...Final Exam Review POLI 2051 Dr. Kenny Ch 11: Congress • Approval of Congress relative to the president. o Congress tends to be less popular than the president. • Basic info. on Congress o Why is it bicameral (why are there two chambers?) 1. Practical Reasons ▪ Came from the Great Compromise 2. Philosophical Reasons ▪ To keep power spread out and dispersed • House of Representatives o Representation based on population o 435 Total o 2 year terms o Seats are reapportioned every ten years because we get the census back every ten years. o Entire membership elected in November of even number years. • Senate o 2 Per state o 100 total o 6 year terms that are staggered ▪ Staggered means that only 1/3 of the seats are up for election in each two year election cycle. This is so that it does not change radically in one election. o This means one third elected in November of even numbered years. • Congressional organization: o Leadership – the political parties work through the leadership structure of congress because the leaders of the majority political party are, at the same time, the leaders of the House and the Senate. ▪ Leaders (know the top posts) • Leadership in the House o...
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...nearing the breaking point. However, by identifying the major problems that exist in our government today that mainly revolve around incorrect process and fixing them, and electing more Democratic Party members rather than the GOP members that we have been electing to represent the people in Washington, the United States government can be fixed. The first branch of government, the legislative branch, was broken while it was under the rule of the GOP majority in many ways. The entire legislative process was faulty while under Republican control. While in control, the “Republicans literally cut the Democrats out of the legislative process altogether and legislated only for other Republicans, particularly their special corporate interests” (Dean 30). The GOP was only concerned about passing laws that incorporated their conservative policy and benefiting the people who financially supported their campaigns to get into office. This is a major problem because as the GOP only held a slight majority in both of the houses of Congress; this meant that the rest of the representatives, who represent the other nearly half of the population, got no representation at all. “There (were) legitimate issues of fairness and...
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...on the day of election 5) Philippine resident for at least 10 years immediately preceding such election. Note: The Vice-President has the same qualifications & term of office as the President. He is elected with & in the same manner as the President. He may be removed from office in the same manner as the President. Section 4. MANNER OF ELECTION/ TERM OF OFFICE Manner of Election 1) The President and Vice-President shall be elected by direct vote of the people. 2) Election returns for President and Vice-President, as duly certified by the proper Board of Canvassers shall be forwarded to Congress, directed to the Senate President. 3) Not later than 30 days after the day of the election, the certificates shall be opened in the presence of both houses of Congress, assembled in joint public session. 4) The Congress, after determining...
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...Congress is bicameral; it is made up of 2 houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. This arrangement for the legislative branch of government was one of the compromises devised by the founding fathers at the Philadelphia convention. This essay will discuss whether Congress is the broken branch or not. The idea of increased partisanship as a result of ideological polarisation of the parties since the 1980s is an argument that supports the above statement that the Congress is a broken branch. In 1960 the South was intact, whether you were black, white, liberal or conservative you would vote Democrats, so they were sometimes known as yellow dog democrats meaning that even if the Democrats put up a yellow dog as an election candidate they would still vote democrats. In the 1960 election, of the 106 members of the House of Representatives from the South, 99 were Democrats. All 22 southern senators were also Democrats. However the South disintegrated as statistics from the 1992 and 1996 election show that the Democrats could not even win the South with a presidential ticket made up of 2 southerners, Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Partisanship has been fuelled by the growth of partisan media outlets, gerrymandering and ideological interest groups. The increased role of partisanship has also led to an increase in party votes. The 2 mainstream parties in America, Democrats and Republicans have very different views of many major issues. For example where Republican believe in...
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...* Question 1 0 out of 1 points | | | Only the Senate can impeach civil officers, who are tried by the House of Representatives.Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | True | Correct Answer: | False | | | | | * Question 2 0 out of 1 points | | | How many presidents have been impeached?Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | Three | Correct Answer: | Two | | | | | * Question 3 0 out of 1 points | | | In recent years, Congress has expressed its unhappiness with Supreme Court decisions on abortion and gay rights byAnswer | | | | | Selected Answer: | refusing to confirm new lower federal judges until the Court reverses its decision. | Correct Answer: | attempting to alter the Court's jurisdiction. | | | | | * Question 4 0 out of 1 points | | | According to the Constitution, apportionment and redistricting must occur everyAnswer | | | | | Selected Answer: | four years. | Correct Answer: | ten years. | | | | | * Question 5 0 out of 1 points | | | Logrolling is another term for vote trading.Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | False | Correct Answer: | True | | | | | * Question 6 0 out of 1 points | | | The official chair of the Senate is the _____.Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | Speaker | Correct Answer: | president pro tempore | | | | | * Question 7 0 out of 1 points | | | Redrawing...
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...Ph.D, defines a unified government as one where the same party controls the presidency and both houses of Congress. This form of leadership is the contradictory of divided government. Although uncommon in most presidencies of the 21st century, Mr. Obama enjoyed a democratic majority within the House for the first two years of his first term, starting in 2008. Typically, a unified government encounters little trouble when enacting laws. The president is less likely to veto Congressional legislation, vise-versa, when there are minimal ideological differences between the legislative and executive branches. The larger a party majority in Congress is, the less likely it is for a gridlock to occur. The majority can suppress the minority and easily push their own agendas forward. Like wise, the filibuster is less menacing under the reign of a unified government with a large majority. Minorities often use filibusters to assert their power, however, with an overpowering large majority the ruling party can overturn the filibuster with a cloture....
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...To what extent does congress remain a powerful body? Congress can be argued to be an ineffective body. Though it is furnished with great power from the constitution it fails to successfully fulfil the roles of oversight, representation and Legislation. However, it is also argued that congress does successfully fulfil its role depending on which party is in control of the House and which is in control of the senate, therefore it can be argued that the powers congress has and how well they fulfil their roles are dependent on which party controls congress and which controls the white house. Congress has the power of oversight of the executive; one very important power relating to this is the power to override the presidential veto, this power of congress supports the argument that congress does remain a powerful body as they have the power to go against the presidents wishes. The separation of powers in the United States causes this power to be extremely effective, because they work independently, they can oversee the executive work and therefore hold them accountable. In addition, members of congress are experienced and therefore are very skilled at overseeing the work of the executive, an example of this is Senator Leahy, who has seen the confirmation of hundreds of federal judges who are appointed by the executive. However this power of oversight is limited mainly towards divided government, during a united government congress acts as a lapdog, and do not wish to embarrass the...
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...Federal Bureaucracy – to what Extent does the President have Control of it? When the framers of the Constitution developed our government, they gave Congress the authority to create the departments necessary to carry out the day-to-day responsibilities of governing - the federal bureaucracy. The vast majority of the departments, agencies, and commissions that make up the federal bureaucracy today were created by Congress through legislative acts. Congress is unable to act in a bubble though, due to the nature of the system’s built-in checks and balances, Congress must first get the president’s “buy off” which is represented by his signature. Although Congress has the authority to create these agencies (with the president’s agreement of course), the Constitution designated the president as the person responsible for implementing and administering the decisions and actions of the bureaucracy. “As chief executive, the president is constitutionally charged with ensuring that the laws be faithfully executed” (Harrison, Harris, and Deardorff 391). The resulting tension between Congress, as the creators of the bureaucracy, and the president, as the executive in charge of the bureaucracy, is just one of the tugs-of-war that the bureaucracy is subjected to that affect their behavior and ultimately the amount of control the president is able to wield over them. Originally, the federal bureaucracy had a modest role. In 1789, George Washington headed a federal bureaucracy of...
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...Veronica Sellars POS 301 August 5, 2012 Self-Government Separation of Powers Checks and Balances Of the people by the people Authority to vote for and delegate the authority to elect government representatives Ability to change the constitution or laws when need be No one person or group has majority power and/or control 3 separate branches each with distinct power Work together to serve the people Ensures the three branches work together In place to prevent any single branch to have the ability to overpower the other Prevents dictatorship The Effectiveness of the Check and Balance System In the creation of the Constitution the framers divided powers between the different branches of government. The three levels of government are executive, legislative and judicial. The framers wanted them to be separated in so that they could perform on different levels while still and yet not allowing one branch is more power than the other. The framers knew that in order to provide the people with the type of government that they were trying to build; they would have to put into place a system in which each branch would be held responsible for their actions and/or decisions. This is how the check and balance system came into existence. Each branch functions on its own and has certain responsibilities. Each branch even tries to have more power than the other however; with the checks and balance system that the framers put into place prevents...
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...Pg. 39-50 Critical Issues at the Convention • Just like the writers of the Declaration of Independence, there were more issues that needed to be addressed if a new government was to be formed. • Even though it was written in the declaration, the Constitution did not say a word about everyone being equally protected under the law. o Representation- The first issue discussed was how to set up the new Congress so that all states have an equal voice. New Jersey Plan- The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state’s population. Virginia Plan- The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress in proportion to that state’s share of the U.S. population. • It is obvious to...
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..._ Collective dilemmas in Congress, the executive branch, the bureaucracy, and the courts, and how these collective dilemmas are overcome CONGRESS:2 main organized features: Committee System helps solve collective dilemmas. Executive branch has grown and bureaucracy. So he faces principal agent. Bureaucrats are his agents and he is the principle. _ Structure of Congress _ Qualifications for members of Congress senate- 30, citizen 9 years, live in state house- 25, citizen 7 years, live in state _ Reapportionment redistribution 435 seats in the house of reps after the census _ Drawing congressional district lines (Wesberry v. Sanders (1964), redistricting, gerrymandering, cracking, packing, racial and partisan gerrymandering, political consequences of gerrymandering) This decision requires each state to draw its U.S. Congressional districts so that they are approximately equal in population. Redistricting to favor a political party. Cracking= Spreading like-minded voters apart across multiple districts to dilute their voting power in each. This denies the group representation in multiple districts Packing= Concentrating like-minded voters together in one district to reduce their voting power in other districts. _ Individualism in Congress (including factors that contribute to it) _ Single-member districts electoral district in which a single person is reelected _ Plurality elections determining an elections winner by who ever receives the most votes...
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...pertaining to the constitution. This would lighten the load and burden of our highest courts from having to take on the burden of so many different court cases, or quick appeals when it comes to the death penalty. For the legislative branch I would have a Congress with the number of representatives dictated by the population of the providence much as we do with our own Congress. The more populous provinces will have the most representatives. No matter how small the province is, you will be guaranteed at least one representative. The numbers distributed will be based on a national census to take place every 10 years. The party that garners the majority of the Congress will be able to form the government and elect its own members as President and Vice President of the country that will be the Executive branch. The National Council of Religion will be much like our own Senate with each religious group getting an equal amount of representatives appointed by their leadership, with the total number not to exceed 100 in this body. So if we have 10 religious groups that come forward, each will be able to appoint 10 members to the council. Overseeing the council will be the Vice President. All bills must pass majority of both the Congress and Council and be signed into law by the president. If the president vetoes the bill, in order to override the veto,...
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...wrote the document with a set of goals in mind. They sought to increase the power of the central government while simultaneously trying to separate and control and limit power. They also wanted to limit popular influence while allowing popular sovereignty. Through a long process of conventions, amendments, and later some ratifications, the framers mostly succeeded, and although changes have been made, the main ideas constructed in the constitution are used to this day. The ideas written in the constitution were greatly influenced by philosophers and enlightenment thinkers. Popular sovereignty, the principle that the government is run by the people through representatives that they elect and may later revoke, was first introduced by English philosopher John Locke, and influential political theorist. Sir Isaac Newton, an English physicist, introduced...
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...There is a definite need for Congress in the United States. It serves many roles such as making laws, implementing national policy and watching over the other two branches of government. These are just a few of the duties of our U.S. Congress. Although they are essential to our government, there are potential problems. People are not always satisfied with the length of time involved in passing a law as well as the deadlock Congress can experience on an issue. Another potential problem people see with Congress is representation. Not all Americans feel that they are equally represented. The Congress of the United States is viewed by many as the largest branch in government. Some people might even say it is the most important. This is due to the roles Congress pays in our government. Congress is responsible for the lawmaking in our country as well as implementing national policy. The power to make laws was given to Congress by our forefathers when they constructed our constitution. Passing laws is very important to our country because without them we would be living in chaos. Of course, all our laws are not perfect but for the most part our Congress does a good job at keeping this country under control. The problems with lawmaking that most people see is the time involved in getting a law passed. In order for a bill to become a law it must first be "introduced to the House or Senate, or both, then referred to a committee." (Cummings / Wise 479). This can be a very...
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...Outline the differences between the House and the Senate (15 marks) House of Representatives is the lower house of the US Congress and other legislatures, including most US state governments and the Senate is the smaller upper assembly in the US together they make up the United States Congress. | In the Senate there are 100 members whereas there are about 435 in the House making it more difficult to gain a position of leadership in the House e.g. in January 2003, Senator Bill became majority party leader after 8 years in senate while Ms. Pelosi became minority leader after being in the house since 1987. In the House each state has a certain number of members proportional to the population of the state. Each member represents a district. By the time of 2002 elections, California had 53 representatives, while Wyoming had just one. Members of the House are elected for 2 year terms and the constitution states that to be a member of the House you must: be at least 25, have been a US citizen for at least 7 years and are a resident of the state in which your district is situated. whereby the in the Senate the constitution states that to be a senator you must be at least 30, they have been a US citizen for at least 9 years and they have be a resident of the State you represent. Each state has 2 senators, each senator represents the entire state; they are elected for 6 year terms. One-third of the senate is up for re-election every 2 years. Senators are also more recognized – known...
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