Committees

Question 1

standing committees

Answer 1

permanent policy specialists
stand in both houses
in the house - house rules committee (timetables bills on floor) and the standards of official conduct (deals with professional conduct)
divided into subcommittees

Question 2

how many members in standing committees

Answer 2

typical senate- around 18
typical house - 45-50

Question 3

party balance in standing committees

Answer 3

same proportion to that which exiss in the chamber as a whole
e.g. 2009 senate was split 57-41 so armed service committee hs 15-11 split

Question 4

standing committee membersip

Answer 4

chairs are drawn from the majority party
in the house, republicans imposed 6 year limites on tenure of all standing committee chairs
in 2009 dems ended term limits for committee chairs in the house

Question 5

functions of standing committees

Answer 5

conduct the committee stage of legislative process
conduct invesitgations in policy areas (oversight of exec)

Question 6

senate only function of standing committees

Answer 6

begon the confirmation process of numerous presidential appointment to both exec and judicial branches of fed govt

Question 7

how do SCs fulfill these functions

Answer 7

hold hearings attended by witnesses
votes are taken to reccommend action to the chamber

Question 8

house rules commitee functions

Answer 8

e.g of SC
timetables pills
get bills from committee stage to 2nd reading
prioriizes bills
gives a rule to each bill passing on the floor which sets rules of debate e.g stating if any ammendments can be made

Question 9

why are conference committees required

Answer 9

both houses have equal power, and bills pass through them concurently
as consequence there is two versions of a bill

Question 10

features of CCs

Answer 10

ad hoc
contain members of both houses

Question 11

why are select committees set up

Answer 11

when the imvestigation does not fall within the policy area of a standing committee
likely to be time consuming

Question 12

examples of recent select committees

Answer 12

house select committee on political assasinations
senate select committee on the Whitewater affair

Question 13

why are committees so improtant

Answer 13

seperate powers in US - republican presidents facing democratic congress e.t.c

Question 14

no authority figure

Answer 14

voting in congress less coherent and disciplined than commons