Professional legislators are those elected officials that with long, nearly unlimited legislative sessions, professional full-time staff and a salary put in place that would, and should, allow for full-time public service. In theory, the professionalization of state legislatures opens up the body to more individuals and thus should improve the overall overcomes for the average citizen. In other words, if more people see running for office as an option, then the pool of candidates is larger and statistics would dictate that a larger pool should lead to better candidates getting elected. The implication for the legislatives bodies starts with members serving longer terms, thus forming a more experienced legislative body. In addition, with …show more content…
Legislators in more professional roles tend to be more attentive to constituent concerns and thus to represent their views better in state legislatures. One measure of this effectiveness for the citizens that elect these officials, is a professional legislators’ willingness to be independent in votes from their party’s’ politics. For these reasons alone, professionalism would seem to help a state, because it helps the citizens. A more professional legislature has the ability and time to thoroughly consider policy and policy changes. This would include time to study the success and failure of other states; choosing good policy to implement and forgoing failing policy from alternative states. There is a down side to professionalism in state legislatures. As the jobs are deemed more lucrative, the goal becomes of current legislators is to get reelected. Clucas finds that this leads to two things; first, as mentioned, it leads to individuals voting for their constituents best interest, but on the down side, it leads to a passing of power from the legislature to the executive branch and even more specifically to career public administers. Even with this one downside, professionalism helps a
What motivates members of Congress to act the way they do? Mayhew would argue in Congress: The Electoral Connection that members of Congress are ‘’single-minded re-election seekers’’ and that re-election is their one and only goal. Whilst the assumption that all members of Congress are ‘‘single-minded re-election seekers’’ does go some distance in analysing the motives behind members of Congress, the reading fails to take into account the other key goals of members of Congress. Other goals include good policy and future career positions. It is important to remember that the achievement of both re-election and other goals are not exclusive, members of Congress often are motivated by more than one goal.
Most individuals with a general background knowledge of the United States Federal Government system are aware that in order for a bill to become a law, it must first pass a majority vote in Congress. There is, however, a very important step in the legislative process that sometimes goes unnoticed. The committee system of the legislation process ensures that the appropriate attention is given to each bill introduced to Congress. Each member of both chambers are assigned to committees and subcommittees, and are expected to become subject matter experts in their respective roles as committee members.
Mann and Norman J. Ornstein argue that the Legislative branch is the most broken branch of government. Congress was designed by the Framers of the Constitution of the United States to be an independent and powerful party. The Framers wanted the Legislative branch to represent the vast diversity of people of the United States, to deliberate on important issues and policies, and to check and balance the other branches. However, Congress’s role in the American Constitutional System differs from the part it was meant to play. The authors argue that Congress has failed to fill its responsibilities to the people of the United States because of the division of the Democratic and Republican parties, which leaves little room for compromise and negotiation. Members of Congress focus on their own needs and interests, and will travel to far lengths to prove that their political party is the most powerful. Congress has turned a blind eye to the needs of the American people. Congress cannot succeed in getting the United States back on track unless they start to follow the rules dictated by the Framers of the Constitution. A vast series of decisions made by Congress, driven by Congress’s disregard for institutional procedures, its tendency to focus on personal ethics, and the overpowering culture of corruption, led to Congress failing to implement important changes in the United States
In fact, most new Senators would have relied on the opinions of the older and more experienced Senators to help them make their voting decisions. This was e...
The three theories of representation in Congress are: delegate, trustee, and politico. First is the delegate model of representation is the philosophy that legislators should represent the preferences of their constituents. Next is the trustee model of representation is the philosophy that legislator should consider the will of the people but act in ways they perceive best for the long term interest of the nation. Finally, is the politico model of representation it is a mixture of the two, it is delegate on which constituents have intense views, and trustee on issues that are important for national interests.
Representation: the effort of elected officials to look out for the interests of those who elect them
...ls are convincing as guidelines that legislators should follow. These values promote integrity that has been lacking in Congress. Since a politician is an individual, outside influences should not overpower his or her decision-making process. In addition, fairness forces lawmakers to play by the rules. Lastly, politicians must be accountable to the citizens that they represent because they need to be protecting their interests. These three principles force politicians to follow the morals of the “American democratic tradition,” (Thompson p.24-25).
Mr. Smith's values make him unique and give him the ability to be noticed within the legislature. The manner in which the United States legislature is currently set up allows someone similar to Mr. Smith to thrive in society...
Contrasts in the lawmaking methodology utilized as a part of the House and Senate reflect the distinctive size of the two chambers and individual terms of its parts. In the House, the dominant part gathering is inflexibly in control, stacking advisory groups with lion 's share party parts, and utilizing principles to seek after enactment supported by its parts. In the Senate, singular parts are better ready to hold up the procedure, which prompts lower similarity costs, however higher exchange costs. The complication of the lawmaking procedure gives rivals different chances to murder a bill, making a solid predisposition for the present state of affairs.
Passing legislation through Congress is a challenge by itself, but for a president acting as chief legislator it can prove to be even harder such as attempting to pass legislation and Congress. For instance, the president of the United States has several significant occupations to conduct while in office, which include the formal roles of Chief of State, Chief Executive, Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, and Chief legislator. In modern society, having an understanding of what goes on between the United States Congress and the current president, Barack Obama, acting as chief legislator is crucial to American citizens because although it may not change one’s views of politics, it will aid in having a better understanding of what is going on
One important reason Americans want to limit terms of their elected representatives is because they are likely to blame what they observe as professional and almost permanent ruling elect of career politicians for a majority of the country’s ill. Supporters of term limits claim the advantages of incumbency are so overpowering that they instead decrease representative democracy and diminish the effectiveness of the government. “Since 1950, about 90% of all incumbents in the House have won the reelection. The 10% who do not return includes both retiring members and those defeated in reelection attempts.” (Term Limits) “Proponents term limits argue that elected officials in Washington eventually become estrang...
This past summer, when I lived and worked in Washington, DC—first as a U.S. Senate Page and then as a Congressional Intern—I gained invaluable experience and insight to the American political system. It is amazing how much one can learn from simply overhearing the conversations of Members of Congress on a daily basis. Working on the floor of the Senate and then in the back rooms of a Congressional office were two entirely different experiences, each teaching me in a distinctive way about how our political system functions. While I most definitely became aware of how bureaucratic and slow our democratic system can be, I also discovered that with a commitment to unity and prosperity for the common good, great feats are attainable through government.
Professional lobbyists investigate and examine legislation or dogmatic proposals, are present at congressional hearings, and teach government officials and company officers on imperative issues. Lobbyists in addition work to transform public opinion all the way through advertising campaigns or by controlling opinion leaders. There are approximately 30,000 recorded lobbyists, other than that that does not comprise the public relations experts, marketers, support personnel, pollsters, and others who support their work. The majority lobbyists are hard–working professionals who comprehend how to find the way the political process works, gain access to lawmakers and main executive–branch officials, and construct a strategy to accomplish their legislative objectives.... ...
Many people argue that the legislative branch is run by few big interest groups because of their massive contributions against very small contributions from individuals. In a democratic society, power must be shared equally among its citizens, but is that the case in the United States? The answer is simply no, and by limiting their overall spending on elections, policymakers will listen and pay more attention to the public interest over the special interest. Also, by revealing the freeloaders’ names, people will have more knowledge of who is representing them and who has tended to benefit those who made contributions to their campaigns. Finally, prohibiting the spending on food, entertainment and gifts to legislative branch employee will also reduce the corruption in the legislative