Unlocking Congress, By Michael Golden

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.

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

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

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.

Throughout history, there have been many factors that seem to have influenced the operations of Congress. Some of these factors have been the committee system, seniority, and political parties. These are only a few of the factors that actually have an influence on Congress’s decisions of certain operations.

The inter workings of Congress have been studied extensively by Richard Fenno and David R. Mayhew. Mayhew’s study of Congress took place in Washington, while Richard Fenno conducted his research by following politicians within their congressional district. Mayhew attributes three primary goals to congressmen- getting reelected, achieving influence within Congress and making “good Policy”. Fenno also attributes three basic goals, having influence inside the House than other congressmen. Second, helping their constituents and thereby insuring their reelection, and lastly helping make good policy. The purpose of this paper is to research a member of Congress and to make a direct connection between his activity in Washington and his home district. The paper will answer whether the congressmen is a delegate or trustee. Are the actions a pursuit for reelection? Are the committee assignments a path for movement within the House or outside? What legislation has he/she sponsored or co-sponsored and does it directly reflect his/her districts political view. And finally, do major industries and interest groups within his/she district affect the way he/she votes.

Otto von Bismarck once said, “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.” The arduous process that a bill undergoes in order to become a law may seem grueling and pointless; however, the processes high caliber of difficulty allows for the extreme prestige and exclusivity of bills that are passed. Because the process is so exhausting, and filibusters, subsequently requiring a super-majority vote to pass a bill, have always been such a threat in Congress, historically, bills that attempt to reform sensitive issues have not fared well in the legislative branch. However, when Congress does pass controversial laws, it then also faces the task of effectively enforcing them. But, when the process is carried out to

Congressional gridlock has been around for centuries in Congress and does not seem to be changing anytime soon. Congressional gridlock refers to the inaction of the government and failure to make a decision or legislative law that satisfy the needs of the people. This inaction of the government and stagnation occurs when two parties cannot agree on a single matter, and they cannot come to a good agreement on how or when the law is going to be passed, thus leaving complex problems in the nation unhandled. Congressional gridlock does not just come and take over the government on its own, though. It is evident that congressional gridlock is a major problem in the American government that needs to be addressed because there are so many root causes that the government fails to fix including gerrymandering and a lack of “bridge-builders.” Solutions to these causes that have yet to be made include improving the system of checks and balances and reducing representative dynamics and some of the nation’s most pressing problems that should not even be examples of congressional gridlock include climate change and the gun laws issue.

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

For Centuries in the United States, Congressional gridlock has been one of the main difficulties of prosperity and progress. The government of the United States has had the opportunity to make the life of its citizens better but due to the epidemic of gridlock a lot of the issues we face are unresolved or ignored. Going forward I will give causes, solutions and some examples of the effect that it has had on the democracy of the United States as well as examples of congressional gridlock.

As I watch and observe these documentaries by Peter Sagal, it is obvious that the points lead to our broken Congress. Though we may have recognized our political issues, we have done little to nothing to find solutions. Moreover our recent issues, privacy has been greatly noticed, but many of us do not understand what we are really doing. Seemingly, we do give our privacy away by posting on social media, however, is there a limit to it? Tapping into our cell phones, snooping to our emails, does the government really have a right to walk through our privacy? We may not also realize that the constitution was not meant to last forever per se, but it was meant to be changed over time. There was a disagreement at the era of the creation of the constitution,

The inability to pass legislation is a direct result of the increasing polarization of the US. The two political parties are more ideologically divided than at any other time since the Civil War. There has been a partisan geographic sorting, with the entire South shifting from the Democratic stronghold of the New Deal era to a solidly Republican stronghold. (Fukuyama, “America in Decay.”) Ezra Klein of The Washington Post elaborates on the state of gridlock in his piece “14 Reasons Why This Is the Worst Congress Ever.” They are the worst, he claims, because aren’t passing laws; they are incredibly polarized; and they have done serious damage to the economic recovery with their inaction, which contributed to a downgrade in America’s credit rating.

WASHINGTON, D.C - With this current session of congress wrapping up we look back at things that happened during this session and things that didn't happen. During this session over 50 pieces of legislation was submitted. Of those 50+ bills submitted only 4 have been signed into law so far. While there are still some bills awaiting senate vote results this number doesn't look like it’s going to go up any time during this session. Sure many of the bills were not the best bills and should have never been submitted in the first place but there are also some great pieces of legislation that were shot down during this session. I do agree mostly on how the House voted but if we turn our attention to the senate we see a sieve with mesh so fine it will not even

While all members know that the Budget deadline is coming near, the twelve members of the super committee are faced with more than there November deadline (Wallsten, 2011). The infamous super committee is chaired by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.); their roles are increasingly stressful since they need to focus on cutting the deficit and ensuring that their parties vote is heard (Wallsten, 2011). Many spectators have argued in favor of the Republican proposal since they are not trying to raise taxes. Moreover, since Congress has come back from holiday they have continue to silence the Presidents’ wishes and not pass the job bill nor agree to any of the measures he has continually crusade on. Despite the struggle congress has continue to demonstrate their loyalty to their perspective political party and not to the nation which they were elected to serve for. In the New York Times Mark Landler wrote an article, Obama Challenges Congress on Job Plan, which he provides details about the particular plans President Obama has for his job bill and how it could help the American people. The article goes on further by implying Congress will not concur with the Presidents order. And, the quarrel continues with Obama addressing the congress indirectly and saying, "The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political

Why is it so difficult to accomplish anything in American government? The answer lies within three features of American government: the Hyperpluralist theory, separation of powers with checks and balances, and divided government. All these aspects of government result in gridlock, “a condition that occurs when interests conflict and no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy, so nothing gets done” (19).