Congrss and President

A detailed Summary of Congrss and President

Even though Congress is supposed to be the pre-eminent democratic and representative institution in our society, it seems that Congress has neglected to live up to these explanations. Howard Laski has observed that Congress not only neglects this criteria, but was designed in way to maximize incoherence and irresponsibility. Samuel Huntington also offers his view of Congress as a troubled institution because of its inability to modernize itself with the existence of affiliation, structure and functions. By examining the arguments of Laski and Huntington and providing a clear assessment of each, I hope to answer the question pertaining to Congress’s insufficient role as a democratic and representative institution. I hope to further support this by incorporating the ideas of Morris Fiorina and Dan Clawson, and finally suggesting some changes that may help Congress become the ideal democratic institution that it was thought to have been.

Howard Laski stressed that congress is both incoherent and irresponsible. He showed this by providing a comparison of the United States Government and the British Parliament. Laski shows that the British system is one in which the Prime Minister is the head of the majority party and he

The arguments of both Morris Fiorina and Dan Clawson can be utilized in supporting the arguments put forth by Laski and Huntington. They all share a number of common ideas that help to further explain the inadequacies of the United States Congress. Fiorina comes right out and blames Congress for the negative aspects of the United States government. He says that all politicians get elected vowing to make changes within the institution, but not one ever does. Like Laski and Huntington, Fiorina argues that members have become engulfed in the idea of careerism. All that is important to them is to serve constituents with the intention of becoming reelected. Fiorina points out that in the 1960’s, members were given a boost in obtaining reelection through the emergence of vanishing marginals. This meant that the amount of districts with a 50% margin (close electoral races), also known as swing districts, were on the decline. This caused major problems because it pr!

With all of this, the only question that is left is what can be done within the institution of Congress that would present a solution to these problems? Fiorina would suggest that a change in the structure of the institution is vital for any change to take place. Members need structural and fucntional change within if they are to shift from constituent service, back to legislation. As long as members are focused on local and particular needs of constituents they will continue to pursue reelection above and beyond any other goal or issue. As for Clawson, the change needs to in prohibiting the large sums of money from business in reaching the members. Many are quick to blame Congress and politicians, but if you could stop the flow of money drastic changes could be made. Clawson suggests finance reform is the only way to fix these problems, stating that campaigns should be publicly financed by the government. This would not only create equality throughout campaigning, but!

Unlike Clawson, Fiorina argues that parties are extremely important to the members. He says that they provide money, staff, programatic identity and expertise. But parties have been on the decline as of late because of the emergence of constituency service. Fiorina states that Reagan made an attempt to strengthen the republican party, which in part worked. Reagan established the Republican National Committee as a year-round force, collecting money and working throughout each Presidents term. Although this did little to strengthen the party, it made the committee a cash machine and provided a new-found source of money for members. But Fiorina is very clear that the cause for problems within the government can be seen through Congressmen. Congressmen, like others, are driven by their own self-interests. That is why members are the way that they are today, they are concerned solely with what they want for themselves (reelection). This allows for members to work together!

Laski explains that such a system of checks and balance was established to limit the power of the federal government and to decentralize it. The framers of the constitution feared the concept of absolute democracy and majority rule. That is why direct elections still do not occur to this day in the Untied States. Rather they utilize the electoral process, so that they can limit the extent and possible threats that a true democracy may pose. All of this res

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Approximate Word count = 2300
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics