How acronym bills took over Washington to mark the 21st century and the rise of the internet age
The technique was rare at first, with just three acronyms used across the ’70s and ’80s, according to researcher Christopher Sagers. But their use exploded in the 2000s, with roughly 10% of bills and resolutions introduced between 2020 and 2022 bearing such titles, up from 1 in 20 in the previous decade, and under 1% in the late 1990s, an Atlantic analysis found. Back in the 1970s, there were very few places where the average person would even see a bill, he said, as the average legislator used mail to communicate with the public and made few appearances on television networks.
- ▪The technique was rare at first, with just three acronyms used across the ’70s and ’80s, according to researcher Christopher Sagers.
- ▪But their use exploded in the 2000s, with roughly 10% of bills and resolutions introduced between 2020 and 2022 bearing such titles, up from 1 in 20 in the previous decade, and under 1% in the late 1990s, an Atlantic analysis found.
- ▪Back in the 1970s, there were very few places where the average person would even see a bill, he said, as the average legislator used mail to communicate with the public and made few appearances on television networks.
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The surge of acronym bills in Congress is a tell for American politics, marking the rise of the internet age, where citizens and lawmakers alike rely on the punchy over the deliberative.AID, or the Act for International Development, is believed to be the first piece of legislation titled with a snappy acronym headline, back in 1950. The technique was rare at first, with just three acronyms used across the ’70s and ’80s, according to researcher Christopher Sagers. But their use exploded in the 2000s, with roughly 10% of bills and resolutions introduced between 2020 and 2022 bearing such titles, up from 1 in 20 in the previous decade, and under 1% in the late 1990s, an Atlantic analysis found.
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