Congress

how often are US elections

congressional elections occur every 2 years and 4 years for the president

what electoral system does the US use

all elections use fptp

describe what seats are up for elections in US elections

in any congressional elections every seat in the House of Representatives is up or election, in addition to one third of the seats in the senate.

what are mid term elections

elections that take place in the middle of a congressional term

why are mid term elections significant

they are seen as a referendum on the performance of a president so far, often the president will lose one of both houses//

How can the midterm elections affect a president's mandate

if gov does become divided during the midterms, this can make it more difficult for a president to pass their legislative agenda, Congress has more of a recent mandate

give an example of Congress claiming a stronger mandate over the President

2016, Republican Senate refused to allow confirmation hearings for Obama's SC nominee, senate leader claimed they claimed a stronger mandate than a 'lame duck' president.

what does incumbent mean

the person who currently holds a political office

why is incumbency significant

in Congressional elections incumbency is a major advantage.

give an example of incumbency being useful

in 2016 97% of incumbents in the House were re-elected and 93% of the senate

what is the re-election rate for incumbents

over 80%

why is incumbency beneficial

- name recognition

- use of their office

- gerrymandering

- financial

- pork barrel legislation

- FPTP, safe seats

How expensive are US elections

in 2020, Congressional elections cost $7 billion

why is funidng easier for incumbents

they are already well known, may need to spend less to get people to vote for them

give an example of incumbents needing to spend less to get people to vote for them

in 2020, Senate Republican leader MCConnel spent an average $34 dollars per vote to retain his seat while his challenger spent $92.

Altogether McConnell spent nearly $65 million on his campaign and his challenger $90 million

what privileges do incumbents have to contact constituents as members of congress

- they are provided with a website on which they can explain their policy beliefs, demonstrate policy successes and influence, offer an easy way for constituents to contact them

- 'franking priviledges' to contact constituents.

What are franking privileges?

where the cost of mailing constituents is provided by congress. they cannot use this for electoral purposes but it helps their chances.

what suggests that franking is used for electoral purposes

franking requests are fair higher in election years

give an example of franking being much higher in election years

in Jan 2020 there were 651 requests and 1,529 by April and continued to increase

what is gerrymandering

a state's governing party draws the boundaries of each constituency to give it an electoral advantage, produces little swing seats

what is pork barrel legislation

using government funds for projects designed to please voters. Congress members will propose amendments to bills to benefit people in their areas.

give examples of pork barrel legislation

Alaska's proposed, Gravina Island bridge and Boston's big dig.

what are the problems with high levels of incumbency

suggestive of an ineffective level of representation, can have undemocratic outcomes

how often are senators elected

one third of senators are up for election every six years

why does the elections every two years affect all senators

even though only one-third of senators are up for election, it could change the majority in the Senate and thus dramatically change the political landscape.

how common did it used to be for Congress to be divided

between 1901 and 1969, Congress was divided 21% of the time

how common is it for congress to be divided now

since 1969 gov has been divided 70% of the time

what house has more exclusive powers

the senate, but arguably the House's powers are more important

what are the exclusive powers of the House

- powers of the purse

- impeachment

- to choose the president if electoral college is deadlocked

what are the exclusive powers of the senate

- ratify treaties

- confirm appointments

- try cases of impeachment

- to choose VP if electoral college is locked

what are concurrent powers

- create legislation

- override veto

- propose constitutional amendments

- declare war

- confirm a new VP

- investigation

what is the most important power of congress

creating legislation

what limits Congress' ability to create legislation

Congress can only do this in areas not laid out in the constitution, states hold power to legislate in other areas.

give examples of Congress exercising its control over legislation

- Biden struggled to pass his Build Back Better agenda, the recovery plan passed quickly, other two struggled.

- Obama had to use executive orders to ensure passage of Obamacare

- refused to grant Trump funding for border wall

what is needed for veto override

two thirds vote in both houses

when is the veto override more commonly used

when congress is controlled by different party to the presidency

give an example of divided gov being important

all but one of Bush's twelve vetoes came after he lost control of both Houses of Congress.

All of Trumps' 10 came after he lost control of the HORs in the 2018 midterms.

give an example of a bipartisan veto

in 2020 congress overrode Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorisation Act with bipartisan cooperation between Republicans and Democrats

how has the power to declare war been weakened.

By Presidential control because of the technological development of weapons. Congress tries to use the powers it has over money and tax to control the president instead

when will a new VP be needed

if the VP has to step up to the role as President

what vote is needed to confirm a new VP

a simple majority in both Houses

what are investigations

Congress can launch these into areas on which it has created legislation or may need to create legislation and into federal programmes

what investigations have been launched in the past

reviewing the insurrection on 6 Jan 2021.

response to Hurricane Katrina.

2017 there were four different committees investigating the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

why is the House's power of the purse important

gives the House significant individual power over the presidency

what is the first step in creating n appropriations act

each year the president submits the annual budget for US government to the House Budget Committee to begin the approval process

give an example of disparity in Presidential budget and House's budget

in 2018, Trump suggested the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) be cut by one-third, House Republicans proposed cutting it by just 6%.

why does the House's power to choose the President when the electoral college is deadlocked now have less significance

with the development of two party politics in the USA and refinements of the electoral process, it is a power now unlikely to be used.

give an example of the senate rejecting a treaty

reject the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with a number of Republicans expressing concern over extra gov regulation it might entail.

in an impeachment trial who is the prosecution

the House of Representatives

what are the stages of the legislative process

introduction

committee consideration

scheduling

floor action

resolving differences

presidential action

what happens when a bill is introduced

it is received by leading members of that house and placed into a committee

what role does the speaker have when a bill is introduced

speaker of the House can choose to time limit a bill or not and which committee that bill will go to.

why is the speaker choosing where the bill will go significant

- the bill can be sent to more than one comittee sequentially, lengthens the process and makes it less likely to pass

- the bill can be split up and sent to different committees in a split referral, speeding up the process

how is the process of splitting a bill different in the senate

to place a bill in more than one committee in the senate unanimous consent is required, limiting the power of the senate leadership

what is unanimous consent

the procedures in the senate can be set aside if no senator rejects

what does it mean if a bill is 'pigeon-holed'

bills that do not make it out of a committee, they might go to committee consideration but do not get a House of Senate vote.

how many bills are pigeon-holed.

90%

what happens to bills that are acted on

they are subject to committee hearings and then amended by the committee. the final amended bill must pass a vote of the whole committee and it is then sent back for the relevant house for consideration.

who decides the timetabling of a bill

in the HORs, the timetabling is decided by the House Rules Committee.

In the Senate, a motion to proceed is voted on and if this receives a simple majority, a bill is placed on the calendar

who dominates the House Rules Committee

the majority party in a 2:1 ratio and all majority party members are appointed by the speaker. This should allow for the majority party to control the passage of legislation.

why is the House Rules Committee particularly powerful

not only decides when a bill is schedules but whether amendments can be added to the bill as it is being debated. Referred to as 'closed' or 'open.'

give an example of the use of 'closed' rule being used

the 114th Republican House set a record for using the 'closed' rule with almost no legislation considered using an open rule at all.

how does floor action occur in the HoR

in the House debates are time-limited and once the time finished a vote is taken.

How does the Senate's floor action differ to the House's

there is no time limit, so there is the use of unlimited debate.

what is the impact of there being no time limit on senate bills

the use of filibusters. By continuing to talk on a bill, a vote is prevented

give an example of a filibuster

the longest filibuster in the senate was given in 1957 for 24hours 18 minutes

what can end a filibuster

a cloture motion which needs 60 senators and forces the senate to go to a vote

why do filibusters have a significant impact

because of the necessity of 60 senators to end a filibuster, anything important or controversial needs the support of senators to ensure it can pass.

what must happen before a bill can go to the President

both the House and Senate must support an agreed version.

what is the formal way of resolving differences

set up a conference committee to create one bill from the versions from each chamber.

what informal methods have been used in recent years to resolve differences between Congress houses on a bill

- in 'ping-pong' a bill passes through both houses amendments are liased over by leadership of both Houses

- one chamber will imply adjourn meaning the other is forced to accept the others version or drop it entirely.

what is the final action in passing a bill

presidential action

what are the president's options for acting

- sign the bill

- leave it - after 10 days it automatically becomes law

- veto

what is the advantage of a lengthy process to pass a bill

allows for scrutiny of presidentially proposed legislation and should ensure the quality, popularity and workability of laws that are passed.

Prevents knee-jerk legislation.

why is the equality of both houses in the legislative process an advantage

it means that the needs of both the people and the states are heard, producing broadly acceptable law, not just what the president wants.

why are supermajorities in the legislative process good

that and a closure motion prevent the president's party getting what they want

why is legislation being unlikely to pass negative

- ignores a presidential mandate

- little is achieved

how does the legislative process undermine the power of many important members of congress

power is placed in the hands of a few, especially the speaker of the House, Senate majority leader and committee chairs, rather than allowing elected representatives to effectively scrutinise legislation.

why is the necessity of supermajorities bad

gives power to the minority, undermining presidential mandate.

why is united gov bad

scrutiny is reduced through party dominance

why is divided gov bad

partisanship can lead to a total lack of legislation and ineffecitvel gov.

why is the presidential veto bad

even after considerable scrutiny and compromise, the president alone can prevent a bill becoming law and their veto is unlikely to be overturned.

who are congress dependent on in the legislative process

while congress passes legislation, it doesn't enforce it. this gives power to the executive branch and the states.

what has given Congress great power over the states

the 'necessary and proper' clause

what powers does congress have over legislation

can pass laws on a wide range of policy issues

what has allowed congress to expand its legislative control

'necessary and proper' clause and the commerce clause

what areas have states been unwilling to let congress control

make their own legislation on abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and even immigration policy

what landmark legislation has congress passed

No child Left behind Act, Obamacare

give an example of Congress' dependency on the states to enforce laws being demonstrated

Marijuana remains federally illegal but an increasing number of states have passed legislation 'legalising' it.

what significant legislation has been passed during unified government

the Biden-supported Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, even when the Democrats were not always entirely unified behind Biden

How has the legislative process limited Congress' control

the difficulty of creating and passing legislation means that Congress doesn't pass huge amounts

give an example of the legislative process limiting Congress

Congress failed to pass any meaningful immigration reform despite bipartisan efforts in the Senate and Obama's support.q

how does the supremacy clause of the constitution affect congress power

the supremacy clause of the constitution means that congressional law is superior to state law. States are therefore bound to follow legislation they do not approve of.

give examples of Congress demonstrating its capability for bipartisanship

passed legislation such as the Emmett Till Antilynching Act and the Sunshine protection act.

what groups does congress represent

- constituents

- almost all members are members of a party

- functional representative responsibility, ensuring socioeconomic groups are represented

how does congress provide constituency representation

senators represent a state and the House are allocated a congressional district.

They represent the economic, cultural or social interests of their state or district

give an example of a member of congress representing their district

as part of the Brady amendments to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2018, Diane Black, a representative of nashville famed for songwriting proposed copywrighted songs be defined as a capital asset.

why is it important for US representatives to listen to their constituents

primaries are used in US elections meaning the public decides who represent their party

give an example of the use of primaries to choose representatives being significant

Eric Cantor lost the Republican primary in Virginia in 2014 as he was seen as not conservative enough in his opposition to Obama

what suggests local concerns are significant to constituents

in 2020, 7 incumbent House members were defeated in primaries suggesting for some local issues are more important than national politics