Adjective to describe the intentionally slow U.S. legislative process

Question

In the U.S., it's often said that the legislative process is intentionally slow. It was designed that way so that laws could be changed, but not capriciously. Changing a law is supposed to require significant thought, deliberation, and justification.

I'd like an alternative for "intentionally slow." I'm looking for one adjective (a short phrase would be acceptable, but not preferred) to express two important aspects:

1. The slowness of the process

2. The intentionality of this design (the slowness is a feature, not a bug)

In case it helps, when I think about the first aspect, I think about viscosity. The normal use of viscosity has nothing to do with legislation. However, I think it's useful to think of the legislative process as neither an immutable solid nor a watery liquid, but rather a very viscous liquid. The shape of the law can and does change, but only very slowly.

Therefore the word(s) I'm looking for connotes something like "intentional viscosity." It should be easily understandable and would ideally require no explanation. I'd also like something that is more frequently used in the context of politics than the given example of "viscosity."

Does such a word/phrase exist?

Answer 1

Perhaps deliberate:

adj.

1. carefully weighed or considered; studied; intentional.
2. characterized by deliberation or cautious consideration; careful or slow in deciding.
3. leisurely and steady in movement or action; slow and even; unhurried: moving with a deliberate step.

There's also the overused (in my opinion) Kafkaesque. It's close, although not exactly what you're after, since it usually implies a frustrating, perhaps unnecessary complexity as well, rather than an intentional well-behaved slowness:

adj.

2. marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity.

I would go with deliberate, or a related word like careful, cautious, painstaking, etc.

---

There is also gradual, I suppose, although it feels strange to me here for reasons that I can't explain. You may have some success with it or one of its synonyms, though:

adj.

1. taking place, changing, moving, etc., by small degrees or little by little.

^{(All definitions from Dictionary.com)}

Answer 2

Consider bureaucratic. This word tends to carry connotations of intentional or even excessive slowness.

[...]

3. excessive multiplication of, and concentration of power in, administrative bureaus or administrators.

4. administration characterized by excessive red tape and routine.

Answer 3

Throttled (adj.) or throttling, from the verb throttle. — M-W

verb 3. to not allow (something) to grow or develop

Throttle — Wiktionary

verb (transitive) 1. To cut back on the speed of (an engine, person, organization, network connection, etc.).

Example usages:

1. Throttled data transfer — TechTarget

   Data transfer throttling is often used to prevent spam or bulk e-mail transmission through a network server. If the number of e-mail messages sent through the server is limited to, say, one destination address per minute, it is impossible for that server to effectively operate as a medium for the transmission of spam because it would take weeks or months to transfer the number of messages necessary for effective spam marketing

2. Bandwidth throttling — Wikipedia

   Bandwidth throttling is the intentional slowing of Internet service by an Internet service provider. It is a reactive measure employed in communication networks to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion.

3. Throttling process (computing) — Wikipedia

   In software, a throttling process, or a throttling controller as it is sometimes called, is a process responsible for regulating the rate at which application processing is conducted, either statically or dynamically.

Answer 4

I would think that 'glacial', with the addition of 'pace' at the end, sums it up nicely.

glacial adj. Extremely slow, like the movement of a glacier: Work proceeded at a glacial pace.

Source: The Free Dictionary

glacial pace 'At a glacial pace' means 'very slowly'.

Source: Urban Dictionary

Answer 5

I would go with conservative. If memory serves, I've read in political science textbooks and political commentary the American political system described as conservative, and not in the sense of a political ideology.

Dictionary.com

having the power or tendency to conserve or preserve.

Merriam-Webster.com

tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions

But I would caution that use of this word might lead careless readers to think you were stating that the American political system was inherently conservative as a political philosophy. If you do decide to use this word I would explain that.

Answer 6

How about self-braking or self-limiting?

Self-braking is an obvious combination of self- and braking, where braking means to slow or stop by means of, or as if by means of, a brake. [Dictionary.com]

Needless to say, the U.S. political system (including its associated legislative processes) embodies an almost innumerable number of "brakes" stemming from the principles upon which it was designed: checks and balances and separation of powers [Encyclopedia Brittanica].

With regard to the OP's specific requirements:

• Self-braking is one word.

• The self- part of self-braking indicates that braking is an intentional design element of the system, including its legislative processes.

• Self-braking is easily understandable, i.e., requires no explanation.

• Self-braking has an obvious meaning in politics in that it is rooted in the bedrock political principles of checks and balances and separation of powers.

Addendum: I'd like to add another possibility: self-limiting. The logic behind it is the same as for self-braking, but it seems a little more natural. It also has the advantage that it plays off of another bedrock principle underpinning the U.S. system: the concept of limited government. Self-limiting has political currency.

Answer 7

I think tortuous may be a fitting adjective:

tor·tu·ous ˈtôrCH(o͞o)əs/ adjective

• full of twists and turns. "the route is remote and tortuous"

synonyms: twisting, twisty, twisting and turning, winding, windy, zigzag, sinuous, snaky, serpentine, meandering, circuitous

• excessively lengthy and complex. "a tortuous argument"

synonyms: convoluted, complicated, complex, labyrinthine, tangled, tangly, involved, confusing, difficult to follow, involuted, lengthy, overlong, circuitous

Plus, it has the benefit of having connotations of "torture", which seems a fitting description of the American legislative process. :-)

Answer 8

I suggest resistant. From Merriam Webster:

: opposed to something : wanting to prevent something from happening

: not affected or harmed by something

Answer 9

I see that filibuster has been commented upon but hasn't yet, til now, been offered as an answer to the OP. Here goes:

Filibuster: the use of extreme dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly (M-W)

The movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, stared James Stewart in one of his most memorable roles. As a newly elected US Senator, Mr. Smith finds himself taking the floor of the Senate in an attempt to prevent the passage of a Bill. His tactic of staying on his feet and addressing the House for almost 24-hours is an example of a filibuster . (Wikipedia)

Answer 10

I would say that it's called two things, each of which describes the U.S. legislative process and embodies slowness and the intentionality of slowness, i.e., designed intentional slowness. These terms are checks and balances and separation of powers.

From Encyclopedia Brittanica:

checks and balances: principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power. Checks and balances are applied primarily in constitutional governments. They are of fundamental importance in tripartite governments, such as that of the United States, which separate powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

separation of powers: division of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government among separate and independent bodies. Such a separation, it has been argued, limits the possibility of arbitrary excesses by government, since the sanction of all three branches is required for the making, executing, and administering of laws.

Answer 11

How about "the regulatory process" or "a Rube Goldberg procedure"? On Rube Goldberg as related to political procedures, see this link.

Here is Merriam-Webster's definition of Rube Goldberg:

accomplishing by complex means what seemingly could be done simply ; also: characterized by such complex means

Answer 12

"The mills of God..." This is often used to refer to a line first attributed to Plutarch, and featured by many others. The neatest use, to my mind, is this one from Longfellow:

Though the mills of God grind slowly; Yet they grind exceeding small;

Brits (and Germans, too) use this when talking about the deliberate snail's pace feel when dealing with bureaucrats.