ABSTRACT
No other legislative assembly in the world probably fits the description of a ‘law-making body’ better than the United States Congress. In most democratic countries effective initiation of policies and laws has been taken over by the executive branch, and the legislature has generally become a body that reacts to and passes proposals put forward by the government. Nelson Polsby has described such bodies as ‘arena legislatures’ where parliaments become principally the forums for debate and approval of executive-inspired legislation. The US Congress, on the other hand, he calls a ‘transformative legislature’ enjoying an independent capacity, frequently exercised, to mould and transform proposals into law.1 The Congress was given the function of law-making in the Constitution and, because of the separation of powers principle, it has to a large extent retained its powers over the initiation and passage of laws. Even in the United States, the President has played an increasing role in recommending and proposing legislation, but he still has to rely on friendly Congressmen to introduce his bills into Congress, and he is by no means certain of securing their passage. The legislature is seen as being constantly in a checking and balancing relationship with the President; there will always be friction and tension and occasionally direct conflict between the rival policies and interests of each branch. The Congress has, therefore, been called the most powerful legislature in the world; every year sees the introduction of thousands of proposals, but only a small minority ever became law by surviving the obstacle race of the legislative process. In the 106th Congress (19992000), for example, 10,840 bills and resolutions were introduced, many overlapping and on similar topics, but only 580 became public laws in the two-year period.2
