Political Science Why Does Congress

Political Science

Why does Congress have Committees? What roles do the Committees play in the legislative process and what other functions do committees perform in Congress?

Congressional business is carried out by congressional committees. Bills are introduced and debated in the committees of both houses. Then the reconciliation of the two versions takes place in a conference committee. The most significant job of Congress is to make the laws of the United States. The labor of preparing and considering legislation is carried out by standing committees that are in both houses. Special committees exist in both houses as well as joint committees that have bicameral membership. These are formed in order to deal with special issues that arise along the way. Most of all the work of Congress gets done largely by committees of both houses. The members of the standing committees for each house are selected by both political parties in Congress. Committee seats are generally handed out to members of different political parties in a ratio that is equivalent to which ever party has the greater membership in the House or Senate (Congress of the United States, 2009).

That path that legislation follows starts in the committees and subcommittees of Congress. It is here that members hold hearings, draft, debate, and revise legislation. This is the point at which the legislative process of America's public policies can be changed. Congressional committees are the legislative channels. The bigger the bill, the higher the stakes, and the more generous the campaign donations are to members of the committee who have power over the issue. This is the reason that congressional committee assignments are so important and very competitive. Representatives who are appointed to the lucrative banking, tax-writing, or commerce committees quite often improve their campaigns from the many industries that are looking to influence the outcomes of legislation. Many newly elected members of Congress often start getting donations from special interests just based on their new appointments (Congressional Committees, 2009).

2. How does Socrates define justice? What is compelling, or not, in his analysis?

Socrates often defined justice as what is lawful is just. This thinking shows that this means the laws that are made by the citizens were agreements that had been made with each other, even though some of the people broke those agreements. A person who obeys these laws and keeps their agreements is thought to be the most trustworthy and thus the most just. Socrates did not think that justice should be limited to public laws, but he included unwritten laws that must not have been made by people because they were shared by various cultures which often spoke different languages (Socrates, n.d.).

He believed that justice was good, and that good could only be attained through self-knowledge. Socrates argued that a universal good existed for everyone. He believed that every man was capable of finding the good within themselves. Speaking through Socrates Plato defined justice as a philosophical understanding of excellence in the organization of society and human soul. Socrates often refuted the notion that justice is visible. He questioned that justice is the virtue that has no physical representation. He believed that justice could be understood as opposed to being seen (the Use of Dialectic to Define Justice, 2003).

It is interesting that Socrates defined justice as stemming from both written and unwritten laws. He believed that even if something wasn't written down as being bad that a person should just know that it is something that is bad. He believed that in the end all people were good and that everyone is capable of finding that good. Justice to him was more of an internal process as opposed to be an outwardly showing one. Based upon his definition and viewpoint every person is responsible for determining what is right and what is wrong and acting appropriately. He thought that justice was an internal process that each person had control of in their lives.

3. What are collective-action problems? What does it mean to be a free rider? Why does the free market often under-produce public goods? What are the implications of this problem for the theory of the "invisible hand"? Define each of these terms, and give examples.

A collective action problem is any situation that when there are uncoordinated actions that may not result in the best outcome that can be achieved. An example is that of the Assurance Game. In a classic Assurance game, two people have agreed to meet somewhere tomorrow, but have forgotten to specify where and when. So each person tries to think what the other person is likely to be thinking. If each of the people thinks what the other thinks then the collective action problem is optimally solved but if they don't then it is not (Collective Action Problem, 2009).