...Congress is one of the biggest forces that shapes the country. It derives its power to change the country through its role in the writing, implementation, and oversight of laws. Ideally Congress uses this power to the will of their constituents and to better the country. Unfortunately congress's job isn't that simple there are many mechanisms or other complications that seem to get in the way of this goal. One of congress's main functions is the passage of legislation. When it comes to the creation of laws Congress has a difficult job.The process of turning a bill into a law is both time consuming and difficult. Bills are required to go through a multistage process that can completely kill the bill at any point. In addition to this Congress has many mechanics built into it that creates a system that can be very complicated to navigate through....
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...Role of Congress Congress is the Bicameral Legislature of the Federal Government of the United States that includes the two chambers: the Senate and House of Representatives. People are familiar with Congress and its primary role to create and pass new laws. But, most don’t realize how important it is that we have the two chambers. This Legislature was created in 1789, but why? What caused the framers to create two different chambers and what is it that causes them to be so different? Also, and most importantly, what role does Congress and the two chambers play in our Government? The creating of Congress, requirements of Congress, and the role of Congress will all be discussed. There remain two main reasons of how and why Congress was created. Early on, the framers’ envisioned how a singular legislature body could become...
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...Congress has gone through three models since its creation. The 1st Model of Congress from 1790-1840 was informal and floor centered. The 2nd Congress from 1850’s-1910 had centralized leadership, especially in the House of Representatives. Beginning in 1910 to, arguably, the present is the 3rd Congress, which is Committee based and decentralized. Though the Speaker of the House is identified in the Constitution, his job description was not. The role of Speaker is constantly evolving. From 1861-1910, it was the most important leadership position in government. Various Speakers during this time period were able to centralize their power. Speaker Blain successfully appointed members to committees that would manipulate legislation according to his interests. The Rules Committee was elevated to a standing committee, then as a “steering committee” allowing the Speaker to control the business of the house (CP 95). Other Speakers built on the precedent of recognition, using it to block legislation or legislations he didn’t like (CP 181, 95). Under Speaker Reed’s powerful influence, the democratic minority were unable to stall legislation. Rules named after him in 1890 established the role of the Speaker in naming members and chairs of all house committees. This ability was used by strong speakers to reward supporters...
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...The U.S Congress is the branch of government concerned mainly with making the laws. The U.S congress is bicameral, this means that it is made up of two separate bodies. These are the House of Representative and the Senate. The House of Representatives has four hundred and thirty five (435) members from every state based on the population and is adjusted every ten years after the census. These officials are elected by the people in each congressional district. The Senate has one hundred (100) members from every state based on equal representation. These officials are elected by the people statewide. The House of Representatives and The Senate work together in the law making process as well as other responsibilities. The U.S congress is broken down into...
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...THE ROLE OF THE U.S. CONGRESS IN THE AUTO BAILOUT The Role of the U.S. Congress in the Auto Bailout Chandria Metevia April 8, 2012 Dr. A. Christophe General Motors General Motors Corporation (GM) is the world's largest full-line vehicle manufacturer and marketer. Its brands include Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Pontiac, which was discontinued in 2009. Opel, Vauxhall, and Holden comprise GM's international nameplates. GM system of global alliances, GM holds stakes in Isuzu Motors Ltd., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corporation, Fiat Auto, and GM Daewoo Auto & Technology. Other principal businesses include General Motors Acceptance Corporation and its subsidiaries, providers of financing and insurance to GM customers and dealers. The company has approximately 326,000 employees. (referencebusiness.com) General Motors is one of the world's largest auto manufactures. . It was the world’s largest car maker from 1931 to 2008, when it was surpassed by Toyota (newyorktimes.com). The company was founded in 1908, and today manufactures cars and truck domestically and internationally. For most of the 20th century, General Motors was the biggest company in the industry worldwide. It not only led in automotive innovations, but it helped to define the new bureaucratic multinational corporations that shaped the post-war economy. Chrysler Chrysler LLC, for years America's third-biggest automaker, is a U.S....
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...Examine the roles of standing committees in the US Congress. (10 MARKS) AQA Both the House of Representatives and the Senate work through Congress Committees. These committees allow much of the more detailed work of Congress to be undertaken. The first and most important function of a standing committee is to conduct the committee stage bills in the legislative process. They scrutinise legislation. This involves holding “hearings” with “witnesses” being called and evidence being taken. Witnesses may be: other congress members or ordinary members of the public. The legislation can be altered a lot at the committee stage of legislation. This is the stage where most legislation fails. After the hearings, conclusions are made and a vote is taken by the committee on whether or not to pass the bill on to its second reading which is the next stage in the legislative process. The fact that this stage is before the first discussion of the law makes the standing committee very significant. The second common function is scrutiny. Each executive department can face scrutiny from specific committees in both houses. The standing committees have congressional oversight of the executive branch. They conduct investigations within the committee’s policy area. They attempt to answer questions like: “Why did this happen? And Is new legislation required? Examples of these committees are the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or the House Budget Committee which is chaired by Congressman...
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...ow effectively does Congress fulfil its constitutional roles? (45) Congress has many constitutional roles to fulfil such as the power of the purse, oversight, foreign policy and legislation. It can be argued that Congress does fulfil its constitutional roles as it may deliver effective over sighting, legislation, money bills, representation and foreign policy that may provide good checks and balances. However, most would argue that congress may not carry its roles effectively or sometimes not effectively enough which leads to poor scrutiny, and sometimes over-scrutinising, which leads to ineffective fulfilment of constitutional roles. I believe that the level of effectiveness will be the role of circumstances such as divided governments and united governments which can determine the effectiveness of congress for certain roles. Congress has the role to pass legislation, scrutinise and emend bills for an effective fulfilment of the role. Congress will often amend bills which are initiated by the president in order to check the balance of power. With Congress commonly amend bills, it shows evidence of effective fulfilment of this role to scrutinise the work of the president. Congress will also take a vote on a bill which allows further scrutiny as bills may be passed or rejected by Congress. However, it can be argued that these roles are not effectively fulfilled. For instance, many bills get amended and sometimes heavily amended in such a way that bills come out the other...
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...There is a definite need for Congress in the United States. It serves many roles such as making laws, implementing national policy and watching over the other two branches of government. These are just a few of the duties of our U.S. Congress. Although they are essential to our government, there are potential problems. People are not always satisfied with the length of time involved in passing a law as well as the deadlock Congress can experience on an issue. Another potential problem people see with Congress is representation. Not all Americans feel that they are equally represented. The Congress of the United States is viewed by many as the largest branch in government. Some people might even say it is the most important. This is due to the roles Congress pays in our government. Congress is responsible for the lawmaking in our country as well as implementing national policy. The power to make laws was given to Congress by our forefathers when they constructed our constitution. Passing laws is very important to our country because without them we would be living in chaos. Of course, all our laws are not perfect but for the most part our Congress does a good job at keeping this country under control. The problems with lawmaking that most people see is the time involved in getting a law passed. In order for a bill to become a law it must first be "introduced to the House or Senate, or both, then referred to a committee." (Cummings / Wise 479). This can be a very...
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...Articles I and III of the United States Constitution defined the powers of both Congress and the Supreme Court.In addition, Marshall’s court cases further supported their significant roles, which impacted many cases greatly. In “Marbury v. Madison,” Seeing that John Marshall, who was a federalist, could not side with Marbury, who was also a federalists, because it was not written in the constitution that he could. It would be illegal. He did what was constitutional and ruled in favor of Madison. The creation of a sovereign legislature implies an authority to pass laws to execute its given powers. This clause is nothing more than a declaration of the authority of Congress to make laws, to execute the powers expressly granted to it, and the other...
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...surrounding the incumbent president. The scope for being ever being ever a solely imperial or imperilled president is hugely limited in practice, demonstrated by the now considered bifurcated presidency. * Imperial – term comes from Schlesinger in 1973 when referring to Nixon. It is linked to the assertion of presidential power, especially in foreign policy, in presidencies from Truman to Nixon – term used to criticise the increasing dominance of the President in relation to Congress * Imperilled – refers to a reduced level in Presidential authority and power as a resurgent of Congress occurred – increasing its authority over the executive through a number of legislative policies, thus practically capping the President’s role domestically and abroad. Paragraph 1 – YES – could be considered to be more imperial due to the use of executive agreements * Use of executive agreements means that the president is able to bypass congressional approval – and so acts as an aid to circumvent congress * Obama has used a combination of executive agreements, memoranda, public declarations and press statements to push past constitutional restraint – which facilitates Kernell’s theory of ‘going public’ * EG – Exec agreement order 13687 in 2015 with sanctions on N.Korea * Obama & Cuba – ‘USA is changing its relationship with people of Cuba. This is the most significant change in our politics for more than 50 years’ – diplomatic relation, relax trade and travel restrictions...
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...branches of government. One argument that the Presidency is imperilled is that no President has been able to exert the same amount of power that Franklin D Roosevelt did during the 1930s and 40s. Roosevelt remains the President to have increased the role of the executive branch of government with his New Deal policies which created organisations such as EXOP. He also broke the convention that a President only stood for two terms, becoming the only President to be elected for four terms. However, once his presidency was over, the powers of the President were soon limited to prevent the President from becoming too powerful. The 23rd amendment ensured that a President would serve no more than two terms. Thus all the Presidents following FDR have been unable to demonstrate as much power as he did. Even his successor, President Truman, could not do as much in office as FDR, despite having to deal with the fallout from the end of World War Two. In contrast however, some Presidents have been able to show a large amount of power overseas, rather than in domestic affairs. The President’s power overseas may derive from his Constitutional role as ‘Commander in Chief’ and makes it difficult for Congress to interfere with his dealings abroad. Congress may have the power to declare war, but has not done so since 1941 against Japan, yet the US has deployed troops abroad many times since then. As a result, the President can do a lot more...
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...Congress and Its Fight for Power Does Congress deserve a larger role in foreign policy? Should the president have complete control over foreign affairs? These questions have been asked in recent times because of the everlasting dispute over the intended separation of powers between the president and congress. Article 1, section 8 of the constitution states that the president is the commander in chief of the United States military. It also states congress has the power to declare war. Considering both these statements, who is really in charge of U.S. foreign policy? In recent times the president has claimed it is an inherent right to be able to make executive orders. However, the use and abuse of these executive orders has become increasingly...
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...Before taking PLSC 112 this summer, my knowledge and views of the American government and politics were very limited. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I have always been a little ignorant when it came to knowledge about the government or political issues, but have always wished that I knew more, especially with the economic problems we are facing today. I never really did form many political opinions, one way or the other. I vote every election, but never really understand the bigger picture at hand. Such as, all the issues that a candidate stands for or the impact of proposals on the government. When people around me have conversations about American politics, I am embarrassed that I either do not understand what they are saying, or cannot add to the conversation because I don’t know what to say. I guess you could say that I have always been a little cynical when it came to politics. Part of this reason is because I have always felt that the political game played in American politics was just a bunch of people talking baloney, making empty promises, trash talking their opponents, and trying to persuade people to think their way. And whoever does this the best wins, end of story. I’ve always known that there was more to American politics that this, but never really tried to find out more. So, when I signed up for this class, I wanted to shed my ignorance and learn more about my government and how it operated. I am proud to say that my knowledge of our government has been expanded...
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...CHAPTER 2 PARTY SYSTEM IN INDIA Political parties are the most significant mechanisms in a democratic government. They both express and form public opinion. They are the chief mechanism of informing and influencing the electorate. As majority party forms the government in centre, the same is valid for the state legislature. Thus, the political parties become all the most important in analyzing any kind of politics in India. As everyone is free to contest election and form organization of political behavior, different political parties have rooted their stem in Indian politics. Here we will discuss some of the national and state political parties which had a major role to play in state politics in India. The election commission of India recognizes national as well as state political parties, giving them privileges and securing their election logo. A political party shall be treated as a recognized political party in a State, if and only if either the conditions specified is, fulfilled by that party and not otherwise, that is to say- (A) That such party – Has been engaged in political activity for a continuous period of five years; and Has, at the last general election in that State to the House of the People, or, as the case may be, to the Legislative Assembly of the State, returned- Either (i) at least one member to the House of the People for every twenty-five members of that House or any fraction of that number from that State; Or (ii)...
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...To what extent does congress remain a powerful body? Congress can be argued to be an ineffective body. Though it is furnished with great power from the constitution it fails to successfully fulfil the roles of oversight, representation and Legislation. However, it is also argued that congress does successfully fulfil its role depending on which party is in control of the House and which is in control of the senate, therefore it can be argued that the powers congress has and how well they fulfil their roles are dependent on which party controls congress and which controls the white house. Congress has the power of oversight of the executive; one very important power relating to this is the power to override the presidential veto, this power of congress supports the argument that congress does remain a powerful body as they have the power to go against the presidents wishes. The separation of powers in the United States causes this power to be extremely effective, because they work independently, they can oversee the executive work and therefore hold them accountable. In addition, members of congress are experienced and therefore are very skilled at overseeing the work of the executive, an example of this is Senator Leahy, who has seen the confirmation of hundreds of federal judges who are appointed by the executive. However this power of oversight is limited mainly towards divided government, during a united government congress acts as a lapdog, and do not wish to embarrass the...
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