How is Congress structured, what powers does it hold, and how effective is it?
Congress: the structure and powers of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the legislative process, the committee system, and how effectively Congress legislates and checks the President.
A WJEC A2 Unit 4 study of Congress: the composition and powers of the House and Senate, the legislative process and the role of committees, the checks Congress holds over the President, and debates about gridlock and the effectiveness of Congress.
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What this dot point is asking
This WJEC A2 topic asks you to explain the structure and powers of Congress and to evaluate how effectively it legislates and checks the President. You need the composition and powers of the House and Senate, the legislative process, the committee system, and the debate over partisanship and gridlock.
The answer
The structure of Congress
The equal representation of states in the Senate and population-based representation in the House reflect the Founders' compromise between large and small states.
The powers of Congress
Congress holds extensive powers: making law, the power of the purse (controlling federal spending and taxation), declaring war, regulating commerce, and oversight of the executive through investigations. The Senate has distinctive powers: confirming senior executive and judicial appointments, ratifying treaties (by a two-thirds majority), and trying impeachments brought by the House.
The legislative process and committees
Passing a law is deliberately hard: a bill must clear committees in both chambers, pass both the House and Senate in identical form, survive the Senate filibuster, and avoid a presidential veto (which Congress can override only with a two-thirds majority in both chambers).
How effective is Congress?
The central debates concern legislative effectiveness and the check on the President. Congress is a powerful check: it controls funding, can override vetoes, confirms appointments and can impeach, and these checks are sharpest under divided government. But its effectiveness is limited by partisanship (members may back a President of their own party), the President's use of executive orders and other unilateral tools, gridlock that can paralyse law-making, and presidential dominance of foreign policy.
Examples in context
Why divided government matters. The effectiveness of Congress as a check on the President depends heavily on which party controls each branch. When the President's party also controls both chambers (unified government), party loyalty can lead Congress to support the President and use its checks sparingly, so oversight weakens. When the opposition controls one or both chambers (divided government), Congress can use the power of the purse, block appointments, launch investigations and refuse to pass the President's programme, making the checks bite hard. This is why a strong essay argues that the strength of congressional checks is contingent on the partisan balance, not fixed by the Constitution alone.
Try this
Q1. How many members sit in the House of Representatives and the Senate? [2 marks]
- Cue. 435 in the House (by state population) and 100 in the Senate (two per state).
Q2. Name two powers unique to the Senate. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two of confirming appointments, ratifying treaties, and trying impeachments.
Q3. To what extent is Congress an effective check on the President? [25 marks]
- What the marker wants. A judgement weighing the power of the purse, override and oversight against partisanship, executive orders and gridlock.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC A2 Unit 410 marksExplain the main powers of the US Senate.Show worked answer →
A short-answer question testing AO1 knowledge of Congress.
The Senate's powers include: passing legislation jointly with the House, confirming senior executive and judicial appointments (including Supreme Court justices), ratifying treaties by a two-thirds majority, and trying impeachments brought by the House. Each state has two senators regardless of population, and the Senate is often seen as the more prestigious chamber.
The best answers identify powers unique to the Senate (confirmation, treaty ratification, impeachment trials) as well as the shared legislative power, rather than treating both chambers as identical.
WJEC A2 Unit 420 marksTo what extent is Congress an effective check on the President?Show worked answer →
An extended evaluation requiring a balanced judgement.
Case for effectiveness: Congress controls funding, can override vetoes, confirms appointments, ratifies treaties, conducts investigations and can impeach; divided government strengthens these checks.
Case for weakness: party loyalty can lead Congress to support a President of its own party; presidents use executive orders and other unilateral tools; gridlock can paralyse Congress; and the President often dominates foreign policy.
The top band weighs the formal checks against partisanship, presidential tools and gridlock, and reaches a supported judgement.
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