Though individual senators are perceived as more powerful than ...

[ssal]

Though individual senators are perceived as more powerful than their House counterparts, the chairperson of the Senate, that is, the __________, is decidedly less powerful than the Speaker of the House.
 
  Fill in the blank with the right word.

Question 2

Evaluate the successes and failures of the two parties in Congress.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[xiaomengxian]

Answer to Question 1

Answer: majority leader

Answer to Question 2

Answer:
An ideal response will:
1. Note that for 40 years (1954-1994) Democrats enjoyed an advantage in congressional races, and the Democratic Party was even said to have a permanent majority in the House of Representatives; outline the reasons for this dominance.
2. Describe the sweeping Republican victory of 1994 and conservatives' hopes of a revolution in public policy due to the GOP's newly gained control of both houses.
3. Recognize that the congressional elections of 2000 reflected the close partisan division of the nation, with Republicans barely holding on to their majority in the House and producing a 50-50 tie in the Senate; describe the effects of the September 11, 2001, attacks as well as the one major act of bipartisanship, the Trouble Assets Recovery Program (TARP) in 2008.
4. Note that even with the election of Democratic president Barack Obama and a Democrat majority in the Senate, it took 18 months to pass the health care reform.
5. Explain why voters were frustrated in 2010 and the Republican rebound in Congress.
6. Outline the results of the 2012 elections and analyze which party seems to be gaining more control in Washington.
7. Offer a substantiated opinion as to whether the era of close majorities is continuing or whether the Republicans have been able to prolong their rebound.