legislative- congress Flashcards
three ways power of the purse may be significant in us politics
(power of the purse -authority over government - manage spending and taxation)- FF included to prevent tyranny of majority , balancing powers and ensuring representation
1.checks executive power -ensures executive cannot spend money without congress approval - congress allocates federal funds (only congress can raise tax
effective?gov shutdowns happen - disruptive, unpopular can be lengthy
eg-longest in us history -2018-19 trump-35days $2.3billion
2. enforce control over gov priorities- if gov chooses to fund certain programmes this helps shape national policy -congress can allocate spending eg healthcare infrastructure, education - crucial tool for setting policy agendas - leads to pork barrel politics secure funds to benefit own state criticised for wasting taxpayer money on unnecessary projects.
3.enforces accountability and transparency- requires gov to scrutinise how much is being spent - gov accountable to public - budget debates and hearings used to hold accountable of how taxpayer is used - if deemed unpopular congress can restrict
however eg-trumps use of emergency powers to bypass congress powers of purse created precedent and can be used by other presidents (bypass)
overall - significant gov shutdowns are rare -most power full checks on executive
three ways committee system may be significant within congress
cs- system of different types of committees used by congress to divide up its workload
1.standing committee- permanent by law , each focus on specific area of policy - responsible for
2. select committees -deal with specific urgent issues most - temporary
effectiveness? house select committee on Benghazi - gridlock heavily politicised -focussed on embarrassing Clinton rather than solving issue
3. conference committee- temporary - exists to only consider a specific bill -function(considers two different versions of the same bill -one bassed by each chambers – merges them into one combined bill (conference report)final sent back to both for approval
effectiveness? used less frequently “in the 104th congress 1997 67 congress reports compared to now just 7 in the 115th congress 2019’-party leaders prevent bills from going to conference - shape of final bill out of their control so instead ask members of other chamber to help adopt bill
three ways congress can check power on executive branch
- power of the purse - only congress can raise taxes/ budgets
2.impeachment and removal
congress can impeach and try president for ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours’- ultimate sanction - eg forced nixon to resign - negative media coverage - effective - forces all executive to follow the law and not act ultra vires
effectiveness? never led to conviction from office - trump impeached twice his popularity with us public reached 49% - highest point of his presidency
3.investigating executive - standing and select committees investigate executive actions - hold hearings + compel witness to provide info- lying to congress isa crime- prison sentence
effective -this threat should motivate executive to ensure its actions only legal - full glare of media - televised hearings
however congressional research service and congressional budget - cut by 45%from 1975-2015 less effective over time
4. senate ratification of treaties- president negotiates treaties then senate must ratify them - forces president to work closely with senate -prevents tyranny of majority -senate has power to reject
eg-“convention of the rights of persons with disability - rejected controversial
effectiveness?president can use direct authority to bypass senates oversight - raised concerns for presidency being imperial -weakness
three powers of congress
- legislation - ability to initate, debate, amend laws
- oversight
- power of the purse
- declaring war
