U.S. Congress: Relation between the congress and the president in the 20th century - Essay Example

U.S. CONGRESS The relationship of the congress with the President is of pre-eminent significance in the domain of American politics. The notion of Federalism and that of the constitution urge for the execution of impartial democracy with the mutual cooperation between the President and the Congress for the purpose of attaining optimal development in America. With Washington D.C., America as the headquarter of the American federal government has encountered a changing dynamic graph bearing the relation between the US president and the congress.

In the 19th century it can be said that Congress was the dominant governing institution and in the 20th century, the dominance in governance shifted from the Congress to the President1. The dual nature of the congress that is differentiation between an assembly of the local representatives and a lawmaking institution can be also regarded as an important parameter which influences the relationship between the president and the congress2. The paper will be highlighting the relationship between the US congress and the President in the 19th and 20th century along with the dual nature of the congress as an influencing factor in understanding of the relation.

Relation between the congress and the president in the 19th century The era of the 19th century can be said to be as the era of great legislators and not the president. The role of the president was viewed majorly as a source of supporting job. The president was mainly engaged in jobs like interviewing and appointing large numbers of workers in the federal government. The debated issues like that of the slavery and that of the states’ rights were subject to debate in the congress and the legislators of those days like Henry Clay, John Calhoun, Stephen Douglas and so on used to enjoy more celebrity status than the president.

The foreign policy relationship between the congress and that of the executive during the 19th century occurred under the president who was regarded as a failure3. In the 19th century the tenure and recognition of the congressmen were more prominent than that of the president. As for instance it can be stated that the congressmen like Kentucky's Henry Clay were regarded as titans on the Washington stage for decades and in that time the presidents came and went much frequently. As a fact it was believed that the when William Henry of Indiana was elected as the president in 1840 he would look for the support of the senator Clay for decision taking regarding the national agendas.

However the exception can be said to be of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln4. Relation between the congress and the president in the 20th century In the 20th Century the dominance of the president over the congress can be encountered. In the recent times, the global economy has faced deep recession and American government is no exception. The perils of debt crisis adversely affected the economy of America. At this critical juncture the coordination between the president and the congress needs to be highly coordinated.

However democracy can be viewed as a democracy crisis which directed towards the uncoordinated mechanism between the congress and the US president. There has been rising controversies regarding two issues. One is a crippling failure to pay brought on by the deadlocks of the Congress or that of the one-sided augment in the debt ceiling by an unimpeded president. The inability of the settling of the disputes can be directed towards the Congress which has been constrained and incapable of taking effective actions.

At such a juncture, the president decides on his own regardless of abiding by the constitution. The Congress defends itself by stating the words like ‘his’ addressing the president. The problem lies with the president also. In the recent it has been seen that the presidents are applying more frequent utilization of the executive orders, signing of the statements as well as that of the agency regulations instead of entering into treaties or authorized internal agreements with the Congress.

In the year 2011, an act Environmental Protection Agency which was dedicated towards the regulation of the greenhouse gas emissions at some selected gas plants and factories was stalled and no legislative actions were taken. The members of the congress did not desire about the consequences but they also could not implement any robust decisions. In this respect the President receives a poisoned reward and that is of enhanced unilateral power but diminished ability in sharing responsibility or blame5.

Conclusion The paper discussed the trajectory of the evolution regarding the relation between the president of the United States of America and the congress. It can be seen that the legislators were more dominant than the president in articulating the national agendas and the president acted as supporting role in that legislative mechanism. The houses of congress imparted their decisions over the president. In the 20th century the scenario reversed with the presidential domination over the congress.

But that also led to various internal mis-coordinations between the president and the congress which impacted badly on the national interest of the country. For the proper development of the country on a dynamic path requires an unbiased coordination between the president and the Congress. References 1. Auerswald, D. P & Campbell, C. C, (2012), Congress and the Politics of National Security, Cambridge University Press 2. Congress and the President, (2002), http://congress.indiana.edu/congress-and-the-president (accessed on September 27, 2012) 3.

Hacker, J, S & Hathaway, O, A, (2011), Our Unbalanced Democracy, (accessed on September 27, 2012) 4. Sloan, W. D & Parcell, L.M, (2002), American Journalism: History, Principles, Practices, McFarland 5. Thompson, D, T, (1995), Ethics in Congress: From Individual to Institutional Corruption, Brookings Institution Press