This again, all goes back to Mayhew’s theory of how members of Congress seek
Lee H. Hamilton, a former congressman in the House of Representatives, wrote, The Case for Congress, to share some of the criticisms he has heard over the years and to explain the effects of such opinions. Hamilton speaks of three main criticisms: “Congress is run by lobbyists and special interests”, “Congress almost seems to promote total gridlock”, and “There’s too much money in Politics” (Hamilton 2004). For each of these criticisms, Hamilton explains these thoughts and his opinion on the matter. The strongest point of Hamilton’s argument was in defending the lobbyists in Congress. Hamilton (2004) said the public opinion of lobbyists is that “Congress is manipulated by powerful wheel-dealers who put pressure on legislators and buy votes through extensive campaigns and other favors” (p. 83).
Each chapter details one method congressmen and presidents use to move up in their careers, explaining the concept through stories of each politician employing the strategy. Presenting the ideas in this way gives a thorough understanding of the principle, and keeps both political and non-political readers interested through the whole book. In the introduction, Matthews defines hardball for readers. It “is clean, aggressive Machiavellian politics.
In The Broken Branch, Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein offer a first hand and well-explained account of what is wrong in the United States Congress today, when and where the government started to let things slip, and how Congress can work to get back on track. Mann and Ornstein begin their book by discussing some of the history, events, and reasoning behind practices of today’s Congress. Not until chapter three in the book do they really get into the root cause of the problems facing Congress in today’s day in age. In chapter three, Mann and Ornestein detail that they began their political careers in Washington D.C. in 1969, at the peak of the dissatisfaction that citizens were feeling over the Vietnam War (47). The duo conveys that the
The United States senators are James Inhofe and James Lankford; the United States representative is Tom Cole. In this essay, I will discuss my preferences on these three people and my point of view of why I would vote for them. James “Jim” Inhofe (Senior Senator) James got his education in his home town, at the University of Tulsa.
These are just a few words to describe the incredible Congressmen John Lewis. It was truly an honor meeting you. I would like to thank you for believing in what's right and standing up for change! Thank you again, for your count less years of service to our community and nation.
In the aftermath of the first real wave of retiring legislators, supporters and opponents have debated on the benefits and detriments of term limits and neither side could come to a conclusion. In Maine where term limit restrictions resulted in a legislature comprised of 40% first term members resulted in the state’s budget being passed in march, the earliest in the state’s history. Supporters saw this as an example that members were working harder and were being more effective, while detractors saw the early budget as inexperienced legislators were passing proposals with inadequate understanding and scrutiny. Supporters emphasize the annual turnover increase in both chambers since the adoption of Proposition 140, as well as the significant increase in the number of members retiring voluntarily before they were 'termed-out '. Supporters are also quick to point out the increase in minority and women legislators increased as had been predicted.
By following his conscience, he engaged in an act of civil disobedience in the Senate. Once called a political heretic, Adams defied the common tendency of freshman Senators to blindly follow the dictates of the party. “He denied the duty of elected officials ‘to be palsied by the will of their constituents’… by flattering their prejudices, by ministering to their passions, and by humoring their transient and changeable opinions.” I believe that John Quincy Adams understood the grave weight of his political decision. Nevertheless, meaningful progress and development within political institutions sometimes involves a reformation of its internal practices.
EXPLANATION OF THE KEY TERM The key term that I have chosen is “federalism.” In Lee Hamilton’s How Congress Works and Why You Should Care, he initially begins discussing federalism in the section named “Why Federalism Works.” To begin, Hamilton begins to reminisce on his experience in Congress and gives a brief and rather broad explanation to it, but he he goes on to use an example that is more relatable to the average person: 7th grade Civics class.
Since the Constitution was amended in 1951 to limit President’s two terms, many political scientists have observed that congressional term limits could cure the imbalance between these two branch of the federal government. In Congress, the term limits have people
The Texas legislature is not this way. It is not full-time rather part-time and the pay is minimal at only $7,200 per year, therefore Texas congressman must have other careers besides being in the legislature. Also the Texas constitution requires the Texas legislature to meet for 140 day sessions every 2
The popularity of the members of Congress and Congress overall has been declining as the years pass and time changes. The dissatisfaction and disapproval of the public is so high because according to David Mayhew who wrote Congress the Electoral Connection members of Congress are single-minded people who are only focused on reelection, involve in “smart” behavior such as position taking, credit-claiming and advertisement. Also, according to Mayhew parties are weak, however, that is all not true people tend to vote more so for their party than the person in general. Arnold the writer of Logic of Congressional Outcome, states that Congress has many things to take into account such as citizen preference, robe-challenger, has to take into account
Finally Fenno argued that home style, and Washington style impacted each other, but he couldn't do much more than speculate on how. While speculating Fenno used two examples: One representative that made his constituents feel welcomed at home but when they saw him in Washington he had bigger priorities than talking to them, and one representative that loved interacting with his constituents but hated the more formal parties and affairs of lobbyists and politicians in Washington. Fenno argues that both of these Representatives by not using either home style or Washington style correctly were seriously limiting their success. The first representative didn't make his constituents feel
1. If given the power, I would support and convert the US system into a direct democracy which means the winner of the presidential popular vote would win the presidency. On page 182 in the book, it states that a direct democracy enables all actors with a voice (the ability to vote) to make decisions on the matter at hand. Furthermore, a direct democracy provides voice to those affected by the issue.
A citizen should act upon their free will or judgement without having the pressures of society around them. The House of Representatives member should worry about the diverse community values rather than the citizen. Even if they are in a specific party they do not have to vote upon what that party thinks what is
