The Congress
Introduction
Congress is a two-house legislature of the government in the US. The people that occupy both houses get elected by popular vote by the people if the US. These people have a responsibility to the citizens of the US and the country as well. Many of them get voted into office and have their own goals and objectives to achieve. However, other goals act as a precursor to how they behave, especially during the period nearing elections.
Behaviors of the Members of Congress
Among the members of Congress, certain objectives govern how or shape how they behave. These objectives include influence in the capital, reelection, partisanship, and good public policy. These goals influence their behavior by affecting how they approach certain issues and situations in the hopes of keeping themselves in office or getting a chance to run for a bigger office. According to Fouirnaies and Hall (2018), members of Congress will act accordingly for the citizens that voted for them as long as reelection is a possibility.
Democracy aims to ensure that the people elected in sits of power have or gain some form of accountability while in office for their decisions. This type of accountability is electoral accountability and determines whether a person gets to stay in office when the election period rolls in or not. As a result, the people elected aim to make the right moves in passing policies that benefit their constituents. This need to secure reelection can cause an individual member of Congress to be responsive in the decisions that they make. They aim to keep themselves in good standing with their constituents. However, it can also lead to them being collectively irresponsible as it would be difficult for them to claim credit for massive reform, and as a result, no one aims to take them on.
Congressional Committee Systems
A congressional committee is a sub-organization under the US congress that performs a particular duty. Congressional committees make work easier for the Congress as they analyze, design, and pass bills that direct the country. They also allow the members to develop expertise in issues that affect areas that they govern. Congressional committees keep an eye on operations conducted by the current government, identify areas of concern, and come up with possible solutions which they pass on to the Congress itself. Congress committees initiate and terminate bills whether or not they see the light of day as laws or not. The committees also conduct hearings from bureaucrats and interest groups—the members of these committees debate on the bills that they foster on the floors of these committees.
The committees also allow the members with the expertise to write the legislation. The congressional committees, however, have potential downsides. The first is that the committees kill off bills way before they get passed into laws. Many of these bills have the potential of bringing positive change, but they do not get the chance to. The other is that the committees are relatively small as they consist of a small group of people, and these people have the power to control legislation. The third reason is that the members of these committees do not have the same political associations. This difference in political associations and affiliations results in them debating over everything, and it is not easy to get them to agree to the same thing. Parties usually take advantage of the structures of congressional committees to increase the numbers of their members in the committee. Come elections; they have higher chances of nominating and supporting electoral candidates from the same parties.
The Growth of Presidential Power in the US
According to Patterson (1976), wars were the major source of power for the president in the US. But since then, the presidency has acquired more power due to several reasons, and they include constitutional indeterminacy of the presidency. There are no texts in the constitution that limit the power of POTUS; this allows the president’s office to grow. The terms that the constitution uses surrounding this are very unspecific, and it uses vague words such as “executive power.” The growth of the presidential powers is a result of executive branch lawyering. The office of the president possesses explicit powers during times of war, and it’s only the DOJ, which can give the president advice on the scope of the powers. Hence, they are the last authorities that can legally do so. The president also has control and access to information. The age-old adage says that information is power. That is the case in this situation.
Neustadt & Kernell
The power that a president possesses is the power of persuasion (Neustadt, 1991). To get anything done, the president has to persuade the person of what the white house requires of them. The president has to rely on reasoned arguments, and charm to get things done. The president does not have the power to make express decisions as he shares the power with three branches. Kernell’s theory speaks of going public. He observes that it is a better option than persuasion, and because of the advancements in technology, people can readily access information. The president can go public and gain support for what he wants. These two ideas are not compatible in that they are worlds apart, and they do not go together.
Conclusion
The Congress comprises of two houses. Those in Congress get elected by popular vote. There are specific objectives that dictate how members of Congress behave, and one of them is reelection. Members of Congress will act in the best interests of their constituents as long as they can get reelected. Congressional committees serve various purposes, but they also have disadvantages.
Reference
Fouirnaies, A., & Hall, A. B. (2018). How Do Electoral Incentives Affect Legislator Behavior?.
Neustadt, R. E. (1991). Presidential power and the modern presidents: The politics of leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan. Simon and Schuster.
Patterson, J. T. (1976). The Rise of Presidential Power Before World War II. Law & Contemp. Probs., 40, 39.
