Judicial Elites

According to the Constitution, Congress is primarily in charge of representation and lawmaking. Congress is divided into the House and the Senate, and therefore, although members of the House and the Senate serve and represent their own states and districts, they need to “act collectively to make laws for the entire nation” (Smith, 26). In terms of politics, collective action requires bargaining and compromise between the House and the Senate and between Congress and the President. Issues on collective action tend to appear when there is no compromise between the two groups; in order for compromise to become possible, members of a group must withdraw some of their devotions and fidelities to their respective state or district. Members of Congress, specifically members of the House and Senate are envisioned to be representatives of their constituents; however, this envisionment of being representatives does not correctly depict the role of House and Senate members. Although it may seem like a representative in Congress has the main role of present the views of his or her district, or serve as a delegate of his or her constituents, delegates do not have an easy job because their constituents usually have contradictory views and beliefs regarding issues with

Wayne, Lasser, Miller and others tend to agree that lobbyists and PACs have a great amount of influence over congress members because they may have direct connections and give campaign contributions. Recently, the airlines industry convinced congress to pass a $15 billion aid package it needs in order to survive. “The airlines had plenty of resources to draw on: 27 in-houses lobbyists, augmented by lobbyists from 42 Washington firms, including former White House aides and transportation secretaries, as well as the airlines own chief executives and corporate board members, whom all are well known in the halls of congress”(Wayne, NYT, 10/01/01. Lasser, American Politics, 1999. Miller, The American Prospect, 10/23/00. Geiger, Washington Post, 11/4-10/91.)

In “Congress and the Quest for Power” by Lawrence Dodd (1977), politicians enter Congress with the sole incentive to obtain power for their own arbitrary reasons. However, this power requires reelection; by being reelected, they are proving that are conforming to society's traditions, creating an air of personal equitableness, and helping themselves gain the the necessary skills that justify the exercise of power. The member of Congress soon develops an incumbent advantage and is no longer afraid of losing his position, whichever one it may be. As the hunt for power and authority continues, he moves through different phases that bring him closer and closer to the end of his goal. For example, the politician will gather up support from the electoral base by doing casework and joining housekeeping committees and legislative and committees that have to do with their district’s needs. If he finds himself successful, he will move on to serving primary committees such as those dealing with commerce, education, and labor. He becomes a legislator and focuses on national concerns rather than the more local ones, gaining power as he does so. If the Congressman is able to get this far in

Still according to the book the basis of sociological representation portrays representative as a delegate who shares the same gender, racial, religious, ethnic or educational culture with the constituents. Hence, one can conclude that Congress is not sociologically representative of the common people. Nevertheless, Both Houses do have a good productive organization support. As the book explains agency representation is a form of representation that is present when the citizens have the ability to appoint and oust congressmen and congresswomen. Our lawmakers were voted in by the citizens and have to make decisions on their behalf and protect their interest as they represent the American People. The framers had in mind for Congress to be very active to the needs of their constituents, frequently congress members got mixed up over acting in the name of the citizens of their district and satisfying the needs of the entire nation. Although, sociologically the agency representation is disproportional, the lawmakers always act with the next election in

The U.S. Constitution’s framers had experienced the consequences of too much and too little government, so they deliberately designed a governing structure which allowed for an effective, but not overpowering, democracy. Though they most clearly delineated their vision for the executive and legislative branches, they smartly designed the judicial branch as a more fluid entity, which, according to Dr. Forrest McDonald, was principally designed to limit Congress’s power. The judicial branch’s authority to declare laws unconstitutional, as demonstrated in the 2003 Supreme Court case United

It is the only branch within our government that has “the ability to overrule the people’s elected representatives by declaring legislation or executive acts to be unconstitutional” (Hudson, 72). Essentially, it gives the judges the right to interpret the constitution and when laws are passed by federal and state legislatures that they feel violate the Constitution, they can strike them down using judicial review (Rosen). Although this has “long been criticized as an anti-democratic institution” because “it exercises control, not in behalf of the prevailing majority, but against it” (Rosen), it really is preserving democracy. It preserves the foundation of the Constitution, which represents the will of the people, “while the federal and state laws merely represented the will of the people's temporary and fallible representatives” (Rosen). For these reasons, it is important that the judges can therefore interpret the constitution without fear of retribution. The process of being unelected, having life tenure, the inability to be removed from bench and constant salaries allows “them to make unpopular decisions without fear of retribution either from those who appointed them or from the public at large”(Hudson, 71). These unpopular decisions that need to be made in order to protect our lives, property, and rights, not only sincerely looking out for the people, but also making us a

After declaring themselves free from British rule in 1776, the American people sought out a way to protect themselves from future tyrannical monarchs as the nation continued to grow and develop. This led to the creation of the three branches of government, one of which is the United States Congress, in order to distribute power and ensure that the voice of the people is appropriately factored in legislative decisions. However, many have questioned whether this two hundred-year-old system still works today, as the number of citizens who trust the government steadily decreases. In his book How Congress Works and Why You Should Care, Lee Herbert Hamilton, a former member of the House of Representatives, addresses many common misconceptions that the general public has about the legislative branch. He reveals how much of an impact Congress makes in our everyday lives, acknowledging that though congressional system has a few flaws, it is one that functions well.

The Supreme Court has been playing a very important role in the governmental system of United States since a long time. The Constitution has awarded it a great deal of power to keep the actions of the President and Congress in check and maintain the balance of power. It has the responsibility of providing equal justice under the law and protecting the civil rights of the citizens. Some of the decisions the court makes are so significant that it alters the social order of the society. Various types of cases has been examined by the Supreme Court and it might be tough to determine which of those cases are worth investigating. Many of the cases

The United States Congress as the highest political institution is the face of American politics. Established by the first article of the Constitution of 1788, the Congress is the depository of the legislative power of the United States. This institution has been going through a transformation along the history, and an evidence of it are the consecutives changes in the demography of the members of the congress. In recent years, the power has been decentralized and the diversity within influences the behavior of the Congress. The history show us that the white members has been predominant in the Congress, however, the United States has become home of people from all over around the world and the representation of these minorities has increased

When one considers that the approval rate of Congress at any given time is below 30%, it would seem apparent that citizens are not happy with how they are represented. The question then becomes “Why are the same members of Congress elected if everyone is so unhappy with how they

A member of Congress is someone who has been elected and appointed to represent a particular constituency and advocate their interest and needs. In a perfect world the representative will listen to the people and speak on their behalf. However, that is further from the truth, only 15% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, while 75% disapprove. I agree with the disapproval of Congress, the relationship with the legislative branch is extremely negative because the public’s needs are not being met, due to congressmen following a different agenda. David Mayhew, Jammie Carson, Jeffery Jenkins, and Arnold are a few scholars who explain the behavior of Congress and why the public is unhappy with the jobs the representatives are performing. Mayhew argues that members of Congress are single-minded seekers of reelection involved in credit claiming, position taking, and advertisement. In support of Mayhew’s view Carson and Jenkins add four conditions of the electoral connection— ambition, autonomy, responsiveness, and accountability. Lastly Arnold believes members of Congress are not only single-minded seekers of reelection, but they worry about citizens’ preferences, voter backlash, theory components and the opinion of experts v. generalist v. ordinary citizens along with other things. Members of Congress follow a different agenda when making policy rather than focus on their constituents’ needs, therefore is no surprise why a large portion of the public is so

The U.S. Constitution establishes Congress as the Legislative Branch of Government which is supposed to represent the will of the people. The book highlights the process in which Congress was created and how it operates today. The specifics are a little more complicated than I previously thought. I am especially fascinated with how bills are passed because I did not realize how difficult it is to pass a bill into law. I had not even heard of the different types of committees until this chapter. Chapter six was beneficial in informing me of significant policies in an important part of the United States Government.

After reviewing Figure 6.1 Congress receives a low confidence rating as a result of multiple dilemmas. Congress works less and gets paid more, they do not listen to what we want because to them the masses ideas do not matter to the people placed in congress. There is collection of 535 political entrepreneurs operating within a system with special interest, money. They are slow to act responsively which lends the citizens to feel that they are no longer a leadership body. Delegates are constantly in gridlock, furthering the hypothesis that congress is impractical.

Small groups of people can have a more potent impact on Congress than a majority of the populace. Congress accommodates to narrowly based organized interests if it is appealing (Quirk and Binder, p. 531). For example, special interest groups and lobbyists flood the Congressional floor and meet privately with House of Representatives members and Senators in order to push specific legislation. This legislation often benefits the businesses and interest groups while the rest of population is not represented. On the contrary, large groups have made it incredibly difficult for Congress to balance the budget and properly distribute funds (Quirk and Binder, p. 532). The public often fights against Congress’ proposed budgets due to an underlying disdain for the legislative body. Specific constituencies have different concerns about where the money should be used. This creates favoritism for certain groups of people in different regions of the United States. The Congressional budget is divided to aid the favored groups. Despite this, when the legislative branch and the executive branch agree on financial matters, Congress is viewed to be doing a good job. However, when Congress and the President do not agree or political parties are clashing within, Congress is portrayed as being inept and unable to pass any meaningful legislation. It is interesting to view the depiction of Congress through the

The judicial branch of the United States government consists of the courts that settle disputes and interpret the law and United States constitution. The judicial powers come from Article Three of the United States Constitution. This article also gave Congress the power to create smaller federal courts. Every society has conflicts that are generally resolved through the court systems. Such cases are divided into two types of cases which are known as, civil and criminal cases. Civil cases are the most common and are commonly disputes over things such as money, property, and family issues such as divorce and child custody. In these cases, plaintiffs often will start a lawsuit against the defendant. These cases are generally resolved by deciding for or against a side or meeting in the middle.