Why Gridlocks Occur In Congress

Gridlock is one of the United States leading problems, and the main reason why people find the government to be “useless” or “slow” when trying to come to a consensus on major issues. Congressional gridlock is when neither the House or Congress seems to be able to respond with solutions to our nation’s pressing problems, and fails to enact any meaningful legislation to fix national issues. Gridlock mainly occurs when the president and the majority in one or both houses have different political beliefs and are in different parties. You hear everyone talking about gridlock and how it needs to be fixed, but you never actually see our political leaders doing anything about it.

Then comes the issue of campaign finance the two parties have different thoughts on this issue. The Democrats think that something should be done to eliminate the influence of lobbyists and special interests in our political parties (“Democrats Unveil”). The Republicans want to fight this by adding a new constitutional amendment while republicans support this saying that it is supported by our right to free speech (“Democrats Unveil”). They are trying to change this policy because they both want to help cleanse the political system of corruption. But even though the two parties both disagree on both things they each have their own ways they want it done.

Democrats express that the values America supports must evolve over time, and therefore tend to support controversial issues such same-sex marriage and abortion. Republicans values tend to be religious in nature which means Republicans will most likely disapprove of abortions for any reason and disagree with same-sex marriage.

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.

Generally speaking, anyone who lives in the United States of America knows that there are two main political parties—the Republicans and the Democrats. Having two main parties has its advantages and, of course, its disadvantages. For example, in By the People James E. Monroe and Rogan Kersh (301) point out having this type of system creates “predictability and stability.” However, they also declare (301) it can “lead to a gridlock.” This is not a new concept either as there has been a divide since the beginning of both parties. The two parties more often than not disagree on various issues, while rarely agreeing on what is best for the country.

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

Views between the two major parties of government in the United States have many differences and few similarities. The Republican side of government tends to be more conservative and more for the people’s freedoms. They also support government intervention only when necessary. The Democratic side of government tends to be more liberal and support heavy government intervention. Views between abortion, gay marriage, and many other controversial topics differ greatly between the Democratic and Republican Party.

Our country has mainly two political parties; their beliefs are on completely different sides of the political spectrum. These parties do not share the same view on government involvement in the citizen’s lives; one example being public programs such as healthcare plans. Due to the increase of public programs taxes must be increased and the Republican side is unhappy.

Congressional gridlock in the United States is at a high currently, doubling since the 1950s. Gridlock is the slowing of the legislative processes due to the difficulty of congressional officials to agree on certain bills and or laws. Gridlock makes the passage of legislation time consuming and hardly any progress can be accomplished. This is how Congress acquired the nickname “Do Nothing Congress.”This usually occurs when both parts of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, are of opposing parties. This then makes the President have the final say.

Another reason for the insignificance of third parties and the reason for the two party system is the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system. Unfortunately for third parties, the two main parties always tend to come out with the majority even if they don’t win the popular vote. An example of the unfairness of this voting system is in 2008 the independent party of America managed to get 1 in every 5 votes but still didn’t manage to gain seats. Having said that, FPTP in theory allows for a strong stable government with a hefty majority providing they dominate congress and the legislature.

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.

John Adams, one of the founding fathers, wrote that “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution” (“Quote by John Adams”). The Two-Party system has been around since the start of America. The Two-Party system is a system that has two parties that the government, or America in this case, has that lead the government or America. At the current time, the two parties are the Republican and Democrat parties. It was created with the idea that everyone can be represented within either of the parties. Even though it does create some representation of the people, the two-party system does not create an equal policy in society because it does not allow people to get far if they are not within either of the two parties, does not allow the idea of having more than two parties, and because it doesn't represent everyone.

In the United States we are divided by the left and right side on the political spectrum; even further divided into political parties such as Republicans, on the right, and Democrats, on the left side. These two political parties show philosophical differences through their viewpoints on major topics such as the economy, separation of church and state, abortion, and gun control.

Republicans want to limit the number of social programs and encourage the individual states to be more active in their own social welfare. Democrats feel that more government is better, where the Republicans feel that the individual states should have more power. Democrats favor gun control legislation most of the time. Republicans do not seem as interested in that issue, and many Republicans can be viewed as pro gun advocates. Democrats favor affirmative action for minorities and women. Republicans favor helping the entrepreneur and tend to give tax breaks to big business. Democrats champion the cause of labor unions, while Republicans realizing that union votes are important, at the same time feel that labor unions have too much power and cost big business too much money. The next set of political differences about the issues of capital punishment and abortion rights are quite paradoxical. Democrats favor a woman’s right to choose, at the same time they are against the death penalty and want to rehabilitate prisoners. Republicans, many of them are pro-life as well as in favor of capital punishment and being tough on crime. Democrats want the government to be more involved in public education, and want more money dispersed for student loans. Republicans want the states to take the responsibility for educating their children and also want to provide vouchers as an alternative to public school. This issue is also tied to how Republicans are

The definition of congressional gridlock is the inability of the government to act because different parties (usually rivals) control different parts of the government. When two major partisan parties have a differentiating stands when it comes to ideology that’s when gridlock occurs. The House of Representatives and the senate are controlled by different parties, and this is when congressional gridlock can occur. This situation is very common and is a bit complex because in order for bills to be presented, the house has to be in agreeance with it first. Many members fear losing control with the decisions they make, without Congress all being controlled by the same party. If congress were to side with the opposing party on an issue that could benefit many lives, they won’t because they feel that they will not be loyal to their colleagues’ beliefs and stand on that