Question

Political parties influence both Congress and decision making in federal courts but this influence occurs differently. 1a) Explain what conditional party government (CPG) is. How does CPG affect the relationship of congressional party leaders and US Senators and Representatives? 1b) How do legislative parties and party leaders influence how their members vote? 1c) Partisan influence exists within federal courts but it works differently. What causes partisan behavior on the courts? 1d) Do party leaders explicitly lobby (talk about court cases over dinner, make campaign contributions, and so on) federal judges to make decisions that are favorable to the party? If so, describe how this works. If not, what causes partisan behavior on the courts?

Answer 1

1a)Conditional party government is a form of government which comes into existence when a majority of a party gives its consensus towards a law or bill to be passed. In nutshell agreement among party members gets the job done usually.Metaphorically Unity is the strength .As government controls maximum part of a citizen's life through taxes, educational reforms, health care etc, CPG just helps congressional party leaders and US Senators to bring good reforms in society. Unless everyone agrees on a particular issue, none of the historic laws can be passed for the benefit of the society as a whole.This also brings both congressional party leaders and US Senators & Representatives closer to each other and respect each other's point of view.

1)b Legislative parties and party leaders definitely influence their members to vote through political campaigns.They arrange unions of political supporters to debate against the policies to which people in general are not supportive. They arrange a platform to showcase their credibility and worthiness as an electoral candidate and what reforms could be introduced if they are elected as leaders.

1)c Yes partisan behavior exists in federal courts. The judges of courts are people who have general opinions about who should rule a country or state. Politicians are the major change agents in such society.They are the one who will be influential in selecting the next generation of lawyers and judges.Judges take the discretion of ruling on the basis of their political flavor.There exists both conservative and liberal set of judges in federal courts. Legislatures usually pass many partisan initiatives as they judge the same as much beneficial to society at large.The perception of a candidate as well as greater conviction in doing things which is more acceptable to a particular party creates the partisan behavior in courts.

1d) It is definitely a federal offense to influence a judge for a certain ruling. However, party leaders have their ways of lobbying for certain decisions to be made in their favor.A social gathering is one such way to meet their respective families and be associated with each other's lives. Another way is to accompany judges in sports or games they like. They may not discuss explicitly due to confidentiality clauses however implicit opinions can be given in certain situations.