USA Option: The Legislative Branch

What USA Option: The Legislative Branch covers

USA Option: The Legislative Branch is examined in Unit A2 1 Option A, a comparative study of the United States and the United Kingdom — taken instead of the Republic of Ireland option. It covers the constitutional basis of Congress, membership, elections and terms, the representative role of Congress, the legislative process, the committee system, scrutiny, oversight and impeachment, the exclusive powers of the Senate, parties, leadership and polarisation, Assessing the effectiveness of Congress, pressure and lobby groups and Congress and Congress and the President.

The 11 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The constitutional basis of CongressEnumerated powers, necessary and proper clause and supremacy clause.Open →
• Membership, elections and termsConstitutional qualifications for election to the House, constitutional qualifications for election to the Senate and midterm election.Open →
• The representative role of CongressPolitico model, pork barrel spending and descriptive representation.Open →
• The legislative processFunction of the House Rules Committee, discharge petition and conference committee.Open →
• The committee systemStanding committee, select committee and joint committee.Open →
• Scrutiny, oversight and impeachmentCongressional oversight, four instruments Congress uses to conduct oversight and consequences of conviction on impeachment.Open →
• The exclusive powers of the SenateSenate's power of advice and consent, rejected Supreme Court nomination and senatorial hold.Open →
• Parties, leadership and polarisationThree powers of the Speaker, party caucus or conference and partisan polarisation in Congress.Open →
• Assessing the effectiveness of CongressOmnibus bill and paradox that voters dislike Congress but re-elect their own representative.Open →
• Pressure and lobby groups and CongressK Street, four tactics lobby groups use on Capitol Hill and political action committee.Open →
• Congress and the PresidentSeparation of powers in the American system, presidential honeymoon and limits on governing by executive order.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take USA Option: The Legislative Branch further

The same content, four other ways.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Which article of the United States Constitution establishes Congress?

   Model answer

   Article I of the Constitution establishes Congress and sets out its composition and powers.

2. 2

   What does it mean to say Congress is bicameral?

   Model answer

   Congress consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and both must agree to the identical text of a bill before it can become law.

3. 3

   Which compromise at the Philadelphia Convention produced the two chambers?

   Model answer

   The Connecticut or Great Compromise produced a House apportioned by population, satisfying the larger states, and a Senate with equal representation for every state, satisfying the smaller ones.

4. 4

   What are enumerated powers?

   Model answer

   Enumerated powers are the specific powers written into the Constitution and granted to Congress, most of them listed in Article I, Section 8.

5. 5

   Name five enumerated powers of Congress.

   Model answer

   Congress may lay and collect taxes, borrow money, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, declare war, and raise and support armed forces.

6. 6

   What is the necessary and proper clause?

   Model answer

   The necessary and proper clause at the end of Article I, Section 8 allows Congress to make all laws needed to carry its enumerated powers into effect, and is the basis of its implied powers.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

USA Option: The Legislative Branch revision questions

What does USA Option: The Legislative Branch cover in CCEA A-Level Government and Politics?

11 subtopics: the constitutional basis of congress, membership, elections and terms, the representative role of congress, the legislative process, the committee system, scrutiny, oversight and impeachment, the exclusive powers of the senate, parties, leadership and polarisation, assessing the effectiveness of congress, pressure and lobby groups and congress and congress and the president. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is USA Option: The Legislative Branch organised?

By the CCEA 4830 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.