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Politics > USA - Congress > Flashcards

USA - Congress Flashcards

1
Q

How did Congress first emerge?

A

When the USA broke away from the UK in 1776, the first system of gov consisted only of the legislature (congress).

Constitutional role - Congress (Article 1) - makes it the most powerful?

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2
Q

Describe features of Congress

A

• Bicameral - House of Representatives and Senate
• 535 members (100 Senates and 435 HOR)
* Connecticut Compromise

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3
Q

Describe the House of Representatives

A

• Re-elected every 2 years (more accountable)
• Elected directly
• Responsible for managing economy (eg. all proposals involving tax)
• Presiding officer: Speaker
—
• Frequently seek election to the Senate

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4
Q

What constitutional criteria is necessary to be a member of HOR?

A
  • Be at least 25 years of age
  • Have been a U.S. Citizen for at least 7 years
  • Be a resident of the state in which your district is situated
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5
Q

Describe the Senate

A

• Re-elected every 6 years (less accountable)
• Elected directly (since the 17th amendment)
• Responsible for long-term issues (eg. monitoring executive decisions)
• Presiding officer: Vice President
—
• More likely to chair a committee
• More frequently nominated as VP running mates, eg. Joe Biden (2008).

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6
Q

What constitutional criteria is necessary to be a member of the Senate?

A
  • Be at least 30 years of age
  • Have been a U.S. Citizen for at least 9 years
  • Be a resident of the state you represent
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7
Q

Name the 6 non-voting members of Congress which are representatives from US territory

A
  1. Washington DC
  2. Puerto Rico
  3. American Samoa
  4. Guam
  5. The Northern Mariana Islands
  6. The U.S. Virgin Islands
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8
Q

Describe the demographics of the 113th Congress (2013)

A

In HOR: (out of 435)
• 78 women
• 41 African-Americans
• 31 Hispanics

In Senate: (out of 100)
• 20 women
• 1 African-American
• 3 Hispanics

***Wealthiest Congress in history

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9
Q

What are the concurrent powers of Congress?

A 
• Equal legislative power
• Initiate constitutional amendments 
• Override presidential veto 
• Declarations of war 
• Confirm newly appointed Vice President
----
• Conference committee includes both houses which must agree to compromise, making them equal.
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10
Q

What are the exclusive powers of the HOR?

A
  1. Initiate money bills - ‘power of the purse’
  2. Impeach any member of the executive/judicial branches of federal gov (Clinton, 1998)
  3. Elect a president, should the electoral college deadlock (John Quincy Adams)
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11
Q

What are the exclusive powers of the Senate?

A
  1. Ratify all treaties negotiated by President (two-thirds majority vote)
  2. Confirm appointments to the executive/judicial branch, made by President (simple majority vote)
  3. Try cases of impeachment (two-thirds majority vote)
  4. Elect the Vice President, should the electoral college deadlock
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12
Q

What are the 3 main party leadership posts in Congress?

A
  • Speaker of the HOR
  • The majority and minority leaders of both houses
  • Standing committee chairmen
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13
Q

Describe the speaker of the house

A

ROLE: presiding officer of HOR (second in presidential succession). Also the leader of majority party in the House - normally becomes speaker though ballot

• Unlike the UK, notably partisan
• Refers bills to committees
• Appoints select and conference committee chairs and assigns legislation to them
• Responsible for passage of legislation, which will make it to the floor
• Involved in fundraising for congress
• Send invitations to outside parties which will catalyse negotiations/future policies
**CURRENT SPEAKER = Paul Ryan

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14
Q

Describe the majority and minority leaders

A

Present in both the House and the Senate, elected by their respective party groups at the start of every congress.

  • Act as daily ‘directors of operations’ on the floor of their respective houses
  • Hold press briefing to talk about their party’s policy agenda
  • Act as liaison between the House/Senate and the White House

Majority - minority
Senate: Mitch McConnell (R) - Chuck Schumer (D)
House: Kevin McCarthy (R) - Nancy Pelosi (D)

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15
Q

Define: Filibuster

A

A device by which a senator or group of senators can attempt to talk a bill to death by using delaying tactics.

*Strom Thurmond did this unsuccessfully through a bill on civil liberties. Lasted 24hrs and 18mins.

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16
Q

Define: Cloture

A

Bringing the filibuster to an end using a 3/5ths vote of the senate (60 Senators).

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17
Q

What are the 4 types of committees?

A
  1. Standing committee
  2. House rules committee
  3. Conference committee
  4. Select committee
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18
Q

Describe standing committees

A

Permanent policy specialist committees consisting of around 18 members in the Senate and 45-50 in the house. The party balance in each committee is in the same proportion as the chamber.

  • Conduct committee stage of legislative process
  • Conduct investigations within designated policy area - oversight
  • Appropriate funds
  • (Senate only) begin the confirmation process of presidential appointments
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19
Q

Define: Seniority rule

A

States that the chairman of a standing committee will be a member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on that committee.

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20
Q

Describe conference committees

A

Has both houses have equal power, bills passed through both houses at the same time. Therefore it’s function is to reconcile/compromise different versions of the same bill.

  • Members are from both houses
  • (Ad-hoc) Temporary committee, only designated to a particular bill and then disbanded
  • Use has declined in recent years since Republicans took over the house in 2010 - few bills and even reach a conference committee

**PROBLEM: when both houses are controlled by different parties = gridlock, eg. 2010 healthcare reform

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21
Q

Describe select committees

A

Ad-hoc (temporary) membership, can be drawn from both houses.

• To investigate a specific issue or something that doesn’t fall into the policy area of one standing committee, or is likely to be time-consuming.

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22
Q

Describe house rule committees

A

(One of the standing committees but has a distinctive function)

  • Timetables bills for consideration on the floor
  • Moves bills from committee stage to second reading
  • Prioritises bills, giving them quick passage
  • Gives a ‘rule’ to each bill passing the floor for its second reading. Sets out the rules of debate
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23
Q

Why have committees been criticised?

A
  1. DECENTRALISED - even small groups dictate what legislation gets passed.
  2. INEFFICIENCY - multiple points of veto which slows down process.
  3. OVER-AMENDING - log rolling, or final bill may not resemble the original.
  4. SPEED - slow hearings cause delays
  5. IRON TRIANGLES
  6. CORRUPTION - Congressmen protect interest groups over policy needs (eg. powerful drug companies)
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24
Q

List the legislative process in 7 steps

A
  1. First reading
  2. Committee stage
  3. Timetabling
  4. Second reading
  5. Third reading
  6. Conference committee
  7. Presidential action
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25
Q

Describe the first reading in the legislative process

A

This is a formality, there is no debate or vote. After being introduced it is sent off to the appropriate standing committee.

All money bills are introduced in the House first. In the Senate the title of the bill is read out.

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26
Q

Describe the committee stage of the legislative process

A

• Congressional standing committees decide on which bill they will hear first, others will be ‘pigeon holed’ (no hearing or vote).
**Pork barreling can occur at this stage
• The committee’s, usually filled with experts and specialists have full power of amendment.
• Bills may die if they can’t get reported out of this stage (common), eg. Clintons healthcare reforms.

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27
Q

Describe timetabling in the legislative process

A

In HOR the House rules committee makes the decisions on which bills make it to the floor and how long they will be debated for.

In Senate, this is done by unanimous consent agreement, meaning Senate leadership (majority and minority) agree on which bills make it to the floor.

28
Q

Describe the second and third reading in the legislative process

A

• In HOR, members debate and vote on the bill which has been through the committee stage.
Simple majorities are needed for the bill to pass onto the next stage. (Voice vote or electronically recorded vote).
• In Senate, the same applies however the bill can also be filibustered.

After the second reading further amendments can be made, which is again debated and voted on in the final third reading.

29
Q

Describe the conference committee in the legislative process

A

Optional stage (if the two chambers’ version of the bill is the same, or the differences are sorted amicably between chambers).

Due to concurrent passage of the bills, the conference committee reconciles the two bills. Typically only 10% of bills go this route.

30
Q

Describe presidential action in the legislative process

A

3 options for the President:
• Sign bill into law
• Leave it on the desk (becomes law after 10 days)
• Veto the bill (or pocket-veto: within the last 10 days of congress an unsigned bill will die, congress cannot override this)

31
Q

What are the 4 most important determinants of voting in Congress?

A
  1. Political party
  2. Constituents
  3. The administration
  4. Pressure groups
32
Q

Define: Locality rule

A

The Constitution states that House and Senate members must be residents of the state they represent.
Some states go further by insisting that house members reside in the actual district they represent.

*Awareness of local issues = better representation

33
Q

Define: Pork barrel (ear marks)

A

A metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localised projects, secured primarily to bring money to a representative’s district.

Eg. $250,000 for a wireless area network for the city of Hartselle, Alabama. Proposed by their representatives.

34
Q

Give an example of an ear mark

A

Jim Moran, during 113th Congress has used an excessive amount of earmarks totalling to $36.5 million, which goes towards finding projects in his constituency.
Also adds to burden of reducing the governments debt.

35
Q

What are the two types of representation?

A

Substantive - Representing the views of constituents, Congress must act on behalf of numerous groups in their constituency.

Descriptive - Representing the demographic of USA, assumes that members will more successfully represent groups they share characteristics with.
~Research shows that female and minority reps are more likely to represent those types of issues raised in Congress.

36
Q

What factors cause gridlock?

A

Gridlock is the failure to get action on policy proposals and legislation in Congress.

  • Complicated and lengthy legislative process
  • Divided government (Congress v Presidency)
  • Divided congress (HOR v Senate)
  • The use of filibuster in Senate
  • The need for supermajorities
  • Increased partisanship
37
Q

How does Congress exercise oversight of the executive?

A
  • Mainly through the work of its standing committees which can hold hearings about the conduct of government policies.
  • Subpoena documents and testimony
  • Confirms executive branch appointments
  • Prevent wasteful spending and fraud
38
Q

Why is the 114th Congress considered to be the most diverse in history?

A

91 ethnic minorities and 104 women (out of 535 members)

39
Q

Describe the representative role of Congress

A
  • HOR is re-elected every 2 years so more attentive to constituents to increase change of being re-elected.
  • Senate has a 6 year term so are more attentive to national interests as they can afford to be. (Also enjoy exclusive rights which increase national interest).
  • HOR is more descriptively representative, historically.
  • Senate tend to represent the views of their donors more, this is because they want to bring in money to their state.
40
Q

Define: Hastert rule

A

A philosophy that requires the “majority of the majority” to bring up a bill for a vote in the House of Representatives.
Eg. Republican speakers won’t allow a floor vote on a bill without majority Republican support.

41
Q

Define: parochial

A

Narrow-minded interests in politics. Eg. Only concerned with issues affecting foreign policy.

42
Q

Describe: bipartisanship

A
  • In the U.S, it is possible to have a president of one party, and congress of another.
  • Whilst a divided government can make checks and balances more effective (more scrutiny of bills/appointments), it can also cause frequent gridlocks (as C+Bs become less effective because people make decisions on partisan lines).
43
Q

Give an example of successful and failed bipartisanship

A

~Bush achieved his Education reforms (2001-02) by working with congressional Democrats (Sen. Edward Kennedy).
~Clinton however failed to get his healthcare reforms passed by congress (1993-94) because he worked in a partisanship way and mainly ignored Congress.

44
Q

What is a discharge petition?

A

Forces a debate on a bill.

Requires an absolute majority of 218 members (eg. Bipartisan campaign reform act, 2002).

45
Q

Give a more recent example of impeachment

A

Judge Thomas Porteous was impeached, tried and removed from office in 2010, by a vote in Senate of 94-2 (well over supermajority).

46
Q

How can members of Congress keep in touch with their constituents?

A
  • Visits from constituents
  • Phone calls, letters, faxes, emails
  • Reading newspapers published in their state/district
  • Keeping in touch with their offices back in state
  • Party and town hall meetings
  • Conduct surgeries/Interviews with individuals
47
Q

Define: polarisation

A

Ideological polarisation can refer to the divergence of political attitudes to ideological extremes.
As a result, moderate (central) voices often lose power and influence.

48
Q

Describe increasing polarisation in America

A
  • Individuals can choose to hear messages/news that reinforce their beliefs (avoiding alternative pov) - leads to polarisation?
  • Eg. Republicans tend to prefer Fox News, Liberals usually prefer MSNBC.
  • Some Americas know less about politics (news) and are unlikely to participate. So the growth of media choice strengthens the extremes while hollowing out the centre.
49
Q

Define: Gerrymandering (give example)

A

A form of redistricting in which electoral district boundaries are deliberately modified for electoral purposes, thereby producing a contorted shape.

Eg. Illinois district 4

50
Q

Give an advantage and disadvantage of gerrymandering

A

ADV: Can produce a proportion of constituencies where a minority group is a majority in the district, eg. 9 Hispanic majority districts created after 1990 consensus.

D.ADV: Can be used to allege that a party is gaining disproportionate power by packing districts with hardcore support from one party. Creates wasted votes + high incumbency rates.

51
Q

Describe an argument against gerrymandering (giving republicans an advantage)

A

• Geography may be responsible for republican advantage instead.
Democrats are more likely then Republicans to live in dense urban areas. Whilst Republicans are more likely to live in suburban areas.

‘Depends on who controls the pen’

52
Q

Arguments FOR ‘Congress is a broken branch’

A
  • Increased partisanship, as opposed to bipartisanship. Continuous gridlock means 113th Congress has gone down as one of the least productive legislators (main role) - 2013 government shutdown.
  • Increasing ideological polarisation - 113th congress the highest in history, helped by emergence of TEA party and Obamacare.
  • Limited gov (proposed by FFs) is a sign Congress is failing to function, as states themselves have a poor record of helping citizens/protection minorities - Arizona SB 1070.
  • Increasing use of filibuster in Senate - DREAM Act was filibustered to death in 2010.
  • Congress no longer considered to be a policy making institution, passed down to the Presidency - Obamas state of union address.
  • Congress hasn’t used its constitutional power to declare war since 1941. President now does this - Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf war, Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • ‘Career politicians’ who are more concerned with getting re-elected (locally) than national issues - earmarks are an example of this, they add to governments debt.
53
Q

Arguments AGAINST ‘Congress is a broken branch’

A
  • Could be argued Obamacare is not an example of polarisation. GOP opposed due to mandate from constituents to oppose increase in taxation/reduce government deficit.
  • Limited gov is what the FFs wanted, separation of powers was to cause occasional gridlocks - Obamacare eventually passed despite heavy resistance.
  • Foreign policy area does demonstrate bipartisanship effort between executive and legislative - Congress granted President further authorisation of military force in the fight against ISIS.
  • Through War Powers Act and Case Act, the president is required by law to request authorisation from Congress before taking military action abroad. (However, President doesn’t always abide by such laws - 2011 Libya bombings with no Congressional approval.
54
Q

Describe the 2013 government shutdown

A

Republican-led HOR delayed Obamacare.
The budget deadline passed and the 2 houses failed to agree on a new budget.
Government shutdown lasted for 16 consecutive days.

55
Q

Describe Obama’s 2015 state of the union address

A

Illustrated bipartisanship is dead.
Obama made clear that any attempts made at attacking Obamacare, immigration reform or his own political agenda will be responded with Presidential vetoes.

56
Q

What is Arizona SB 1070? (Example of failure to protect minorities)

A
  • The Act made it a state crime for an illegal immigrant to be in Arizona without carrying the required documents.
  • Required that state law enforcement officers attempt to determine an individual’s immigration status during a “lawful stop, detention or arrest”, when there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is an illegal immigrant.
  • Basically encourages racial profiling.
57
Q

Describe the DREAM Act

A
  • A type of immigration reform proposed by the Obama administration (as it is unrealistic to deport 11 million illegal immigrants - what the GOP want).
  • Undocumented immigrants would be granted conditional residency and upon meeting further qualifications, permanent residency.

*GOP see it as a way of rewarding (through amnesty) criminals who broke the law by coming to the U.S. illegally.

58
Q

Give an example of conflict between the House and Senate

A

In 2013, the senate passed the ‘Border security, economic opportunity, and immigration modernisation act’ but the HOR refused to even debate the bill

Suggests their superiority?

59
Q

What changes have been made to the filibuster rule?

A

Both chambers are now seen as more equal.
Now, after Gorsuch’s confirmation process, a filibuster against a Supreme Court nominee can be broken by a simple majority vote.

60
Q

Define: Shell bill

A

Where the senate amends the entire text of a revenue bill from the House.
Allows the senate to write revenue bills even though it lacks the power to do so.

61
Q

Give an example of a standing committee carrying out one of its functions

A

House energy and commerce committee carried out its investigative role in the healthcare gov. hearings of October 2013.

An online market place website was created so that citizens could go online and compare insurance plans, also to see the subsidies available to them.

Despite costing almost $300 million to produce, the websites was broken at launch. Committee investigated this, especially Kathleen Sebelius (Secretary of health and human services) who later resigned.

62
Q

Recent examples which suggest that the Senate is no longer superior to the House of Representatives

A
  • April 2017, Trump called together the Senate for a special intelligence brief on North Korea. (Superior)
  • Alteration of filibuster rule has made the Senate more like the house. (Less superior)
63
Q

How does the 3 Democrats who voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch show that constituents can influence the way congressmen vote?

A

All 3 democrats are up for re-election in 2018 and are from traditional Republican states that went with Trump in 2017.
Therefore they all voted with their state to ensure their seat in congress.

64
Q

Explain the factors that affect the relationship between the Senate and HOR

A
  • Both have equal power in the passage of legislation, declarations of war and overriding presidential vetoes - therefore must cooperate with each other.
  • If the two chambers are under control of different parties, gridlock will often occur/little achieved.
  • Because of longer terms, smaller numbers and more significant exclusive powers, the Senate is often seen as more prestigious than the House, so many House members aspire to join it.
  • Polarisation/Partisanship.
65
Q

Are members of Congress out of touch with the electorate?

A
  • Senators and representatives are more influenced by donors that voters, due to the high costs of campaigns.
  • Low approval rating of congress branch, consistently
  • High rates of incumbency success, House usually over 90%, and Senate 80% - high level of voter satisfaction

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