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AS A DELIBERATIVE, POLICY-MAKING BODY CONGRESS IS A WASHOUT. SADDLED WITH ANTIQUE, GLACIALLY SLOW PROCEDURES, AND SUFFERING FROM CHRONIC GRIDLOCK BETWEEN WEAK PARTY LEADERSHIP AND RECALCITRANT, CHAIRMAN-DOMINATED COMMITTEES, IT IS UTTERLY INCAPABLE OF DEALING WITH THE NATION’S PROBLEMS. THE ONLY SAVING GRACE IN THE SITUATION IS THE INCREASING POLICY DOMINANCE OF THE PRESIDENT - WHO CAN GET THINGS DONE.
IS THIS A FAIR DESCRIPTION OF TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY CONGRESS AND IT’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WHITE HOUSE? ...
This paper largely argues against the above statement. ...
Congress is a more decentralized body than a centralized one. ... As a result it has faced its attacks as being a failure in its inability to act as a responsive and deliberative policy-making body. ... Political party loyalty among members is weak and party leaders of Congress are limited in the amount of influence and control they have over party members. ... The result is a body of independent representatives distanced from party views. ... When faced with a choice between voting the party line or voting for constituency interests, most members of Congress vote for their constituency’s interests. Members are also less concerned with organized parties and program proposals of the President since they have little contribution to their position in Congress. ... It’d be improper to say members of Congress need to reflect the ideals and interests of their individual parties more than their constituents. ...
On the other hand, it would be wrong to state that party discipline or loyalty is non-existent in Congress. ... James Wilson and John Dilulio observe that “Members (of Congress) are more sharply divided by political ideology than it once was and certainly more divided than are American voters… All of Congress’s most liberal members are Democrats, and all of its most conservative ones are Republicans. ... However, there is growing evidence that party loyalty is growing in Congress, though it may never reach the Parliamentary level. This is a matter to be thankful for because it maintains the separation of power between the legislature (led by Congress) and the executive branch (led by the President). ... Congress placed much value on the use of committees since they’re an aid in the constant fight against lack of time to act as a legislative body on numerous national issues. ...
In 1973, Congress adopted the ‘bill of rights,’ for representatives and senators, particularly those with relatively little seniority. ... Legislation thus to be routed through subcommittees -previously, discretion of committee chairs,
no member of Congress may be chairman of more than one legislative sub-committee. ... Therefore, at any one time there are about 37 chairmen of standing committees and 230 sub-committee chairmen within Congress. Therefore, the combined total is about 267 leaders within Congress each with their own power base to both guard and expand. ...
The gains from ‘bill of rights’ developments in the Committee system since the 1970’s run counter to the allegation that Congress has a chairman-dominated committee system. ...
Congress is therefore more open to both internal and public scrutiny on its representation than never before.
Approximate Word count = 2511
Approximate Pages = 10
(250 words per page double spaced)
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