Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,0, University of Potsdam, course: Public policy and institutions, 13 entries in the bibliography, language: English, comment: This paper was written during an internship at the U.S. House of Representatives and is the preparatory work for my master thesis., abstract: The dominant player in international politics is unmistakably the United States of America. U.S. economic, military and cultural superiority is shaping world politics and setting the stage for the next generation. U.S. foreign policy features the image of the United States President and to a lesser extent that of the Secretary of State and Defense. They are the predominant figures that drive U.S. foreign policy on the international stage. The system of checks and balances neatly involves two branches of government - executive and legislative - in a construct of interdependence. Congress is the government branch of 'the people'. The two-year term cycles for House Representatives and the large number of districts make Congress the most 'representative' institution in the U.S. government. In contemporary political science the state of being represented is described by 'Principle-Agent-Relationship', in which the representative - the agent - closely represents his constituency - the principle. "It doesn t pay off for my constituency" said Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) when asked, why she wanted to get off of the House International Relations Committee (HIRC). This incident was my first impression of foreign policy in the U.S. Congress. Having heard that, I went to a HIRC oversight hearing to see how they conduct their business. What struck me most was the fact that the members devoted approx. half of their speaking time of total five minutes to the actual issue at stake and the other half to an issue that was absolutely irrelevant to the pending business. As I found out later, the irrelevant issues