Suchergebnisse

Die Verabschiedung des Gesetzes über die permanente Normalisierung der Handelsbeziehungen mit der VR China im Jahre 2000 kann als die kontroverseste handelspolitische Entscheidung des Kongresses seit den frühen 1990er Jahren gelten. Michael Kolkmann zeichnet den parlamentarischen Prozess in den beiden Kammern des US-Kongresses nach und bezieht weitere Akteure wie den amerikanischen Präsidenten, Wirtschaftsunternehmen und -verbände, Gewerkschaften und Menscherechtsgruppen mit ein. Abschließend formuliert der Autor Kriterien, die die Verabschiedung des PNTR-Gesetzes begünstigt haben und auch in Zukunft handelspolitische Vorlagen im Kongress begünstigen könnten

The 2022 Congressional elections have ended with ambivalent results . Typically, the party of the governing president loses seats in midterm elections, sometimes several dozens . In this regard, President Joe Biden and his party managed to achieve a surprisingly good result . While his Democrats lost their narrow majority to Republicans in the U .S . House of Rep- resentatives, they succeeded in keeping their equally narrow majority in the U .S . Senate . In the 118th Congress, Washington will be dominated by "divided government", meaning one party has control over the House and the other party dominates the Senate and the White House . In regard to its composition, the new Congress is more diverse than ever . The elec- tion of Republican Kevin McCarthy as new speaker after 15 ballots indicates that, due to its heterogenous membership, it will be very hard in the upcoming two years to secure majori- ties for far reaching legislative projects . Republicans have already announced that they will focus on investigating various policy areas of the Biden administration as well as the presi- dent and his family himself . After last year's midterm election, all eyes will be on the con- gressional and presidential elections of 2024 which will overshadow current political devel- opments in the United States .

The 2020 US elections ended with quite some success of the Democrats. They did not only bring a Democrat to the White House but managed to keep their majority in the House of Representatives; however, the widely expected "blue wave" of huge Democratic wins did not materialize. In the Senate, following the two special elections in Georgia, each party claims 50 seats. In case of a tie, Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the tie-breaking vote. For the first time since President Barack Obama's first years in office, Democrats can claim a "unified government" in Washington. The 2020 election was in many ways influenced by the COVID-19-pandemic. The opening session of the 117th Congress was overshadowed by the riot on Capitol Hill on January 6th, 2021 and by President Donald Trump's second Impeachment trial. As always, the re-election rate of Congressional incumbents was remarkably high. The current Congress is once again much more diverse in terms of its membership than previous Congresses. It remains an interesting question whether the process of "parliamentarization" will continue. The results of the 2022 midterm election will mainly depend on substantial legislative accomplishments of the Biden Administration and its Congressional counterparts in the upcoming year and a half.

The 2018 Congressional elections ended with an ambivalent result for both the Democrats and Republicans . The turnout recorded the best result in almost a century . The Democrats were able to recapture a significant majority in the U .S . House of Representatives by winning particularly among white and female voters while solidifying their support among Democrats-leaning groups like African-Americans and Hispanics . The Republicans were not only able to defend their slim majority in the U .S . Senate but even increased their majority by two seats . The current 116th Congress, especially the House of Representatives, represents the most diverse make-up in history . At the same time, it is one of the politically least experienced . Under the current conditions of divided government an intensified confrontation between the Democrats in the House of Representatives and President Trump can be expected . Moreover, the forthcoming 2020 presidential election already casts its shadows . [ZParl, vol . 50 (2019), no . 4, pp . 810 - 829]