The American Congress - Essay Example

This research paper aims to show the possible improvements within the public policy making process of the legislation under the condition when the federal legislative terms of the members of the Congress are limited. This study will first narrate a short background of the American Congress. It will discuss the specifications of the offices held by the members of the Congress – both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It will then discuss the positive and negative effects when the office terms of the members of the Congress are shortened.

The American Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate The legislative branch of the American Federal government consists of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The legislation’s primary task is to create Congressional bills that are subject to executive review and Congressional votes – those of which pass as state laws afterwards. The legislature also has the power to approve executive decisions through two-thirds vote of the chamber. Petitions for impeachment are deliberated by the House of Representatives which are then elevated for trials in the Senate. . The Senate comprises of 100 members - two senators from each state, regardless of population (“Art & History”).

The members of the House of Representatives are elected to serve for two years while the members of the Senate are elected to serve for six years (Smith, Roberts and Vander Wielen 87-121). The American Congress Under a Limited Federal Legislative Term Under the circumstance where the federal legislative terms of the members of the Congress are put to a limit, there are several positive and negative effects to the policy making process of the legislative branch as a whole. The positive aspect about limiting the terms of service of the members of the Congress is the sense of inevitable competitiveness of each of the newly elected individuals into office.

The shorter the term of service of the politicians, the more determined they become to out-wit the previous legislative set. Indeed, a sense of competition is naturally established amongst every new set of congressmen/congresswomen. In light with this mentality, it can be assumed that the members of the Congress could produce better policies – policies that would garner the most satisfaction from their constituents and would put the public interest in the forefront. Efficiency in public service is also another positive effect under the condition of limited federal legislative term.

Due to the influence of competitiveness, the newly elected sets of congressmen/congresswomen would be forced to produce a more efficient quality of service because they would want their short time in office to be remembered by their constituents. In this case, the American Congress would obviously become more aggressive in terms of