Congress Dysfunctions

One of the main reasons why congress is out of touch with the people who elect them is down

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.

The United States Congress is made up of two chambers the House of Representatives and the Senate. All together there are 485 congress people that come together to alter current laws or suggest new legislation. They are required to meet once per year on January 3 by the US Constitution, but they come together much more often than that. Their sessions can last months if the topic is very controversial. US legislation is slow and at times painfully inefficient. In order to make new legislation, the Congress has to go through a long process of getting a majority in the house as well as the Senate, and even after all that the President still has to approve of the bill in question. An example of this is the Healthcare bill that Barack Obama successfully passed in during his first term as President. He had to fight in order to get the reform passed, persuade the members of Congress that his bill should even be considered, and after all that the Supreme Court almost ruled that the legislation was unconstitutional. The US Congress is a headache on its best day. The system is set up to create gridlock and for the past 200 years it has works.

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.

Congressional gridlock is not a modern invention in the world of politics. Alexander Hamilton use to complain about the deadlock “flaw” in the design of Congress. In politics, “Congressional gridlock” is a situation in Congress where there are complications in passing laws for the people. Gridlock could be prevented if we had a democracy for the majority and unified. While many view this as frustrating, gridlocks are starting to become a political norm. This leads to a divided government. Congressional gridlock in the states has become an everyday topic that nobody really understands what to do. The creation of gridlock is seen every day. The failure that Congress comes with when trying to agree upon the nation’s budget, or have the right

However , Lee H. hamilton differs and believes congress isn’t dysfunctional and is objected to,

In June of 1804 the states had ratified the Twelfth Amendment which enacted the Electoral College in time for the 1804 election. When election time comes, Americans vote for the President and Vice President who are chosen by Presidential electors, who as a whole are known as the Electoral College. As a decision was needed for a method of choosing candidates, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 contemplated many different ways of electing the President, but toward the end of the proposals and ideas the matter had to be taken to the Committee of Eleven on Postponed Matters which is the committee who conceived the original Electoral College. In recent years, much debate has been stirring regarding whether or not the Electoral College has a place within this country's elections. For many states this method of tallying and casting votes is great because every state receives a minimum of three electoral votes considering each state has two senators and at least one representative (Lewis). However, these minimum electoral votes make the distribution of electoral college votes uneven throughout the fifty states, making each American citizen's vote count less or much more which is cause for change. If the information on these weighted votes is analyzed it can be concluded that states with a population similar to Wyoming has one “elector” for every 177, 556 persons while Texas has one “elector” for every 715,499 persons. While the Electoral College has worked for generations, there are some negative factors that give cause to abolish this practice, such that are; faithless electors, the winner take all system, and finally, safe and swing states.

As the pillars of the electoral college collapse under the tests of time, the institution itself becomes obsolete. First, the concept of, “Winner Takes All,” means that if an election splits 49%-51%, then the smaller party’s votes are virtually erased. This system represents only the majority party in each state, thus effectively silencing all other parties. Additionally, basing the number of electors on the members in both houses of Congress creates an unequal distribution of votes across the states. Due to their infamously low population, Wyoming should statistically have only one elector, but the addition of their two senators brings them to a total of three electors. This means that each of Wyoming’s votes represents less people than every other state. For instance, each of Texas’s 38 votes represents 733,157 people while each of Wyoming’s votes represents 195,157 people. Therefore, the votes of the people of Wyoming are worth 26.62% more than that of Texans. The inequality of voting power between states combined with the “winner take all” system method of tallying votes projects an inaccurate portrayal of will of the American people.

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?

Is it possible that the heart of the election process hurt the principles of democracy more than it helps? The Electoral College has existed since the time of the Founding Fathers leading many to believe it is a crucial aspect of the election process meant to protect the ideals of democracy. In truth, this system has largely hindered the possibility of a representative government. Thus, the Electoral College is archaic and anti-democratic, supporting unfair election practices such as underrepresentation and must be abolished.

If we go back in time Congress was doing good job. According to the book “The Broken Branch How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track” By Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, earlys of 1820s, House and Senate were working together to process legislation. Most of 19th century, the Congress dominated policymaking maintain their privilege. I believe it in the late of 1950s the Congress was being controlled by independent people. By then there were not

Their initiatives attract significant opposition from the opposing party to the point of trying everything to stop the presidents having things done. The consequent vilification creates situations where members of Congress from the two parties hold resentments against one another (Soliman 109). As well, members of Congress do not spend time together apart from the time they are sessions. They commit most of their time to fundraising and visiting their districts. Consequently, they do not socialize with their peers to merge their partisan

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

David Brady and Craig Volden’s The Revolving Gridlock discusses the ability of Congress members to prevent and even kill legislation, even if their party does not possess majority control. The authors note that it does not always take opposing political ideology in the Executive and Legislative branches to create an atmosphere of stagnation within government. Instead the conflicting views and sectarian nature of the House and Senate, create sub-parties that become the obstacles of bipartisan compromises, and, in doing so, progress, creating the concept of the “revolving gridlock.” The writers consider the concept to be a direct result of the necessity for majority vote to pass bills and two-thirds to override presidential vetoes. Yet, there