Legislative and Judicial Process

Legislative and Judicial Process
Introduction
In the recent years, the federal government has adopted various strategies to ensure public administration. There have been constitutional amendments as well as legislative reforms that deal with state statutes. The government has revolutionized public administration through the delivery of justice and the enactment of rules and regulations. This paper is a reflective essay on three aspects of public administration that include sources of formal law, state legislation and evolution of state law.
There are several sources of formal law that can be applied in public administration. As learned in the week’s chapter, the constitution is the major organ that acts as a source of laws that govern the citizens of the United States. The constitution contains numerous laws that define the various sectors of the nation. According to Holzer and Schwester (2011), the federal government through the Congress undertakes constitutional amendments to ensure that laws that control the actions of people are enacted.
Through the study of the sources of formal laws, I gained immense cognitive knowledge on fundamental aspects of public administration. Moreover, I am now in a position to define the role of laws in the society and the impact the laws will have in the future generations.
During the week’s study, the content that was taught enabled the learners to improve on their knowledge of public administration. The workload was adequate for that particular period. The knowledge learned about public administration was broken into various stages that allowed the learners to understand each section fully. As the learning continued throughout the week, I was in a position to embrace several strategies that assisted me in enhancing my level of understanding. I carefully studied the various sections of the unit such as legislation and the history of the constitution.

I also learned about the state of legislation in the different states found all over the country. The state legislation undertakes several state statutes that include agriculture, archives, criminal offenses, prisons, hospitals and much more. For example, the state legislation regulates the activities of healthcare organizations to ensure effective service delivery. The operations of the health professionals such as diagnosis and treatment as well as research are regulated by the state statutes in their respective states (Rubin and Guy, 2015). The knowledge gained from state legislation boosted my understanding of public administration.
Another topic that was comprehensively covered in the week’s study was the evolution of formal laws. I learned how civil and criminal laws have changed during the past Congress and earlier governments. I put a lot of effort to enhance my knowledge through undertaking research on the evolution of formal laws and its role in public administration.
For example, in the healthcare sector in the state of California, there are several activities that have involved public administration. The laws of the state control the activities of the healthcare organizations. The statistics from the healthcare departments shows that a higher percentage of the lawsuits that have been filed against the healthcare sector has been settled using the laws of the land. Moreover, ninety percent of patients believe that efficient public administration has improved the services of healthcare organizations in the state. Besides, there is a relationship between the state and the local government. The local government works closely with the state in the process of delivering justice.
There is sharing of power between the local and the state. The state enacts the law while the local government implements the laws that have been passed. However, the state has more powers than the local government.

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The effect of the bicameral government process on recent laws
Introduction
According to Chen & Malhotra (2013), the meaning of bicameralism has two administrative/legislative chambers. This division of force inside of the administrative committee is extremely regular in the United States. Not just does our national lawmaking body but the Congress receives this structure too. However, 49 of the 50 states likewise utilize this type of assembly. Nebraska is the only state that does not have a bicameral framework; it has a unicameral structure, having stood out the chamber.
Despite the fact that the bicameral lawmaking body is ordinarily connected with the United States, Americans did not develop this type of governing body. The seeds for a multi-chambered governing body was planted long time prior by ancient Greek thinkers, for example, Aristotle. Their thought is that society is isolated into very much characterized gatherings or classes who ought to be spoken to independently. This thought turned out to be profoundly seeded in the medieval European culture.
In this debate paper, the bicameral lawmaking body has its advantages and disadvantages on the recent laws. One of the contentions for bicameralism is that its equalizations general issues with more immediate issues. After the upper chamber speaks to a range of residents, it concentrates on general questions the body electorate faces. The lower house speaks to a smaller scope of nationals. It can focus on immediate issues.
Chen & Malhotra (2013) go on to comment that, another contention for bicameralism is that it can adjust the enthusiasm of the greater part and the privileges of the minority. Since the lower chamber speaks to a smaller scope of individuals, it is less demanding for minority gatherings choose agents to talk to them. If there were just the upper chamber, minority masses would think that it’s hard to get sufficiently together to win a lion’s share takes all race. Along these lines, delegates can practice for the benefit of their constituents.
Bicameral assembly additionally balances out the official request. The collaboration of the bicameral lawmaking body and the official veto makes a concrete measure of check and harmony between the branches of government in spite of the destabilizing impact of the authoritative override.
There are additionally numerous reactions to having a bicameral assembly. One of which is wasteful. Having two chambers concurring on the same bill is exceptionally troublesome. This makes the law making a handle to a significant degree moderate and arduous. An essential bill typically requires months of pondering with a particular end goal to pass. (Chen & Malhotra 2013)
The Bicameral governing body in its cutting edge structure vanquishes the thought of widespread suffrage. In which a few gatherings of individuals have more impact in the administrative procedure than others. Case and point, in the United States Senate, each state gets the same number of congress persons. In any case, each state does not have the same populace. The subjects of most populous states, for example, California, New York, and Texas get less representation per capita than nationals of less populous states like Wyoming and Alaska.
According to Chen & Malhotra (2013), the bicameral governing body is likewise more costly to keep up. The second chamber altogether builds the general use of the council. Be that as it may, for industrialized countries this expense is minuscule in the examination with the general spending plan. The cost variable may not be critical for national government, but rather it might assume a most distinct part in neighborhood politics.

As I would like to think or in my opinion, the bicameral governing body is not helpful for states in the America. Above all else, the adjusting impact of the major part hobby and minority rights is to a lesser extent a component in American states where region lines are drawn at regular intervals. Not just that, the law obliges area to be learned with the goal that it will incorporate minority delegates. Having two chambers in the governing body is repetitive representation. The contention for settling official request likewise does not have any significant bearing on the states all that much. On account of authoritative overrides are exceptionally uncommon, since a greater amount of the enactments passes are done in the most recent two weeks of the current session.
This week’s reading has highlighted on factors relating to the constitutional principles. It enabled the understanding of the division of power and authority through explaining the power and authority that the Congress, the president, and the judiciary poses as stipulated in the United States Constitution. The reading has presented a clear understanding of the two ways of interpreting the constitution, the originalist and living constitution approach. Shown in the paper is how the law creates a protective measure to the rights of the nation’s citizens and highlights the interpretative approach the Supreme Court justices use when they consider the privacy right in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut. The paper also highlights on the conduction of judicial review in accordance to Marbury v Madison.
The various topics of the discussion have enabled practical analysis and interpretation of the constitutional principles. Explanation on who decides what the Law means allows the identification of the one who decides what is to be done. Showing who has the power in decision making between the Congress, the president, and judiciary system. The knowledge of how the constitution is interpreted enables the understanding of what the law means thus facilitating its interpretation. The acknowledgment of the different approaches to Constitutional Interpretation allows a clear understanding of how judges present their judgment.
According to Johnson (2014), the Public Administrators acts as the link between the government and the citizens. They oversee how the various government employees utilize the funds given to them for the benefit of the nations’ citizens. The Public Administrators relates interact with various people, for example, the state’s citizens. They usually gather information on how the citizens view the spending of the government funds that are given to the different states. They also interact with the various heads of the state’s departments such as health, defense, and the environment. Through their interaction, they try to audit their activities to know whether they are working as expected.
An example of a Supreme Court decision that had a significant impact on the state of California was the Hollingsworth v. Perry court decision. The court had dismissed defense of the state’s Proposition eight on the standing grounds. The state’s Position 8 that was adopted by the voters in 2008 changed the state’s constitution that stated marriage should only be between a man and a woman (Carlos 2010). Same-sex marriage supporters challenged that the prohibition of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional since it limited the lesbians and gays from exercising their right to marry. The amendment was introduced by a federal district court in San Francisco.
Anna Eshoo, once a member of the Democratic Party, is the Congress representative for California 18th Congress district. The area is composed of a portion on of Silicon Valley, which includes my local city of Mountain View. Dianne Feinstein, on the other hand, is our house of Senate representative and is also from the Democratic Party. The two have been active members of the Congress. Anna Eshoo together with Nancy Pelosi formed the original agenda of the Democrats that challenged America to focus on attaining full independence from the dependence of the oil from the Middle East region over a ten-year period (Harris and Sandy 2014). She also emphasized on the consideration of another alternative source of energy from California and other states. Dianne Feinstein, on the other hand, has recently presented a bill that focuses on California Desert Conservation.
Political Parties and the Impact of their Power and Influence on both the Legislative and Judicial Systems.
Political parties are a group of people with a common political view and have come together to try to implement their goals and visions. Each state that practices democracy tends to have a multiple numbers of political parties, and it is normally referred to as a multi-party system. These parties tend to collide each other due to the opposing views and interests. The legislature is part of the country that makes the laws while the judiciary is the part that implements the law and it is made up of the judges the magistrates and lawyers who tend to execute the law of the land. The judiciary also tends to be in charge of the elections carried out in the country. I tend to think the political parties tend to have a huge impact and influence on most of the decisions made by the judicial and legislative systems.
The legislature being a body that makes the law which includes the parliament tends to receive a great impact and influence from the political parties. It is fully known that the members of the parties make up the parliament which is the section of the state that comes up with the laws. The influence this member has on the legislature is very huge since they compose this body. If a political body has the most number of members in the parliament, they will tend to have an influence on the laws that will be passed. The minority rarely have an influence on the laws that are made and implemented due to their few numbers. Others tend to think that this is not the case since its opinion that matters and thus no matter how many members are present in the parliament as long as their opinion differs the political party will not have an impact on the decision making of the parliament.
I strongly believe that the political parties also have an impact on the decision making of the judiciary be it in the decision of the elections or any other decisions made by the judicial systems. This has been experienced in many states where political parties have had an influence on the outcome of the general elections due to their fame. If any member of the political party tends to run for a political seat and he/she is known by members of the judiciary, the decision will tend to favor this member. This might not be the case if the judiciary system is made up of members that are incorrupt and do not base their decisions on whether the member is known or not.
The political parties also tend to influence decisions made by the judiciary in terms of the rulings made in court. These rulings tend to favor the members of a political party that is famous as many of the members of the judiciary in this generation are known to be corrupt. For example, if a certain member of a political party is found in a certain crime and he/she has a way of smuggling his way to freedom by paying a certain amount to the judge so that he/she rules for that person. The member can also make the judge or magistrate know that he is associated with a certain political party and if that party is known to have an impact the person will be proved innocent even if he/she is guilty. This might not be the case if the judicial system is free of corruption and is free from outside influences since their decisions will not be based on the outsiders’ influences.
Apart from implementation and enforcement of the laws, the political parties can also affect the rules governing a country especially if the rules are not in favor of their views and their opinions. The political party might even advocate for a coup so as to make sure that changes are made to the law so that it favors them and this has been observed in various countries where the opposition party has caused havoc in the country to the point that people go to the streets to make sure that the law has been changed.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that the political parties have a strong influence on the decisions made by the judicial and legislative systems though there exist possibilities that these might not be the case for all the systems especially those that are free from impunity.
Health Care
My main area of interest is going to be on hygiene or just generally how the people take care of their health starting from where they stay and what they eat. This issue is important as it has been included in the healthy people 2020 program which is dedicated to education the people on whom to take care of themselves for them to have good health. For the program to run smooth some of the local state and federal governmental agencies, have been involved to as they can help in reinforcing the teaching to the people. For example, the use of the police as they make people attend and also assist in checking if the people follow the rules or instructions given. Also, the government can be involved in supplying the needed equipment and medications too (Koh, 2010).
The issue of good health or hygiene has a great impact on the society, and its level is considered to be macro level. This is so because of the population of the people. A very high populated area is most likely prone to have the high risk and may have the health and hygiene issues more than a less populated area. Due to the high population, we have people moving to other sectors and this can be risky if they do not have proper hygiene as they are most likely going to infect other people, and that will lead to the spreading of what they may be suffering.

The court system in my area is mainly involved with the well-being of the people and can do anything in its power to see that they are well. When one has a motion for making a law not just the court is involved but the whole community at large because it is a law that will either help them all destroy the community. With the community being involved then the judiciary sometimes gets involved in an informal way so that the people can trust them and have them make or pass a law that favours the community. The involvement of the society is a great aspect of adopting or implementing a law. There are many methods that the courts can apply for the program it can either be formal or informal but either way, it will be implemented.
The primary role of the local and the federal branches of the government in policy development and implementation is that they are the force that enforces the laws. In the program is needed by the people then they can enact it into law and make the people follow it for their safety. Also, the local and federal branches of the government can help in the implementation of the policy so that it’s there to stay to help other people in the future. The government will help the program to achieve its goal and by that we can say that the program is a success. The expectation of the result is that it will be successful with the help of the government in the implementation in the community. Positive results are expected, and the program is also expected to achieve its goal (Brown, 2014).
Most significant policy issues tend to get to the front of the public opinion and subsequently on the radar screen state legislatures so that they can do an evaluation of the program and conclude if it was a success or a waste of time and resources. Various methods are used to evaluate the program after it has been implemented and from the evaluation then the legislatures may give it go ahead. Evaluation of the program is necessary, and this can be done by taking the public opinion or having them answer questionnaires.

Actions of Interest Groups and its Effects on the Legislative Agenda of Congress
Interest group is an organization that persuades or convinces elected officials or leaders to enact legislation favorable to its causes. There are different types of interest groups that are involved in different situations. Major types of interest groups include animal rights groups and environmental interest groups. These groups are meant not work for self-interest but for the best of public interests (Malen, 2001).
Poorly paid professional workers may organize groups so that they can have influence in the bargaining or negotiation process. Doctors belong to the American Medical Association, lawyers belong to the American Bar Association, and teachers belong to the National Education Association. Labor Union such as the Team Masters’ Union and the AFL-CIO are established to protect workers in businesses or factories.
The most used type of interest group is formed around trade association, corporation, and businesses. Part of their reputation for authority is based on the fact they exhibit about half of all the interest groups in Washington, D.C. Persons who criticize interest groups conceive that the business groups obtain special privileges for people who already have wealth and power more than the ordinary citizens. For example, tobacco and oil industries, each have interest groups who promote their specific interest on Capitol Hill (Eising, 2008).
How interest groups affect legislative agenda of Congress
Interest groups send representative to state capitals and to Washington, D.C to put force on members of congress and other policymakers. They get involved in lobbying, or planned process of influencing policy or legislation. Lobbying can take different forms depending on the interest of the group involved. For instance, when congress considered discrimination in private clubs, the representative of the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts appeared in the hearing to convince the congress to grant each one to remain a single-sex organization. Lobbyists also contact officials from the government either informally or directly; through presenting technical information or research results; through talking with people from the press and media; or sometimes they help draft legislations.
Why should politicians have to listen? They have to listen because interest groups, similarly involve themselves in political campaigns. The electioneering process assist in electing candidates who favor their interests or defeat those who are in the opposition. It is mostly conducted by Political Action Committees (PAC), who serve as unique political arms for the interest groups (Snyder & Ting, 2008).
The number of Political Action Committees has highly grown since 1970s, when campaign finance reform laws were passed. The laws restricted individual contributions to the campaigns, which was later on changed by PAC. They have contributors who send them checks particularly for campaign donations. For instance, if one wants to support candidate who fights gun control, they can contribute to the Pac that represents NRF. The PAC will then make direct contributions to person’s campaigns of chosen candidates.
Interest groups are believed to corrupt the government by “buying” influence. People think so because more money comes from corporations and businesses than any other source. Therefore, they get access to the government easily, a power which ordinary person doesn’t have. However, everyone is free to create or join interest groups, hence it assumed that there is a group for everyone. These multiple associations make Americans to have an easier access to the government and have influence on the legislative agenda of congress.

Implementation and Hurdles of Due Process, Equal Protection & Civil Rights
The founders of the United States of America were very concerned with the fairness aspect in government. The writers of the independence declaration concerned with this aspect had it entrenched in the constitution. According to Hames & Ekern (2013), the substance of the constitution ensured that all citizens were treated fairly under the law. They also explicitly stated under the new laws that no one either government or using the powers of government could take the property, life or liberty of one without following the due process of law. It also stated that all persons were under the law equal. Stephens & Scheb (2012), maintained that the implementation was largely predicated on governmental action or inaction. Civil Rights on the other hand came as a consequence of extended private activity that led to the passage of another slew of legislation thus are predicated on governmental activity that will ensure implementation so that citizens will be able to access the rights and enjoy the same rights in a manner that is at par with others.
Through the courts due process was applied to the Bill of Rights and it required the federal government to enact and implement equal protection laws. The clause in the 14th amendment forbade states from setting up segregation in schools or discrimination against some citizens. It should be noted that there is no clause on equal protection in the Bill of Rights. Another roadblock to implementation is the understanding of the clauses where some of were seen as proxy to the other rights thus could only be used against state action. The civil rights roadblocks revolve around the complexity of equality because it could refer to any one of the following social, economic and political status (Schmidt, 2016). Thus a group might be equal economically but not politically. It has also been used in relation to opportunity meaning everyone should be afforded equal opportunity to thrive in life. It could also mean equality in condition meaning the resources a particular group has in its possession. Thus you could find the roadblock could be in understanding of who is agreeing with their viewpoint of the same.
The government plays a central role in ensuring the implementation of the due process and equality protection. The courts have played a major role in the interpreting violations or enhancements to the laws governing due process and equality protection (Stephens & Scheb, 2012). Civil rights require governmental activity thus there are bodies that have been charged with the enforcement of the civil rights laws. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is one such body that has been charged to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It’s mandated to apply the law against acts of discrimination in employment on the basis of race, sex, religion and nation of origin. The commission also takes a role in interpreting the classification that is adequate in some occupations. There instances when the courts have played the same role as the commission by enforcing the law especially when interpreting of the statutes could create a conflict in the legal process (Schmidt, 2016).
To evaluate the success of the application of due process, equality protection and civil rights, we have to subject the process to the internationally accepted standards and if the local standards do not meet this threshold then they could be deemed to fall short of what is required. An example is the efforts to establish the right to a civil counsel which have been met with a lot of resistance locally thus it has had limited success (Hames &Ekern, 2013). The interpretation of democratic distortion sets the platform of checking what is acceptable as a form or procedural protection by the law. Thus if a mechanism of strengthening audit and participation in the constitutional process is put in place it could be used to great effect for implementation of the due process, equality protection and civil rights.

References
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Brown, M. L. (2014). Challenges in meeting Healthy People 2020 objectives for cancer-related preventive services, National Health Interview Survey, 2008 and 2010. Preventing chronic disease, 11.

Koh, H. K. (2010). A 2020 vision for healthy people. New England Journal of Medicine, 362(18), 1653-1656.
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Schmidt, S. W. (2016). American government and politics today. Place of publication not identified: Wadsworth.

Stephens, O. H., & Scheb, J. M. (2012). American constitutional law. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning