The ethics of Congress
The ethics of Congress applies to the actions, the senators, and the legislators are expected to comply with uniform rules and laws regulating the members of Congress. The Office of Legislative Ethics was established in 2008 and is responsible for evaluating and supervising the behavioral ethics of the United States House of Representatives. Kane (2010) pointed out that Charles B. Rangel, a New York Democrat, was charged with thirteen violations by the Committee on Quality in 2010. They included; failure to pay rental income taxes he had received in the Dominican Republic as well as involved in raising donations from corporates and company executives who own business in the committee that he spearheaded. Moreover, the conviction affected Rangel's political career. Among the Rangel's ethics violations included the following counts; Violation and soliciting gifts, breaches of express services laws, and abuse of government services code of ethics. Mr. Rangel could only blame himself for the position he found himself. Finally, he became rebellious by blaming the media against his ethics. The allegations rose against Rangel's conduct and the full charges was a tough task given to the members of Congress in the judgment of one of their colleague who had mentored majority in the group.
Third Party Candidates
In the History of America, third parties faced with many obstacles, this has been caused by the fact that the Republican and Democrat's quickly manages to get to the ballot. However, it becomes a difficult task for the third-party candidates to get enough signatures to register on the ballot. The USA federal government mandated in governing elections is made up of Democratic and Republican representatives, they have maintained to protect a stable duopoly. Moreover, third-party candidates are faced with financial difficulties since it is a requirement for a party to at least have a five percent votes in the previous election to be suitable for state resources and funds. Regardless of the political freedom and ideological differences in the United States, the Presidential election has been a two-party contest the Republican and the Democrats. Therefore, no independent candidate or third-party has ever managed to win the presidency in the United States. Majorly these have been led by the electoral rules in the United States of America which have created a barrier that Independent and the third-party candidates are unable to conquer. Since 1832, America has lived with these political obstacles (Abramson et al., 1995). The applicable electoral rules for electing a presidential candidate in America well spelled in Article II, Section 1 of the American Constitution. For a candidate to win must have won with majority votes. For example, in 1980 John B. Anderson's of an Independent candidate, also in 1992 H. Ross of independent candidate has ever tried to challenge two major parties but has failed to succeed due to the nature of changing electoral rules together with their political culture that leads to different outcomes. In the History of America, it is rare for a third-party candidate to have an impact on the national politics of the United States.
Federal and State Authority
Federalism is a system of government that separates sovereign power across two or more political units. In the structure of USA authority is divided amongst the state and national governments. Therefore, each contains its independent powers. The constitution of America grants the federal government various powers which include skills; to collect taxes, declare war, and to regulate commerce amongst other states. However, the state powers are not delegated to the USA Constitution, nor barred to the states.
The U.S. Congress is involved with various issues with European dimensions, and they include security, economic and diplomatic issues. Archick, (2015) expounds that the United States of America pursues its legislative activities in working out its oversight on its foreign policy; the members of Congress consider the cooperation between the USA and European nations in trying to evaluate both benefits and limitations. The USA Congress involves international issues to both legislative and executive, for example, it grants military powers to the army, regulation of commerce to Congress and exclusive powers to the president. The American constitution highly contemplates for favorable energy which is capable of affecting the foreign policy issue (Oleszek, 2014). The law plays a significant role in allowing the USA to take on foreign policy, this creates a coordinated exchange, enabling free trade as well as the promotion of a single currency. Further, it enumerates the executive powers of the constitutional bodies in the USA.
In conclusion, the Office of Congressional Ethics is not above criticism. Therefore, they are aw well investigated over any form of ethical violations. Also, it is important to consider the critical role the third parties play in the American politics such as introducing new ideas, policies, and practices to the government which quickly influence the economic policies. Moreover, they put main agendas and can force major parties to address divisive problems. The US government acknowledges. The nature of the federal system of governance and the significant role it plays in developing healthy relationships with other global partners. Further, its unique way of protecting the rights of the Americans and addressing issues that affect their citizens.
References
Abramson, P. R., Aldrich, J. H., Paolino, P., & Rohde, D. W. (1995). Third-party and independent candidates in American politics: Wallace, Anderson, and Perot. Political Science Quarterly, 110(3), 349-367.
Archick, K., Belkin, P., Blanchard, C. M., Humud, C. E., & Mix, D. E. (2015). EUROPEAN FIGHTERS IN SYRIA AND IRAQ: ASSESSMENTS, RESPONSES, AND ISSUES FOR THE UNITED STATES. International Journal of Terrorism & Political Hot Spots, 10(1).
Kane, P. (2010). Rep. Charlie Rangel Found Guilty of 11 Ethics Violations. The Washington Post.
Oleszek, W. J. (2014). Congressional procedures and the policy process. Sage.
