8 Things Congress Actually Did Last Year By Alisa Chang: An Analysis

This written report is appertaining to the book How Congress Works and Why You Should Care, written by Lee H. Hamilton. This book is published by Indiana University Press in Bloomington, IL, it was copyrighted in 2004 by the publisher.

Is congress a dysfunctional institution? Columnist Ezra Klein contends that institutional deadlock and partisan rancor have paralyzed congress, causing it to lose power to the president and the bureaucracy. Former Massachusetts Senator Mo Cowan describes he has to come view the work of congress along with fellow members after fulfilling the remainder of John Kerry’s term upon the nomination of Governor Deval Patrick.

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.

Prompt: Some argue that Congress is broken, while others argue the status quo should be maintained. In your opinion, to what degree is Congress broken and in what ways could it be improved?

Congress is not doing their job, and the Americans of United States are disapproving on how Congress is proceeding to do their duties. Theoretically, this is not really a new issue in Congress; they have had multiple fights and delays on bills throughout the years. An example would be the House of Representatives proposing fewer bills throughout this past decade. This is one of many issues that Congress had been doing behind the people of United States of America. While Congress members are slacking to do anything productive, we the “Americans” are slipping this situation right by our eyes. Congress needs to be situated and organized; and we the people, cannot afford any slackers in the Legislative Branch.

“The Bosses of the Senate” Political cartoons have been used for centuries to display the various perspectives and views on major events or topics of discussion in the society. In various earlier eras of our history, political cartoons were aimed towards the general public to bring much-needed attention to various situations and proceedings. Cartoons could be viewed by anyone and everyone despite literacy, therefore they quickly gained popularity. “The Bosses of the Senate” was one of such political cartoons that depicted the direct relation between monopolies and the Senate during the Gilded Age to the general public. The Gilded Age was a time of modern industrialization, with national transportation, communication, and other innovative benefits

Nelson Polsby was the author of Congress-Bashing for Beginners. Congress has played a huge role in the history of our nation. Congress has been perceived differently by different people since it was founded way back ago. It has resulted in much agreement, as well as arguments about how our nation is run. Posby was influenced by several different books and writings, while in the midst of his own book; consequently, these books had information regarding the congress of this country. Over the course of time, America has put more strength in presidency and higher powers, instead of improving our nations congress. Although congress has attained a negative image by many, the vast majority of citizens lack knowledge on what the congress actually does

On the floor of the Senate on January19-27, 1830, Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts argued that the states should be considered as one nation (Webster, 178). In response, Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina argued that the states should be able to interpose and or nullify the federal government and its laws when they thought necessary to protect their citizens’ rights. (Hayne, 166). Overall, Senator Webster’s argument was better because he pointed out that although join the federal government may seem risky, it overall goal is to ensure a stronger nation for the people.

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 1867, congress overturned president Jackson’s vetoed bills and formed three significant laws known as Congressional reconstruction: the Command of the Army Act, the Military Reconstruction Act, and the Tenure of Office Act. The Military Reconstruction Act used federal troops to reorganize governments in the south and to enforce civil rights for blacks. It also abolished all new governments within the rebel states under president Jackson’s reconstruction policies. Congress regained military control of ten out of the eleven previous rebel states. The Military Reconstruction Act ordered each state to create a new constitution that guaranteed the right for all men to vote; no matter of race, social status or if they owned property.

Even with the clear evidence that Congress has had more than just a disappointing session, it was still able to pass some very influential policies.

On January 20, 2018, the United States government shutdown when the Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act of 2018, a bill to fund the federal government, failed to pass Congress. The reason for this was due to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on a proposed extension to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy incorporated into the bill. In response, Democrats, those who supported the DACA extension, led a filibuster in the Senate that effectively halted any legislative progress on the bill. Despite Republicans enacting a a cloture vote, a vote to forcibly end a filibuster, it failed to garner the sixty votes necessary to end the filibuster. As a result, the government shutdown will furlough thousands of federal

Gridlock refers to a point in which there is no progress in the debates, motions or bills being passed in parliament simply because the members of congress cannot agree to a decision (Binder, 2003, p.4). The congress has two houses that are usually in conflict with each other. They are the Senate and the House of Representatives. Within the congress, there are also parties that are influential in the passing of motions and bills. Parliamentary parties refer to the differences among the members of congress as defined by the political party with which they are affiliated. Gridlock in congress is contributed by two issues; the fact that there are two different parties competing to outshine each

No, the general public does not have the information or willingness to evaluate congressional effectiveness. There is enough information available on congress to make evaluations. However, the general public does not know most of this information. The fact that only 40 percent of people know who both of their senators are is proof of this. In addition, most people aren’t willing to carefully evaluate Congress. It’s much easier to say Congress is doing a bad job and stop thinking about it. When it comes to evaluating their own representatives, most people are satisfied with their representatives and upset with congress. This is because their representative is the one who represents their interest. This means if their representative does a satisfactory

Congress has helped develop the Presidency as we know it today. This is because Congress argues over proposals and legislation proposed by the President. They are a major determent in whether bills turn into laws. But it’s not easy. One reason for this is because there are many powerful groups out there who argue about what should be discussed such as air pollution with the EPA or jobs.