Evaluate the extent to which political parties play an important role in Congress. Flashcards
Introduction - Themes
- Legislative
- Representatives
- Elections
Introduction - Arguments
In the era of hyper partisanship, political parties play an incredibly important role within Congress
Unimportant - Legislative - Point
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of bills passed by Congress which have been supported by both the Democrats and the Republicans. This could suggest that political parites have become less important
Unimportant - Legislative - Examples
- Biden was able to pass his Rescue Bill which provided $1.4 trillion to increase spending on healthcare, vaccination rolls outs and help for small businesses
- After the Uvalde School Shooting in May 2022 which killed 19 childre, Biden was able to pass a Bipartisan Gun Reform Bill which stopped the sale of firearms to those deemed ‘dangerous’
Important - Legislative - Point
These examples are the exception to the rules - Congress is effectively in legislative gridlock as hyper partisanship has made passing bills near impossible
Important - Legislative - Examples
- Biden was able to pass his Rescue Bill, but not before Democratic Senator Joe Manchin turned it into a reconcilliation bill meaning it had to be reviewed again after 1 year
- Ketanji Brown-Jackson was a Democrat nominee for Supreme Court justice and she pass 52-47. Amy Coney Barratt was a Republican nomination and she pass 52-48
Unimportant - Representative - Point
It can be argued that political parties do not play an important role as there are a number of Congressmen which are Democrats and Republicans in Name Only and represent their Constituents interests instead
Unimportant - Representative - Examples
- Joe Manchin is the Senator for West Virginia; he has opposed many Democratic bills despite being a Democrat himself. He voted against Build Back Better, the reason he gave was due to miners in his constituency being unsupportive
- Susan Collins is the most liberal Republican in the Senate, she refused to vote to repeal Obamacare, despite Trump trying to pass it through
Important - Representative - Point
Due to the hyper partisanship the parties are still incredibly important for representation, the RINOs and DINOs illustrate how diverse and broad the parties are
Important - Representative - Examples
- There are many faction in the Democrats ranging from the moderate Democrats on the left which support public healthcare and the Paris Agreement to the Conservative Democrats who do not support Obamacare nor the Green New Deal
- The Republicans have factions ranging from the Evangelical Republicans on the right who support the right to bear arms and oppose abortion, the Moderate Republicans who support same sex marriage and Obamacare
Unimportant - Elections - Point
Some argue that poltiical parties are not especially important at election time because candidates largely run on an individual basis with individual funds provided for by interest groups
Unimportant - Election - Examples
- Despite the Democrats being sceptical of the right to bear arms and pro-environment, Joe Manchin had endorsements from the National Rifle Association and funding from coal companies
- The US Chamber of Commerce endorsed several Democrats in the 2022 Midterm even though Republicans tend to be the Party of Business
Important - Elections - Point
The parties do actually play a massively important role at election time. Due to the two-party nature of the US poltiical system, anyone aside from Republicans or Democrats tend to be unsuccessful
Important - Elections - Examples
- In the Senate, only 3 out of 100 Senators do not belong to the two main parties. These include Bernie Sanders, Angus King and Kyrsten Sinema who are all independents
- The last member of the Senate to come from a third party was James Buckley, who was a Conservative, however, he left office in 1977
