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A2 Politics > Congress - P2 > Flashcards

Congress - P2 Flashcards

1
Q

How is Congress described?

A 
bicameral legislature 
( congress = legislative branch)
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2
Q

Which number is the current congress?

A

January 2017 - 115th Congress

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3
Q

What are the two houses in Congress?

How often are they elected?

A
  1. House of Representatives and Senate
  2. House of Representatives = re-elected every 2 years
    Senate= 1/3 re-elected every 2 years
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4
Q

What is ‘The Great Compromise’ ?

A

The Senate has equal representation regardless of population size.

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5
Q

Give a example showing the ‘Great Compromise’?

A

California = pop. 39 million = 55 representatives

Wyoming= pop. 585,00 = 1 representatives

BUT SAME NUMBER OF SENATORS

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6
Q

What powers does Congress have over the States?

A
  • Anything to do with foreign policy/ declaring war/ maintaining
  • Coin and regulate currency
  • Constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court
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7
Q

What powers do the States have over Congress?

A
  • Broader social policy

e. g. Referendum in California on Affirmative Action

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8
Q

Arguments for House of Representatives being more powerful?

A
  • Bigger
  • More legitimacy because directly linked to the people
  • Power in the day to day running of the country
    ( make more decisions)
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9
Q

Arguments for the Senate being more powerful?

A
  • More prestigious/ respected because …
  • Higher level of expertise
  • Senators often go on to become presidents or have higher roles in government e.g. Obama/JFK
    ( make more important decisions)
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10
Q

Describe the 115th congress.

A
  • most diverse in history

- still not representative

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11
Q

How many women are there in Congress?

A

104

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12
Q

How many LGBT representatives are there?

A

7

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13
Q

How many minority representatives are there?

A

102

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14
Q

What are the exclusive powers of the House?

A
  1. to begin consideration of money bills
  2. to impeach any member of the executive or judicial branches of the federal government
  3. to elect the president if the Electoral College is deadlock
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15
Q

What are the exclusive powers of the Senate?

A
  1. to ratify treaties negotiated by the president - a 2/3 majority required
  2. to confirm many appointments made by the president - a simple majority required
  3. to try cases of impeachment - 2/3 majority required
  4. to elect VP if Electoral college is deadlock
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16
Q

What are the 5 joint powers of the House and Senate?

A
  1. to pass legislation, including the budget
  2. to conduct investigations regarding the actions of the executive branch
  3. to initiate constitutional amendments
  4. to declare war
  5. to confirm newly appointed VP
17
Q

What is a conference committee?

A

Committee set up to reconcile the different versions of the same bill from the House and the Senate

18
Q

What are the main 3 sources of leadership in Congress?

A
  1. the Speaker of the House of Representatives
  2. the Majority and Minority Leaders of both houses
  3. standing committee chairmen
19
Q

Who is the current speaker of the House?

A

Paul Ryan

20
Q

Who is the current minority leader of the House?

A

Nancy Pelosi

21
Q

Who is the current majority leader of the House?

A

Kevin McCarthy

22
Q

Who is the current majority leader of the Senate?

A

Mitch McConnell

23
Q

Who is the current minority leader of the Senate?

A

Charles E. Schumer

24
Q

What are the powers of the speaker?

A
  1. presiding officer of the House (chairs debates)
  2. interprets and enforces the rules of the House
  3. refers bills to committees
  4. appoints select and conference committee chairs
  5. appoints majority party members to the House of Rules Committee
  6. May exercise considerable influence over the flow of legislation through the House
25
Q

What is the committee system?

A

The committee system in Congress are made up of different committees which perform legislative and investigatory functions

26
Q

What are the 3 most important Committees?

A
  1. Standing committees
  2. The House Rules Committees
  3. Conference Committees
27
Q

Give evidence that the legislative process is difficult and complicated/ Congress is inefficient.

A

Only 3-4% of bills proposed to Congress are actually passed.

28
Q

Give 3 reasons why its hard to pass legislation through Congress.

A
  1. Nature of legislative process means that supporters of a bill must win at every stage, while opponents must only win at one stage to defeat a bill
  2. Little party discipline
  3. The president is unlikely to have his own party in control of both houses/ often House and Senate are controlled by different parties
29
Q

What are the functions of a standing committee?

A
  1. To conduct the committee stage of the legislative process
  2. To conduct investigations within the committee’s policy area. This fulfils Congress’s role of oversight.

[ standing committees are permanent, and members distributed in proportion to the distribution of the parties in the House]

30
Q

What are the functions of the House Rules committee?

A
  1. timetables bills for consideration on the floor of the House
  2. it deals with getting bills from the committee stage to the second reading
  3. prioritises the most important bills, giving them quick passage to the House floor
31
Q

What are the 4 most important determinations of voting

A
  1. political party
  2. constituent
  3. the administration
  4. pressure groups
32
Q

How is Congress unrepresentative in terms of education?

A

every senator has a degree

33
Q

How is Congress unrepresentative in terms of wealth?

A

113th Congress had a net worth of $1 million

34
Q

How is Congress unrepresentative in terms of age?

A

average age = 60

35
Q

How does Congress oversee the executive?

A
  1. Senate = approval process
  2. Senate = impeachment
  3. Committees scrutinising government policy

A2 Politics (8 decks)

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