congress Flashcards
what is the structure of the senate?
- 100 members; 2 per state
- term length of 6 years, with 1/3 of senators up for election every 2 years
who is the current majority leader?
John Thune
what is the structure of the house of representatives?
- 435 members
- represents districts based on population size
- members elected every 2 years
what state has the smallest number of congressmen?
1 - alaska
what state has the largest number of congressmen?
52 - california
who is the current speaker?
Kevin McCarthy
Who is the current majority leader in the HoR?
Steve Scalise
who is the current minoirty leader in the HoR?
Hakeem Jefferies
what are the concurrent powers?
- power to overturn a presidential veto with supermajority
- power to amend constiution
- both to determine own rules and punishments
what are the exclusive powers of the House?
- exclusive power to impeach
- power of the purse
- power to elect the president if no one candidate receives more than 50% of the electoral college
give an example of when the house has elected the president
1800 and 1824
what are the exclusive powers of the senate?
- try an impeachment case with a 2/3 vote in the senate
- power to elect VP if no one has more than 50% of the electoral college votes
- power to confirm executive appointments
- power to ratify treaties with a 2/3 vote
what is filibustering?
when senators keep talking to make a bill run out of time and stop a vote from happening
what can stop filibustering?
3/5 senators vote to end a filibuster
what was the voter turnout for the 2016 presidential election?
58.1%
what was the turnout for the 2014 midterms?
36.4%
what are incumbents?
members of congress who have previously been elected to congress and looking to get re-elected
what % of incumbents are re-elected?
80%
what advantages do incumbents have?
- more recognised
- more likely to already have donors
- can support govt policies
party-line voting
when a congressmen votes according to what the party wishes
what is the trend of party-line voting?
it has increased since the 1970s and now congress people vote along party lines 90% of the time
what are caucuses?
a group of representatives that meets to decide which legislation they wish to support as a group
Give two examples of caucuses
- the house freedom caucus is affiliated with the tea party movement and campaigns for smaller government
- the congressional black caucus is made up of african american members
pressure groups
organisations that wish to put pressure on key decision makers in congress to propose policies or vote in certain ways
