American Politics and Government-POLT 101

The Congress, President and Courts we need in America

While the reformist tradition of the Congress of America remains genuine, persistent, and strong, Congressional reform has become a hot debate for political analysts, scholars, and even the public. This tradition of talking about our politics is significant because it shows that there are commentators, academics, and lawmakers who are concerned about the performance, role, and work of Congress. Let’s go back to one of the events of the former United States President and following President Trump’s intention to end the program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), it was clear that Congress should create legislative solutions in protecting the interest of the American people (Bianco & Canon 1253). Although some of the ideas proposed by Congress such as linking the DACA bill to the budget bill worked, most of these proposals were placed on the shelf to be utilized later. Even if Congress has tried to prove their congressional oversight work, problems like the one of the DACA bill is a good proof of how they frequently exhibit behaviors that deviate from the roles of trustees or delegates. It makes me believe that Congress needs effective reforms that can allow them to be more serious while representing the American people.

Given that Congress is the most democratic branch of the government, members should take roles in both descriptive & substantive representation. We learned that descriptive representation involves members of the Congress sharing characteristics such as race, gender, ethnicity, and religion of his or her constituents. On the other hand, substantive representation involves members of Congress serving constituents’ interests and policy concerns (Crammer, Lecture 10.1). But why would Congress consider dysfunctional and incompetent? I discovered that one of the major issues facing Congress lies in its bicameral structure, which is made up of the Senate selected by state legislatures to represent each state and the popularly elected House to represent relative state populations (Crammer, Lecture 10.2). Bicameralism makes it difficult for Congress to attain efficiency as part of legislature branch due to personal clashes, policy disagreements, and partisan conflicts in the Houses while passing bills. For instance, bicameralism leads to split loyalties among members of Congress because they have to respond to national interests and the interests of their local constituencies (Bianco & Canon 1261). In such a period of combative and sometimes sharp partisan polarization, I think there is a need to encourage greater comity and civility in the lawmaking process. This can be achieved through the use of Member retreats and bipartisan committee staff. Most importantly, Congress should embrace a bipartisan joint committee that can go far beyond merely recommending trivial improvements, which existing elected officers and standing committees in each chamber are taken into consideration. It makes me understand how this bicameral problem demands the legislative branch to be reinvigorated to oversee a growing and strong Executive. I would propose these reforms because I believe they will improve the effectiveness of the work of Congress while building its institutional capacity and ability to represent and defend the American people per the Constitution

Another thing I noted is the relationship between the Congress and the President has been evolving over the years to the extent of establishing descriptive representation whereby the citizen’s interests are no longer addressed. Let us consider a good example where such representation was during the crucial vote on the budget presented by President Clinton in 1993. The bill was about spending cuts and controversial tax increases as some Members voted in support of this budget (Bianco & Canon 1273). To ensure the interest of American citizens are considered and not politicized, one of the presidential power I think should be eliminated or changed is the veto power. This is the power that allows the president to stop a bill from becoming law. It should be removed because it makes me believe that great responsibility and power are not held by one individual, especially in a democratic government. By threatening the veto power, citizens and other Members of Congress could get the opportunity to persuade other legislators to change some policies in bills before it becomes law. I also noted that the Presidential veto power creates a cold relationship between the legislative and executive branches, thus causing a deadlock or combination of autocracy.

Traditional perspectives of law show that justices and judges make decisions on the basis of political ramifications, and it makes me believe that some judges are partisan. While the Supreme Court has been regarded as a politicized entity, these attitudes have been extended to the entire judiciary system of the country. According to Bianco and Canon (1609), judges are not supposed to publicly oppose or endorse a political candidate because it may cause conflict from both sides of political parties. Therefore, the courts can be made less partisan and depoliticized by enacting term limits and regular appointment schedules, which could further help in restoring public trust in the American judicial system. Additionally, term limits could be effective in reducing partisan and political bias hence changing the perception that the courts are the only institutions mandated to extend executive or legislative powers. With the term limits, it would also be easier to remove judges that demonstrate political bias. I would also propose that judges be chosen on the basis of judicial competence and ideology. In general, the Congress, the President, and the courts play an important role in the American political system because they represent the functions of the three branches of government in the United States.

Works Cited

Bianco, William T., and David T. Canon. “American Politics Today” 7th Edition- Essentials.

Crammer, Cale. Lecture10.1: Congress & the People. YouTube, 19 January 2022, https://youtu.be/x1JwJToUqyY?list=PLBF-ur_6ck0XQ2zl3oJK4mFnX8jm-WK_i

Crammer, Cale. Lecture 10.2: The Structure of the Congress. YouTube, 19 January 2022,