by Mark Silva
In a continuing series of efforts to explain American democracy, the U.S. embassy in Islamabad has circulated an article which may help the people of Pakistan understand the coming year in Washington. It's a lesson which Americans already are getting first-hand.
"Political Make-up of Congress Impacts President's Achievements,'' the release announces.
With an explanation of the three branches of U.S. government, the checks and balances which are supposed to operate and the biennial elections that take place, the embassy notes that "although the president sets the political agenda for the country.... Congress has an enormous influence on whether or not an administration can accomplish its goals.''
The primer from the folks at U.S. information, in Islamabad:
Political Make-up of Congress
Impacts President's Achievements
(Political parties strive for majority
in House of Representatives, Senate)
Islamabad, August 22, 2007
Washington -- Because each of the three branches of the American government -- executive, legislative and judicial -- is an equal force in the U.S. system of "checks and balances," whether the Republicans or Democrats control the houses of Congress is of vital importance.
Although the president sets the political agenda for the country, Congress has an enormous influence on whether or not an administration can accomplish its goals. The houses of Congress alone have the power to pass legislation, approve or deny appointments of cabinet department executives, ambassadors and judges, provide oversight of -- and investigate -- government agencies, ratify treaties, regulate commerce, control taxation and spending policies, declare war and approve funding for the military.
The terms under which the debate on any issue takes place are controlled by the majority party in each house of Congress because it controls the leadership and membership of the various congressional committees.
The entire House of Representatives, in which the size of a state's delegation is determined by its population, is up for election every two years. Representation in the Senate, on the other hand, is equal for all states -- each has two senators, elected for six-year terms; only a third of its members are up for election in any two-year election cycle. The vice president holds the tie-breaking vote in Senate deliberations.
Redistricting is also a factor in congressional elections. Because the House of Representatives is based on state population, the congressional districts in each state are usually redrawn according to the population information obtained in the U.S. census conducted every 10 years. The party holding the majority of seats in each state's legislature at that time controls the redistricting process and often uses that power to draw the new district lines in ways that favor its candidates. This is known as "gerrymandering."
With control of Congress being so vital to enacting the party platform, the political parties necessarily target House and Senate races much as they do presidential races, concentrating on potential voters in "swing" congressional states or districts where elections are so close they could go to either party. Both parties hope their candidates will have "coat tails" -- the ability to entice voters who, because they are enthusiastic about a certain candidate, will vote for the same party's candidates in other races.
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