The separation of powers, along with the two party system within the United States of America, were both created in order to make certain that all parties would function in the best interest of the people rather than to act in a manner that would hinder the future of the nation. However, what is being viewed today in the legislative branch of the federal government, is a sharply defined gap between the parties and limited cooperation in terms of the willingness to work with one another and the other two branches of the United States government. In fact, scholars have reportedly recognized that “the U.S., lawmakers take great delight in reminding the executive branch of the government that Congress can have the final word on most issues” (The Broken Branch Of Government, 2011). With such a display of power being viewed between the parties and towards the other branches, there is no wonder why the United States Congress is being referred to as the broken branch of government.
Often times, history has saw incidences whereas the executive branch has had to work indirectly with members of Congress who represented the same party in an effort to go around the conditions that were set by the legislative branch. For example, President Bush was noted to win at all cost, but that sometimes “meant bending the rules, precedents, and norms of legislative behavior that left the institution in tatters” (Mann, Orstein, & Annenberg, 2006, pg. 213). The only way to adjust the ways of Congress, if this can even be conceived of at this point, at all, is to downplay the commitments to the parties and increase the commitments to the citizens of the United States of America. There should be less emphasis on making party affiliations and more placed on the roles and responsibilities that were originally placed on the law makers of the United States Congress.
- Mann, T. E., Ornstein, N. J., Annenberg Public Policy, C., & Annenberg Foundation Trust at, S. (2006). The Broken Branch : How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track. Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA.
- The Broken Branch Of Government. (2011). Aviation Week & Space Technology, 173(6), 58.
