LEARNING ACTIVITY WORKSHEET - Week Three
Please review the full assignment prompt located within the classroom and in the POL 201 Course Guide before beginning this assignment.
Utilizing the worksheet below, develop detailed paragraphs that focus on the third main point for your final paper. For each section, a minimum of one fully-developed paragraph is required. Each paragraph should include at least one in-text APA citation that provides support for the topic.
At least two scholarly sources from the Ashford University library (not including your textbook) with in-text citations utilized within your paragraphs are required. Two new sources should be utilized each week to meet the minimum of eight required sources for the final paper. By finding and supporting your material with these sources each week, you will have the research necessary to construct a strong final paper. For help with writing and citations, please review the handouts and tutorials provided by the Ashford Writing Center.
1. Branches of Government: (Pick one: Executive, Legislative, or Judicial).
A. One strength of one of the three branches of government.
(Use the space below to complete this section.)
One strength of the legislative branch is that it is made up of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The legislative branch has the power to deliberate, debate and pass or change laws. These laws that they pass aren’t just some laws that are sent down from higher authorities for congress to rubber stamp their approval on. Legislators are required to reach agreements that are set to benefit citizens and not just please their political supporters (Congress of the United States , 2016). The legislative branch is easily considered our problem solving branch, as they are constantly facing numerous problems to solve. The laws that go through congress must be reviewed and passed by each house. It doesn’t matter which house the bill goes through first, but it must be passed by both houses to move on to the executive branch. Having two houses in the legislative branch provides for a checks and balances system when passing laws.

B. One weakness of one of the three branches of government.
(Use the space below to complete this section.) A weakness in the legislative branch is that other branches and parties have been taking congressional rights away. The president has rewritten changes for the Affordable care act. The constitutions requires Senate approval, but the president has found ways around following that requirement (DeMuth, 2016). In another instance, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made design changes to the Clean Air Act even after Congress refused to go down the path of regulations that they were suggesting. Congress isn’t just losing their authority by being strong-armed or deceived, they are voluntarily allowing regulatory agencies to have broad lawmaking authorities (DeMuth, 2016). Our government relies on the three branches having separate of powers in order to assure that no one branch becomes too powerful. Recently, the executive branch has become more powerful than our founding fathers ever intended it to be. All three branches are to blame for the executive branches’ growth and concentrated power, but congress itself is, of course, the most to blame (Kosar, 2015).

C. One option to maintain the strength of the branch of government discussed above.
(Use the space below to complete this section.)

One way to maintain the strength of the legislative branch is strengthen the committees. The chairmen of the committees have six year terms. This is barely enough time for them to really gain knowledge and be powerful in what they do. In addition, knowing that they are only going to be serving a six year term doesn’t really give the chairmen much of a reason to approach their positions with the long term future in mind. (Kosar, 2015). It is also important to remember that for each rotation of the chairmen there is likely to be new staff for each chairman. The committee is starting from scratch every six years. As the old staff and chairman leave, so does a lot of pre-existing knowledge. It’s also not unusual for talented staff to move on to the private sector, as it pays better and offers better working conditions. The committees could benefit from considering an overhaul on pay raises and staff retention (Kosar, 2015). Committee members often serve on several committees which each cover an extensive jurisdiction. If each committee member were to serve on fewer committees, it would give them the opportunity to become more knowledgeable in one subject rather than trying to maintain little knowledge of several. (Kosar, 2015)

D. One option to correct the weakness of the branch of government discussed above.
(Use the space below to complete this section.)

One way to strengthen the weakness in the legislative branch is to give congress its power back. Congress needs more resources. They don’t meet often enough. They come in on Tuesday, meet on Wednesday, and leave again on Thursday (Dorment, 2014). They should make it a four day a week job. How can they be expected to really look at any bills and pass them as laws when they aren’t there long enough to do anything? They could meet with a four day schedule three out of every four weeks and have one week off. We can’t expect the executive branch to let the legislative branch do its job if they aren’t there to do it. It’s not unusual for one house to be in but the other to be out. They can’t work out differences if they are on different working schedules. The executive branches control needs to be snipped. The executive branch isn’t going to willingly give up their power, so it’s up to congress to step up and take responsibility. Congress needs to require congressional approval on agency regulations (Kosar, 2015). There are often several programs that are focused on the same thing being operated by multiple agencies. Congressional review would slap the hands of the power hungry executive branch.

2. Reference List (utilizing full APA citations)
(Use the space below to complete this section.)
References
Congress of the United States . (2016). Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia .
DeMuth, C. (2016, January ). How the House and Senate let Themselves Get hijacked. USA Today, pp. 28-31.
Dorment, R. (2014). How to Fix Congress Now. Esquire .
Kosar, K. (2015). How to strengthen Congress.