0 4 Members Of The US Congress Are Too Concerned With Local Matters And Not Concerned Enough With Issues Affecting The Whole Country

0 4 ‘Members of the US Congress are too concerned with local matters and not concerned enough with issues affecting the whole country.’ Discuss. (30 marks)

There are two parts of government in the fact of federal government and state government. These two sections are found within the two Houses of Congress, The House of Representatives and the Senate. Within these two houses they deal with separate issues, one with the problems that are on a state-to-state level, the other on matters that hold the whole country’s best interest, so definitely on more of a national scale. There are slight differences in both houses, even being down to how long each terms are within each house with the House being 2 years and the Senate being three times this with 6 years for a term. The fact of the House term being so short before the next election it almost forces the members to focus and get what is needed for their constituency. Especially as if nothing productive is done within the two years of their election it could be that they are not voted in again. ___ example Dole ? This means that within their term, members need to do as much as they can do to do what’s in their constituency’s best interest. This comes with a certain amount of negotiation and ‘log rolling’ to get what is needed. This term comes from the idea of helping another to roll his logs so he’ll roll yours- in theory to perhaps help with another state’s needs so they’ll aid you in getting what you need for your state, or in other terms ‘bringing home the bacon’.
So, for the constituency this is the best thing as their representative is focused solely on what is needed for them, therefore being very responsive to whatever they need. However and in contrast as the Senate have a longer term they almost have a sense of relief and stability within their membership.
The Founding Fathers had the intention for both the Houses of Congress, especially for the House of Representatives as a way of being more democratic as letting the citizens of each constituency to vote for their representative. Similarly the Fathers had an intention for the Senate too as it would serve as a voice for the nation as a whole and a single place where this would all take place. There is the debate which house is more important, especially as the Senate is more the ‘deliberating’ house, filled with professionals within their area and looking at the overall picture rather than focusing on the small perhaps insignificant thing, especially when it comes to external and international happenings. Although the House of Representative is doing more of a ‘selfish’ role in what’s best for their own particular constituencies interest and on a general scale paying more attention to this than what’s happening on the grand and national scale. Similarly in the UK there is the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the Lords who are the ‘upper chamber’, like the Senate, having well educated people in their areas as well as in the ‘lower chamber’ representatives for individual constituencies. However there are similarities between the two Houses of Congress in the fact that although their term may differ they are both directly elected and have a majority and minority party leader within them. They also both have majority and minority whips to help keep them in their party line. Similarly to the UK however less strict as in the UK whips are taken very seriously and can have a significant effect on the member at hand. Overall, it is right that the members fo the US Congress are concerned with the local members as this is the House of Representatives job and therefore leaves the act of ‘issues affecting the whole country’ with the other half of Congress, the Senate.