Congress Synthesis Essay

Recently many people believe that congress has not been working efficiently. Over the past couple of years the amount of laws passed has been at an all time low, and Congress has been receiving mostly negative reviews from the American public. In his book Unlock Congress, Michael Golden discusses many of the problems that have been negatively affecting Congress. Golden then offers many different solutions that he believes will help Congress work more smoothly.

In this editorial, Michael Dobie expresses his stance on our modern day Congress. The main issue that he has with it is that Congress is unable to complete anything at all. He believes that so many of our issues, such as the Zika virus, gun control, our national spending, aren’t being acted on because both parties of Congress are unwilling to work together to develop a strategy to any of these issues. He also shares the statistic that 83% of Americans are not satisfied with the way that Congress is currently functioning. In short, Dobie concludes that Congress, as a group, does not perform their duties as they should be and due to that, are unable to find solutions to our major problems, which we are currently dealing with.

The inter workings of Congress have been studied extensively by Richard Fenno and David R. Mayhew. Mayhew’s study of Congress took place in Washington, while Richard Fenno conducted his research by following politicians within their congressional district. Mayhew attributes three primary goals to congressmen- getting reelected, achieving influence within Congress and making “good Policy”. Fenno also attributes three basic goals, having influence inside the House than other congressmen. Second, helping their constituents and thereby insuring their reelection, and lastly helping make good policy. The purpose of this paper is to research a member of Congress and to make a direct connection between his activity in Washington and his home district. The paper will answer whether the congressmen is a delegate or trustee. Are the actions a pursuit for reelection? Are the committee assignments a path for movement within the House or outside? What legislation has he/she sponsored or co-sponsored and does it directly reflect his/her districts political view. And finally, do major industries and interest groups within his/she district affect the way he/she votes.

The increasing importance of big money in campaigns has also heightened the polarization within Congress. Candidates have been forced to develop strong views on the most polarizing topics, such as abortion, LGBT rights, and gun regulations. If a candidate does not express strong views on these topics, wealthy Republican or Democratic super PACs are not likely to back them. This has caused more gridlock in Congress as many members are not willing to compromise on these important topics (La Raja

This can mainly be attributed to the continued attempts to appease the more radical sects of each party, and the bicameral legislatures in many states being controlled by a single party. The consequences of this are that it the becomes more difficult for legislatures to effectively govern because the gap between the political ideologies of the candidates from each party continues to increase, where there was once somewhat of an overlap. This also causes the governance strategies of the chief executive in each state to change. In a state that is controlled by a differing party, the governor must find other methods in which to have his policy implemented, whereas in a state in which the governor is of the same party as the controlling party the governor would be able to more directly push for his policy goals to be implemented. The polarization of political parties in the United States as whole, as well as in state legislatures, is a trend that has negative effects on the efficiency and effectiveness of state governments.

For Centuries in the United States, Congressional gridlock has been one of the main difficulties of prosperity and progress. The government of the United States has had the opportunity to make the life of its citizens better but due to the epidemic of gridlock a lot of the issues we face are unresolved or ignored. Going forward I will give causes, solutions and some examples of the effect that it has had on the democracy of the United States as well as examples of congressional gridlock.

Today our Congress isn’t working on any major problems in the U.S. The U.S. Congress is weak, which it shouldn’t be, it should be strong, and be able to make decisions, but from it being weak, it results in Congress being unable to make major decisions. Of course the are some who the the very opposite or differently of one’s thinking. Many would say that Congress is strong, because Congress is united. This would be true on some very rare occasions.

Similarly, activity in legislation is usually characterized by the ability to compromise between Democrats and Republicans. Sometimes, the agenda of both parties are within agreeable parameters to jumpstart and finish legislation. However, one crucial factor which can inhibit or advance legislation is the participation of the representatives in the House or the Senate during legislative deliberation. Logically, when both parties decide to work with some intent at compromise, legislation is possible. Despite this, there are times when members try to hinder the passage of legislation because of their stance on the topic. It is critical to focus on legislation after the committee proposal or when it is close to being approved one or both chambers. Because when a bill is effectively stopped, all the

Otto von Bismarck once said, “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.” The arduous process that a bill undergoes in order to become a law may seem grueling and pointless; however, the processes high caliber of difficulty allows for the extreme prestige and exclusivity of bills that are passed. Because the process is so exhausting, and filibusters, subsequently requiring a super-majority vote to pass a bill, have always been such a threat in Congress, historically, bills that attempt to reform sensitive issues have not fared well in the legislative branch. However, when Congress does pass controversial laws, it then also faces the task of effectively enforcing them. But, when the process is carried out to

The political climate today is increasingly becoming more turbulent as Republicans and Democrats volley for superiority in Washington. The two parties are becoming more polarized by the hour, and this is affecting the ability of the government to move forward and pass legislation and continue to improve America. The Senate is in a state of gridlock on some of the most important issues to the people of the United States to date, and yet the senators which the people elected are instead caught up in fighting the people on the other side of the aisle. They should be listening to what their constituents need and want. Today Republican senators are using filibusters, scare tactics, and even entire news networks

WASHINGTON, D.C - With this current session of congress wrapping up we look back at things that happened during this session and things that didn't happen. During this session over 50 pieces of legislation was submitted. Of those 50+ bills submitted only 4 have been signed into law so far. While there are still some bills awaiting senate vote results this number doesn't look like it’s going to go up any time during this session. Sure many of the bills were not the best bills and should have never been submitted in the first place but there are also some great pieces of legislation that were shot down during this session. I do agree mostly on how the House voted but if we turn our attention to the senate we see a sieve with mesh so fine it will not even

In recent years, congress has been incredibly adversarial to the president, providing that it is not controlled by members of his (the president) political party affiliation. The main source of this weakness is that congress and its members are defined by partisanship, they value tribalism, and are rewarded based on their loyalty to their party and antagonism to their opposition. This makes congress a breeding ground for viscous opposition where any room for compromise between parties is villainized, because of this the president can only govern efficiently when his party controls a significant percentage of both or either house. The major cause of this new political culture is highly contested, some say it is because political parties have come to gain too much power by way of their influence and ability to build campaign war chests. Others believe that political parties are too weak, citing that special interests and third party intervention has made members of either party less responsive to their leaders causing them to govern based on their fiscal supporters, which, would not allow compromise between two single groups. Regardless, it is very appropriate to cast the blame of a dysfunctional congress upon party politics. To illustrate this relationship between the executive and partisan congress we will look at the presidency of Barack Obama,

Throughout history, there have been many factors that seem to have influenced the operations of Congress. Some of these factors have been the committee system, seniority, and political parties. These are only a few of the factors that actually have an influence on Congress’s decisions of certain operations.

The Congress of the 1950s, known as the “textbook Congress”, is quite different than the Congress of the today. Our Author notes six legislative folkways that were noted by political scientist

Understanding the functions of the Senate and Congress is integral in understanding American politics. The United States government is comprised of three different branches; the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. This essay will provide an overview of the U.S. Congress and addressed the differences between the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. This essay will analyze the powers granted to the U.S. Congress and explain the roles and functions of the House of Representatives and the Senate. This essay will also explain the organization of political parties as well as leadership roles in the house.