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Politics Paper 3 > Legislative Process > Flashcards

Legislative Process Flashcards

1
Q

Where does a bill start?

A

either in the house or senate

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2
Q

When would a bill start in both the House and Senate?

A

only when one party has a majority in both chambers and wants to get a bill passed quickly

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3
Q

What are the four key features of the legislative process?

A
  1. initiation
  2. debate and amend
  3. scheduling for main chamber
  4. decide
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4
Q

What are the six stages of the legislative process in Congress?

A
  1. first reading
  2. committee stage
  3. second reading
  4. filibuster
  5. conference committee
  6. presidential action
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5
Q

What occurs at the first reading?

A
  • the bill is placed in a tray
  • merely a formality
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6
Q

What is the most important stage of the legislative process?

A

committee stage

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7
Q

What occurs at the committee stage?

A
  • the bill comes before the full chamber to debate the bill
  • extensively reviews the bill in detail
  • witnesses can be called if experts are needed
  • committees hold hearings on bills
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8
Q

What is the nature of the committee stage?

A
  • held behind closed doors, not televised
  • dominated by whichever party has a majority
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9
Q

What occurs at the committee stage if the bill is particularly complex?

A

standing committees will split into sub committees to analyse it in parts

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10
Q

Give an example of a ‘complex’ bill that required sub committees to look into it

A

Obamacare - subcommittees would need to look at affordability factors, social factors etc

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11
Q

What happens at the end of the committee stage?

A

the bill is ‘marked up’

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12
Q

What does being ‘marked up’ mean for the bill?

A
  • this is when the bill has been viewed
  • the bill is sent with any possible changes or amendments added
  • it is then signed off and sent to the floor of the house
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13
Q

What is the likely outcome of the committee stage?

A
  • most bills do not get further
  • the bill will ‘die’ in committee (they will scrunch it up and throw it away)
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14
Q

What is the second reading called?

A

‘timetabling’

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15
Q

What occurs during the second reading?

A
  • House rules committee will decide on the timetabling of the bill
  • first chance to be debated
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16
Q

What occurs at the fourth stage?

A

filibuster

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17
Q

What is a filibuster?

A

when members speak for hours and hours about unrelated topics as a means of delaying the bills progress

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18
Q

In what chamber is the filibuster used?

A

only the Senate
cannot be used in the House

19
Q

What is the purpose of a filibuster?

A

members who oppose the bill try to talk it out and delay it

20
Q

What can be the outcome of a filibuster?

A

can be forced to an end through a ‘cloture’ which is a 2/3 majority to end a filibuster

21
Q

What was the longest filibuster?

A

Thurmond filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 - 24 hours and 18 minutes

22
Q

What changes have been made to the use of filibusters?

A

senate has voted to stop a filibuster on judicial appointments

23
Q

What occurs at the third reading?

A
  • final opportunity to debate the bill with any amendments
  • the bill is then voted on and passed to the other chamber
24
Q

Who are usually called upon during the third reading?

A

conference committees

25
Q

What is the purpose of conference committees at the third reading?

A
  • used to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill
  • a conference committee made up of key senators and congressmen can be called to get rid of any differences and agree on a final version
26
Q

Are conference committees still part of the legislative process today?

A

they are usually avoided nowadays
instead, differences are ironed out by the party leadership or by an ad hoc, leadership-driven group

27
Q

What three actions can the president take after the bill arrives on his desk?

A
  1. sign it to law
  2. veto (‘line item’ or ‘pocket’ or refuse to sign and block it)
  3. leave it on his desk
28
Q

What is a ‘line item’ veto?

A

when the president vetoes parts of the bill and approves the rest
he sends it back with these recommendations

29
Q

What is a ‘pocket’ veto?

A

when a bill is submitted towards the end of a congressional session - if the president vetoes these it cannot be revived until the new congress sits and everything must go back to square one

30
Q

How can a presidential veto be overridden?

A

2/3 majority in both chambers

31
Q

What happens if the president leaves the bill on his desk?

A

it becomes law within 10 working days

32
Q

On average what percentage of bills that are introduced to Congress actually get passed into law?

A

between 3 and 4 %

33
Q

What are the advantages of the legislative process?

A
  • deliberately complicated to weed out unpopular legislation
  • checks and balances create a pluralist democracy in which power is shared
  • ‘limited government’ is a belief that the government should only act when it is essential
  • individuals and states rights are protected due to detailed consideration of bills
34
Q

What are the weaknesses of the legislative process?

A
  • high levels of partisanship
  • inefficiency/low outputs
  • small population states overrepresented in Senate
  • congress spends a lot of time debating and voting on bills of minor importance
35
Q

Give an example of the inefficiency of the legislative process

A

can lead to government shutdowns such as December 2018 to January 2019

36
Q

Why do conservatives support the current complex legislative process?

A
  • it makes it difficult to bring about change
  • it can be used to stop federal government from imposing new requirements on US citizens and states
37
Q

Give an example of an act that Congress was almost entirely split on party lines

A

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009

38
Q

Give an example of a failed act

A

DREAM act - filibustered in senate

39
Q

What are the factors limiting the impact of Congress of legislation?

A
  1. president can veto
  2. congress is internally divided
  3. SC can overturn acts of congress using judicial review
  4. partisanship has decreased the will of parties to compromise making it harder to create laws
40
Q

Give an example of a president veto on legislation passed by Congress

A

Obama veto of Affordable Care Act Repeal 2016

41
Q

Give an example of when the internal divisions between the House and Senate impacted legislation

A

2013 Senate passed immigration reform which was not taken up by the House

42
Q

Give an example of the SC overturning act of Congress

A

Shelby v Holder 2013 overturned key sections of the Voting Rights Act

43
Q

Give an example of the decreasing partisanship affecting legislation

A

Democrats and Republicans in 2013 could not agree on a budget despite terrible consequences of budget shutdown

Politics Paper 3 (13 decks)

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