Legislative Process Essays (Examples)

legislation from the point of conception to actual bill language, to legislative assignment and review, consideration by Assembly and/or Senate, and becoming law is a multi-faceted process that consists of several specific steps. Given the complicated nature of this process, it sometimes frustrates stakeholders in light of time consumed, probable constant revisions of the language, and issues that may arise in different legislative committees and special interest groups. Consequently, the process in the development of legislation has been described using various terms including laborious task and mysterious routine. Actually, individuals who engage in the development of legislation state that it is usually a very difficult and time consuming process.

Legislative Process:

The legislative process in California is the process with which laws are developed and enacted by the California State Legislature, which is made of two houses i.e. The Assembly and the Senate ("A Guide for Accessing California Legislative Information,"…

Legislative Process in the Upper House of Parliament

As Bahrain searches for viable approaches to diversifying its oil-based economy, the relatively small nation, like many of its larger counterparts, is also faced with a number of engineering and logistical challenges in its parliamentary legislative process. To determine how the legislative process is being administered in Bahrain, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature to evaluate the challenges facing the legislative process in the Bahraini Upper House of Parliament known as the Consultative Council from an engineering management, a logistics of information and a knowledge management perspective. Based on this review and evaluation, a series of salient recommendations are provided, followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

eview and Analysis

Engineering Management Perspective

When applied to Bahrain's upper house or Shura Council (Consultative), the engineering management approach can help discern what steps have…

Legislative Process

Federal mandates are orders from a central government that require compliance by state and local governments and individuals. Many times, mandates are signed into law "without the federal funds to support their execution" (Zaretsky 5). Additionally, mandates can be divided into different categories and require compliance by different agencies, companies, or individuals.

One fairly recent mandate stems from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which was signed into law on March 30, 2010. Under the PPACA, an individual mandate requires people to purchase an insurance policy or face fines if they are not otherwise covered by an employer-sponsored insurance program or other public insurance program.

Under the PPACA, it has been mandated that new insurance plans cover certain preventive services without charging a deductible, co-pay, or requiring co-insurance. Furthermore, the "contraceptive mandate," requires that health insurance providers include contraception in their health insurance plans and policies.…

Criminal Justice DQ

The legislative process is effective in the administration of justice. Conservative lobby groups define proper legislation processes as inclusive governance that promotes inclusiveness of people in decision-making and policy formulation. Constant consultation with the citizenry allows the leaders to articulate interests of citizens. The legislation promotes controlled development and prudent allocation of resources among the diverse elements of the society and consecutive implementation of the laws and regulations (Volden & Wiseman, 2014). Major works are carried out by the government among other stakeholders in the improvement of the application and understanding of the legislation. Besides, it focuses on justifying the amendments and repeals on previous Acts that would make the citizenry more satisfied.

The premise underlying the ruling of the Court is the iteration as well as constant reiteration for the proposition of First Amendment regulatory distinctions through the identity of the speaker. It also includes subsequent…

U.S. Legislative Process

For many people around world, the United States Congress stands as the most admirable example of democracy at work. In this political arena, solons supposedly share ideas, discuss their constituencies' needs and engage each other in debate. Through this process, the legislative body is supposed to produce just and fair laws that further the country's democratic ideals.

In reality, however, political insiders know that the legislative process is not quite so idyllic. Solons have to consider more than the interests of the people that they represent. Congressional representatives have to consider the interests of their various political parties. The solons are also subject to pressure from various lobbyists, interest groups, business representatives and campaign donors.

In some cases, there are representatives who succumb to temptation and put their own financial interests ahead of their obligation to their citizens.

The result is a legislative process that is not…

Meanwhile Congress was reluctant to challenge Bush (members feared being termed "unpatriotic" since Bush argued that the safety of Americans depended on the secret surveillance done by NSA) immediately, but in the past few months Congress (the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees) has demanded - and in part received - access to internal documents on the wiretapping program. "That access could ultimately help persuade skeptical lawmakers in the House, which so far has rejected the immunity idea, to sign on to the hite House's Plan" (Lichtblau 2008) according to the New York Times.

Indeed the Senate in January 2008 gave immunity for the phone companies that helped the NSA tap phones secretly, which means Verizon, at&T, et al., cannot be sued for assisting the Bush Administration with its warrantless wiretapping program (there are over 40 lawsuits pending over the phone companies' roles in the wiretapping). So here is a case…

Legislative Oversight of egulatory Agencies

The Constitution of the United States gives congress the power to appropriate funds, regulate interstate commerce, and supervise and impeach for high crimes. It is these Constitutional duties that have led to Congress's power to oversee the executive branch and its regulatory agencies. A regulatory agency is any federal agency created by the congress or executive branch to administer the law. Examples of regulatory agencies include the Internal evenue Service, the Federal Board of Education, and the Environmental Protection Agency. These agencies operate under the law and hold states accountable to Federal standards, but are in turn held accountable by the Congress.

The purpose of legislative oversight is to ensure that legislative agencies are following their Federal mandates and producing the required results. This practice also ensures that the agencies have the necessary resources to complete their assigned tasks. For example, the Internal evenue Service…

Policy Process Part I

Policies are constantly being reviewed and considered to assist in enhancing the federal, state, and local health care systems. Each of the reviewed and considered policies has the potential to affect every individual on a daily basis, so careful consideration must be exercised when policies are proposed. The careful consideration requires an understanding of the process through which an idea or topic ultimately becomes a policy and legislation. An example of a topic in the health care industry that may be used to form a policy is health workforce shortages. This topic can become a policy because the United States health sector is currently experiencing an increase in workforce shortages in federal, state, and local levels. The current laws do not have adequate measures or procedures that would deal with this issue effectively. Therefore, policy makers should develop and implement legislation that specifically focuses on health…

The length of time allowed for debate on a bill depends on the importance of the proposed measure and the debate time is usually divided equally between the proponents and the opponents of a measure. After the general debate, a 'second reading' of the bill is carried out during which members of the House (or the Senate, if the bill has originated in the Senate) are allowed to propose amendments in the bill ("Enactment of a Law"; Johnson 27-28).

Voting: hen the amendment process is completed, the bill is put up to the house for voting. Normally a simple majority vote is required for the passage of a bill. However, the House rules require a three-fifths vote to pass a bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that contains a specified type of federal tax increase. In most cases, the voice vote is considered adequate for the voting process but…

Governing Race: Politics, Process and the Politics of Race by Nina M. Moore. Specifically, it will contain a detailed book report on the book. "Governing Race" is an important and viable book for any Black Studies student, especially if they are interested in why race relations came to a head in the 1960s. "Governing Race" gives a unique viewpoint on the "politics of race," and is valuable reading for this alone. However, there is much more for the reader to discover as they move through the pages of this book.

The author's thesis is quite clear from the very beginning of this book. She asserts, "race presents a challenge too difficult for American governing institutions to meet" (Moore xiv) in the ntroduction of the book, and further asserts, "true socioeconomic and political race reform will remain a laudable, but elusive, goal of government policymakers" (Moore xv). Therefore, her book concentrates…

gov). egardless of the administration, the President must ultimately bow to the will of the Senate on treaties; President Wilson failed in his attempt at the passage of the League of Nations, just as President Obama is having difficulty in passage of trade bills with Columbia, South Korea, and Panama.

The Senate's powers also include further checks on the Executive Branch, namely the authority of impeachment by trial, two of which have been conducted on sitting Presidents: Jackson and Clinton. In addition the Senate has investigative powers on "malfeasance in the Executive Branch and elsewhere in American society" (United States Senate.gov).

Apart from the specific powers reserved for the Senate, perhaps its greatest role is as the ultimate arbiter of policy and government action. Because of the unique rules of the Senate, many proposed legislative bills end up languishing in committees or are never brought to a vote. The Senate's…

American Journal of International Law (2009). President issues an executive order banning torture and CIA prisons. The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 103, No. 2. Pp 331-334.

The article mentions that in line with President Obama's order to put an end to Guantanamo Bay detentions, there was an issue of executive orders. As empowered by the constitution, the orders reversed practices and policies from the Bush administration and the relationships with detention and interrogation of the terror suspects. The authors add that the order revoked Executive Order 13,440 that limited Common Article 3 application on Geneva Conventions. The order banned torture and humiliation and degrading treatment for persons under U.S. custody, control of detained persons from in armed conflicts, and limit U.S. interrogation techniques from the ones authorized through the Army Field Manual. Further, the order directed Central Intelligence Agency to end all detention facilities under its operations while…

nurse in one of the local hospitals in Louisiana, I have noticed that many children are hospitalized with various health issues like ear infections, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, rhinitis, pneumonia, sinusitis, and sore throats. These medical issues have become common among students in the region without a clear understanding of the major contributing factors. In attempts to identify the main factors resulting in the illnesses, I have conducted state-wide analysis of the problem. The analysis has indicated that most of these children are exposed to secondhand smoke, which has enhanced the rates of these diseases. Children in this state are increasingly exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke in various environments. It is reported that over 294,000 children below 18 years and 91,000 children below 5 years regularly share breathing space with smokers in their own homes throughout Louisiana.

The scope of this issue contributes to the need to establish measures that will…

Self-Executing Rules (Deem and Pass)

The self-executing rule, also known as 'deem and pass' has recently been criticized by Newt Gingrich and Joe Scarborough. The self-executing rule is a method of procedure that the U.S. House of Representatives use to approve legislation. This rule is in the form of a simple resolution and serves to specify which bills are under consideration by the House. When the House votes to approve a rule that in inclusive of a self-executing provision, the House at the same time agrees to dispose of a matter that is separate as the self-executing rule specifies. This allows modifications or amendments to bills to be passed simultaneously to the bill underlying the modification or amendment. While this procedure does serve to streamline the process of legislation, and is reported to have been used on 85 different occasions in the five years between 2005 and 2010 (Oleszek, 2005,…

Healthcare Legislative Bill

The expanded and improved Medicare for all Acts

The Expanded and mproved Medicare for All Act was introduced to the House of Representatives in 2009 and seeks to lobby for the implementation of a common single-payer health care system throughout the United States o0f America. The bill if enacted would require that all medical care costs be paid for automatically by the government instead of private insurances for the same. The move will significantly alter the role of private insurance companies as merely offering supplemental coverage especially when the kind of medical care sought is not all that essential (McCormick, 2009).

With the Expanded and mproved Medicare for All Bill, the country's national system will be paid for through taxes and the monies that will replace the regular insurance premiums. Proponents of the bill argue that by eliminating the need for private insurance companies in the national…

The first amendment to the Constitution in the ill of Rights states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This provision has been the justification for entirely removing prayer from schools and the mention of God from public places. This may not have been the intention of the Framers. They were concerned that the government could not establish an official state religion, as had been done in many countries in Europe. They did not intend to eliminate religion from public life.

The problem with judicial activism is that it becomes very hard to stop once it begins. As stated, while most would agree that a right to privacy is desirable, what about other rights or privileges with which the majority would not agree. The Constitution was designed with a process to amend it as conditions change. The Framers anticipated that…

The incentives of engaging a meaningful and thorough campaign is thus reduced. The chances of influencing the results of elections are significantly reduced leading to the decrease in the level of voter turnout. The political campaigns are therefore less likely to devote resources towards the encouragement of voter turnout. The reduction in the level of competition leads to the candidate placing more efforts in the process of securing his or her party nomination for the given district as opposed to gaining of the approval of the electorate. In a state that has been gerrymandered, the contesting candidate is almost assured of an express win if nominated. An example in California is during the 2004 elections when the Californias 3rd congressional district was declared vacant subsequent to the running for the higher office by the Republican Congressman Doug Ose. The remaining three stronger republican congressional candidates then campaigned vigorously against each…

It is that complex (American Institutes for esearch, 2006, pages V2-3).

Only recently (2008), the U.S. Department of Education has proposed mandates under Title 3 of the Elementary Secondary Education Act/NCLB, which concerns English learners, that California is requesting relief from. Bottom line of these mandates is that they will cost significant sums of money and time to implement and further complicate the most sophisticated EL program in the country (ACSA, 2008).

esults

In a 381-page report prepared for the California Board of Education in 2004, American Institutes for esearch reached the following conclusions regarding the affectivity and success of the EL program in the state of California as mandated by Proposition 227:

Meeting the Needs of California ELs. "While we see evidence of improved academic success with ELs in California, substantial gaps in achievement remain" (American Institutes for esearch, 2006, p. VII-1). The study indicated strongly that the special…

Concerning employment practices in general, the order not only strictly prohibited discrimination in hiring, but it also entered into the lexicon the now commonplace idea of Equal Opportunity Employment and established the premise of Affirmative Action. In doing so, this order would also explicit the prohibition of discriminatory treatment of employees once hired, seeming to build a legal case for those who would argue that a compensation system demonstrates elements of individual discrimination.

6. Explain the sorts of errors that can arise in the performance appraisal process.

The quality of an organization's project will only be as good as the performances which are dedicated to its completion. Thus, it is central that proper oversight and leadership acknowledge individual and group performance markers in order to properly interpret the ongoing effectiveness of meeting a project's goals.

A crucial and preemptive approach to ensuring that project contributors are meeting expectations is to…

Budgetary Process

President Obama's budget for the country has enjoyed significant attention through the years of Mr. Obama's presidency, as has those before him. All future presidents will be under the same scrutiny when working with taxpayer money. When creating the nationwide budget, however, the role of Governors also play a significant part in the entire budgetary process. Indeed, the balance of the nationwide budget relies to a great degree upon the ability of governors to created balanced budgets for their individual territories. It should also be kept in mind, however, that while Governors play a significant role in the budget process, a large amount of these responsibilities involve management duties and decision-making relating to the reaction of others to the initial budget proposal.

The first step in the budget process is then also the first responsibility of the Governor, which is to submit a bill to the House of…

Public Law 90-65, dated August 19, 1967, authorized the Secretary to include extra capacity in the Tehama-Colusa Canal to enable it to provide future water service to areas that could be authorized as an extension of the CVP." (Chapter III, 1) The expectation accorded here would be the share of construction costs amongst those who would ultimately use the water source, meaning that this would become a publicly shared cost repaid through traditional avenues of taxation.

Such common costs allow for a greater flexibility of internal decision making, with an expansion into wider arenas. The shared responsibility of repayment allows for some expenditure in other areas of development as well as the expansion of investment into nature reclamation projects. In a similar regard though, decision-making is actually removed in some capacities from the jurisdiction of CVP's accounting department, with the legislative demands of State and local authorities imposing certain use…

Tesco UK food department

a.) Legislative risks: The decision to provide healthier food by labeling the ingredients on the packages to include the calories, sugar, fat, sodium, and saturated fat content needs to also comply with the U.K. food and labeling law. According to the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of eading, "In most cases, ingredients have to be listed in weight descending order determined as at the time of their use in the preparation of the food. This is commonly referred to as the 'mixing bowl stage'. The following exemptions are however permitted" (A Guide to UK egulations, 2011)

Water and volatile products used as ingredients have to be listed in order of their weight in the finished product. The weight of water is calculated by subtracting from the weight of the finished product the total weight of the other ingredients used.

If an ingredient is…

Executive-Legislative relations in Post-Communist Europe

There are two main methods for appointing the executive, the one used in parliamentary systems, the other one in presidential systems. According to the parliamentary method the people first elects the legislature, which, in turn, appoints the executive. In a pure parliamentary system the executive, furthermore, can remain in office only as long as it enjoys the support, or confidence, of a majority in the legislature. This requirement is often referred to as the parliamentary principle. According to the presidential method separate popular elections are held for appointing a president and, thereby, the rest of the executive. In a presidential country, there are thus two main types of popular elections, those for electing the executive and those for electing the legislature.

As for methods for appointing the members of the legislature there are, again, essentially two types of methods. First there are the majoritarian methods…

The protester then has an opportunity to file written comments on the report.

Utilizing Debriefings to Prevent id Protests

Officially, Post-Award debriefings are meant to provide transparency to the unsuccessful candidates. Although the prescribed requirements of the briefings are very rigid and formal, agencies should resist the temptation to meet the bare minimum required by the formalities. Agencies should pay special attention to Requirement 1, the "evaluation of the significant weak or deficient factors in the offeror's proposal" because the evaluation is open-ended, unlike Requirements 2-3, which contain definite numerical standards, and Requirement 4, which only requires a simple summary. Open-ended evaluations can vary greatly in quality and also increase the opportunities for the agency to make a mistake.

If it is a particularly confusing or shallow evaluation, an unsuccessful offeror might take issue with the soundness of the agency's decision and later move to Protest the id by claiming…

Newspapers frequently feature stories democratic principles processes contribute democratic governance impact a wide variety issues ranging distribution flu vaccines legal venue terrorist trials. Public policies formulated address issues result influence application democratic principles processes.

Public policy issue: Healthcare reform

The issue of healthcare

Healthcare is an extremely complex, bureaucratic public policy issue. However, it is also very emotional for many Americans given healthcare encompasses the 'hot button' issues of physical health and spending large amounts of money. The recent debate over the Affordable Care Act is only one of many national 'conversations' about healthcare that has resulted in partisan divisions even within families.

Democratic principle 1: Autonomy

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the ACA is the individual mandate, which states that all Americans must have health insurance or pay a penalty unless this will cause them undue hardship. Many conservatives bridle at the fact that they are being 'compelled'…

Managing All Stakeholders in the Context of a Merger Process

Review of the Relevant Literature

Types of Mergers

Identifying All Stakeholders in a Given usiness

Strategic Market Factors Driving Merger Activity

Selection Process for Merger Candidates

Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendations

The Challenge of Managing All Stakeholders in the Context of a Merger Process

Mergers and acquisitions became central features of organizational life in the last part of the 20th century, particularly as organizations seek to establish and maintain competitiveness in an increasingly globalized economy (Nevaer & Deck, 1996). Mergers are generally described as being the formal joining or combining of two corporations or business (Prichett, 1987), although both the framework and the method of merger vary greatly. The reasons for mergers are different based on what a company is trying to accomplish. The acquiring firm may seek to eliminate a competitor; to increase its efficiency; to diversify its products, services,…

Australian Corporate Directors

The four step process of understanding business law is very helpful in arriving at some important conclusions about the case of Coco Ltd. And its recent accident. The four step process suggests provides a manner in which this problem can be properly understood and the correct actions may be implemented to prevent further problems. This part of the essay will advise the directors of Coco Ltd. Of their current problems.

Identify the Legal Issue

Before delving into the legal issues of this case it is important to understand the behaviour of Mr. Hugo, a director here at Coco Ltd.. Hugo, in a recent purchase from his in laws' Brett and Sandra cocoa plantation a disastrous terrorist event took place. During the transportation of nearly boat load of cocoa, the ship was attacked and sunk by terrorist pirates disguised as American Navy Forces. The ship was sunk with…

Health Policy and Law Formation:

The process of legislation is characterized with some similarities and differences depending on the specific lawmaking body and the manner through which policymakers are elected and their respective functions and work. Generally, this legislative process includes drafting the bill, introduction of the bill to the respective house, discussions regarding it, any amendments, voting, and enactment into law or vetoed. In addition to undergoing this process, the formation of a public policy or law experiences various challenges depending on the specific state and municipality where the policy is formed.

In relation to public health policy, such laws originate from various sources before proceeding to policy development, which follows several stages. Some of these major stages in policy development include problem identification, setting of agenda, formation of the policy, implementation of the policy, policy evaluation, and policy termination or change. On an issue of health promotion or…

Nurse Staffing Levels Through a Legislative Process

Despite arguments from critics who argue that mandated nurse staff levels will adversely affect the skill mix of nurses, the experiences of states that have implemented this solution clearly indicate that this alternative represents a timely approach to a nationwide issue. To determine the facts, this paper reviews the literature to identify the respective pros and cons of mandating nurse staffing through a legislative process, followed by a discussion concerning whether public reporting would be effective in achieving safe levels of staffing. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the pros and cons of mandating nurse staffing levels through a legislative process are presented in the conclusion.

eview and Discussion

Today, the low nurse-to-patient staffing levels in many states has been found to be threatening the quality of health care services and adversely affecting job satisfaction and morale levels of…

Six weeks later the Czech Republic became the 27th and final nation to sign the Treaty. On December 2, 2009 the Lisbon Treaty went into full effect one month prior to the date originally projected.

Ratification Procedure

The driving force behind the drafting and ratification of the Lisbon Treaty was German Chancellor Merkel. When she assumed her six-month presidency of the European Union in January of 2007 she was determined to effect a change in how the Union was operated. At the European Council meeting in June of 2007 she was able to convince other EU leaders to join her in amending the treaties under which the Union operated. A prior attempt at organizing the Union under a constitution had failed and so it was believed that proceeding under the treaty procedure would be more acceptable to the other member states. The constitution concept had been rejected several other times…

As Stowman and Donohue (2005) note: "Child neglect is the most prevalent type of child maltreatment, yet only a few standardized methods exist to assist in the assessment of this widespread problem. Existing measures of child neglect are limited by the nature of child neglect itself, in addition to issues of social desirability responding, and items that may infer blame and parental responsibility" (p. 491). There is nothing, of course, wrong in holding parents and other caregivers responsible for their actions and any harm that they do to children. However, this focus on guilt should not be the primary one. The primary one should be a focus on how best to keep children safe. The children at hand should always be at the center of the process. That is not currently the case (Conrad, Ellis, & Ellett, 2006, p. 38).

Although it is not the central point of this paper,…

U.K. Government: Social Policy Theory & Practice

The objective of this study is to answer all four questions stated as follows: (1) What is the social administrative tradition? (2) What is meant by liberal welfarism? (3) Explain the parliamentary policy- making process? In addition (4) Detail the New Right critique of the welfare state?

Social Administrative Tradition

Grover Starling, administration scholar is reported to have described six characteristics of government's public administrative responsibility: (1) responsiveness; (2) flexibility; (3) competence; (4) due process; (5) accountability; and (6) honestly. (Shiguang, nd) Traditional government responsibility is noted to be that of maintaining public order. (Shiguang, nd) The World Bank identifies four primary administrative traditions as being those of: (1) Anglo Saxon (minimal state); (2) Continental European: Germanic (organicist); (3) Continental European: French (Napoleonic); and (4) Scandanavian: (mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Germanic). The most fundamental difference is reported to be "between the Anglo-Saxon and…

Qualification and Selection

In every case, both New Jersey's and exas' courts strive to achieve one thing: justice. o achieve justice, our courts must be independent, open and impartial. o selection and qualification process must therefore be very strenuous in order to elect the best candidates. Both New Jersey and exas are no exception to this occurrence. In many instances the qualification process and selection process are very similar. In other aspects however, they diverge greatly. his document is designed to provide a brief overview of both the New Jersey and exas qualification and selection processes.

Methods and Selection of New Jersey Judges

Supreme Court Justices, Superior Court Judges and ax Court Judges

he New Jersey Constitution determines how people become Supreme Court justices or Superior Court or ax Court judges. Under this process, the Governor nominates a person to be a justice or a judge. he Governor submits the…

Policy Process: Evaluation, Analysis and evision

The National Nursing Shortage eform and Patient Advocacy Act was designed to address the public health workforce shortage that is seen, especially where nurses are concerned. It is no secret that nurses are leaving the profession in record numbers, and as they do that it is becoming more and more difficult to replace them with others who want to do the same type of work (Buerhaus & etchin, 2013; Iglehart, 2013). Because of all the nurses retiring, and so many of them experiencing burnout, the gap between the number of needed nurses and those who are available continues to widen (Negron & Cohen, 2013). The issue here is how that Act becomes a policy, so it can provide more help to a public health workforce that is struggling. In order for the Act to become a policy, it must first be evaluated. The Act…

U.S. Congress is composed of two chambers, the House of Representatives (with 435 members representing fifty states) and the Senate (with 100 members, with two members elected from each State).

The Republican and Democrat parties select their candidates for the two chambers of the Congress in primary elections, "election in which registered voters in a jurisdiction select a political party's candidate for a later election (nominating primary)"

After winning a primary election, the candidate from the respective party runs in the Congress election, which are held, for both chambers, in November.

For the 2005-2007 legislation (the 109th Congress), the Republican Party dominates both chambers. As such, the Republican Party currently holds 55 seats in the Senate, with the Democrats having won 44 seats and one independent seat (James Jeffords). In the House of Representatives, the proportion between the Republican Party and the Democrat Party is 53% to 46%, with the…

But in 1973, the American Psychological Association announced that they would be removing homosexuality from the list of recognized mental illnesses, as growing numbers of researchers and doctors realized that it represented fairly normal sexual behavior (Head par. 17).

A quick bit of simple arithmetic can tell you that it still took thirty years after the medical community determined that homosexuality was not dangerous or especially abnormal for the law to catch up. And in many instances, there still aren't laws protecting gays. All that the Supreme Court ruling did was ban laws that banned homosexual behavior; they cannot make laws to protect gay rights.

This has been the major issue plaguing the civil rights of homosexuals. Until the legislative branch of the government becomes involved in mandating that certain rights are protected, nothing that the judicial branch does will ever really be secure. This was shown most recently in…

Bill Becomes a Law

Federal laws do not start off as laws, obviously. First, they begin their life as bills introduced by a member of Congress, either in the House of Representatives or in the Congress. The "author" of the bill is said to the be sponsor and there can be a number of sponsors and co-sponsors for a bill.

Once a bill is introduced into the House or Senate, it is assigned a number and passed to a committee, whose job it is to oversee all such bills generated in regards to specific issues. It can happen that one bill will be passed to several committees if it happens that the proposed piece of legislation touches on several issues. The bill can also go to a subcommittee.

This step is followed by the decision by the committee chairman to "mark up" the bill -- which means adding amendments to…

External Influences on Health Care

Healthcare today is changing dramatically. The entire structure of healthcare here in the United States completely changed on January 1, 2014. With the completion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act, the old way of healthcare went through a drastic evolution. This was called for by both the people and the government, as previous methods of distributing healthcare were just becoming infeasible. As such, it is clear that there are a wide number of political, legislative, and economic factors that have influenced this dramatic change and will continue to make evolutions in the health care field.

There are definitely political forces at play in regards to the recent healthcare changes, as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was a highly controversial law that was deeply opposed by the majority of the epublican Party. Members of Congress who opposed the law so much claimed…

MPA

The role of the non-profit organization has transformed in many ways as society and the values inherent within that society also change and transform. The ability to create an organization with purpose and a sense of a greater duty is what makes the non-profit sector of exchange such a unique and important facet within the constructs of our society. The purpose of this essay is to address a situation where a recommendation is needed to determine the best route of approach for raising funds for a hypothetical nonprofit agency.

The background of this case deals with selecting between two options of fundraising method to improve and increase community services. This general situation is encountered by most nonprofit organizations and provides a solid background for discussing the ideas and principles inherent within the public sector. The first option imposes a user fee for individuals who currently request assistance. The second…

Letter to the Legislative epresentative

Whom It May Concern

This letter is in connection with a bill previously proposed to you -- the Equity of Care Act. Its purpose is satisfying the health requirements of racial and ethnic minorities in regard to quality care access and delivery by reinforcing healthcare-related safety nets. Thus, dealing with this issue is of utmost significance. For pushing the Act to make it a law, it must follow the path described below:

The Path a Bill Takes to Become Federal and State Law

Introducing the Bill and eferral to a Committee

Legislation can be introduced by any Congressional member (NAEYC, 2015). Every introduced bill is allotted a number: S. is used to denote Senate bills, while H.. indicates House bills. Subsequently, the bill goes for reference to one or more committees that have jurisdiction over the legislation's key issue. Sometimes, it is referred first to…

Nurse Advocacy

After sixteen years of working as a nurse, I realized more fully the impact my profession and the people in it have on public health, public safety, social norms related to health, and public policy. This MSN program has effectively prepared me for the next stage of my career as a nurse advocate who actively participates in public policy development and public health initiatives. I have been strongly influenced by issues related to nurse advocacy throughout the course of my career. This program has highlighted areas in which nursing practice can be applied to helping members of my community empower themselves with knowledge, with the resources available to them to improve their health choices, and improve quality of life for all members of my community.

When I started the program, I was a nurse. I was an experienced nurse who was confident with my role in the hospital,…

Three Strikes Law on the African-American Community

Three Strikes legislation, which imposes sentencing enhancement on repeat offenders, often culminating with mandatory life sentences for third-time offenders, has gained popularity throughout the United States. The legislation began in California, where two highly publicized murders committed by convicted felons prompted an outcry against allowing recidivists to return to the community. California did see a decrease in crime rates following its institution of the Three Strikes policy, though there is considerable debate about whether the Three Strikes laws were responsible for that decline. Many other states adopted the legislation, so that about half of all states now have three strikes legislation. While these laws may not necessarily have the desired deterrence effect on crime, the general consensus appears to be that they are not harmful to society; therefore, even if they cannot be proven to be helpful, they should remain in place. However,…

" (Scott, p. 43).

At the same time, the Wilderness Act ensures that the lands be available for multiple uses, so long as the uses stay within the previously discussed parameters of conservation. Therefore, wilderness areas are often used for tourism and recreation. For example, outdoor recreation is allowed but it cannot involve motorized or mechanical vehicles and other equipment. In other words, the focus of the wilderness areas is to provide a haven of quiet and a return to our roots. According to Scott,

Wilderness is the haven of quiet beyond the end of the road, the wild sanctuary we meet on its own terms by leaving the machinery of twenty-first-century life behind. The wild popularity of wilderness recreation shows how hungry Americans are for just such sanctuaries." (Scott, p. 132).

The Wilderness Act's enactment has had a monumental effect on American society. Not only did it benefit society…

TX Government

Texas Government

Like the federal government, the State of Texas passes legislation and creates laws that are specific to that state. That does not make the state immune to the laws federally required, but it does ensure that citizens there are aware of the beliefs, desires, and goals of the state within the confines of legal issues. As such, many of the bills that are created and passed into law in Texas are based on party lines. Democrats and Republications often have differing opinions on very serious issues such as the right to life, gun control, and immigration. ith this in mind, the bills they try to pass are generally very different from one another based on those beliefs. It can easily be seen that people who follow their party lines carefully and seriously will create and attempt to pass bills that are based on the beliefs and…

And his group of followers were denied permits to hold peaceful marches through the towns of some southern states. The basis for the withholding of those permits was entirely "lawful" because the decision to do so fell within the guidelines of the city officials. The laws themselves were neutral. However, the decision as to how to apply those laws (and from whom their benefit was withheld) was made on the basis of race, making them violations of procedural due process. As Reverend King explained in his 1964 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, written after his arrest for demonstrating without a permit:

"Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I

have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade.

But such an ordinance becomes unjust…

Omnibus bill is one that contains several separate but related items. This is in contrast with a regular bill that typically will only address a single issue. The reason for the attempt to pass an omnibus bill is to pass a package of reforms on a particular issue, such as a spending omnibus bill. An omnibus bill can help to speed up the legislative process by avoiding multiple votes on fairly minor issues. If the issue is major, there might be other reasons for the pace of an omnibus bill, such as the need to enter into war.

Omnibus bills are not used to circumvent the normal Congressional processes, but they do accelerate the process. Members of Congress are not forced to consider each issue individually, as is normally the case. For example, with the gun control proposals of the past week, there were several different bills on the table,…

European Parliament, Democratic Legitimacy and the EU
Introduction
Background
The EU has three legislative aspects—the supranational aspect (the Commission), the intergovernmental aspect (the European Council and the Council of the EU), and the parliamentary aspects (the EP). Yet, only one of these bodies is directly elected in a democratic fashion (the EP), which means that the overwhelming majority of the EU’s legislative totality is specifically non-democratic in character. In other words, the only way the people of Europe can directly and democratically influence the shaping of EU policy is through the EP. This is undoubtedly why, as Ronald Holzhacker points out, “scholars, politicians and the public have bemoaned a lack of democratic legitimacy in the European Union (EU) for decades.”[footnoteRef:2] [2: Ronald Holzhacker, "Democratic legitimacy and the European Union." European Integration 29, no. 3 (2007), 257.]
The Central Question
The question this essay aims to answer is: To what extent does the…

" The bill then goes on a calendar, so it can be debated, discussed, or amended. The bill then goes to the floor of the house where it is read, discussed, and voted on. If it passes by a two-thirds margin, it goes on to the Senate, where it goes through the same process. If it makes it this far, it is "enrolled," signed by the Speaker of the House and the Vice-President, and then it goes to the president for signature ("Ben's Guide"). Both legislative branches seem to have similar means of passing bills, Canada's follows about the same procedure in a different order.

In Canada, Canadians elect a Parliament, and the most the members can sit on Parliament is five years. The Parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the Senate. The leaders of the two bodies are the Speaker of the House and the…

During this Diaspora, the African Slave Trade transferred 9-12 million people from one continent to another with major repercussions on cultural and political traditions in the New World. There have been a number of modern Diasporas based on the post-Cold War world in which huge populations of refugees migrated from conflict, especially from developing countries (Southeast Asia, China, Afghanistan, Iran, Latin America, South American, Rwanda, etc.).

Part 1.2.1 - Civil Law is a legal system inspired by Ancient Roman law. In Civil law, laws are written into a codified collection that is a group of ideas and systems that work in tandem to help organize societies without the need for judicial interpretation. Overall, civil law is in place to formulate general principles and to distinguish substantive rules from procedural rules, and is based on the tenet that legislation is the primary source of law.

Conceptually, civil law is a group…

Tribe refers to what Ronald Dworkin says later in the book. Dworkin holds that everyone is an originalist now but that they are not seeking what the lawmakers expected but what they meant to say in their law, suggesting perhaps that they may not be writing laws as clearly as could be or that the vagaries of language often make it difficult to do so without some form of originalist mind set. Tribe points out that what both originalists and textual critics are doing is to try to determine what is intended over what is expected, meaning that a law could be written to say one thing but would have unintended consequences just the same. here Tribe differs is in the fact that he does not believe it is possible to discover which provisions are which by a close reading of the text or by legislative history. Tribe also does…

e can see that minority status has far less to do with population size, and instead seems very much to be inclined by race, ethnicity and political power instead. This label of minority status is in many ways used as a tag by which certain groups are detained from political unity or effectiveness.

To a large degree, this is a condition which relates to the nature of the Hispanic demographic, which in spite of its cultural diversity, is typically perceived by the larger American public as a single unified entity. This is both untrue and reflects the ethnocentric qualities of the white American political body that have tended to relegate the Hispanic population to representation that is not proportional to its true presence here. Indeed, "although Mexican-Americans continue to be the largest group within the Latino population, increasing immigration from other Latin American means they are perhaps the most culturally…

American Federalism

POL 319 State & Local Governments

Brian Kimminau

emocracy in America has evolved from the concept of federalism allowing citizens at all levels to develop their own governance system. Since the founding of the United States in 1776 different governmental structures both on the state and local level developed. My paper takes a closer look at three different faces of state and local government in the United States of today: irect emocracy Government, Police Jury Government and Mayor-Council Government. While California and Louisiana are showcase examples for the irect emocracy and Policy Jury Government system, New York City stands exemplary for a strong Mayor Council governmental system. The goal of the paper is to point out the distinctive features of the three models, their historic background, and various impacts for citizens in the three geographic surroundings.

Case Study # 1 -- Examination of irect emocracy in California

What…

ecause the Republic was weak, it was open to failure, and open to a takeover by a powerful group such as Hitler's Nazis. asically, the failure of the Republic allowed Hitler to take control of the government, which ultimately led to World War II, the persecution of the Jews, the Holocaust, and millions of deaths. Thus, the fall of the Weimar Republic was extremely significant to world history, and it was because it was created as a weak Republic that it could fall so quickly and have so many weaknesses that Hitler and his party capitalized on. This shows a very diachronic relationship between the Army, the legislative branches, and the Chancellor, because they could not work together harmoniously, and so, they created friction that led to the failure of the Republic. A more synchronic relationship may have created more strength in the Republic, and led to a much different…

Omnibus Bills

Normal Bill Passing Process

In the United States, several processes need to take place before a bill is passed into law. First, a member of House of Senate or House of epresentatives needs to introduce a bill. After the introduction of the bill, the bill will be referred to a committee for further hearing and the committee will carefully study the bill. If the bill is very important, the committee may hold a public hearing on the bill and decide to pass the bill or reject it and no action will be taking on it. If the committee accepts the bill, the committee will read the bill in the open session of the House of epresentative where the bill is passed to the ules Committee. However, the ules of Committee can either place the bill on the second reading for a debate or take no action on the…

Health Policy
Introduction
This paper will outline some of the high-level issues in the American health care system. At this level, the discussion centers around issues such as the political environment, the influence of key stakeholders and power structures. By analyzing the health care system through these lenses, the observer is able to better understand why (or why not) good ideas are implemented (or not). There are five central questions that will be addressed in this discussion, starting with the impact of socioeconomic and sociopolitical factors on US health care policy.
Socioeconomic / sociopolitical factors
One of the most critical issues in the US health care system is the socioeconomic disparity in health outcomes. This is typically driven by access to care. Lantz, House & Lepkowski (1998) found that mortality risk was a function of income, with the lowest-income groups in their study having the highest mortality risk. While there…

Presidential and Congressional Powers

In the simplest of terms, the differences in powers between Congress and the President is that Congress makes laws and the President enforces them. But, that description does a great injustice to the complexities of the roles of each. Congress is granted "all legislative powers" by Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. Those powers include the making of laws, coining money, declaring war, regulating interstate and foreign commerce, and maintaining the military. The powers of the President (Executive Branch) are outlined in Article II of the Constitution. They include the power of appointment and removal, the creation of executive orders, limited legislative powers, veto power, pardoning power, power to make treaties, and military powers separate from those of Congress. Both sets of powers, in conjunction with the Judicial Branch, form a balance of powers within the Federal Government. It is the purpose of this paper…

However, the scope and the activity of the European Court differentiate it from any other mechanism of applying the justice inside the European Union. There is the issue of the activity of the Court. This mechanism was designed to enable both the European Union and the member states to have a viable and legitimate environment to discuss and resolve their differences. More precisely, the European Court of Justice has a mandate to apply and insure the respect of the Communitarian law. In this sense, it is clear that the simple existence of a special system of law that regulates the relations inside the EU is an element of supra nationality. The European law comprises the particular treaties of the EU as well as the case law of the European Court of Justice. However, the activity of the Court is essential for pointing out its role inside the Union. It is…

For some the issue then arises when the pluripotent cells are removed from the blastocyst, as this very act negates the ability for the cell group to develop into a human being. "Note that the process of changing from totipotent to pluripotent to multipotent cells is not reversible -- that is, pluripotent stem cells do not produce totipotent stem cells, and multipotent stem cells do not produce pluripotent stem cells."

Borror, O'Rourke and Skirboll 54) Additionally, the proponents of stem cell work cite the pluripotent as incapable of producing a human being therefore not a destruction of life, hence leading to the Bush decision to ban the creation of new lines of stem cells, as it would require the destruction of further human totipotent cells.

Multipotent. The pluripotent stem cells undergo further specialization into multipotent stem cells, which are committed to giving rise to cells that have a particular function.…

Reforms in France and Germany

Divided Government and Constitutional Reform

hen it comes to government, there are many forces within the framework, which influence political change for a nation and its people. hen it comes to the governments of Germany and France each are structured and managed differently, however, the same force of divided government has resulted in profound constitutional reforms for both countries. This paper will discuss the forces that expand the potential opportunities for change to result and influence the legislative process. This issue of divided government is present in both governments and its effect on legislation has both short-term and long-term ramifications. How each country is willing to accept divided government as a part of the political machine is where each country forms its own identity and path for the future decision-making environments. It is the country's ability to embrace divided government or its ability to reject…

Power of the President

The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America," (Article II, Section1). The United States Constitution outlines the various powers, duties, and rights of the President mainly in Article Two, after treating the various roles of congress. The President functions simultaneously as the Chief and Head of State, as the Commander in Chief of the United States Army, as Chief Legislator and Diplomat, as the manager of the economy and the state of the union, and as the head of his political party. Some of these roles are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. An examination of the Constitution reveals that the Chief Executive of the United States is endowed with much power. He alone has the power to pardon high treason or to make treaties with foreign nations, for instance. However, because of the intricate system of checks and…