Question

1. Think about the two main policy-oriented institutions in Washington: Congress and the president. Which of these institutions should take the lead regarding policy? Which of these is a more democratic institution? Make sure to justify your answer.

2. How satisfied do you think the founders would be with the modern presidency? Consider issues of representation, leadership, and collegiality.

Answer 1

Answer)

1. I believe it should be the Congress who should take lead regarding policy for the reason that it represents whole of United States through lot of representatives unlike President where one person though representing United States can have a lot more subjective bias along with no counter argument which could lead to poor policy making,another reason is state specific legislature,there have been times when a president from different party than one in the state is there and state nominee would know much better about the state than the President in a lot of cases,i would say Congress is the more democratic institution for the reason it has checks and balances which is very difficult with one man,another reason why Congress is more democratic is due to various party representation which again is not present at the President level.
2. A lot of times we have different results than what is expected and I think that could be the case with founding fathers who might have envisioned certain things differently than what has been there but a the same time their have been great progress as well in a lot of fields,there ought to be some questions such as no woman president yet or not enough women representation,levels of debate in past decades at time but a satisfying aspect in all this would be that how country has strenghened its democracy and compared to the world boasts strongest institutions,so in terms of modern presidency and the structure in terms of representation and leadership,there would be some dissatisfaction but at the same time founding fathers would be happy at the checks and balances along with instances of hope and progress.