The Shutdown of 2013 – Does Government Work?

Chapter 11 centers on Congress; who makes up Congress, who Congress represents; and the theoretical purpose of Congress. With the Connecticut Compromise, the framers of American democracy set up Congress as a bicameral institution meant to create laws and act as the legislative branch to check the power of the executive and judicial branch. Within Congress itself, the House of Representatives and the Senate serve as two sides to Congress meant to check the power of the other side of Congress. Theoretically the bicameral nature of Congress is an appealing democratic characteristic, however in practice, the bicameral structure of Congress can sometimes make Congress more ineffective than productive and sufficient. The most recent example of this flaw in the bicameral nature of Congress can be seen with the government shut down in 2013 during President Obama’s second term.

In 2013, a standoff between the House of Representatives and the Senate over the budget influenced by President Obama’s healthcare bill propelled the United States government into a shutdown. The debate was over the 2014 spending bill; it could not be resolved between House Republicans and Senate Democrats causing the American government into a sixteen day shutdown. During the shutdown nearly 800,000 federal employees were out of work without pay while an additional million were delayed in receiving paychecks. National Parks, the National Zoo, and NASA, which collectively contribute to $76 million of the national economy each day, were shutdown. Millions of veterans were almost denied their hard earned benefits. The shutdown is estimated to have costed the United States $24 billion and the shutdown was not ended until Congress voted to extend the debt limit and fund the government until January 15th. ( http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/heres-happened-time-government-shut/story?id=26997023)

The insufficiency of the bicameral Congress is an explicit example of when government did not work. The polarizing nature of Democrats and Republicans in this instance prevent the United States Government from preforming its essential and primitive goals established by the framers to the American Constitution. Although the government shutdown in 2013 is an example of Congress not working, it can serve as the single example used to determine the effectiveness of Congress. Congress has passed many laws that have been beneficial to American citizens. The impeachment power of Congress has also directly checked the ethical nature of American presidents such as Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. When American citizens felt hesitant regarding the ability for former United States Presidents to govern this nation for moral and ethical reasons, Congress has been able to conduct investigations to determine the capability of those individuals. Although there are many faults to Congress and its structure, the institution as a whole works to effectively govern United States citizens.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/heres-happened-time-government-shut/story?id=26997023

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/us/politics/congress-shutdown-debate.html

Daniel Bonaventura says:

November 19, 2017 at 5:12 pm

I agree with you point that although Congress can have its drawbacks, it does much more good then it does bad. In addition I believe that even though a government shut down is a clear negative, it represents an important theme of our government. The way congress and the rest of our government is set up to allow for differing opinions will always to some degree cause for the butting of heads. This is not necessarily a bad thing and in the situation of the 2013 shutdown, it allowed the government to consider both sides of an important possible policy change. Because of the structure of our congressional system, checks and balances exist between not only the different branches but also between the Democrats and the Republicans. This is not to ignore the major consequences of this shutdown which were finally halted when the Republicans backed down on there stance after 16 days. However this butting of heads better than the alternative which would occur if there was no balance of power between the Democrats and Republicans.