Examples Of Congressional Gridlock

In his chapter on Party Polarisation, Brian Schaffner draws upon a range of research in order to examine the extent to which external and internal factors have caused the polarisation of Congress as identified by research drawing upon Poole and Rosenthal’s NOMINATE scoring. Such research found that legislative voting in both the House and the Senate has become increasingly split along party lines over the last four decades. Several explanations have been put forward to suggest why this may be the case, although, for the most part, each of these explanations is consistent one of two broader schools of thought on the issue. The first of these is the belief that it is external (outside of the legislature) factors that have caused Congress to become so polarised.

What is Gridlock and why should we care about it? According to Political Dictionary’s Gridlock, “gridlock is a situation in which the government is unable to pass new legislation, often because the presidency and the Congress are controlled by different political parties.” Congressional Gridlock is a recurring issue in America’s political system. It is crippling the efficacy of the government's ability to lead the country to prosperity. Currently, most of the House of Representatives is republican, and the President is democratic.

what is this thing called Congressional Gridlock? My complete understanding of Congressional gridlock it is when government officials can’t compromise to pass laws. Gridlock happens when the government is mostly divided. Congressional Gridlock is when republicans and democratic branches are not unified. If the house has a majority of republicans and they pass a bill, and the president which is democratic he can decide to veto the bill.

Congressional term limits have been what restricted the amount of time that anyone can work in office whether it be to a representative, senator, or even the president. People have debated over keeping or losing the term limits, since each come with their own benefits and faults at the same time. In the argument for term limits, some may argue that they are necessary because, “Congress will be more responsible toward their constituents because they will soon be constituents themselves” (Weeks). The validity in this statement proves to be one of the strongest arguments because the creation of laws is mean to serve all people, and if the people in office had complete immunity, it would serve unfair and unjust to the rest of society. For this reason, it always will make those in office consider how impactful and

Immigration reform is one of the most contentious issues in America today, provoking angry debates in Congress, fueling tension in town hall meetings across the country, and even dividing families. In 2007, as the battle over immigration reform played out in Congress, Tom Selders, the Republican mayor of Greeley, Colorado, put a local face on the issue. Selders spoke out on Capitol Hill about the devastating effect of an immigration raid at a Greeley meatpacking plant and urged Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform. As a result, he faced a backlash of criticism at home. Selders knew his public stance on immigration was politically risky, particularly since he was seeking reelection in the upcoming mayoral race.

This occurs because the minority party can make long speeches to get their point across and develop their points to persuade the majority political parties to vote for a bill they want (Bond,

Founded by colonists, settlers and pioneers, the United States can be defined as a land of immigrants. But public opinion on immigration has changed dramatically in the past decades. In the 1920s, the majority of these immigrants originate from Europe, while immigrants in the United States today include a large percentage of those coming from Asia and Latin America (Chow and Keating). Immigration issues made division in the general public, especially among politicians. The greatest controversial subject in the immigration issue is the subject of illegal immigration.

Filibustering in the Senate has its origin back to “the 1850s” (“Filibuster and Cloture”), yet many landmark filibusters happened in the 20th century. For instance, in 1957 “South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond spoke continuously for twenty- four hours and eighteen minutes to prevent the passage of civil rights legislation. Thurmond still holds the record for the longest filibuster” (English 110). However, because of the time- consuming characteristic of filibusters, debates over changing the regulations to curtail

Gun Control Debate Jake Novak, in an article for CNBC titled, “Gun control isn’t the answer. We already know how to stop the violence,” gives his opinion regarding the controversial issue of gun control. Novak argues that gun control is not the answer to rising gun violence but that proper enforcement of the law would go a long way in reducing the cases of gun violence in America. He states, “We actually solved the issue of rising gun violence in America in the mid-1990’s and again in the early 2000’s by doing something radical. We enforced the law” (Novak 28).

To understand the extent of how common mass shooting and gun violence is in our nation and why it feels like the nations is numb to gun violence, president Obama in his last national, which he was addressing the gun violence tragedy at Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, Oregon, said, “The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this.” If the president expressed his feeling towards the frequency of gun violence tragedy and how predictable giving a national eulogy was, then it would be safe for me to assume that gun violence is a national issue that needs to be addressed and since nothing has changed so far, it is evident that the presidents speech is not as impactful towards law makers and the

Immigration, as of the late, has been a fiery topic of discussion in our country. Not just fiery but controversial as well. This issue is one of the most discussed through the recent presidential debates. And it should be. Immigration has been an ongoing obstacle that has yet to find a solution or has yet taken a path to success.

Attempting to enact significant legislation requires Congress and the White House to compromise and anticipate what others will approve of and pass. When a bill successfully passes both houses of Congress, which has become increasingly difficult due to party polarization and radical groups within the House of Representatives and the Senate, it then goes to the president for signing. This is a lengthy process, and in order for groups of people with opposing views to settle in agreement on a measure, a great deal of negotiation is often required. This can result in a piece of legislation that is a compromised, diluted version of its original form that is not an effective solution to the initial problem. Vague, weak legislation often necessitates further action by the other two branches of government in order to interpret and execute it properly.

Instead of banning or limiting guns, the evidence will show that removing the current restrictions and targeting individuals instead of guns will be a more effective process. The topic of gun control has two polarized opinions. One such opinion targets the individuals responsible for the crime, instead of just the weapons. John Moorhouse and Brent Wanner tackle the issue of gun control in their article “Does Gun Control Reduce Crime Or Does Crime Increase Gun Control”, which was published in 2006 in the twenty-sixth volume of the Cato Journal. These researchers looked at the effects gun control laws had on violent crime and gun violence in the individual states.

This paper also provides an interesting solution to gun violence; instead of already proven ineffective gun control laws, these authors suggest looking at why these laws are ineffective. Planty, Michael, and Jennifer

In today’s society, one of the most alienating issues in American politics is gun control. More specifically, the issue is whether or not guns should be banned in the United States. Some people would say that guns should be banned because it would reduce crime as a whole and keep citizens safer. These people, enthusiasts of stricter gun laws, fear being safe in their country where there are so many people who have access to guns. Opponents of this argument, however, also fear losing safety.