Buying Favor: Why Congress Depends on Funding From Special Interests

Today, career politicians are constantly looking for what will aid them in getting reelected. They become more loyal to their campaign fund contributers than to the people whom they represent. This increases the likelihood of having corrupted politicians in office, as they use the government as a vehicle to further their own career (Kurfirst, 1996, p. 123, 129). George Will, a well-known political journalist, was quoted as saying “[The] worst feature of professionalism in politics is that it obliterates the proper distance between the representatives and the represented” (Kurfirst, 1996, p. 125). Even James Madison agreed that legislators were meant to represent the people, not hold office as a career. In The Federalist No. 57 (1788), he wrote, “From this change of men must proceed a change of opinions; and from a change of opinions, a change of measures.” The lack of new faces in Congress today symbolizes that the American legislative branch is straying from its intended purpose.

Congress is a complex lawmaking function that runs the country. In other words is the legislative body of our country made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Difficulties that are involved by the representation function have to do with Congressmen wanting to be reelected, opposition between the two parties, and the lobbying that takes place. These three difficulties are what causes the conflict with the lawmaking function of Congress.

The danger of politics lead to the principal factor of checks and balances, within the government and Founding Fathers, throughout the “most crucial and consequential [decade] in American history” (27). Politics were also what lead to the quarrel between John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.

Mayhew examines the congressmen activity in Washington that is useful to engage in for the purpose of reelection. The first activity is advertising, defined by making a conscious effort to disseminate one’s name in a positive light among constituents to gain a favorable view. They emphasize personal qualities such as:

In the past century, people continued to express an increasingly discontent view of Congress especially true when one looks back before the Clinton Impeachment debacle As the size of the nation and the number of congressman have grown, the congress has come under attack by both public influences and congressman themselves. Yet looking at one congressman's relationship with his or her constituents, it would be hard to believe that this is the branch of government that has come under suspect. In "If Ralph Nader says congress is 'The broken branch,' how come we love our congressman so much?" author Richard F. Fenno, Jr., provides insight into this view and why, through congress coming under fire, constituents still feel positively about

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.

Monetary value has had significant influence in determining the outcome of elections. The input and strategies put forward by different forces determine the organizational scheme and the ability to grab most of the seats. Although money has been linked to corrupt deals in many countries, with leaders amassing power through corrupt and underhand methods, especially in Africa, this is not the case of the same monetary influence witnessed in America. The conventions of the U.S.A raise a lot of money in preparation for campaigns and elections to constitute a good number of representatives. The paper, therefore, looks at the effect of money in the recently concluded elections of the Congress, giving a deeper view of the 113th and 114th Congress election of the two major conventions.

One of the issues I am most passionate about is that of money in American politics. Increasing campaign costs, coupled with a decrease in the number of donors contributing to those campaigns, is a disturbing trend which has caused many to feel the need to question the state of our democracy—myself included. The problem of mainstream political corruption and legalized bribery is one that I was made aware of three years ago, and has since become one of the things keeping me up at night most often.

Congress plays an important role in ruling the United States. Congress job is to represent the citizens of the U.S. by sharing the power with the current president of the United States of America and Supreme Court. Congress is one of the three branches of the United States. One of the main Congress jobs is to make law, basically, America without the Congress is pretty much without no laws. The Congress today is suffering from partisanship, parties are not working together as one hand causing it to fail its job. The Republicans are now controlling the Senate ( both houses ) when they earned it in 2014 elections making the majority Republican in Congress. Some people believe that the Congress is a broken branch and how it is failing America and we need to get it back on track. While the other believe that the Congress is fine and doing it job. I believe that the Congress is a broken branch since the United States of American government has a lot of partisanship.

Within the past few years, the United States has become increasingly divided. Not only is this divide becoming more and more prevalent, but both legislators and civilians are also becoming more intractable. Many leaders in the Congress, in the Senate, and even in the White House are unwilling to work with leaders of different political parties simply because they do not want to seem as if they are faltering in their beliefs of their party’s ideals. Legislators choose to represent the interests of those who funded their campaign instead of lobbying for the best interest of their constituents. When lawmakers represent billionaires instead of average people, they become out of touch and the government becomes less “for the people by the people” and more “for the one percent by the one percent.”

Congressional members are influenced by their subjective experiences as well as their intellectual and psychological dispositions in dealing with the variability of global politics. Foreign policies, such as declarations of war, are conceived with the intent to defend congressional interests to protect the powers of Congress. Senators and Representatives frequently determine their stance on an issue by determining how it would impact their appointment to higher office, chances for reelection, and improving their influence and legacy. Once Members of Congress have established their interests, the United States Constitution provides the framework of how Congressional interests are conveyed into laws. The lawmaking process, however, may be a tedious

Then-current president Theodore Roosevelt was extremely active on the campaign trail, promoting Taft’s name with great fervor. Roosevelt and Taft’s alliance is one of the earliest and most significant examples of politicians working together to reach individual goals. Taft would benefit by receiving the Presidential Office, and Roosevelt would have his policies continue through the new administration. Over the course of American History, there has been a pattern of politicians collaborating for a somewhat secretive or deceitful goal. Throughout the entire century following Progressive Era reforms, corruption has found its footing again in American Politics; the efforts towards reducing corporate involvement or individual meddling in the political process have not accomplished their goal. Corruption continued, sometimes by the individuals who spoke so vehemently against practices of that nature. This essay will explore the triumphs and failures of Progressive Reform, using Roosevelt’s behaviour during Taft’s presidency

Congress is thought to be too slow on pressing matters to the average citizen at times, such as campaign finance, abortions and other highly controversial topics. Although being so important to the U.S government, congress is still thought to be the most untrustworthy and incompetent branch according to the

I believe congress may have this problem. It is apparent they have no trust in one another. They seem to always disagree without resolving the debate. Never speaking the true about issues due to fear of conflict. Never holding one another accountable. And they only have their agendas in mind not

The most common activity for interest groups is lobbying. But that is not the only activity they are involved in, they are also involved in activities like forming Political Action Committees (PAC’s) and election activities. Lobbying is done by groups to influence the government decisions on policies. In the United States, almost all of the interest groups employ lobbyists to influence policy making. Lobbyists work to try to persuade governmental officials. Some ways they achieve their goals are persuasion, economic leverage, and disruption. The most important rule to lobbying is the entrance. You must be able to influence an official. The more spread out the interest groups money is throughout the country, the more likely it is that the legislators will listen to the concerns of that group.