The Legislative Branch
This term refers to increasing ideological distance between the two parties in Congress.
What is polarization?
This type of presidential directive carries the weight of law without needing congressional approval.
What is an executive order?
In the ideological composition chart, the decreasing number of members in the overlapping middle indicates this political phenomenon.
What is declining moderates / party overlap?
According to the ideological composition chart (1982–2012), this consequence becomes more likely as the ideological overlap between parties disappears.
What is increased gridlock?
This president issued the most executive orders since 1945, according to the chart.
Who is Harry Truman? (907 orders)
The Tom Price confirmation graphic demonstrates that a nominee needs at least this many Senate votes.
What is 51 votes?
The House of Representatives is responsible for this key function that begins the law-making process.
What is introducing bills?
The chart showing totals since 1945 illustrates that this party has used more executive orders overall.
Who are Democrats? (2,406 to 1,837)
The executive order bar graph uses this visual element to distinguish between Republican and Democratic presidents.
What are different shading/gray-scale patterns?
This chamber votes to confirm presidential nominees, as shown in the Tom Price graphic.
What is the Senate?
This president, shown in the chart, issued the fewest executive orders between 1945 and 2016.
Who is George H.W. Bush? (166 orders)
A decrease in ideological overlap, as shown from 344 overlapping members in 1982 to just 11 in 2012, most likely results in this change in the lawmaking process.
What is less compromise / more gridlock?
A highly partisan vote like the 52–45 confirmation shown in the Senate graphic reflects this broader trend in Congress.
What is increased party-line voting?
According to the information graphic, the use of executive orders over time most clearly supports this trend since 1945.
What is that the use of executive orders has generally increased over time?
The pie chart showing total executive orders by party since 1945 best supports which generalization?
What is that Democrats have historically relied more heavily on executive orders?