Is Congress effective at carrying out its roles

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  • Created by: wanjikar
  • Created on: 21-04-23 10:20
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  • Is Congress effective at carrying out its roles
    • Legislation
      • Yes
        • major legislation has been passed
        • low pass rate means only necessary legislation gets through
        • lengthy process ensures scrutiny
        • staggered electoral cycle and divided govt ensure compromise
        • requirement for supermajorities ensures broad consensus
      • No
        • lengthy process so thousands of bills fail each congressional session
        • the process is dominated by important indivudals  e.g. speaker
        • during unified govt, bills can be rushed through
        • in divided govts, gridlock can prevent important legislation passing
    • Representation
      • Yes
        • rep. of minorities and women has improved
        • caucuses allow underrepresented groups to act together
        • parties are well represented in a partisan environment
        • people of a state and the wider state interests are represented by the two elected houses
      • No
        • importance of money in electoral campaigns allows lobbyists to influence Congress more than their constituents
        • partisan voting patterns lead to good representation of the majority at the expense of the minority
        • representation of minorities and women is below their proportion of the national population
          • 25% of the 118th Congress are ethnic minorities; 64% of the pop are minorities
    • Oversight
      • Yes
        • willing to use the veto override
        • in divided govt, the pres will face extensive scrutiny in Congress
        • committees oversee investigations into actions
        • independent from presidentially-demanded legislation
        • powers have developed and evolved
          • uses financial powers to control the pres as commander-in-chief
      • No
        • appears party political rather than in the interests of good policy
          • party-line votes on appointments
        • veto overrides fail due to the supermajority needed
        • the power to declare war has been usurped by the Pres
        • Pres' uses executive orders to create pseudo-legislation and pseudo-treaties
        • during crisis, Congress acts with deference to the Pres
        • impeachment is difficult to enact

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