a)The majority party is able to control who becomes the President Pro-Tempore in the Senate, the person third in line for the presidency, and the Speaker of the House. These congressional leaders control committee appointments and moderate debates. Who is appointed to committees helps control which interest groups gain sway in congress and what laws gain support. Debate moderators control which congressmen speak when.
b) The House of Representatives sets time limits for debates, preventing a filibuster from occurring. These time limits are set by the House Rules Committee. In the senate, there are no time limits on debates, allowing one senator to prevent a vote from occurring. Today, that rule has been adapted so that a senator no longer has to speak in order to delay a vote but must simply declare a filibuster. Therefore a minority party can easily prevent legislation from being passed in the Senate but would have a harder time in the House.
c) Only one person is needed to prevent a law from being voted on in the Senate. This makes it very easy to stop legislation from being passed in the Senate. Because filibusters are not possible in the House, the minority party cannot hold up legislation.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
F2
1) a) The Americans With Disabilities Act protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. In particular it prevents discrimination in employment. This act gives the federal government the ability to regulate the way employers run their workplace and gives the federal government the power to enforce this anti-discriminatory act. States have no say in executing this law such as in establishing the drinking age but must succumb to the national government on this issue.
b) Preemption is the practice congress follows that states that state or local laws are invalid when they conflict with federal laws. This practice was exercised when No Child Left Behind was passed in that education is usually left up to the states but national standards were imposed on all public schools regardless of existing state education laws. This gives the national government ultimate power over state governments in that they can override all local laws with their own laws. The state governments essentially answer to the federal government.
2) a) U.S. v Lopez was a supreme court decision that limited the power of congress over the states. It resulted from an issue regarding carrying handguns to school but ended up with a clear establishment of where congress held power in states. The supreme court ruled that congress could not regulate social activity but only issues regarding channels of interstate commerce, people involved in interstate commerce, or issue that have a big effect on interstate commerce. This gave the states greater control over social issues and their schools and decreased the power of the national government.
b) Devolution is the practice of transferring power from the national government to state governments. This came into play in the Welfare Act passed under the Clinton Administration that changed welfare from an entitlement, which involves unlimited federal spending, to a block grant, a set amount of money given to each state to deal with as they see fit. Devolution allows states to have greater control over their affairs and forces the national government into a more hands-off approach.
b) Preemption is the practice congress follows that states that state or local laws are invalid when they conflict with federal laws. This practice was exercised when No Child Left Behind was passed in that education is usually left up to the states but national standards were imposed on all public schools regardless of existing state education laws. This gives the national government ultimate power over state governments in that they can override all local laws with their own laws. The state governments essentially answer to the federal government.
2) a) U.S. v Lopez was a supreme court decision that limited the power of congress over the states. It resulted from an issue regarding carrying handguns to school but ended up with a clear establishment of where congress held power in states. The supreme court ruled that congress could not regulate social activity but only issues regarding channels of interstate commerce, people involved in interstate commerce, or issue that have a big effect on interstate commerce. This gave the states greater control over social issues and their schools and decreased the power of the national government.
b) Devolution is the practice of transferring power from the national government to state governments. This came into play in the Welfare Act passed under the Clinton Administration that changed welfare from an entitlement, which involves unlimited federal spending, to a block grant, a set amount of money given to each state to deal with as they see fit. Devolution allows states to have greater control over their affairs and forces the national government into a more hands-off approach.
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