1. Identify the branch of government who holds each power.
Introduces laws
Legislative
Declares laws unconstitutional
Judicial
Signs bills into law
Executive
Coins money
Nominates Supreme Court justices
Declares war
Vetoes bills
Interprets/Makes meaning of laws
Serves as commander-in-chief of the army and navy
Issues a pardon
Overrides a presidential veto
Borrows money on behalf of the US
Makes treaties
Impeaches/removes the president
Power
Branch
Introduces laws
Declares laws unconstitutional
Signs bills into law
Coins money
Nominates Supreme Court justices
Declares war
Vetoes bills
Interprets/Makes meaning of laws
Serves as commander-in-chief of the army and navy
Issues a pardon
Overrides a presidential veto
Borrows money on behalf of the US
Makes treaties
Impeaches/removes the president
Identify the branch of government who holds each power.

2. Enquiry Question: How powerful is Congress?

3. Learning Outcomes
To evaluate the extent to which Congress is still a powerful body

4. Which branch of government is the most powerful?
YOUR TASK:
You will work in three groups, with each of you playing the role of a branch of government.
Familiarise yourself with the powers for your branch and read the directions for part one.
You have 10 minutes to prepare the role playing scenario.
You need to brain storm the actions that you can take to accomplish your goal.

5. Which branch of government is the most powerful?
YOUR TASK:
Having prepared your scenarios, you need to present your idea to the other branches of government.
Begin by having the executive branch present their scenario, including their goal and the actions they plan to take in order to accomplish this.
Repeat this step for the legislative and judicial branches.

6. Which branch of government is the most powerful?
YOUR TASK:
You have 15 minutes to brain storm how you would prevent the other two branches of government from accomplishing their goals through checking their powers.
You need to identify at least three specific actions you would take.

7. Which branch of government is the most powerful?
YOUR TASK:
As the three branches, you need to explain how you would attempt to prevent the other branches accomplishing their goals.
Start with the executive branch,.
Repeat for the legislative and judicial branches.

8. Despite the checks and balances, is there one branch that is more powerful than the others?
How did the separation of powers and checks and balances make it difficult for a single branch of government to abuse its power?

9. Is Congress the Broken Branch?
YOUR TASK:
Working in pairs, one of you will read the article “Is Congress the broken branch?”
The other will read the article “The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track”
Highlight and annotate your article to show how your knowledge and understanding both supports and challenges the arguments in the text.
Use the app “Scannable” to take a photo of both your article and your partners (this app will automatically convert the image to a pdf you can print and add to your folder).

10. Learning Checkpoint: Contributing to the wider debate
Is Congress the broken branch?

11. ‘Congress has become the least powerful branch of government.’ Discuss. (45)

12. ‘Congress has become the least powerful branch of government.’ Discuss. (45)
Evidence that Congress does not retain its political power includes:
ability of the president to set the domestic agenda and circumvent Congress through executive orders and recess appointments
ability of the president to set the tone and direction of foreign policy, and to deploy armed forces without congressional approval
ability of the Supreme Court to strike down congressional legislation
complicated legislative process means far more laws are rejected than passed
parochialism makes Congress often incapable of acting in a coordinated way
Congress has the lowest public approval ratings of the three branches of government

13. ‘Congress has become the least powerful branch of government.’ Discuss. (45)
Evidence that Congress remains a powerful body includes:
continued dependence of the president on Congress for all legislation and money
continued dependence of the president on Congress for all appointment confirmation and treaty ratification
continued ability of Congress to override presidential vetoes
sometime willingness of Congress to set the policy agenda, e.g. the ‘Contract with America’

14. This is a very typical mid-Level 2 answer.
‘Congress has become the least powerful branch of government.’ Discuss. (45)
YOUR TASK:
Read the sample answer to this exam question.
Annotate the answer as a teacher would, for example focusing on accuracy, structure, examples and written expression.
Use the mark scheme to award a level and a mark.
Write a brief justification for your mark to this student.
What were the strengths of this answer?
How could this answer be improved?
This is a very typical mid-Level 2 answer.
There are four valid points and some degree of explanation and development.
On the debit side, there are very few examples; there is a lack of clarity in places and the candidate wastes time with their introduction and definition of an interest group.
It was awarded 9 marks.

15. Examiner Advice YOUR TASK: Read the examiner advice for this question.
EXAMINER FEEDBACK:
“This is another very good answer. The argument is cogently developed, and there is the sense that the candidate is in charge of their material throughout. In the section on the president in particular there is some excellent supporting detail. If it has a weakness, the treatment of the two branches is a little unbalanced, and ideally there would be a bit more on the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, a really good answer and worth 36 marks.”
YOUR TASK:
Read the examiner advice for this question.
Read the sample answer and complete your marks and feedback to this student.
We will compare your feedback to the feedback from the examiner.

16. Learning Outcomes
To evaluate the extent to which Congress is still a powerful body

17. Plenary; Contributing to the wider debate
Who is more powerful; Congress or the President? Watch the video clip.
Is Congress more powerful than the president?

18. Homework
Application Task: ‘Congress has become the least powerful branch of government.’ Discuss. (45) Flipped Learning Preparation Task: Revision in preparation for end of topic test Stretch & Challenge Task Attempt one (or more!?) of the example exam questions….OR examine the SAMPLE ANSWER: To what extent can Congress be considered the “broken branch” of American government?

19. 15 mark questions:
Assess the significance of the exclusive powers of the Senate. (15)
To what extent are parties the most significant influence on voting in Congress?
Explain the key factors that affect the relationship between the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Why could the Senate be regarded as superior in status and power to the House of Representatives?
Does the House of Representatives carry out its representative role more effectively than the Senate?
45 mark questions:
‘Members of Congress are more concerned with local issues than with national or international issues.’ Discuss.
‘Members of Congress are out of touch with the people who elect them.’ Discuss.
To what extent does Congress still have a meaningful foreign policy role?
To what extent does Congress remain a powerful body?
The main problem with Congress is the lack of effective leadership.’ Discuss.