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US congress Flashcards

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1
Q

how many members of the House Representatives are there? how often are they elected?

A

435 each represent congressional district, whole house elected every 2 years

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2
Q

how many members of the senate are there? how often are they elected?

A

100, 2 per state. senators serve 6 year terms with 1/3 re-elected every 2 years

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3
Q

what are the concurrent (shared) powers of congress?

A
  • creating legislation
  • oversight of executive branch
  • overriding presidential veto
  • constitutional amendments
  • declaring war
  • confirming VP
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4
Q

what powers are held by only the Representatives?

A
  • beginning consideration for money bills
  • bringing charges of impeachment
  • choosing president if electoral college is deadlocked
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5
Q

what are powers held only by the senate?

A
  • ratifying treaties
  • confirming appointments
  • trying cases of impeachment
  • choosing VP if electoral college is deadlocked
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6
Q

what percentage of women make up congress compared to population?

A

24% in congress to represent 50.8% of population

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7
Q

what percentage of African Americans make up congress?

A

10.4% to represent 12.1% of population

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8
Q

what percentage of hispanic/latino make up congress?

A

8.5% to represent 16.7%

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9
Q

what is the average age of a congressperson?

A

59 years old, whilst average age of American is 38

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10
Q

what is the trustee model of representation?

A

the representative is given formal responsibility to make decisions on behalf of others

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11
Q

what is the delegate model of representation?

A

someone who is chosen to act on behalf of others, they are therefore not a free agent. the representative will make decisions solely on wishes of constituents

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12
Q

what does the term ‘pork barrel politics’ mean?

A

refers to funds provided for projects in a member of congress district or state. these project are designed fot the constituents to like so they re-elect them

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13
Q

how much money in 2019 was spent on pork barrel politics?

A

over $15.3 billion

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14
Q

what is gerrymandering?

A

the deliberate shaping of congressional districts to give one party a political advantage. each state draws them up every 10 years

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15
Q

what is an example of gerrymandering helping a party?

A

in 2020 congressional elections the democrats saw majority of voters support their candidates, however majority of seats won by republicans, as districts were bizarrely shaped

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16
Q

which factors affect voting behaviour within congress?

A
  • political parties
  • congressional caucuses
  • the administration
  • the constituency
  • pressure groups
  • lobbyists
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17
Q

what is the legislative process in congress?

A
  1. introduction
  2. committee stage
  3. timetabling
  4. floor debate and vote on passage
  5. conference committee (optional)
  6. presidential action
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18
Q

what is the committee stage?

A

most important stage as most bills fail here. standing committees have the power to amend the bill,

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19
Q

what is the timetabling stage?

A

there are many bills waiting to come to the floor so the Senate deals with it through a unanimous consent agreement and the representatives by House Rules Committee

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20
Q

what is the floor debate stage?

A

further amendments can be made and then votes are taken on the amendments and whole bill. they are voted by voice or by record

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21
Q

what is a filibuster?

A

it is a method by which senators can delay action on bill by talking for a length of time.

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22
Q

what are some examples of filibusters?

A

the longest recored is in 1957 , Strom Thurmond debated for 24 hours
in 2016 Chris Murphy debated for 15 hours over gun control

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23
Q

how can a filibuster be ended?

A

by a procedure called closure or cloture, a petition signed by 16 senators and then voted by 3/5

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24
Q

what options does the president have when it comes to a bill?

A
  • sign into law
  • leave the bill on their desk
  • regular veto
  • pocket veto
25
Q

what does it mean if the president leaves the bill on their desk?

A

they do this for bills they take no position on, or bills they would like to veto but know would be overridden.
the bill becomes law after 10 working days

26
Q

what is a regular veto?

A

they do this do bills they strongly oppose and threaten t to hope that congress change the bill. if vetoed the bill is sent back to the house of origin with a explanation of why.

27
Q

what can congress do against a presidential veto?

A

congress can override the veto which requires 2/3 majority in both houses. however this is rare

28
Q

what is the success rate of presidential veto?

A

93%

29
Q

what is a pocket veto? when was the last one used?

A

if the bill is waiting action when the legislative session ends the bill is lost, and this cannot be overridden, the last one used was by Bill Clinton in 2000

30
Q

what factors effect oversight?

A
  • party control
  • party polarisation
  • policy area
  • election cycle
  • national events
  • presidential/congressional approval rating
31
Q

how does party control effect oversight?

A

congressional oversight on the executive is much stronger during times of divided government as the presidents party is not in control.
however under united government oversight can drop considerably. e.g Bush for 6 of 8 years in office had united govt, only in 2007 when democrats took control that he faced serious scrutiny

32
Q

how does party polarisation effect oversight?

A

polarisation has seen parties grow further apart but doesn’t mean they can’t work together e.g Jobs Act 2012, Every Student Success Act 2015, CARES Act 2020

however such act are infrequent., as opposition party will often oppose presidents policy just because of the president

33
Q

how does policy area effect oversight?

A

congress have greater ability to influence president over domestic policy rather than foreign policy as president uses executive agreements to get around senate. e.g Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal 2015.
however Obama had trouble passing legislation concerning gun control and immigration reform. Trump also struggled with immigration reform and failed to repeal Obamacare

34
Q

how does presidential approval rating effect oversight?

A

congress can exert less influence on the president when approval ratings are high, but considerably more when they are high.
in 2001 Bush enjoyed 90% approval rating, allowed bush to pass patriots act
trumps approval rating averaging 41%

35
Q

how do national events effect oversight?

A

after national crisis congress rally round the president. e.g after 9/11 bush could pass Patriots Act 2001 and congress assisted trump in passing CARES Act 2020

36
Q

what powers do congress have to check the president’s power?

A
  • the Senate has the power of confirmation of presidential nominations. e.g senate rejected to even consider Obama’s appointment Merrick Garland in 2016.
  • the senate also ratify treaties
  • standing committees
  • override presidential veto
37
Q

what are standing committees?

A

they exist in both houses and are policy specialist committees. the party balance of these committees is in proportion to the balance in congress

38
Q

what do standing committees do?

A
  • conduct committee stage of bills, which involves hearings on the bill followed by a vote on to pass the bill onto the next stage or not
  • conduct investigations into policy area
  • confirming presidential appointments
  • impeachment hearings in senate
39
Q

how effective is congressional oversight on president?

A

during times of united government oversight is often weak or minimal such as under 6\8 years of bush. however under divided government oversight is strict but can often be political point scoring rather than scrutiny.
impeachment powers are limited if both houses divided e.g trump accused by democrat senate but acquitted by republican senate

40
Q

how does congress check the power of the judiciary?

A
  • constitutional amendments: can overturn ruling by passing amendment, however is difficult only 26 times
  • impeachment: can impeach a judge e.f porteous in 2010 for corruption
  • have the power to alter size of the court as constitution gives them the power
41
Q

how effective is congressional oversight on judiciary?

A

while constitution grants power for congress to overturn decisions made by court via amendment it is practically difficult and attempts made often fail. whilst impeachment is rare it is usually successful

42
Q

which Act lead to expansion of federal government power?

A

under FDR the passing of the New Deal and under LBJ the great society

43
Q

what is the rate of success in passing bills in congress?

A

2-3%

44
Q

how many congressional committees were set up to investigate Benghazi in 2012?

A

estimated 8 committees with main reason for this action from republicans was that Hilary Clinton was to become democratic candidate for president in 2016

45
Q

what are examples of bipartisanship?

A
  • bipartisan campaign reform Act 2002
  • CARES Act 2020
  • American Recovery and Reinvestment act 2009
46
Q

what is partisanship?

A

where members of one party regularly group together to oppose members of another party, with little cooperation between two parties

47
Q

who is the most conservative democrat?

A

Joe Manchin

48
Q

what evidence is there for ideological overlap between parties?

A

there is small ideological overlap between most conservative democrat (manchin) and most liberal republican (collins), which increased slightly since 2016 where there was none

49
Q

what evidence is there for party polarisation?

A

both parties have become more ideologically cohesive and distinct, the democrats more liberal and republicans more conservative. members of parties more likely to vote along party lines

50
Q

how can lack of incentive affect party control?

A

hard for party to control members of congress who vote according to their district, views of constituents outweigh party considerations. parties do not control campaign funds, parties also have no control over candidate selection.

51
Q

how can communication with voters affect party control?

A

parties have lost traditional function of communicating with voters. used to communicate via rally’s or Q and As. today politicians communicate through TV and social media, cutting the party out.

52
Q

how can the emergence of movements affect party control?

A

emergence of Tea Party and Occupy movements have shown many Americans more likely to join movements than parties. each movement seeks to influence and undermines party leadership

53
Q

How has increased party polarisation and partisanship changed the powers of Congress?

A

Increased party polarisation and partisanship has made increasingly difficult to legislate in times of divided government, meaning that it can often be an obstructive body. Furthermore, it can also mean that scrutiny of the President is either excessive or extremely lacking depending on whether government is united or divided.

54
Q

How have the domestic policy roles of Congress changed?

A

Congress is able to levy a federal income tax as a result of the 16th Amendment, government has grown at a federal level since the 1930s New Deal (leading to a growth in national legislation).

55
Q

How has the role of Congress in Foreign Policy changed?

A

Congress retains the power to declare war (although this is hardly used), while it now sanctions military action desired by the President. Presidents have a substantial role in foreign policy, with only the Senate able to restrict the signing of treaties. Power of the Purse may control action but realistically FP is the President’s domain.

56
Q

How does increased partisanship indicate that party renewal has taken place?

A

Party renewal is indicated by increased partisanship as this suggests that parties are now increasingly provocative and willing to oppose each other, suggesting that individual parties are more important and have distinctive ideological views.

57
Q

What arguments exist that Congress is effective?

A

Congress can legislate on extremely important matters, Founding Fathers want limited government through legislative difficulty, checks and balances/supermajorities aim to create consensus and bipartisanship, provides representation of communities and political views.

58
Q

What arguments exist that Congress is ineffective?

A

Congress has a hugely low success rate in terms of passing legislation, party polarisation and partisanship prevents government from being effective, presidential vetoes can override the will of a representative body, filibusters can obstruct debate, scrutiny is non-existent under united government.

59
Q

What factors can impact the amount of scrutiny a President faces from Congress?

A

Under divided government scrutiny may be excessive and lead to political point scoring, united government can give a government a free pass from any opposition, approval ratings being high can lead to Congress being hesitant to scrutinise the government, a large mandate can result in a president receiving minimal scrutiny, national crises can encourage bipartisan cooperation and allow a President to avoid oversight.

US government (5 decks)

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