GRIDLOCK

There are several causes of gridlock. Gridlock occurs most often when there is divided government. Divided government is when the legislative branch and the executive branch are not unified under the same party. For example, if congress is dominated by democrats and passes a bill, a republican president can veto the bill. Then a two thirds majority is needed in both houses to pass the bill. This problem produces a stalemate, and the bill is unable to be passed. Gridlock can also occur even when the government is unified. One reason for this is the structure of the bicameral legislature. Even when a bill is easily passed in the House of Representatives, it can be stopped by a filibuster in the Senate. A filibuster requires 60 votes to pass a bill, which does not often happen. Furthermore, republicans and democrats have become more and more divided. Republicans today are more conservative than in the past, and democrats are now more liberal. This is a problem because there are less members of the legislature who are closer to the political center and willing to make compromises. The nature of the media and technological advancements in communication have also contributed toward gridlock. Since politicians are always in the spotlight, they are more concerned with satisfying their constituents in order to win elections than being willing to make compromises. Gridlock was intended by the framers of the constitution to prevent colossal mistakes from being made. In current politics, however, gridlock has led to government inaction, and changes need to be made to eliminate some of the checks of the federal government that cause gridlock to be more likely