Revision & Exam Practice for the “legacy” A Level qualifications including:

• Edexcel (Unit 3C – Representative Processes in the USA, Unit 4C – Governing the USA)
• AQA (Unit 3A – The Politics of the USA, Unit 4A – The Government of the USA)
• OCR (F855 – US Government & Politics)

REVISE THE US CONGRESS

How to use these questions for revision and exam practice:

1. For short-answer questions, write a 3 paragraph response using the PEEACH paragraph structure (P=point, E=evidence, E=explain, A=argument, C=counter argument, H=how does this answer the question?)
2. Once you have completed your question, read the indicative content and the mark scheme.
3. Complete the “Make It Better” (MIB) Task:
   1. Highlight the parts of the indicative content your were able to fully explain and exemplify in green.
   2. Highlight the parts of the indicative content you partially explained and/or exemplified in yellow.
   3. Highlight the parts of the indicative content which you did not include in red.
4. Using the mark scheme, award yourself a level and a mark – compare this to your target grade – are you on track to achieve this in the examination?
5. There is also a space for you to add additional notes and/or examples that don’t appear in the indicative content, or add better explanations, or include additional, points from the indicative content.

Assess the significance of the exclusive powers of the Senate. (15)

Indicative Content

Candidates should comment on the significance of the exclusive powers of the Senate, and can achieve the full range of marks solely through this approach. They will also be rewarded if they choose to comment on the significance of these powers relative to the powers they share with the House or the House’s exclusive powers.

The exclusive powers of the Senate are:

 confirmation of presidential appointments – especially significant in relation to Supreme Court nominations; few are rejected but the need to gain a Senate majority will be an important factor in the president’s choice, especially if the Senate is controlled by the opposing party to his own

 treaty ratification – most treaties are ratified but the need for a 2/3 majority and consequently for some degree of bipartisan support will influence the president’s negotiations

 conduct trial / deliver verdict in impeachment proceedings – only rarely required but obviously highly significant when it is

 election of vice-president if no majority in the Electoral College – very rarely used

 the filibuster – increasingly used and significant; any remotely contentious legislation is now likely to be filibustered by the minority party, meaning that 60 votes are required for it to advance