Charlie Wilson’s War

Operating in the US congress is a challenging task for most of the representatives. It is imperative to note that the representatives are for different areas throughout the country that have their own needs. Therefore, it is hard for the representatives to balance between formulating strategies for their local areas and those that are beneficial to the whole country. This is the concept of home style that most of the representatives portray. Charlie Wilson was a representative of the East West and his actions are evidence of the concept. In the film, it is evident that his constituency has a strong influence on his subsequent actions. The members tend to push for issues that have a bearing on their constituencies while disagreeing majorly on those that affect the whole nation. This is the reason that leads to the formulation of policies that are not discussed by all the representatives. Wilson goes on with a policy that has more personal interest to him than the whole country.

There is also a similarity when it comes to the concept of iron triangles. This is a term that represents the inter relationship of some bodies to formulate policies. The congress seeks the support of the executive in the formulation of policies. Furthermore, there is the consulting of other interest groups in the same process. Whenever there is the formulation of a policy, all these parties have to consult. Charlie Wilson does this perfectly. In spite of him being a member of the Congress, he knows that he does not have enough power and support to help him in his interest. This is the reason why he approaches Gust with the hope of getting support from this branch. The plan is then complete after the two involve the Pakistani as an interest group.

Logrolling refers to exchanging of favors between parties in politics. There are clear examples that are evidence of this in the film. There is a situation, which finds Wilson accepting a seat in the House Ethic committee. The reason that leads to the proposal is that he is thought of being lenient. However, he accepts the request because it means he would gain appointment in the Kennedy Center’s BOD. This logrolling becomes more advanced even in the main issue regarding the support of the funding. This is the scene where he coaxes his colleagues to support him in the quest to get funding for the Afghan funding. He offers to get bring the Black Caucus to support the colleagues’ own legislation. These are examples that are evidence of the logrolling that goes on in the government when they are reaching out for their own goals.

Wilson was well aware of the situation in Afghanistan even before he presented his case to his colleagues. When the time came for sharing the story with the rest, he had already invented a plan that would give him the funding that was necessary for the operation. Through his persuasion skills, he was able to convince the colleagues of the importance of the mission. However, the most influential factor in gaining the money was the knowledge on the laws of funding by CIA. Through just a phone call, he was able to convince a member of the staff in that department to appropriate more than enough money. In fact, he was able to double it. Therefore, it was his vast knowledge and ability to manipulate that secured him funding for this project, which from a distance looks like a personal one.