Paper 2: Congress Flashcards
Structure of Congress: The importance of Congress
Was created to ensure that no monarch-like figure could emerge, i.e no single branch has more power than the other
Structure of Congress: Seats in the senate
There are 2 senators per state so 100 in total
Have to be at least 30 to be senator
Structure of Congress: Seats in the house
Each state has no. of members in proportion to state population. Currently 435 members
No. of representatives reappointed every 10 years
Except states that have just on rep, each member represents a congressional district
Structure of Congress: Senate
Members face re-election every 6 years
Main responsibility is over long-term issues e.g treaties or appointments
Structure of Congress: Elections to the legislature
FF decided house of reps would be directly elected but the senate would be indirectly elected
This arrangement continued until 1914 but as a result of the 17th amendment, the first direct elections for the senate were held
Structure of Congress: House of representatives
Members re-elected every 2 years
Main responsibility of managing the economy
People can hold politicians to account on a frequent basis for the use of their money
Structure of Congress: Legislation
General legislation was the responsibility of both houses with both putting forward proposals
Executive branch expected to take the lead in foreign affairs
Structure of Congress: Issues of composition
Compromise was a two-chamber structure
House of reps, the states would be represented proportionally to their population but in the Senate, the states are equally represented
Structure of Congress: Bicameral legislature
The expectation that Congress would be the most powerful branch of govt. led to separation of powers within congress
The powers of the legislature were divided between 2 chambers with each monitoring how the other uses its powers.
Exclusive powers of the House of Representatives
Power to initiate money bills: came from when the senate wasn’t directly elected so FF thought only elected house should have this power
Power to impeach: Has used power 19 times since 1789 inc. Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, both successfully impeached by the house but acquitted by Senate
Power to elect the president in the event that the Electoral College is deadlocked, has only happened twice
Exclusive powers of the Senate
Confirms any appointments made by the president: senate does a simple majority vote to confirm it
Power to ratify treaties that have been negotiated by the president: requires 2/3 majority in the senate ensuring the senate is involved in any decisions made by president
Power to try the House’s Impeachment cases: need 2/3 majority
Power to elect the vice-president if Electoral College is deadlocked
Concurrent powers of the House and the Senate
Pass legislation
Override presidents veto of a bill
Power to initiate constitutional amendments: needs to be approved by 2/3 majority in both houses and 3/4 of the 50 states approval
Power to declare war
Confirm the newly appointed vice-president
Is the Senate more prestigious than the House? Yes
Senators represent the entire state + serve longer
Are only 1/100 and are more likely to chair a committee or have position of leadership
Senate is recruiting pool for presidents and vice-presidents e.g Obama
House members frequently seek election to the senate
Is the Senate more prestigious than the House? No
Both houses have equal power in the passage of legislation- the key function of Congress
Both houses must approve the initiation of constitutional amendments
Senators and Representatives receive an equal salary.
What must you be to become a Senator?
At least 30, have been a US citizen for 9 years and must live in the state (at the time of election) that they wish to represent
What must you be to become a Representative?
At least 25, lived in the US for 7 years a be a resident of the state (but not necessarily the district)
What are the ‘de facto’ requirements to become an US politician
White Anglo Saxon Protestant male
How representative is the current Congress? Age:
Average age of US adults: 38.1
Average age of HofR: 57.6
Average age of Senate: 62.9
How representative is the current Congress? Gender:
51% of US citizens are female
23% of HofR are female
25% of Senate are female
How representative is the current Congress? Ethnicity:
22% of Congress are non-white
39% of US population are non-white
12% of Congress are black and 15% of the population are black
How representative is the current Congress? Religion:
88% of Congress are Christian but only 71% are
0.2% of Congress are atheist but 23% of population are
How representative is the current Congress? Sexuality:
10 members of Congress are openly LQBTQ+ yet 4.5% of the population identify as LGBTQ+
Kyrsten Sinema was the first openly bisexual Senator
To what extent does partisanship exist in Congress?
Since the 70s the two parties have internally become more unified
Republicans have been criticised for being excessively partisan in opposition to the Obama presidency as they seemed to oppose every policy that Obama supported
How to measure partisanship
Party unity scores are calculated by looking at the no. of times a member of Congress votes with majority in their own party.
The avg. unity in the 113th Congress was 92% for Democrats and 90% for Republicans which is a record high
Evidence of bipartisan agreement
Shown by the working together of D and R Senators after the 2012 election through the ‘Gang of 8’ who worked to pass immigration but this was blocked by the house
Also, despite initial disagreements, Ds and Rs are forced to arrive at compromise measures to allow passing of budgets
Examples of the importance of bipartisan agreement
2016, significant vote to overturn Obama’s Saudi Arabia legislation veto which would allow 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabian govt.
Also, the existence of caucuses (voting blocks) within or between parties shows that the party isn’t fully unified and partisanship only goes so far
How does partisanship affect legislation?
The tendency for parties to act in partisan has reduced Congress’s ability to pass legislation, the 112th and 113th Congresses have been two of the least productive in history, shows a limited govt. what the FF wanted
Could be seen as a good or bad thing depending on how much power you want the govt. to have
How does partisanship affect Congress’s ability to act as a check on the President?
Under a divided govt. the president may be unable to provide significant leadership as Congress could obstruct the president’s policy initiatives
Under a unified govt., partisanship can lead to increase in presidential power because when motivated by party loyalty, Congress members may overlook their oversight function and fail to provide checks on president.
Changing powers of Congress: rise in importance of military and foreign policy
This has arguably undermined congressional power as international affairs are increasingly controlled by the president and the executive
As communication has improved, need for fast military action has increase leading to a faster, more deadly military action meaning the role is down to the president as he is capable of making immediate decisions with his executive resources
What did Congress do to try and re-assert its military authority?
Introduced the War Powers Act of 1973 which stipulated that a declaration of war had to be passed through Congress
Changing powers of Congress: nationalisation of mid-term elections
This has centralised greater power in the hands of the House speaker
Under divided govt. this has allowed the speaker to act as a significant rival to the president, suggesting an increase to the collective power of Congress
Changing powers of Congress: partisanship
Under divided govt., partisanship has arguably strengthened the power of Congress as it becomes more determined to challenge presidential power
Short term changes to Congress
Power of Congress is in constant flux with frequent elections changing the balance of power and the majority of the houses
When Congressional majority is of a different party to the president, Congress tends to apply intense scrutiny but when they are of the same party, Congress is generally better able to achieve its own policy goals
Arguments that Congress is representative: separate elections for the president and Congress
It allows voters to have separate votes for the executive and the legislature (unlike in the UK), maximising voter choice
Lack of executive influence over members of Congress ensures accountability to the public rather than the president.
Arguments that Congress is representative: two elected chambers
Both chambers are directly elected to voters have two choices, known as complementary representation
By staying in power 3 times longer, senators make decisions based on more rationality and consideration. The 2 year term for reps means they may issue policies rapidly and emotionally
Arguments that Congress is representative: frequent elections and short House terms
Congressional elections every 2 years so representative as changes in public attitudes are quickly reflected in Congress.
High level of sensitivity to public opinion directly pushes congressmen to be representative
Arguments that Congress isn’t representative: FPTP and gerrymandering
Heavily undermines Congress representation
The determination of the two parties and politicians to maximise their power has led to major distortion of public opinion
Arguments that Congress isn’t representative: social representation
Covered in other cards
Arguments that Congress isn’t representative: Influence of pressure groups
Congress heavily influenced by PGs. Some politicians respond to the interest of the unelected, undemocratic PGs which then gain disproportionate representation in Congress
Richer PGs dominate at the expense of the poorer ones
Elite theory suggests that Congress isn’t democratic because it responds only to the wishes of a small group in society
Who can initiate bills?
President, party leaders in Congress, committees (especially committee chairs) or even individual member of Congress
Who debates and amends bills?
House or Senate Committees, the bill usually passes through both chambers at the same time
What happens at the debating and amending stage?
Bills cover a wide range of policy areas so are of interest to many committees and subcommittees with their main role being examining and amending it
An unfavourable review by a committee can lead to the bill failing
Who schedules the bill for the main chamber?
House Rules Committee and the Senate Floor
What happens at the scheduling stage?
After the committee stage, a decision is made on whether it should proceed to the full chamber. The rules of debate such as timing and the possibility of further amendments are decided.
The Senate might make use of unanimous consent
Who makes the final decision on the bill?
Full House and Senate votes then it goes to the president
How do the Houses decide on the bill?
Bill must receive 50%+ votes in each chamber, agreeing on the exact same bill because as this stage, the houses may have formed different bills due to the separate amendment process
A disputed bill may go to the conference committee then both chamber have to agree on the compromise made by the conference committee
How does the president decide on the bill?
President has to sign the bill for it to become law or he can veto it
Congress can overturn this veto but it then requires a 2/3 vote in each chamber
Compromise when making legislation
Important due to the structure of the US political system (3 branches of govt., bicameral system)
Successful legislation is usually as a result of huge add-ons to the bill during the various stages
Weak parties and party leaders when making legislation
Nature of federalism means the US has a weak party system with many factions and party leaders have little power over their own party and generally, Congressmen are more concerned with prioritising the needs of their own state than the country as a whole
This means parties don’t act as a single unit in this process, making it difficult to pass laws
Obstacles in the legislation process
Far easier to prevent change in Congress than to bring it about
Both houses have an equal power in law-making
Several congressional committees have to approve the bill so long process
Power of veto is another obstacle
Standing Committees: roles
Permanent policy specialist committees
Membership proportionate to majority/minority parties
Conduct committee stage of legislation
Investigations into policy area
Confirmation of presidential appointments (senate)
Standing Committees: powers
Hold 'hearings' and call 'witnesses' Question witnesses Power to help chambers manage their workload Cannot legislate (it has to be voted on) Cannot require the executive to comply Cannot implement policies
House Rules Committee: roles
A standing committee
Responsible for prioritising bills coming from the committee stage on to the House Floor for 2nd readings
House Rules Committee: powers
‘Vital’ legislative role
Sets out rules for debate
Membership smaller and more skewed to majority party
Chair (always belongs to majority party) is considered one fo the most influential posts in Congress
Conference Committees: roles
Reconcile differences between House + Senate versions of a bill
Set up to consider one particular bill
May be reconvened if version not agreed by a vote
Used less frequently
Not a Standing Committee
Conference Committee: powers
Version must be agreed by vote on floor of each house
Usually draw up the final version of a bill
Power checked- House or Senate can refuse to sign up to compromise version
Select Committees: roles
Known as special or investigative committees
Set up to investigate a particular issue
Standing Committees have an investigative function-not within policy area
Select Committees: powers
Hold ‘hearings’ and call ‘witnesses’
Question witnesses
e.g scandals, natural disasters, terrorism issues
Committee Chairs: roles
Background: Drawn from majority party Seniority rule Ranking minority members Term limits Otherwise known as legislative Czars
Committee Chairs: powers
Control committees agenda
Decide when committee meets
Control committee’s budget + influence the membership meetings + hearings of sub committee staff
Report legislation to the floor
Congressional oversight checks and balances
Amend/delay/reject legislation Override presidents veto Power of the purse Declare War Ratify treaties (Senate) Investigation Impeachment, trial, conviction and removal from office
Checks and balances: Amend/delay/reject legislation
Inc. veto gates which are very common which plays to Congress’s advantage as they can put forward a bill which they don’t agree with but know that it will probably die, instead of ignoring the president
Checks and balances: Override president’s veto
Very rare, if it happens it’s very powerful as it’s going against the president going against a bill
Checks and balances: Power of the purse
Only in the House of Reps, means they have power over financial bills
The resolutions can be passed to cancel spending in the executive
Checks and balances: Declare War
Exclusive power of the Senate but president is Commander in Chief of US army so can also declare war
If the Senate votes against going to war they’re undermining the president
Checks and balances: Ratify treaties
President does all negotiations regarding treaties
De jure the Senate gets to vote on this
De facto would be stupid for president to wait until end to see if it passes so the president and Senate discuss these treaties along the way otherwise it’d be embarrassing
Checks and balances: Investigation
Uses Select Committees
Checks and balances: Impeachment, trial, conviction and removal from office
Very rare, is the process at the beginning where the House of Reps can start this
Only the Senate can carry out the impeachment trial
