RESPONDWEST

Respond to WEST’DELL’S POST ON CONGRESS BELOW

TEXTBOOK FOR REFERENCE AND QUOTE

https://openstax.org/details/books/american-government-3e

150 WORDS MINIMUM

MLA

The US Congress is a powerful branch of the US government that owns many important powers which are outline in Article I of the Constitution. Congress is responsible for controlling the budget, declaring war, making new laws and passing them, and even controlling who gets to hold appointments with the president by approving the appointments beforehand. With these very important powers comes great responsibility, which is why the US congress is a bicameral legislature and is separated into two different chambers as a way of balancing out that power and ensuring that there is never too much power given to one chamber of congress. The first chamber is the Senate, and the second chamber is the House of Representatives. The senate holds elections every 6 years to vote in senators based on the winning popular vote within their respective states. Each state has two senators in the senate, regardless of the population of the state. In contrast to the Senate, the House of Representatives holds elections every 2 years to vote in new politicians or keep existing representatives in their previously elected positions. The number of representatives of each state is determined by the total population of the state. Every district within each state elects their own representative to vote in the best way they see fit and in the way in which their district or state expected them to vote (with some exceptions). The US congress was designed in the US Constitution to have a complex but effective system of checks and balances. For example, "The bicameral system established at the Constitutional Convention and still followed today requires the two houses to pass identical bill s, or proposed items of legislation. This ensures that after all amending and modifying has occurred, the two houses ultimately reach an agreement about the legislation they send to the president." I think the US congress is a relatively functional (if not completely functional) institution, with obvious drawbacks being that passing new laws and actions of the government take a lot of time and work compared to other countries legislative systems, however it is very effective at making sure no laws or actions are passed without being extensively considered from every perspective of every individual apart of congress. I would say, all things considered, especially how long this system has been in place, that this system was ahead of its time when it was put into motion all those years ago and is especially effective at reflecting the popular opinions of the governed. 

 

Sources

11.1 The Institutional Design of Congress - American Government 3e | OpenStaxLinks to an external site.