congress

Question 1

what is the structure of the senate?

Answer 1

• 100 members; 2 per state
• term length of 6 years, with 1/3 of senators up for election every 2 years

Question 2

who is the current majority leader?

Answer 2

John Thune

Question 3

what is the structure of the house of representatives?

Answer 3

• 435 members
• represents districts based on population size
• members elected every 2 years

Question 4

what state has the smallest number of congressmen?

Answer 4

1 - alaska

Question 5

what state has the largest number of congressmen?

Answer 5

52 - california

Question 6

who is the current speaker?

Answer 6

Kevin McCarthy

Question 7

Who is the current majority leader in the HoR?

Answer 7

Steve Scalise

Question 8

who is the current minoirty leader in the HoR?

Answer 8

Hakeem Jefferies

Question 9

what are the concurrent powers?

Answer 9

• power to overturn a presidential veto with supermajority
• power to amend constiution
• both to determine own rules and punishments

Question 10

what are the exclusive powers of the House?

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

give an example of when the house has elected the president

Answer 11

1800 and 1824

Question 12

what are the exclusive powers of the senate?

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

what is filibustering?

Answer 13

when senators keep talking to make a bill run out of time and stop a vote from happening

Question 14

what can stop filibustering?

Answer 14

3/5 senators vote to end a filibuster

Question 15

what was the voter turnout for the 2016 presidential election?

Answer 15

58.1%

Question 16

what was the turnout for the 2014 midterms?

Answer 16

36.4%

Question 17

what are incumbents?

Answer 17

members of congress who have previously been elected to congress and looking to get re-elected

Question 18

what % of incumbents are re-elected?

Answer 18

80%

Question 19

what advantages do incumbents have?

Answer 19

• more recognised
• more likely to already have donors
• can support govt policies

Question 20

party-line voting

Answer 20

when a congressmen votes according to what the party wishes

Question 21

what is the trend of party-line voting?

Answer 21

it has increased since the 1970s and now congress people vote along party lines 90% of the time

Question 22

what are caucuses?

Answer 22

a group of representatives that meets to decide which legislation they wish to support as a group

Question 23

Give two examples of caucuses

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

pressure groups

Answer 24

organisations that wish to put pressure on key decision makers in congress to propose policies or vote in certain ways

Question 25

give an example of a pressure group

Answer 25

the US chamber of commerce campaigned for the confirmation of supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh

Question 26

what is a lobbyist?

Answer 26

an individual paid by a client who contacts more than one elected official, spending at least 20% of their time lobbying for that client

Question 27

how much do corporations on average spend on lobbying?

Answer 27

$2.6 billion

Question 28

what is indirect lobbying?

Answer 28

helping to fundraise for a candidate and holding dinners and parties

Question 29

what is grassroot lobbying?

Answer 29

writing opinion articles in newspapers to get the attention of decision-makers

Question 30

AO2: Northrop Grumman

Answer 30

spent $176m lobbying, and in 2012 were awarded a contract with NATO to build drones

Question 31

checks on the executive

Answer 31

• house has the power to impeach
• senate has power to try impeachment
• senate has power to confirm the president’s nominees
• senate has power approve treaties

Question 32

checks on the judiciary

Answer 32

• senate has power to confirm the president’s judicial nominees
• the house has power to impeach a member of the judiciary
• senate has power to try impeachments
• congress has power to change the size of the SC

Question 33

checks between different houses

Answer 33

• both houses must pass all bills
• the house must initiate all bills for raising revenue