Congress: It's Purpose and Power
Congress is the most important representative institution in a government. Each member's primary responsibility is to his or her constituency, and not to the congressional leadership, a party, or even Congress itself. The purpose of the congress is agreed by most, is to legislate for the public interest, the public interest however is not agreed on. The Congress was established by the founders of this country, to be the first and most powerful branch of government. One of the first powers given to the congress was to lay and collect taxes. The agreement was to give such a power to the more common branch of government. The second power was to certify national elections. Third, determine who will replace President or Vice President if both are incapacitated. The last is the power to enforce other amendments through legislation. The court noted that in order to forestall the danger of encroachment beyond the legislative sphere, the Constitution imposes two basic and related constraints on the Congress. The first constraint is that Congress may not invest itself or its members with either executive power or judicial power. The second constraint is when it exer
As society has grown more complex, and Congress has taken on more responsibilities, Congress has needed to add staff to deal with these realities. Staff can: 1) control information that members receive; 2) control access to members; 3) help to set committee agenda; 4) make recommendations on legislation; and 5) help to write legislation. Moreover, they usually see connections between their goals and what they do every day. Political scientist Richard Fenno, in studying differences among members sitting on different committees, found that three categories; 1) reelection; 2) good public policy; and 3) influence accounted for most of the goals expressed by members. The strategic politician's theory incorporates money as well. If there is one thing we know about money in congressional elections, it is that money matters most to the challengers. Incumbents already have gotten their name before the voters; things like casework and franking allow them to do so while in office. But challengers tend to be less known. Successful challengers must spend money. But strategic donors avoid giving money to those they perceive as weak. Money accounts for even more of the incumbency advantage; most congressional challengers are perceived as so weak that they can't even get their hands on enough cash to run a campaign. Strategic donors also help make congressional elections self-fulfilling prophecies.
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Approximate Word count = 1237
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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