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Politics Paper 3 > Congress > Flashcards

Congress Flashcards

1
Q

What is the structure of Congress?

A

it is bicameral meaning it has two chambers - Senate and House

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2
Q

Who does the House represent?

A

a sub-division of state called congressional district

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3
Q

Who does the Senate represent?

A

an entire state

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4
Q

Who makes up the House?

A
  • 435 members
  • members proportional to state populations
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5
Q

Who makes up the Senate?

A
  • 100 members
  • two members per state
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6
Q

What is the term for members of the House?

A

two

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7
Q

What is the term for members of the Senate?

A

six

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8
Q

What are some requirements needed to be a member of the Senate or House?

A
  • at least 25 years old (House) / 30 years old (Senate)
  • must have been a US citizen for at least seven years (House) / nine years (Senate)
  • must be a resident of the state they represent
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9
Q

Representation of women in Congress - 2023

A

27.9%
just over 1 in 4

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10
Q

Representation of women in Congress - 2017

A

15%

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11
Q

Representation of ethnic minorities in Congress - 2017

A

19%

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12
Q

Representation of ethnic minorities in Congress - 2023

A

25%
most racially diverse to date

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13
Q

What powers are given to Congress by the Constitution?

A
  • legislate
  • representation
  • amend the constitution
  • declare war
  • impeachment
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14
Q

Explain Congress’s power to legislate.

A
  • both houses have equal power
  • all bills must pass through all stages in both houses
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15
Q

What is an implied congressional power of the constitution?

A

power of oversight - overseeing the executive branch, their departments and agencies, controls their budget

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16
Q

What are the exclusive powers of the House?

A
  • impeach the president
  • elect the president if no candidate gets over 50% of electoral college votes
  • all money bills start here
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17
Q

What are exclusive powers of the Senate?

A
  • try an impeachment case
  • elect the vice president if no candidate gets over 50% of electoral college votes
  • confirm executive appointments
  • ratify treaties
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18
Q

Explain the Senate’s exclusive power to confirm appointments.

A
  • president’s appointments to federal judiciary and executive
  • most important are to SC and to president’s cabinet
  • simply majority required
  • rarely rejected
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19
Q

What second tier power does Congress have in terms of legislating?

A

power to overturn a presidential veto by a 2/3 majority in each chamber

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20
Q

How many bills did Obama veto? How many were overridden?

A

12 and only one overridden

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21
Q

What second tier power is exclusive to the Senate?

A

to ratify treaties - requires 2/3 majority

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22
Q

Why is it usually suggested that the Senate is more powerful than the House?

A
  • its exclusive power to confirm appointments
  • its exclusive power to ratify treaties
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23
Q

Why is it usually suggested that the Senate is more prestigious than the House?

A
  • senators represent the entire state
  • senators are one of only 100
  • senators more likely to chair committees or sub committees
  • senate is seen to be a recruiting pool for the presidency and vice presidency
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24
Q

What are both houses equal in?

A
  • passing legislation
  • conducting oversight of the executive
  • initiating constitutional amendments
  • fulfilling a representative function
  • level of salaries
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25
Q

What are the functions of Congress?

A
  • representation
  • legislative
  • oversight
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26
Q

How does Congress fulfil its function of representation?

A
  • congressional elections
  • midterm elections
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27
Q

In what two ways can we look at representation in Congress?

A
  1. how legislators represent their constituents
  2. who the legislators are
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28
Q

What are the two models of representation?

A
  1. trustee model
  2. delegate model
29
Q

Explain the trustee model.

A
  • legislator makes decisions on behalf of constituents
  • legislator will decide based on ‘mature judgement’
30
Q

What do critics say about the trustee model?

A

it is elitist

31
Q

Explain the delegate model.

A
  • legislator decides in accordance with the views of a majority of their constituents
  • legislator does not exercise their own judgement
32
Q

What do critics say about the delegate model?

A
  • linked with the principle of popular sovereignty (where the views of the people are paramount)
  • seen as more populist and democratic
33
Q

How do members of Congress engage with constituents?

A
  • holding party and town hall meetings
  • e-mail / social media
  • visits around states / districts
  • taking part in interviews with local media
34
Q

How is Congress effective at fulfilling its representative function?

A
  • frequency of elections
  • constitutional requirement that members of Congress must live in the state they represent
  • the number of ways constituents can now share their views with members of Congress
35
Q

How is Congress not effective at fulfilling its representative function?

A
  • constituents views on many issues are very divided
  • many members of Congress see themselves are more ‘trustee’ than ‘delegate’
  • today’s era of hyper-partisanship often trumps constituency representation as the main cue in voting
36
Q

What is incumbency?

A

the incumbent (current holder of political office, such as a politician in the House, Senate, Presidency) typically wins their seat again in the next election

37
Q

What were the incumbency rates of 2016?

A

97% House 90% Senate

38
Q

What is the significance of incumbency?

A
  • closer connection between constituents and representatives
  • representations need to be seen being active
  • americans more critical of their representatives
39
Q

What factors are responsible for high incumbency re-election rates?

A
  • use of office
  • safe seats and gerrymandering
  • pork barrel legislation
  • financial advantage
40
Q

How does use of office affect incumbency?

A

representatives need to have a proven track record in order to gain public support and donations

41
Q

How do safe seats affect incumbency?

A
  • winner-takes-it-all system has allowed a huge number of safe seats
  • a candidate usually wins so convincingly that they are expected to keep the seat at the next election
42
Q

How does gerrymandering affect incumbency?

A
  • lets a dominant party draw district boundaries in their favour at the expense of the opposition
  • racial gerrymandering was common before civil rights era as many state boundaries are drawn up by the politicians elected at state level
43
Q

What is pork barrel legislation?

A

when a member of Congress proposes an amendment to legislation that will bring benefits to a particular group

44
Q

What is an ‘earmark’?

A

an amendment added by a politician to add expenditure to a ball that benefits their constituency

45
Q

How is earmarking often criticised?

A
  • for promoting unnecessary spending and contributing to the budget deficit
  • form of overrepresentation
  • financial benefits are not spread evenly around the country or constituency
46
Q

When was pork barrelling banned?

A

in 2010

47
Q

Give a recent example of pork barrelling in use

A

in 2016 Congress passed legislation to spend $475 million on a new navy ship
supported by representatives Byrne and Ribble who represent districts with major shipbuilding companies

48
Q

What financial advantage do incumbents have over challengers?

A

incumbents can attract more money than challengers
able to run more successful campaigns

49
Q

What are the factors affecting voting behaviour within Congress?

A
  • public opinion/constituency
  • party/party leaders
  • caucuses
  • interest groups and professional lobbyists
50
Q

When does party affect voting behaviour within Congress?

A

a party vote sometimes occurs in Congress when issues are contentious and ideological e.g. civil liberties, taxation, gun control, abortion or school prayers

51
Q

How does party affect voting behaviour within Congress?

A
  • because the US constitution tends to create weak parties due to separation of executive and legislature, party loyalties are a lot weaker
  • members are elected through candidate centred campaigns and the influence of interest groups rather than the candidate’s party
52
Q

How has the influence of parties on voting in Congress changed in recent years?

A

become much more common due to increased partisanship

53
Q

How do party leaders affect behaviour within Congress?

A

have limited use of patronage power with promises of committee chairmanships or membership to induce politicians to vote a certain way

54
Q

Give an example of where the influence of party/party leaders saw a breakdown

A
  • in the election of the speaker Kevin Mccarthy
  • traditionally - when party wins majority on the House the majority of the House becomes speaker
  • Kevin Mccarthy faced a rebellion - this is rare, found resistance amongst the freedom caucus, now the least powerful speaker because he has given so much away to the right wing republicans
55
Q

How does public opinion affect voting behaviour in Congress?

A
  • representatives must take into account public opinion or run the risk of being voted out of office
  • representatives are subjected to frequent elections which provide public accountability due to the threat of removal
56
Q

In which chamber is public opinion a more important factor of voting behaviour in Congress?

A

in the House because elections take place every two years compared to six years in the Senate

57
Q

What principle of the US constitution ensures that public opinion is an important factor of voting behaviour in Congress?

A

separation of powers - means that there are strong levels of representation in both chambers creating an individual mandate for each politician

58
Q

Rather than party label or party leader what are people more likely to vote on?

A

their individual policies

59
Q

Give an example of the influence of public opinion/constituency on voting behaviour in Congress

A

2009 several Democrats switched their position dropping their support for Obama’s Affordable Care Act after meetings with constituents and rising opposition to the bill

60
Q

What is a caucus?

A

factions within congress

61
Q

Give an example of a caucus based on ideology

A

conservative ‘Blue Dog Democrats’

62
Q

Give an example of a caucus based on social characteristics

A

congressional black caucus

63
Q

Give an example of a caucus based on economic interests

A

Congressional Steel Caucus

64
Q

How do caucuses affect voting behaviour in Congress?

A

caucuses often vote together on legislative issues

65
Q

What was the most significant in the election of Kevin Mccarthy?

A

Freedom caucus

66
Q

How do interest groups and lobbyists affect voting behaviour in Congress?

A

they can make direct contact with members as well as with their staff

67
Q

What methods do interest groups and lobbyists use to affect voting behaviour in Congress?

A

they make visits, phone calls, provide evidence to committees, organise rallies, demonstrations and petition drives, engage in fundraising and campaigning

68
Q

Give examples of the two most powerful interest groups

A

APAC - represent jewish interests, israel, cross party support
NRA - represent gun owners, almost exclusively republican support

69
Q

What is a significant way in which interest groups will apply pressure to congressmen?

A

by publicising the voting records of individual congress members

Politics Paper 3 (13 decks)

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