Paper 2: Congress

Question 1

Structure of Congress: The importance of Congress

Answer 1

Was created to ensure that no monarch-like figure could emerge, i.e no single branch has more power than the other

Question 2

Structure of Congress: Seats in the senate

Answer 2

There are 2 senators per state so 100 in total

Have to be at least 30 to be senator

Question 3

Structure of Congress: Seats in the house

Answer 3

Each state has no. of members in proportion to state population. Currently 435 members
No. of representatives reappointed every 10 years
Except states that have just on rep, each member represents a congressional district

Question 4

Structure of Congress: Senate

Answer 4

Members face re-election every 6 years

Main responsibility is over long-term issues e.g treaties or appointments

Question 5

Structure of Congress: Elections to the legislature

Answer 5

FF decided house of reps would be directly elected but the senate would be indirectly elected
This arrangement continued until 1914 but as a result of the 17th amendment, the first direct elections for the senate were held

Question 6

Structure of Congress: House of representatives

Answer 6

Members re-elected every 2 years
Main responsibility of managing the economy
People can hold politicians to account on a frequent basis for the use of their money

Question 7

Structure of Congress: Legislation

Answer 7

General legislation was the responsibility of both houses with both putting forward proposals
Executive branch expected to take the lead in foreign affairs

Question 8

Structure of Congress: Issues of composition

Answer 8

Compromise was a two-chamber structure
House of reps, the states would be represented proportionally to their population but in the Senate, the states are equally represented

Question 9

Structure of Congress: Bicameral legislature

Answer 9

The expectation that Congress would be the most powerful branch of govt. led to separation of powers within congress
The powers of the legislature were divided between 2 chambers with each monitoring how the other uses its powers.

Question 10

Exclusive powers of the House of Representatives

Answer 10

Power to initiate money bills: came from when the senate wasn’t directly elected so FF thought only elected house should have this power
Power to impeach: Has used power 19 times since 1789 inc. Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, both successfully impeached by the house but acquitted by Senate
Power to elect the president in the event that the Electoral College is deadlocked, has only happened twice

Question 11

Exclusive powers of the Senate

Answer 11

Confirms any appointments made by the president: senate does a simple majority vote to confirm it
Power to ratify treaties that have been negotiated by the president: requires 2/3 majority in the senate ensuring the senate is involved in any decisions made by president
Power to try the House’s Impeachment cases: need 2/3 majority
Power to elect the vice-president if Electoral College is deadlocked

Question 12

Concurrent powers of the House and the Senate

Answer 12

Pass legislation
Override presidents veto of a bill
Power to initiate constitutional amendments: needs to be approved by 2/3 majority in both houses and 3/4 of the 50 states approval
Power to declare war
Confirm the newly appointed vice-president

Question 13

Is the Senate more prestigious than the House? Yes

Answer 13

Senators represent the entire state + serve longer
Are only 1/100 and are more likely to chair a committee or have position of leadership
Senate is recruiting pool for presidents and vice-presidents e.g Obama
House members frequently seek election to the senate

Question 14

Is the Senate more prestigious than the House? No

Answer 14

Both houses have equal power in the passage of legislation- the key function of Congress
Both houses must approve the initiation of constitutional amendments
Senators and Representatives receive an equal salary.

Question 15

What must you be to become a Senator?

Answer 15

At least 30, have been a US citizen for 9 years and must live in the state (at the time of election) that they wish to represent

Question 16

What must you be to become a Representative?

Answer 16

At least 25, lived in the US for 7 years a be a resident of the state (but not necessarily the district)

Question 17

What are the ‘de facto’ requirements to become an US politician

Answer 17

White
Anglo
Saxon
Protestant
male

Question 18

How representative is the current Congress? Age:

Answer 18

Average age of US adults: 38.1
Average age of HofR: 57.6
Average age of Senate: 62.9

Question 19

How representative is the current Congress? Gender:

Answer 19

51% of US citizens are female
23% of HofR are female
25% of Senate are female

Question 20

How representative is the current Congress? Ethnicity:

Answer 20

22% of Congress are non-white
39% of US population are non-white
12% of Congress are black and 15% of the population are black

Question 21

How representative is the current Congress? Religion:

Answer 21

88% of Congress are Christian but only 71% are

0.2% of Congress are atheist but 23% of population are

Question 22

How representative is the current Congress? Sexuality:

Answer 22

10 members of Congress are openly LQBTQ+ yet 4.5% of the population identify as LGBTQ+
Kyrsten Sinema was the first openly bisexual Senator

Question 23

To what extent does partisanship exist in Congress?

Answer 23

Since the 70s the two parties have internally become more unified
Republicans have been criticised for being excessively partisan in opposition to the Obama presidency as they seemed to oppose every policy that Obama supported

Question 24

How to measure partisanship

Answer 24

Party unity scores are calculated by looking at the no. of times a member of Congress votes with majority in their own party.
The avg. unity in the 113th Congress was 92% for Democrats and 90% for Republicans which is a record high

Question 25

Evidence of bipartisan agreement

Answer 25

Shown by the working together of D and R Senators after the 2012 election through the 'Gang of 8' who worked to pass immigration but this was blocked by the house Also, despite initial disagreements, Ds and Rs are forced to arrive at compromise measures to allow passing of budgets

Question 26

Examples of the importance of bipartisan agreement

Answer 26

2016, significant vote to overturn Obama's Saudi Arabia legislation veto which would allow 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabian govt. Also, the existence of caucuses (voting blocks) within or between parties shows that the party isn't fully unified and partisanship only goes so far

Question 27

How does partisanship affect legislation?

Answer 27

The tendency for parties to act in partisan has reduced Congress's ability to pass legislation, the 112th and 113th Congresses have been two of the least productive in history, shows a limited govt. what the FF wanted Could be seen as a good or bad thing depending on how much power you want the govt. to have

Question 28

How does partisanship affect Congress's ability to act as a check on the President?

Answer 28

Under a divided govt. the president may be unable to provide significant leadership as Congress could obstruct the president's policy initiatives Under a unified govt., partisanship can lead to increase in presidential power because when motivated by party loyalty, Congress members may overlook their oversight function and fail to provide checks on president.

Question 29

Changing powers of Congress: rise in importance of military and foreign policy

Answer 29

This has arguably undermined congressional power as international affairs are increasingly controlled by the president and the executive As communication has improved, need for fast military action has increase leading to a faster, more deadly military action meaning the role is down to the president as he is capable of making immediate decisions with his executive resources

Question 30

What did Congress do to try and re-assert its military authority?

Answer 30

Introduced the War Powers Act of 1973 which stipulated that a declaration of war had to be passed through Congress

Question 31

Changing powers of Congress: nationalisation of mid-term elections

Answer 31

This has centralised greater power in the hands of the House speaker Under divided govt. this has allowed the speaker to act as a significant rival to the president, suggesting an increase to the collective power of Congress

Question 32

Changing powers of Congress: partisanship

Answer 32

Under divided govt., partisanship has arguably strengthened the power of Congress as it becomes more determined to challenge presidential power

Question 33

Short term changes to Congress

Answer 33

Power of Congress is in constant flux with frequent elections changing the balance of power and the majority of the houses When Congressional majority is of a different party to the president, Congress tends to apply intense scrutiny but when they are of the same party, Congress is generally better able to achieve its own policy goals

Question 34

Arguments that Congress is representative: separate elections for the president and Congress

Answer 34

It allows voters to have separate votes for the executive and the legislature (unlike in the UK), maximising voter choice Lack of executive influence over members of Congress ensures accountability to the public rather than the president.

Question 35

Arguments that Congress is representative: two elected chambers

Answer 35

Both chambers are directly elected to voters have two choices, known as complementary representation By staying in power 3 times longer, senators make decisions based on more rationality and consideration. The 2 year term for reps means they may issue policies rapidly and emotionally

Question 36

Arguments that Congress is representative: frequent elections and short House terms

Answer 36

Congressional elections every 2 years so representative as changes in public attitudes are quickly reflected in Congress. High level of sensitivity to public opinion directly pushes congressmen to be representative

Question 37

Arguments that Congress isn't representative: FPTP and gerrymandering

Answer 37

Heavily undermines Congress representation The determination of the two parties and politicians to maximise their power has led to major distortion of public opinion

Question 38

Arguments that Congress isn't representative: social representation

Answer 38

Covered in other cards

Question 39

Arguments that Congress isn't representative: Influence of pressure groups

Answer 39

Congress heavily influenced by PGs. Some politicians respond to the interest of the unelected, undemocratic PGs which then gain disproportionate representation in Congress Richer PGs dominate at the expense of the poorer ones Elite theory suggests that Congress isn't democratic because it responds only to the wishes of a small group in society

Question 40

Who can initiate bills?

Answer 40

President, party leaders in Congress, committees (especially committee chairs) or even individual member of Congress

Question 41

Who debates and amends bills?

Answer 41

House or Senate Committees, the bill usually passes through both chambers at the same time

Question 42

What happens at the debating and amending stage?

Answer 42

Bills cover a wide range of policy areas so are of interest to many committees and subcommittees with their main role being examining and amending it An unfavourable review by a committee can lead to the bill failing

Question 43

Who schedules the bill for the main chamber?

Answer 43

House Rules Committee and the Senate Floor

Question 44

What happens at the scheduling stage?

Answer 44

After the committee stage, a decision is made on whether it should proceed to the full chamber. The rules of debate such as timing and the possibility of further amendments are decided. The Senate might make use of unanimous consent

Question 45

Who makes the final decision on the bill?

Answer 45

Full House and Senate votes then it goes to the president

Question 46

How do the Houses decide on the bill?

Answer 46

Bill must receive 50%+ votes in each chamber, agreeing on the exact same bill because as this stage, the houses may have formed different bills due to the separate amendment process A disputed bill may go to the conference committee then both chamber have to agree on the compromise made by the conference committee

Question 47

How does the president decide on the bill?

Answer 47

President has to sign the bill for it to become law or he can veto it Congress can overturn this veto but it then requires a 2/3 vote in each chamber

Question 48

Compromise when making legislation

Answer 48

Important due to the structure of the US political system (3 branches of govt., bicameral system) Successful legislation is usually as a result of huge add-ons to the bill during the various stages

Question 49

Weak parties and party leaders when making legislation

Answer 49

Nature of federalism means the US has a weak party system with many factions and party leaders have little power over their own party and generally, Congressmen are more concerned with prioritising the needs of their own state than the country as a whole This means parties don't act as a single unit in this process, making it difficult to pass laws

Question 50

Obstacles in the legislation process

Answer 50

Far easier to prevent change in Congress than to bring it about Both houses have an equal power in law-making Several congressional committees have to approve the bill so long process Power of veto is another obstacle

Question 51

Standing Committees: roles

Answer 51

Permanent policy specialist committees Membership proportionate to majority/minority parties Conduct committee stage of legislation Investigations into policy area Confirmation of presidential appointments (senate)

Question 52

Standing Committees: powers

Answer 52

``` Hold 'hearings' and call 'witnesses' Question witnesses Power to help chambers manage their workload Cannot legislate (it has to be voted on) Cannot require the executive to comply Cannot implement policies ```

Question 53

House Rules Committee: roles

Answer 53

A standing committee | Responsible for prioritising bills coming from the committee stage on to the House Floor for 2nd readings

Question 54

House Rules Committee: powers

Answer 54

'Vital' legislative role Sets out rules for debate Membership smaller and more skewed to majority party Chair (always belongs to majority party) is considered one fo the most influential posts in Congress

Question 55

Conference Committees: roles

Answer 55

Reconcile differences between House + Senate versions of a bill Set up to consider one particular bill May be reconvened if version not agreed by a vote Used less frequently Not a Standing Committee

Question 56

Conference Committee: powers

Answer 56

Version must be agreed by vote on floor of each house Usually draw up the final version of a bill Power checked- House or Senate can refuse to sign up to compromise version

Question 57

Select Committees: roles

Answer 57

Known as special or investigative committees Set up to investigate a particular issue Standing Committees have an investigative function-not within policy area

Question 58

Select Committees: powers

Answer 58

Hold 'hearings' and call 'witnesses' Question witnesses e.g scandals, natural disasters, terrorism issues

Question 59

Committee Chairs: roles

Answer 59

``` Background: Drawn from majority party Seniority rule Ranking minority members Term limits Otherwise known as legislative Czars ```

Question 60

Committee Chairs: powers

Answer 60

Control committees agenda Decide when committee meets Control committee's budget + influence the membership meetings + hearings of sub committee staff Report legislation to the floor

Question 61

Congressional oversight checks and balances

Answer 61

``` Amend/delay/reject legislation Override presidents veto Power of the purse Declare War Ratify treaties (Senate) Investigation Impeachment, trial, conviction and removal from office ```

Question 62

Checks and balances: Amend/delay/reject legislation

Answer 62

Inc. veto gates which are very common which plays to Congress's advantage as they can put forward a bill which they don't agree with but know that it will probably die, instead of ignoring the president

Question 63

Checks and balances: Override president's veto

Answer 63

Very rare, if it happens it's very powerful as it's going against the president going against a bill

Question 64

Checks and balances: Power of the purse

Answer 64

Only in the House of Reps, means they have power over financial bills The resolutions can be passed to cancel spending in the executive

Question 65

Checks and balances: Declare War

Answer 65

Exclusive power of the Senate but president is Commander in Chief of US army so can also declare war If the Senate votes against going to war they're undermining the president

Question 66

Checks and balances: Ratify treaties

Answer 66

President does all negotiations regarding treaties De jure the Senate gets to vote on this De facto would be stupid for president to wait until end to see if it passes so the president and Senate discuss these treaties along the way otherwise it'd be embarrassing

Question 67

Checks and balances: Investigation

Answer 67

Uses Select Committees

Question 68

Checks and balances: Impeachment, trial, conviction and removal from office

Answer 68

Very rare, is the process at the beginning where the House of Reps can start this Only the Senate can carry out the impeachment trial