With the new 51-seat simple majority the Senate won on Tuesday, the Republican Party now enjoys control of both houses of Congress and the executive branch. In addition to overturning Democratic control of the Senate, the GOP added at least four seats to its majority in the House, making the seat count 227 Republicans, 206 Democrats and one Independent with one race to be decided. The GOP also retained a majority of the nation’s governors.

The GOP’s political domination has many Democrats frantic about the possibility of unrestricted passing of conservative legislation. With President Bush holding the only veto power, and both houses of Congress controlled by the same party, many claim there is nothing to stop President Bush and the GOP’s agenda, including war with Iraq.

Those worried about such a Republican free-for-all should pay more attention to American politics before assuming an elephant stampede in legislation.

While 51 seats do give the GOP a simple majority in Senate, they fall short of the 60 seats necessary to stop filibusters or override budget limitations and force a final vote. Many issues supported by direct party lines die off in the Senate in these cases, such as both Democratic and Republican versions of creating a homeland security department and Medicare drug prescription benefit.

Also, a narrow majority has little worth in the United States because of weak party lines. An example of stronger lines would be in Chile, where candidates rely almost entirely on their political parties for funding and support, without which they have virtually no chance of election. The difference of one seat in a Chilean congressional house is vast because seat-holders almost always vote directly along party lines, or they risk being replaced in the next election.

This does not happen as often in the United States because candidates do not owe as much to political parties. Candidates have a greater ability to privately campaign and can even run as Independents if they believe neither party accurately reflects their beliefs. A recent example of U.S. political nonconformity: in the Senate, 29 of 50 Democrats voted for the authorization of military force against Iraq – possibly the most important item on President Bush’s agenda.

Also killing any possibility of major conservative reform is each party’s lack of divergence from the center. Welfare will not be canceled. Guns will not be distributed for free to every man, woman and child. Extremist reforms on either side will not occur because few people in either party will support them. The only way anything will get passed through Congress and Bush is if the legislation calls for relatively little change, or if both parties agree on the issue.

While a GOP-controlled Congress increases the likelihood conservative legislation will be passed, it only does so slightly. If liberals are worried about GOP agenda being passed, they should keep in mind it was a Democratically-controlled Senate which helped give Bush the go-ahead for war. Next time, they should vote in people who will stick closer to their party’s stance.