Why a Congress and Not a Parliament

Donald Ritchie will discuss why the United States has a Congress and not a parliament.

Donald A. Ritchie is the historian of the U.S. Senate where he conducts oral history interviews, prepares historical documents for publication--such as the previously closed hearings conducted by Joseph McCarthy--and provides research and reference services for senators, scholars, and the media. He has served as president of the Oral History Association and on the councils of the American Historical Association and the International Oral History Association. He has conducted many oral history workshops, and for ten years, he edited the Twayne oral history series. His books include Press Gallery: Congress and the Washington Correspondents (which won the Richard Leopold Prize from the Organization of American Historians), Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corp Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932 and most recently, The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction.

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