a.) Describe one advantage that the majority party in the House and/or Senate has in lawmaking, above and beyond the numerical advantage that the majority party enjoys in floor voting.
- With great power comes great responsibility. This being said, the fact that the majority party has as its name says, the majority, the group is able to control the debate, or control the way its run. The party is able to choose the leader, known as the Speaker of the House. The speaker of the House is the man in charge of everything.
(b) Describe one difference between House and Senate rules that may make it likely that legislation may pass in one chamber but not the other.
- In the Senate, rules are relatively lax. There aren't many strict ideas or procedures that need to be followed during a debate. This being said, congressmen who oppose a bill presented by someone of the opposite party have an unlimited time to debate the bill, basically kill it. This is known as a filabuster. However, in the House, meetings are taken much more seriously. Debates are brought to a complete end once they're done. This being said, once the discussion concerning a bill has been finished, members can not go back to discussing it. There is much more order in the House. Once arguments have been heard, a decision is made and the group moves on. (Unless there are special circumstances, in which case the group has more time to debate)
(c) Explain how the difference identified in (b) can lead to the passage of a bill in one chamber but not the other.
- Basically, if a filabuster occurs in the Senate, the debate can take almost four times as long to pass than if it were in the House. The more relaxed rules of the Senate allows for more time of discussion, meaning there's more time for allowed procrastination. Thus, bills have the potential to take longer to pass in one chamber, but in the other not so much.
