1. Part 2 - Political Assemblies (Legislature)
Political Systems
Part 2 - Political Assemblies (Legislature)

2. Political Assemblies in USA

3. U.S. Congress (US Legislature)
The constitution gives Congress an important role
It has authority over finance
It has exclusive power to declare war
It has the power to admit new states into the USA

4. Upper House - The Senate
The Senate is the Upper chamber in the US Congress, but unlike the UK House of Lords members of this chamber ARE ELECTED. Each state has 2 senators who serve 6 year terms. 50 states = 100 senators Not all senators are elected at the same time. Roughly 1/3rd of senators come up for re-election every two years.

5. Primary responsibility of the Senate is over long-term issues e. g
Primary responsibility of the Senate is over long-term issues e.g. monitoring executive decisions that have lasting consequences (treaties, appointments)

6. The Vice President of the USA (Joe Biden until January 2017, now Mike Pence) is the presiding officer of the Senate. The VP is not a senator so not allowed a vote, unless there is a tie.
Senate has excusive powers – i.e. President must seek ‘consent’ of senate to make important appointments, e.g. supreme court judges etc. It also has sole power to confirm Cabinet posts
VP Mike Pence Tie Break Vote

7. Lower House - The House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the US equivalent of the House of Commons
It has 435 members – (elected for 2 year terms) called ‘congressmen’ ‘congresswomen’ or ‘representatives’
Each congressman/woman represents a congressional district - these are based on population – so the more people living in your state the more congressmen you get!

8. The state of Michigan currently elects 14 members of the House of Reps, based on population. There are currently 9 Republican Reps and 5 Democrats.
North Dakota –due to its low population size - has just 1 congressional district and therefore just one member of the House of Reps. Currently Kevin Cramer of the Republican Party.

9. 7 states have only one congressman –Vermont for example
Whereas California has 53 representatives as it has the largest population of any state.
The House is led by Speaker of the House (currently Paul Ryan – Republican, who has announced that he will not seek re-election in Nov 2018.)
Current makeup of the House:
236 Republicans
193 Democrats
6 vacant seats (will be filled in November 2018)
Primary responsibility of the House is managing the economy e.g. all proposals involving taxes and how revenue is spent considered in the House first
What does the Speaker of the House do?

10. Bonus Fact: if both the President and the VP are incapacitated then the Speaker of the House if the next line for the Presidency.

11. Task…
Can you think of differences between the UK and US assemblies in terms of representation????
Bonus: West Wing - What happens when the President & Vice President cannot rule!