THE STATECRAFT BLUEPRINT
Fewer Laws. More Pages.
As Congress passes less legislation, each law has grown far longer. Bills have become
simultaneously rarer and harder to read.
CONGRESS
LAWS ENACTED
AVG. PAGES PER LAW
80th
1947–48
906
2.5
89th
1965–66
810
3.6
95th
1977–78
634
8.5
103rd
1993–94
465
16.2
111th
2009–10
383
19.9
115th
2017–18
442
17.8
116th
2019–20
344
24.5
117th
2021–22
362
24.1
118th*
2023–24
274
17.7
The decline in laws is sometimes read as leaner, simpler government. The page counts show otherwise:
roughly 7–10× longer than in the late 1940s. Whatever that is, it is not simpler.
* 118th pages compiled from GPO GovInfo (Brookings figures pending); that Congress was unusually unproductive. Raw page
counts understate the trend — a modern page of statute holds an estimated 30–40% more text than one printed before 1983.
Source: Brookings Institution, Vital Statistics on Congress, Table 6-4 (Statutes at Large pages); 118th from GPO GovInfo · The Statecraft Blueprint