Fiche de révision : Les élections de mi-mandat américaines

📋 Plan du Cours

1. Fonctionnement des élections de mi-mandat
2. Organisation du Congrès américain
3. Enjeux politiques des midterms
4. Vocabulaire politique britannique et américain

📖 1. Fonctionnement des élections de mi-mandat

🔑 Notions clés & Définitions

• Midterm elections : elections for Congress held two years after a presidential election, halfway through the president’s four-year term

★ À maîtriser

• The next U.S. midterm elections will take place on November 3, 2026.

Compléments

• The two main political parties in the United States are the Democrats and the Republicans.

💡 Astuce mémo

Élection présidentielle → deux ans → élections de mi-mandat

📖 2. Organisation du Congrès américain

🔑 Notions clés & Définitions

• Congress : the legislative branch of the U.S. government and is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives

★ À maîtriser

• Congress has 535 seats in total: 435 voting members in the House of Representatives and 100 members in the Senate.

📌 Representatives are elected for a two-year term, and all the seats in the House of Representatives are up for election every two years.

📌 Senators are elected for a six-year term, and only one third of the Senate seats are usually up for election every two years.

Compléments

• There are two senators from each state.

💡 Astuce mémo

House of Representatives : 435 sièges ; Senate : 100 sièges

📖 3. Enjeux politiques des midterms

★ À maîtriser

• Midterm results can change which party has a majority in the House and/or the Senate, affecting how easily the President can implement their political agenda.

• Congress makes laws and plays an important role in approving the federal budget.

Compléments

• The campaign is shaped by these issues:

  • high inflation
  • disappointing job numbers
  • a trade war with Canada
  • cracks in the MAGA sphere
  • declining poll numbers

• The main issues at stake are:

  • the economy
  • trade and foreign policy
  • a referendum on the president
  • the health of democracy
  • campaign strategy

• The Congress could flip to the Democrats, who expect to win back both chambers.

💡 Astuce mémo

Résultats des midterms → majorité au Congrès → agenda présidentiel facilité ou bloqué

📖 4. Vocabulaire politique britannique et américain

🔑 Notions clés & Définitions

• Political vocabulary : Political vocabulary includes president, head of state, Prime Minister, leader of the government, political party, policy, House of Commons, House of Lords, environmentalists, elect, vote, and tax.
• Political positions : People with socialist views are on the left, while people with conservative views are on the right.
• Member of Parliament : a person who sits in a parliament and is abbreviated MP
• Government actions : To elect means to choose someone for public office by voting, to vote means to express a choice in an election, and to sack means to dismiss an employee.
• Political institutions : The House of Commons is the lower house of the UK Parliament, the House of Lords is the upper house, and Number 10 Downing Street is the UK Prime Minister’s residence.

📝 Points essentiels

• Tony Blair was Labour leader from 1997 to 2007, and British women won the right to vote in 1918.

📊 Tableaux de synthèse

Les deux chambres du Congrès