choose it for me

http /www .foreignaffairs .com /articles /62091 /norman-j-ornstein-and-thoma s-e-mann /when-congress-checks-out

The last six (6 ) years of the Bush Administration has been wrought with controversy and has been highly criticized for throwing the entire democratic system into utter chaos . With allegations of railroading legislation and human rights abuses in Guantanamo Bay , it stands to reason why such events were allowed to transpire . The separation of powers that the United States government has is supposed to prevent these abuses . No single branch is allowed to have so much power and neither is any branch

allowed to exercise their functions arbitrarily to the detriment of others . Yet , despite these safeguards , it seems that there was nothing that was done to prevent these abuses of power from happening

From a sociological perspective , this balance or perceived imbalance of power is something that has drawn criticisms from several political analysts . One branch which has been highly criticized for its participation , or lack thereof , in the perpetuation of these abuses is the United States Congress . As one of the main players in the separation of powers , Congress has the solemn task of making sure that no laws are passed that will be harmful to the American public . It also ensures that under the system of checks and balances it acts as an oversight for the foreign and national security policies of the executive branch . This lack of oversight by Congress is a problem that must be addressed immediately

In his article entitled , When Congress Checks Out , Norman...