Is Congress Dysfunctional

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.

Being a part of Congress is one of the most powerful political positions in America. Congress is made up of the House of Representative and Senate for a grand total of 535 members. While that may not give give an individual power, it gives the large group so much power to do many things and even override the president on certain occasions. Most decisions they make need a ⅔ vote from the group. Congress many other powers, maybe too much power. Congress has too much power because of its expressed powers, implied/inherent powers, and its “voting powers”.

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.

Congressional gridlock has become a major problem over the past several years, the lack of power that any-one party has held for more than just a couple years means that very little has been accomplished by Congress. A Congressional gridlock is a situation when a law can not be passed due to disagreements either between political parties, branches of government or between the houses of Congress. These disagreements that do not end in compromise slow the legislative process and leave both parties unhappy. Gridlock can also occur within the Congressional Senate when a minority party member begins a filibuster.

Over 200 years ago the United States’ Founding Fathers created a unique system of government that allowed a balance to exist between both the federal government and the separate state governments. Through the three branches of government, specifically the executive and legislative branches, the United States has been able to act as a unified body with several varying individual parts. With the executive branch and the legislative branch each having outlined powers of their own the Founders were able to equally balance the power of the national government and the state governments. Although this system has managed to stay in tact for two centuries and has allowed the United States of America to become a dominate player in international affairs, there has consistently been a battle of power between the president in the executive branch and the two houses of congress in the legislative branch. As the United States continues to evolve and face multiple obstacles, so does the relationship between these two branches.

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

A “Young Guard” of politicians were emerged in Congress. More interested in purifying the Uion rather than patching it up

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.

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

Recently, many political scientists have argued over whether today’s Congress is centralizing or decentralizing. Centralization allows Congress to act quickly and decisively, but at the expense of the members of Congress and their constituents, while decentralization protects and enhances the interests of individual members and their constituents, but at the expense of its ability to act quickly and decisively. At its birth, Congress was created as a decentralized body, and although it has fluctuated over the years, the Constitution, congressional incentive for reelection, the committee system, and weak central leadership has certainly maintained such a decentralized institution.

We have come across an uncommon issue which is, congress, specifically senate, is not making any progress in advising or consenting the nominee U.S. Supreme Court Judge chosen by Obama. Through logic, senate’s lack of responsiveness is not okay. Obama should appoint Merrick Garland because the Senate has not even stated doing its job in holding hearings or voting. Further, it has not done its constitutional role of advice and consent. Structurally, the powers of Judge appointments are in the presidents’ section of the Constitution meaning they are shared powers, but more like shared obligations. The awareness of this is seen where FDR threatened to pack the court because that power was delegated to him. The Senate has this obligation, they have not started the process, yet they know they have to, they know they can vote no, but they just want to leave it to the next president. In Humphrey’s we see that Congress has intervention in the inferior offices, but only through statute, meaning that only through statute can congress be involved sometimes. This ties into how through legal matters they do advice and consent. In the prize cases, we see that Lincoln was allowed to take from an industry outside of the war exception, absent of congresses authorization, because they were unsure if there was even a war at the times of civil war. In Goldwater v. carter, the plurality find for carter senate’s role ends at ratification when it comes to ratifying treaties, yet they also find

Republicans and Democrats are basically polar opposites when it comes to political views. Republicans have more conservative views, and Democrats have more liberal views. Whether its tax policy, health care, or social issues, they are going to have opposing opinions on the topic. This is a major reason why gridlocks occur in Congress. If they can’t come to an agreement, a gridlock is going to take place.

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.

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