The Increasing Power of the President - Admission/Application Essay Example

The Increasing Power of the President Elected officials have the power to act on behalf of the majority of the general public however citizens hold the capability to frequently approve or disapprove of their actions. In subtle the main institutions including congress and the presidency have responsibilities of representing the views of the citizens (Polsby 256-257). Political representation is the action of ensuring that the views grievances, interests and opinions of the citizens are aired and attended to by the concerned parties that entitled in establishing public policies and regulations. Political representation usually entails all politicians who are powered to speak, advocate and even take measures on behalf of the society (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Opinion polls show that majority of the Americans are losing faith in their elected officials in congress. According to the polls, most Americans are disappointed in the lack of capability and willingness of congress members to assist constituents in addressing the various challenges they are facing. Even though congress members are usually elected by their constituents so as to represent their interests and opinions in the public making policy this has not been the case. Instead of acting at the best interests of the majority of the constituents, the congress members have leaned toward acting to serve their selfish interests by both protecting and representing the interests of the few rich elite thus aggravating the already worse situation. Most Americans strongly support the idea of ensuring that democracy is applicable and practical in the United States by rallying behind the enforcement of term limits on both state and federal elected officials, particularly members of Congress. Ideally, congress members are either supposed to act as delegates and directly represent the views, interests or opinions or either act as trustees of their constituents and through their own judgment ensure that the laws passed serve the interests of their constituents (Kernell 212-227). The Trustee model maintains that representatives should be allowed to use their own judgment when making decisions on whether should support a particular bill or not irrespective of the view held by a majority of the voters. This therefore indicates that democracy is not essential here because democracy dictates that majority always wins. Therefore, this is a delicate situation especially because in most cases, the interests of the majority of the people are not represented and in addition, the elected officials may sometimes at their own selfish interests. On the other hand the Delegate model deem that elected officials are not given the option of using their own best judgment and are to vote strictly in line with the wishes and interests of majority of the voters. This therefore is likely to ensure that congress act as per the wishes of the voters or else they stand a chance of being kicked out during the election. In this case, there is usually constant communication between the constituents and their representatives therefore ensuring that the issues affecting the public are steadily addressed (Ritchie 136-271). Considering the fact that elections to elect congress members are done more frequently this helps in keeping congress in check. Congress therefore tends to work to present the best interests of their constituents by directly acting as their mouthpiece and representing their needs because they believe if they fail to do so then they have no chance in being reelected. This is contrary to the president who is usually elected once in every four years hence may consider not to represent the interests of the voters. Therefore giving the president more powers may plunge the country into crisis and result in dictatorship if people try to question his actions. Term limits help ensure serving congress members are held accountable by their actions when they face the electorate for reelection. However, the main challenge is to ensure that the people’s representatives unite and ensure that the right and effective policies are enacted. Supporters see Congress as a forum in which many interests compete for a spot on the policy agenda and over the form of a particular policy. Some observers feel that Congress is so representative that it is incapable of taking decisive action to deal with difficult problems. In a large democracy, the success of democratic government depends on the quality of representation. Congress usually bring into attention the needs and views of the constituents to ensure that they are attended to by the relevant authorities. These varying needs sometimes pit different sections of the country against each other, whether industrial versus agricultural, energy producing versus energy-consuming (Grant & Keohane 29-44). Congress provides the forum where the people's elected representatives can debate these conflicting positions and come up with solutions addressing the various challenges. There is also evidence to support the view that Congress is representative: Congress does try to listen to the American people; the election does make a difference in how votes turn out; which party are in power affects policies; linkage institutions do link voters to policymakers. If Congress is responsive to a multitude of interests and those interests desire government policies to aid them in some way, does the nature of Congress predispose it to continually increase the scope of the public sector Also, members of Congress often appear self-serving as they pursue their political careers and represent interests and reflect values that are controversial. Scandals, even when they involve a single member, add to the public's frustration with Congress and have contributed to the institution's low ratings in opinion polls. It is obvious that American people cannot govern themselves and therefore there is need to find a suitable way of electing their representatives who can do a decent job of governing on their behalf. This will mean that giving the people's representatives space, time, and freedom in which to take decisions, knowing that if they get them wrong, they will be punished by the voters. In twentieth-century America, the airy myths of agency democracy are precise. (Roberts et al. 22-26). To be precise the main responsibility of the congress is to serve their constituents by representing their needs and interests so that they can be addressed. Better service to constituents is therefore the key to reelection of the congress members. However the president does not usually represent the views and needs of the voters firstly because there are no term limits to reelection and secondly because in most cases the president is likely to represent the government rather than the voters. Therefore, his or her interests will most likely reflect the views of the government even if the public may have a different opinion. Therefore, I conclude by stating that even though currently the congress has not successfully represented the interests of constituents, it is better placed at representing the voters in public policy making than the president. This is because congress members are elected more regularly and therefore in order to be re-elected, then they have no choice other than acting to the best interests of their constituents. Indeed, I conquer with the supporters of delegate model that elected officials should always work to represent the interests and views of the majority of those that elected them. This is because, at a number of times some politicians have acted in protecting their self-interests and when questioned they defend their actions by arguing that they did what they believed what was right (Kernell 251-303). Works cited Grant, Ruth, and Robert Keohane. “Accountability and Abuses of Power in World Politics,” Published in. American Political Science Review. 2005, Pp.29–44. Kernell, Samuel et al. The Logic of American Politics 5th edition. San Diego: CQ press. 2011. Print. Polsby, Nelson. How Congress Evolves: Social Bases of Institutional Change. Oxford University Press. 2004. Print. Ritchie, Donald. The Congress of the United States: A Student Companion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.Print. Roberts, Jason et al. The American Congress.. (4th edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. pp. 25–26. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. First published Mon Jan 2, 2006; substantive revision Mon Oct 17, 2011 . Read More