topic 2.1- structure and powers of congress Flashcards
what does artice 1 outline about legislative powers of congress
all legislative powers are vested in congress (bicameral between house of representatives and the senate)
how long does a house of representative stay for before another election
article 1 outlines that reps are selected every 2 years to make then accountable and responsive to their consitutents
have to be 25 and a us citizen for 7 years
how often is the senate re-elected
every 6 years.
a longer-term means that they provide more expertise on legislation and don thave to be as responsive to their constituents
what did amendment 17 change about the senate
senators used to be appointed not elected, however this amendment made it so they were elected to make it less of a chamber full of the presidents allies and increase scrutiny
how many senators are there
100
2 from each state
how many congressmen and women are there
435
why was the apportionment act of 1911 contoversial
the number of congressmen were set to 435 which was out of date and disproportional
at one point this meant that there was 1 congressmen for every 750,000 people
what is the importance of mid-term elections?
- basically a referendum on the president if popular there will be more of their party in congress, if not the arty may lose the support of a house creating a unified government
in 2020 what % of the house of reps were incumbents?
95%
what advantages do incumbents have to be re-elected?
- already have ties to interest groups who will fund their election campaign
- have gained loyal constituents who will support them financially
- track record makes them a more qualified candidate
- name recognition
what are franking privileges and how does this benefit incumbents in elections
senators and congressmen have the cost of mailing their constituents cost covered by congress, however, this cannot be used during elections
however, they can mail constituents around the election about the things they have already done for their distinct without mentioning the election but still gaining support
what issues are there with electing incumbents?
- could create outdated policy due to lack of new ideas
- more focused on preserving positon than representing the public
what issue does gerrymandering cause
can cause majority-minority districts where a majority of a minority group in society end up living in the same distict in order to prevent them affecting votes in other districts
(for example the Republicans may try to gerrymander African Americans into a distinct to reduce the amount of democratic representatives in the house)
why does gerrymandering benefit incumbents?
lines can be re- drawn keep an incumbent in office
example fo north caroline being the most gerrymandered state
56% of the population vote republican and gain 10 members of congress
44% vote democrat but only get 3 members of congress
why is gerrymandering not going to be changed?
- because both parties benefit from it, they are usually outraged when another party does it for their own benefit but when they do it its ‘okay”
evidence that increased partisanship has made the US government more divided than ever before
- between 1901 and 1969 divded 21% of time
since 1969 government has been divided 72% on the time
what issues are there with fillibustering
- need 60 senators to agree to a cloture motion to stop a filibuster which is difficult due to bipartisanship
- after a cloture motion you need a supermajority to pass legislation rather than simple one
- its easy to kill a bill if you aren’t in power
- creates a tyranny of the minoirty
why was filibustering created?
to create unlimited debate
in 1919-2020 how many cloture motions were successful
270, only 28 filibusters weren’t stopped
The most prominent example was a filibuster that lasted for 24 hours
exclusive powers of the house of reps
- brings charges of impeachment ( more of a threat than power as no president has been successfully impeached)
- the power of the purse (appropriation bills must start in reps as they are the most representative house)
- choose the president if the electoral college is deadlocked ( in this eventually each state given one vote rather than being based on proportionally)
example of impeachment
Clinton and Trump were both charged with impeachment however the senate blocked the vote in both cases
example of reps using their power of the purse
2017 congressional budget agreement rejected devastating cuts to financial aid to support students proposed by trump
example of reps choosing presidnet if electoral college is locked
used in 1800 but not since
