The Pros And Cons Of Congress Decisions

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.

One of the most interesting events that occurred in the early days of Congress occurred when George Washington brought the Senate the very first treaty to be ratified. Upon his delivery of this treaty Washington expected, being the President, an immediate ratification. However, before this instance a treaty had never been ratified by the Senate, so they informed Washington that they would have to discuss it. Thereafter, Washington paced the halls of the Capital Building, until the Senate, establishing their newfound power, informed him it would take a day or two to be finished (Burns, 1988). This interaction between the President and the Senate, is a crucial example of how early adaptations of power in America allowed for the

In 2013, the thought of using filibusters to an advantage of a political party’s side in a legislative assembly was removed; therefore, it now takes a majority vote to decide on all Supreme Court nominees and executive appointments. The majority vote is being identified as the “nuclear option”. The ruling of filibuster was voted to be removed by the U.S. Senate, due to the fact that Democrats believed that Republicans unfairly abused filibuster in attempt to veto a nominee by the president (Richardson). Now that a president of the Republican party is in position, the tables have turned. Nevertheless, as the Republican party holds 52 senate seats, Democrats only holding 46, Republicans have the ability to virtually shut down the minority and

As citizens of the United State of America, one of our most important rights is that of which to vote. By voting, the general population has a say in who its leaders are. Votes for local, state, and even federal representatives directly reflect who the constituents want in office. However, America’s highest office is not elected by a vote of the people. Instead we use a confusing and outdated system called the Electoral College. Our president is not elected by the people, but by 538 electors who can legally vote for whomever they choose. Several times in our nations history an elector has voted against the people’s will. Three presidents have been elected into office by the electoral college and

Citizens might vote for the president however they don’t truly get to choose who wins. The system thinks that people cannot choose the president so they need a group of elite specialist to choose one for them. This clearly proves that we don’t even have to opportunity to be in the process in choosing our own president. Before hearing about this during the discussions in class, I did not know about how the Electoral College worked and it was very disappointing to see how it actually worked. It’s not true democracy without letting your citizens know how the system actually works and it’s astonishing to see the reality of it. For example, Plato’s tale on “The Allegory of the Cave”, the shadow of the cave symbolizes how people can have a sense of what is happening but they can’t truly see what is happening behind the doors. We think that we are looking at reality and when we finally see what is happening, it will

Everyone knows that coming up soon this November is the election that will elect the President, Vice President, and other positions for the government. The process to getting elected can be difficult and confusing. People first need to get nominated, then they need to start their campaign with a platform, slogan etc., next they need to win people’s support and get them to vote and they also need to get the electoral college to vote for them. The electoral college is the group of people elected from each state that vote using the amount of votes that the state has (based on the population). Some people believe that the electoral college should not be used because it does not always vote for what the majority of the state is voting for, which

For example, in the recent presidential Election, Donald Trump won the presidential Election, but, in fact, Hillary Clinton received more votes than Donald Trump in the Presidential Election, but Donald Trump received more Electoral College votes than Hillary Clinton. It is shown, in fact, that it does not matter how much the American people vote for a candidate of the presidential election; if the Electoral College favors a candidate, they are going to win the election. If the votes of the presidency only relies on the votes of politicians, then what is left for the American people to do. Is there even a reason to vote.

Throughout the past presidential election, and many others, the ideal of electing the president by popular vote has been at an all-time high conversation topic compared to previous years. While many argue that the Electoral College defeats the purpose of voting, and diminishes the majority’s voice, this is certainly not the case. Without the Electoral College, elections would quickly become, and encourage, radical and corrupt ways in their voting systems, that could possibly result in a detrimental nationwide political crisis of voter fraud, and a rise to direct democracy.

With a Presidential election year upon us, the United States’ national election process will once again take its place at center stage of American politics. 200 years after the Electoral College’s creation, it still serves its intended purpose, but the increasing social and political awareness in America has caused a need to look at reform in this process. The question that should be asked by every citizen as they participate in the vote next year is if the Electoral College enables the wishes of the people to be truly represented? Reforming the practice of choosing the American President, though, would have Constitutional implications and the political philosophy of our country would be subject to much discussion. Through analyzing the

Presidential elections in the United States have been run by the electoral college for centuries under the guise of a fair and free election, but people’s voices are still ignored. The electoral college is a body of electors that elects the president of the United States, but the voices of the people who they represent often become distorted in the process. The system used to elect the president should be a fair one that represents each person equally, but the electoral college is none of those things and has misrepresented the votes of the American people on multiple occasions.

When Americans vote their choice for President, one would assume that these votes would be tabulated and the majority vote would win. But this is not the case at all. The Presidency is ultimately decided by the Electoral College, what William McClenaghan calls “one of the least understood parts of the American political process”(340). McClenaghan also defines the Electoral College as “the body that makes the formal selection of the nation’s President, from what the Framers intended into a `rubber stamp’ for the popular vote in presidential elections”(67). The original Electoral College did not succeed for very long, however; it only worked for as long as George Washington was President

Is our congress bad? Many political leaders have come and gone, they all have different ideology and good interest of this country at heart. Congress is a political system which is mandate to maintain and protect the fundamental freedom and the right of the people. The political candidates in congress are often characterized by disagreeing parties on general policies beliefs and political affiliations. Due to some of this policies beliefs, congress appears at loggerheads with one another and public confidence in the ability of congress to solve important issues has waned because of policy and ideology, election victory, and

I agree with this statement, I do this because I feel that the congress deserves to have its powers. The constitution governs congress’ rights that should not be violated. I believe that the president should only do executive orders when it is 100 percent necessary. And by 100 percent I mean NATION THREATENINGLY bad. Other than that the congress should remain completely unperturbed

The election process in the United States is a valuable process to the election of the proper officials to satisfy the people. The people run the country which is why we live in freedom because we control what happens with major decisions by choosing whom we want to decide these decisions. The whole country goes to vote on a certain day and by the end of that day we will vote to select who will run the country, state, county, or city political positions. The most complex decision and one with the biggest impact are selecting who the President of the United States shall be. We examine what their views are and who would do a better job. Then vote in our respected states with a certain number of electoral votes

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.