the past three decades.[7] [16]

He opposed President Donald Trump.[17] He also criticized the Electoral College, saying that the more presidents are elected without the popular vote, "the more you get the sense that voters don’t have a say in the choice of their leaders".[18]

Personal

Ornstein is married to Judith L. Harris, a litigation attorney specializing in regulatory matters. He is a long-time friend of former U.S. Senator and comedian Al Franken.[10] A fictional version of Ornstein appears in Franken's political spoof novel, Why Not Me?, as the campaign manager for Franken's improbable presidential run.[19]

Ornstein and his wife, as well as their younger son Danny, established the Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation in honor of the couple's eldest son, who died in 2015 at age 34 from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.[20] [21] [22]

Works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Norm Ornstein . St. Louis Park Historical Society . 2017 . July 23, 2017.
  2. Web site: Ornstein, Norman J. . . Name Authority File . April 2, 2015 . July 23, 2017.
  3. Steven Waldman. "The King of Quotes." Washington Monthly, December 1986, p. 35.
  4. Web site: Pitt's Honors College to Host Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein . November 17, 2008 . . July 23, 2017.
  5. Steve Goldberg. "Dr. Quote Can Be a Reporter's Best Friend." Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, December 5, 1986, p. A-14.
  6. Thomas Southwick. "O'Neill's Role as House Speaker." Nashua (NH) Telegraph, January 3, 1977, p. 14.
  7. Web site: Coleman. Michael. Scholar Pins Congressional Dysfunction Squarely on GOP. Washington Diplomat. December 21, 2013. November 29, 2013.
  8. Web site: Court Upholds 'Soft Money' Ban . Richey . Warren . . December 11, 2003 . March 11, 2011.
  9. Web site: Thomas E. . Mann . Norman J. . Ornstein . How the Republicans Broke Congress . https://web.archive.org/web/20171203045741/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/opinion/sunday/republicans-broke-congress-politics.html. December 3, 2017. . December 2, 2017 . December 3, 2017.
  10. Ornstein. Norman. My Neocon Problem. May 25, 2011. The New Republic. September 10, 2007.
  11. http://thefutureofamericandemocracyfoundation.org/index.html Future of American Democracy Foundation website
  12. http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/SeriesPage.asp?series=127 The Future of American Democracy Series
  13. Web site: Advisory Board . https://web.archive.org/web/20120309051014/http://politics.law.umn.edu/advisory-board.html . March 9, 2012 . . July 23, 2017.
  14. Web site: About Us: Advisory Council . . 2017 . July 23, 2017.
  15. Web site: The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers . 26 November 2012 . Foreign Policy . November 28, 2012 . November 30, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121130221322/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/26/the_fp_100_global_thinkers?page=0,33 . live .
  16. News: The Dying Art of Legislating. The New York Times. March 1, 2014. March 2, 2014.
  17. Web site: Katherine . Brewer . What Happens After Trump? . . October 12, 2017 . October 29, 2018.
  18. News: Astor . Maggie . The Electoral College Is Close. The Popular Vote Isn't. . 7 November 2020 . The New York Times . 6 November 2020.
  19. Web site: O'Rourke . P. J. . If Elected, I Will Not Serve for Long (Book review) . The New York Times . February 14, 1999 . December 3, 2017.
  20. Web site: The Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation. MHO Foundation . en . 2020-04-14 .
  21. Norman J. Ornstein, How to Help Save the Mentally Ill From Themselves, New York Times (November 17, 2015).
  22. Rosa Caragena, The Deeply Personal Story Behind the PBS Documentary "The Definition of Insanity": Norm Ornstein and Judy Harris have their own tragic connection to mental illness., Washingtonian (April 30, 2020).

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