topic 2.1- structure and powers of congress

Question 1

what does artice 1 outline about legislative powers of congress

Answer 1

all legislative powers are vested in congress (bicameral between house of representatives and the senate)

Question 2

how long does a house of representative stay for before another election

Answer 2

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

Question 3

how often is the senate re-elected

Answer 3

every 6 years.
a longer-term means that they provide more expertise on legislation and don thave to be as responsive to their constituents

Question 4

what did amendment 17 change about the senate

Answer 4

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

Question 5

how many senators are there

Answer 5

100

2 from each state

Question 6

how many congressmen and women are there

Answer 6

435

Question 7

why was the apportionment act of 1911 contoversial

Answer 7

the number of congressmen were set to 435 which was out of date and disproportional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

Question 8

what is the importance of mid-term elections?

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

in 2020 what % of the house of reps were incumbents?

Answer 9

95%

Question 10

what advantages do incumbents have to be re-elected?

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

what are franking privileges and how does this benefit incumbents in elections

Answer 11

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

Question 12

what issues are there with electing incumbents?

Answer 12

• could create outdated policy due to lack of new ideas

- more focused on preserving positon than representing the public

Question 13

what issue does gerrymandering cause

Answer 13

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)

Question 14

why does gerrymandering benefit incumbents?

Answer 14

lines can be re- drawn keep an incumbent in office

Question 15

example fo north caroline being the most gerrymandered state

Answer 15

56% of the population vote republican and gain 10 members of congress
44% vote democrat but only get 3 members of congress

Question 16

why is gerrymandering not going to be changed?

Answer 16

• 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”

Question 17

evidence that increased partisanship has made the US government more divided than ever before

Answer 17

• between 1901 and 1969 divded 21% of time

since 1969 government has been divided 72% on the time

Question 18

what issues are there with fillibustering

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

why was filibustering created?

Answer 19

to create unlimited debate

Question 20

in 1919-2020 how many cloture motions were successful

Answer 20

270, only 28 filibusters weren’t stopped

The most prominent example was a filibuster that lasted for 24 hours

Question 21

exclusive powers of the house of reps

Answer 21

• 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)

Question 22

example of impeachment

Answer 22

Clinton and Trump were both charged with impeachment however the senate blocked the vote in both cases

Question 23

example of reps using their power of the purse

Answer 23

2017 congressional budget agreement rejected devastating cuts to financial aid to support students proposed by trump

Question 24

example of reps choosing presidnet if electoral college is locked

Answer 24

used in 1800 but not since

Question 25

exclusive powers of the senate

Answer 25

• confirm or reject appointments (myers was rejected due to being un qualified for the role on supreme court)
• ratify treaties (didn’t ratify TOV 1919)
• try cases on impeachment (none have ever been successful)
• choose the VP if electoral college is deadlocked (only happened in 1800 and 1824

Question 26

concurrent powers of congress

Answer 26

• override the presidents veto
• declare war
• propose constitutional amendments
• investigation intro areas on which is was created legislation or where it may need to create it
• confirm a new vice president
• creating legislation (MOST IMPORTANT

Question 27

example of a veto override

Answer 27

• Obama tried to veto law that would stop families of the victims of 9/11 from suing the saudi government)
  however veto override usually only come with a divided government

Question 28

example of the senate declaring war

Answer 28

last used to declare war in Romania 1942 in WW11

war powers act allows president to deploy military for 90 days before the senate can vote.

Obama bombed Syria without vote through an executive order

Question 29

examples of investigation

Answer 29

2012 4 congressional committees set up to investigate alleged Russian interferance in the 2010 election

Question 30

example of congress confirming a new VP

Answer 30

used after Nixon resigned. the ford made president and rockerfella made VP