Comparisons

Question 1

Powers of the UK legislature.

Answer 1

1. can declare war
2. Passes legislation based on leading parties manifesto
3. Scrutinises the majority government in commons
4. can use vote of no confidence.

Question 2

Powers of the USA legislature

Answer 2

1. Can declare war.
2. Passes legislature based on presidents and own platform.
3. Scrutinises the executive branch.
4. can impeach President but VP takes over.

Question 3

Strengths of the House of commons.

Answer 3

1. Good constituency links
2. Strong backbench power.
3. Most powerful chamber.

Question 4

Weaknesses of the House of Commons.

Answer 4

1. Government majority in the committees.
2. Executive dominate.
3. Strong party whip.

Question 5

Strengths of the House of Lords.

Answer 5

1. More time to debate.
2. Reduced party discipline.
3. Increasingly willing to challenge commons.

Question 6

Weaknesses of the House of Lords.

Answer 6

1. The size of the house of lords membership.
2. Unelected and some hereditary peers.
3. Salisbury convention.

Question 7

What is the Salisbury convention?

Answer 7

This is that the House of Lords cannot vote against any bill which was mentioned in the Governments manifesto.

Question 8

Strengths of the House of Representatives?

Answer 8

1. strong constituency links.
2. Representation by population.
3. Effective control by the majority party.

Question 9

Weaknesses of the House of Representatives?

Answer 9

1. Power of the speaker means that the majority party can be ignored.
2. Shared legislative power.
3. Short election cycle.

Question 10

Strengths of The Senate?

Answer 10

1. Completely agreed consent of power.
2. Power of filibuster.
3. Representation of state and electorates interests.
4. 6 year terms enable continuity.

Question 11

Weaknesses of The Senate?

Answer 11

1. Shared legislative power.
2. completely agreed consent can cause a gridlock.
3. Over/underrepresentation of states because not based on population.

Question 12

Similarities of the Legislative branches?

Answer 12

1. Limited powers to scrutinise.
2. Strong constituency links.
3. Bicameral nature of the 2 chambers.

Question 13

Differences of the Legislative branches?

Answer 13

1. level of party discipline.
2. legislative output.
3. Equality of chamber powers.

Question 14

Similarities of Labour Vs Democrats?

Answer 14

1. Both favour a minimum wage/ workers rights.

2. Both favour higher government intervention.

Question 15

Differences of Labour Vs Democrats?

Answer 15

1. Labour under Corbyn is far more left wing than Democrats.
2. Labour want to increase tax, Democrats accept but don’t want to rise taxes.

Question 16

Similarities of Conservatives Vs Republicans?

Answer 16

1. Both against government intervention.

2. Both favour high levels on defence spending.

Question 17

Differences of Conservatives Vs Republicans?

Answer 17

1. Conservatives have a more liberal view on many issues compared to Republicans.
2. The republican party have a greater affiliation to religion.

Question 18

Roles/ Powers of the PM?

Answer 18

1. Party mandate from being leader of largest party, can serve any number of terms.
2. Has no veto of legislation, but has majority in commons.
3. Head of Government

Question 19

Roles/ Powers of President?

Answer 19

1. Personal mandate from election, but can only serve 2 terms.
2. Has the veto, according to constitution.
3. Head of state and head of government.

Question 20

Similarities of the Executives accountability to the legislature?

Answer 20

1. Executives power depends on the majority size in legislature.
2. Role of the legislature in both countries is to scrutinise proposal
3. While both legislatures can remove government they rarely use this power.

Question 21

Differences of the Executives accountability to the legislature?

Answer 21

1. Because of constitution congress gets final say on things, however executive dominance means parliament is subservient to the government.
2. Vote of no Confidence has happened twice while impeachment has never happened.
3. The separated powers means he has more power to get congress to act upon his State of union, while the UK government just writes a queens speech agenda.