Description
Political Science 21A: Question Set #3. Congress and the Presidency.
Please respond to each of the four short response questions posted below.Your answers should be short, focused, and complete, ranging from one to three paragraphs.Please make sure to answer each specific part of every question.Successful answers will provide details and context that support your arguments and explain your position to the readers. You may also want to provide real world examples taken from the readings, lectures, group discussions, or your own independent thinking. These illustrations can be from the course materials or your own ideas.Providing this context and being able to apply the material to YOUR OWN understanding of politics really shows us that you have mastered the material.
Each answer will be worth 25 points, for 100 points total.The Question Set is due on Canvas at 11:59 pm .You should upload your response as a docx file or PDF to the Question Set #3 assignment tab.
- What are the varying goals that shape the behavior of members of Congress? How does the incentive for reelection shape their behavior? How can it lead them to be both individually responsive but collectively irresponsible?
2.What are the benefits of the Congressional committee system? What are the possible downsides? How do the parties use this structure to their advantage?
3.In your view, what are the most important factors that contributed to the rise of presidential power in modern American Government?
4.Neustadt & Kernell both describe ways in which a President can deal with Congress & others outside of the executive branch. What are their central arguments? How does Kernell’s theory update Neustadt’s idea? Are they compatible?
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: QUESTION SET #3
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Question Set #3 Congress and Presidency
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Institution
QUESTION SET #3
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Question Set #3 Congress and Presidency
Question 1
The members of Congress don’t have a uniform behavior. How each member behaves
depends on the goals that he or she is pursuing. There are two typical goals pursued by members
of Congress. A member could pursue either one of them, two or even all of them. One of the
goals is reelection. Some members of Congress have reelection as their main goal. They want to
retain their Congress seat in the next election (Boushey, 2020). In this regard, they tend to
behave in a manner that is favorable to the public. The behavior of a leader depicts him or her as
either a visionary or an irresponsible leader. Certainly, positive behaviors give leaders a good
reputation. This increases their chances of being elected. Thus, leaders pursuing the reelection
goal will thus adjust their behavior to match with the one that electorates consider as most
appropriate (Boushey, 2020). The second goal that Congress members pursue is influence. Some
members have ambitions to get into higher offices. So, instead of vying for the same positions in
the next general election, they will vie for higher seats. For example, the members of Congress
could wish to vie for Senate or gubernatorial seats. Some could even go for the presidency. In
this regard, such members want to increase their influence. This is to give them popularity
beyond the units in which they were elected.
The incentive for reelection shapes the behaviors of the members of Congress by
compelling them to behave in a manner that the public likes. One of the factors that the public
considers when electing leaders to various offices is their reputation (Goggin, 2020). In this
regard, members of Congress conduct themselves in ways that give them a higher reputation.
Moreover, the incentive for reelection influences the members of Congress to avoid being
QUESTION SET #3
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involved in scandals (Krutz & Waskiewicz, 2019). Certainly, this makes them be individually
responsive since they will avoid doing things that will appear as controversial. Furthermore, it
increases their commitment to their duties. The electorates will also consider their performance
in the current offices. However, the increased responsiveness of the members makes them
collectively irresponsible (Boushey, 2020). Since their main incentive is reelect...
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