Buying Favor Why Congress Depends on Funding From...

There is a problem with Congress. The previous sentence summarizes the collective sentiment of the general public concerning the legislative branch of the federal government. A 2010 Gallop poll revealed that over eighty-nine percent of Americans have no confidence in Congress (Lessig 2). It is theorized that Congress is so far out of favor because it has been unable to resolve the nation’s most important issues, such as Medicare, Medicaid, immigration reform, and the growing budget deficit, due to seemingly trivial reasons. Some theorize this lack of significant legislative action is due to growing partisanship between the system’s dominate political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. According to Mark Brewer,†¦show more content†¦Lessig observes that theorists of political corruption do not normally focus on good souls. They focus on the â€Å"venally corrupt,† who bribe officials in an effort to gain privilege, or the â€Å"s ystematically corrupt,† who make influential individuals dependent upon the government to ensure they protect the government (Lessig 7-8). These good souls are not necessarily evil as they do not seek to cause harm. They are simply taking advantage of the system to secure prosperity. Lessig also asserts that legislators within Washington, D.C. are not evil; they are simply good souls sullied by the systematic corruption within the institution. Lessig is not alone in his positive view of Washington’s bureaucrats. In his book, Divided We Govern, David R. Mayhew insists that elected officials view themselves as â€Å"problem-solvers,† hardly the mindset of nefarious villains concerned only with what they stand to gain from being in Washington, D.C. (130-131). Lessig later affirms that this dependence on campaign funding has led to both parties being unable to accomplish their partisan objectives. During his presidency, Ronald Regan established three central g oals forShow MoreRelatedEssay on Increasing Security at The Mexican American Border3613 Words   |  15 Pagesit drives down labor costs (but they forget to mention workers wages as well), it is racist (or at least many political figures will have you believe), and it is a huge untapped constituency. I believe that it would be in the United States best interest to increase our military presence and use of high tech surveillance on the border and continue to work bilaterally with Mexico, as well as create harsher domestic laws to help limit the flow of illegal drugs and immigrants into our nation. TheRead MoreAuditors Independence Case Study14460 Words   |  58 PagesAcademy of Management Review 2006, Vol. 31, No. 1, 10–29. 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