The Function of Government in America with a Focus on a Single Law - Assignment Example

Function of Government in America with a focus on a single law The power in the United s is divided into three branches: executive, judicial and legislative. The latter is represented by United State Congress which consists of two chambers: House of Representatives and Senate (“U.S. Federal Government”, n.d.). In order to pass a law, a representative should initiate a bill which will be discusses in the chambers and, finally, will be singed by the President. This paper will analyze peculiarities of Legislative Branch, the process of lawmaking and Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. The United States Congress is a general term for two legislative bodies. One of then called House of Representatives. The other one is called Senate. As one can clearly see, if there are two bodies that comprise it, Congress might be called a bicameral one. There are three main reasons why it was structured in this manner. First of all, from the historical point of view, the early American politicians were descendants of the United Kingdom which featured a bicameral parliament as well. Secondly, theoretically speaking, bicameral set up of the Congress allowed avoiding excessive concentration of power in one power. Finally, there was practical aspect as well: at the time of the first Constitutional Convention there were colonies that wanted equal representation for them (mostly, the small ones) and those which wanted to gain more legislative power, based on their population (the most populated one). That is why setting a bicameral Congress seemed like a perfect compromise. It must be noted that congressional terms last two years, so there are two sessions, one per year. As for the number of people who comprise Congress, it is equal to 535 congressmen: 435 in House of Representatives and 100 in Senate (“American Politics”, n.d.). Thus, Congress amounts to one third of the entire federal government which is primarily responsible for making laws. In addition to that, Senate may also be regarded as one third of the legal background of the political world of the country. It must be noted that being a congressmen is a job that was a relatively good salary: at the present moment it is equal to 174,000 dollars per year (“United States Senator Dean Heller”, n.d.). In addition to that, there is some non salary compensations: congressmen are entitled to free transportation, they can claim two primary residences and many other. The five jobs of congressmen are as follows: establish laws, coin money, lay taxes and duties, regulate commerce and declare war. Now, it would be advantageous to pay attention to each of the houses. The lower one, House of Representatives, is regarded as the younger branch of Congress. The peculiarity of it lies in the fact that the seats are divided between the states according to the number of people who reside there. In other words, more populated states, like California, are able to enjoy a bigger number of representatives. From a broad point of view, this reflects representative fairness as otherwise the peculiarities of life in each particular state could not be addressed adequately. The overall number of members who comprise House of Representatives equals to 435. Representatives of their states serve a relatively short term of two years. This means that the turnover of the people is quite high: in the course of one presidential term, there are may be two different representatives, assumed that one was not reelected. As for the formal qualifications that are needed for a person to become a representative, one should note the following: being at least twenty five years old, a citizen of the United States for at least seven years and residing in the state that one wants to represent. However, there may be some informal qualifications such as high developed communication skills or full devotion to interests of the state. Reapportionment Act of 1929 defined mechanism of assigning seats to the states according to their census. The next body that constitutes Congress is called Senate. Each state no matter what population it is is entitled to two senators (Schmidt & Shelley, 2011, p. 362). Contrary to the previously analyzed House of Representatives, Senate is known as the senior branch of Congress and this is reflected in many ways. For example, the number of senators is much smaller if compared to the number of representatives: 100 versus 435. In addition to that, the time period that senator serve is three times longer and equals to six years. As a result, the turn over in this body is lower. In addition to that, the formal qualification for the people who want to get into senate are stricter: they have to be at least thirty years old, have American citizenship for more than 9 years and live in the state that they would like to represent. Informal qualifications might include large experience in politics and life as well as wisdom that comes with years. In contrast to House of Representatives, Senate is a continuous body which means that only a part of it, namely one third, is changing every time there is election. As a result, the majority of the senators stay the same. In order to expel a senator two third of votes are needed. The process of lawmaking is quite interesting and should be examined in details. To begin with, one should point out that the need for a new law reflects acknowledgement of a certain problem in society. What is more important is that politicians just like the public should feel a need for introducing a change. Afterwards a representative or a congressman creates a bill and registers it. This text is researched by several committees. In case a more detailed analysis is needed, sub-committees might be called for investigation. After that, the congressmen vote on the bill. There might be different ways in which votes might be collected, but in any case two thirds of the voices of a house are needed in order to advance the bill to the next stage. It must be noted that a bill might be defeated on every stage, but that does not mean it may not be initiated once again with certain amendments. The last stage of lawmaking is sending it to the President. The latter has the power to sign the bill into law or to veto it, which means that the President objects to this initiative. Thus, the bill should pass several rounds of discussion and voting before it is send to the President, but only his signature is what can truly make it a law. The piece of legislation that will be analyzed in this paper is titled Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The need to pass this act is closely connected to lives of the people who are mentioned in the title: Matthew Shepard was killed because of his sexual orientation and James Byrd, Jr. was killed because of his race. As one can see, the law is primarily targeted against hate crimes. The bill was introduced for the first time on April 3, 2001 in House of Representatives by representative John Conyers. Nevertheless, the legislative history of it was quite dramatic: it was turned down continuously by different committees. It took eight years for it to be sent to the President who singed in on October 28, 2009 (King, 2010, p. 15). The direct result of it focuses on the fact that from then on hate crimes were recognized regardless of whether they involved federally supported activity or not. The affect on the people could be seen in that anyone who has committed a hate crime could be prosecuted more easily. In my opinion, the law should be regarded as an important piece of legislation since it developed an adequate response of the government towards hate crimes, resulting in preventing this horrible social phenomenon. In spite of the fact that hate crime did not stop after the adoption of the law, one can hardly suggest that it was ineffective: the legal framework for prosecuting people who are guilty was enlarges which restored justice in the social environment. Keeping in mind the effectiveness of it, it is understandable that the law in question should not be changed since it work perfectly. The very focus on it, namely the fact that there should not be any conditions, except for the fact that a person committed a hate crime, should be kept the same as it provides justification for fighting it. In other words, the government can not easily charge the perpetrators with being guilty of committing a hate crime and the latter will have hard time proving their innocence. As one can clearly see, Congress is a bicameral legislative body that is responsible for making laws. In order to become one, a bill should pass several stages where it will discussed and voted, finally reaching the President who signs it into a new law. Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is a law that making fighting hate crimes more effective. References American Politics. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2015, from http://www.laits.utexas.edu/gov310/CO/keydif/ King, L. (2010). Hate and Discrimination in America. New York, NY: Xlibris Corporation. Schmidt, S., & Shelley, M. (2011). American government and politics today: Brief edition, 2010-2011 (2010-2011 brief ed ; [6th] ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. U.S. Federal Government. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2015, from http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/federal.shtml United States Senator Dean Heller. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2015, from http://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/salary-and-benefits-received-by-members-of-congress Read More