chapter 9 govt
Which of the following are accurate regarding the leadership positions in the Senate and House?
---The majority leader in the Senate holds a higher position of power than does the majority leader in the House. ---The House has more party leadership positions than does the Senate. FEEDBACK: In the House, the majority leader is a subordinate position to that of the Speaker, which holds the most power.
How does the presidential veto influence legislation?
--Members of Congress are less likely to pass bills the president objects to. --Members of Congress may adjust the bill to suit the president's preferences.
•Pocket veto
Occurs when there are less than 10 days left in the congressional calendar •If the president does not sign the bill into law then, it dies.
In Shelby County v. Holder, the------------was weakened when it was decided that the----------- no longer had to validate a state's redistricting plan if that state had a history of racial discrimination.
Voting Rights Act Department of Justice
Other tools that party leaders have at their disposal
Whip system: whips take polls of all members to learn their intentions on bills.•Helps party leaders know whether they have enough support to allow a vote or need additional time to put pressure on undecided members.•
•Many bills are simply allowed to
"die in committee," without serious consideration.•In a typical session, 80-90 percent of the roughly 10,000 bills that are introduced die in committee.
•Only the House can introduce
"money bills."
Drawing of House districts•District lines are often drawn to create
"safe" districts (in which one party's candidate has a large advantage).
The Constitution provides for a bicameral legislature
(two chambers in Congress):House and Senate.•
Choose all of the following ways in which the House Ways and Means Committee, a standing committee, is comparable to the joint committee that deals with taxation.
----Both have chairpersons usually chosen based on seniority. ----They are both permanent committees.
Why is party unity voting in the House typically higher than party unity voting in the Senate?
---The House party leadership has control over access to the floor, but Senate party leadership does not. ---Senate party leadership does not have as much influence over its members as does House leadership.
example of sociological representation
an african american woman votes for an african american congressional candidate of similar age who is then elected FEEDBACK:The voter and the representative are very similar in many demographic and experience characteristics, which creates sociological representation.
•If the president does not act while Congress is in session, the bill
becomes law.
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Debate Is Less Restricted in the Senate Virtually all the time allotted for debate on a given bill is controlled by the
bill's sponsors and its leading opponent.•
Which type of bills can be introduced only in the House of Representatives?
bills involving the spending or raising of revenues FEEDBACK: Although bills can begin in either chamber, the Constitution dictates that "money bills," or those involving the spending or raising of revenues, can only be introduced in the House.
For a bill to become law, the same wording of the bill must be passed by
both chambers of Congress.•The conference committee handles this.•It writes the final wording when both the House and Senate pass similar bills that need to be reconciled.
How is a chair chosen for each of the committees in Congress?
by seniority with occasional exceptions on new policy FEEDBACK:The seniority principal is sometimes violated by both Republicans and Democrats when leaders want to try a new policy.
The Organization of Congress: The Committee System•Party leadership determines
committee assignments.•The committee system comprises•Standing committees•Select committees•Joint committees•Conference committees
When control of Congress is divided, each party has representation in
conference committees.•However, that is not the case when a single party controls both the House and Senate.•In 2003, Democrats complained that the Republicans took this to the extreme by excluding them on major laws.•In 2007, Democrats returned to power and largely bypassed conference committees.•The began making closed-door agreements between top leaders in the House and Senate.
Which of the following statements about Congress's oversight capacity is accurate?
congressional committees may investigate a program and choose to change or eliminate it FEEDBACK:Changing or eliminating a program is among the possible results of oversight by congressional committees.
what are external sources of influence on congressional policies?
constituency concerns interest group coalitions
Apportionment: occurs after every
decennial census, which allocates congressional seats among the 50 states•
Which of the following statements about what congressional staff do are accurate?
develop policy proposals draft legislation organize hearings negotiate with lobbyists
•Congress placed a moratorium on
earmarks in 2011.•In 2018, President Trump suggested that Congress should consider restoring earmarks in order to "grease" the legislative wheels.
House
elected by people of the district •
•Senators serve more diverse constituencies.•They better serve
interests organized on a statewide or national basis.
•Legislation rarely comes to the floor unless
it is certain to pass.•
Which of the following statements about the nature of party unity in voting is accurate?
it remains common for the majority of one party to oppose the majority of the other party on most issues FEEDBACK Although party unity has decreased substantially over the last century, it is still common to find at least a majority of Democrats opposing a majority of Republicans on any given issue.
Speaker of the House:
leader of the majority party•Chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives•Has the most influence over the legislative process
•House members are more aware to the
legislative needs of local interest groups.
Logrolling: a means by which
legislators with nothing in common trade support, effectively saying to each other, "You support me on bill X, and I'll support you on bill Y."•
Senators Potter and Granger have little in common in terms of policy or politics, but Senator Potter agrees to vote for Senator Granger's bill if, in exchange, Senator Granger supports Senator Potter's legislation. This is an example of a practice known as ________. Type an answer
logrolling FEEDBACK:Logrolling is one of the ways that Congress gets work done in a modern, hyperpartisan world.
The Organization of Congress: The Senate•Parties in the Senate•The senator with the greatest seniority in the majority party is designated as the president pro tempore.•The position is primarily ceremonial.•The real power lies with the
majority leader and the minority leader.•They control the Senate's calendar and the agenda for legislation.
•The parties also elect other important leaders.•Majority leader•Elected by the
majority party; second in leadership after the Speaker
•Joint committees•Formed from
members of both Senate and House•Four such committees•Economic, taxation, library, and printing•permanent but cannot present legislation •Gather information•Cover issues internal to Congress
•Pork barrel legislation (or pork)•This involves
money spent for local projects that are often not needed but are intended to help legislators get re-elected.•
How Congress Decides: Influencing Factors•Many factors influence members of Congress when they vote on legislation.•Constituents are the
most important.•
Which statement best describes the relationship between how members of Congress vote and the preferences of their constituencies?
most members try to anticipate their constituents' policy views
Senate
originally elected by state legislatures; today elected by people of the state
Once a bill clears one chamber it is sent to the
other chamber, where the process starts over.•
Direct Patronage•Benefits to constituents•Patronage•Resources are available to officials to provide to supporters.•This includes
partisan appointments to offices and the conferral of grants, licenses, and special favors.
Presidency: The president's support is a major criterion for party loyalty, and is used by
party leaders to rally support.Partisanship in Congress•
In conference committee, the bill must be reconciled and then
passed by a vote of the full House and Senate or it will die.•
•Constituency
residents in the area from which an official is elected•
Congress Represents the American People•Members of Congress must be
responsive to their constituents.
In either chamber, after the bill passes committee, it goes to--------------------- Later, after a Hearings Committee markup, in the House it goes to the--------- and in the Senate it goes to the-----------------
subcommittee. Rules Committee, majority leader.
•A bill is assigned to a committee, which typically refers it to a
subcommittee.•
Filibuster
tactic to prevent action on legislation by holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down
If a member of Congress chooses to vote against his or her party, what can the party do to sanction that member?
take away access to leadership PAC funds take away access to speak on the floor FEEDBACK: Both Democrats and Republicans give favorable committee assignments to new members as a means of encouraging long-term loyalty. However, they cannot be taken from them if they later balk at party discipline.
•Conference committees•Temporary committees•Members are appointed by
the Speaker of House and the presiding officer of the Senate.•
How does the leadership's control of floor debate in the House differ from the leadership's control of floor debate in the Senate?
the house minority leader on a committee could decide to grant a member only 30 minutes to speak on the bill in the senate the leadership could not limit the speakers time to 30 minutes
Which of the following was a new restriction on lobbying, enacted in 2007?
the individual contributors to a bundled donation by lobbyists will now have to be disclosed FEEDBACK:Bundling became more transparent as a result of the 2007 law, but with the impact of Citizens United in campaign finance, the process of bundling has become less common.
How has impeachment been influenced by constitutional language in U.S. history?
the vague HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS clause has allowed the process to be used for political reasons. FEEDBACK:High crimes and misdemeanors has sometimes been read by the House to mean whatever it prefers, leading to the use of politically charged impeachment
Different constituencies in the U.S. House and Senate •Senators usually represent much larger and more diverse constituencies than
their House counterparts.
How are each congressional party's leaders chosen?
they are selected by the party's members FEEDBACK:The fact that party members choose their own leaders is important because it means that leaders are not given tools to constrain their members' actions.
House members seek re-election every
two years and
•Vetoes are overridden by a
two-thirds vote in each chamber.
House
two-year term; must be at least 25 years old •
.•Interest groups may also play a role.•Can supply legislators with
very detailed information and data about pending bills; can also make sizable donations
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Voting•After the debate ends, leaders schedule a
vote on floor.
Apportionment and Redistricting•Apportionment can also affect who
wins a seat in the House of Representatives
•Social characteristics of members of Congress
•African Americans, women, Latinos, and Asian Americans have increased their numbers in Congress.•All have had major gains in the last two decades, but for most of American history, these groups had no representation.•Even now, their representation is not comparable to the proportions in the general population.•
Organization of Congress: Committees•Standing committees•Permanent committees in Congress
•Have power to propose and write legislation•Standing committees cover a particular subject matter.•Examples: Agriculture, Armed Services, Energy and Commerce, Ethics•The most important standing committees are in charge of finances: the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees.
.•Agency representation
•Representatives can be hired or fired by their constituents.•This creates an electoral incentive to act on constituent interests.
: The President•Presidential action•The president has
10 days to either sign or veto a law.
.•Apportionment and redistricting: done every
10 years•
•Senate
100 members, two from each state•
House
435 members
How many senators are needed to carry out the each of the following pass a bill overturn presidential veto invoke cloture
51 FEEDBACK:While stopping a filibuster requires a supermajority, passing the bill itself still only requires a simple majority. 67 FEEDBACK:Overriding a presidential veto requires two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate. 60 FEEDBACK:Cloture is the process that ends a filibuster and requires 60 votes or three-fifths of the Senate.
pork-barrel legislationq
A congressman inserts language into a bill that builds a bridge with federal money. FEEDBACK:While earmarks have become more difficult in the modern Congress, they are still an important tool for getting votes. Several representatives earmark money in an economic stimulus bill for projects in their district.
standing committee
A permanent committee established in a legislature, usually focusing on a policy area Standing committees have permanent control over a particular subject area and overall constitute the most important sources of policy making. typically match issue focus of an executive branch agency
How a Bill Becomes a Law•What is a bill?
A proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to clerk of House or Senate
Why is it so rare for a bill to be defeated in the floor vote in the House or Senate?
Although rare surprises do happen, for the most part leaders are very good at determining whether they have enough support for passage before calling a vote.
•Appropriations:
Amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes that each unit or agency can spend
The legal profession is the dominant career of most members of
Congress prior to their election.
The Electoral Connection Hinges on Incumbency•Two major factors affect who gets elected.•Incumbency advantage
Constituency services; a war chest of money; being well liked and well known, which can intimidate potential challengers•Some people argue that term limits are the only way to get new faces into Congress.•
conference committee
Each conference committee contains members from both chambers, appointed by the leading officers in each body for the purposes of resolving differences between bills passed in the House and Senate.
Contrast the roles that the House and Senate play in the impeachment and conviction process by matching the action to the proper chamber.
HOUSE -charges an individual with "Treason, Bribery, or other ---high Crimes and Misdemeanors" -initiates the impeachment process -involves a vote requiring a simple majority SENATE -involves a vote requiring a two-thirds majority -Correct label:convicts or acquits the individual charged
Choose all of the following ways in which party unity in the House differs from party unity in the Senate.
HOUSE Party unity is typically greater in the House. Whip action in the House plays a more crucial role than in the Senate. SENATE Senate leadership has fewer formal tools to gain loyalty from members than does House leadership.
Match each of the following procedural steps to its appropriate chamber, indicating whether it occurs exclusively in the House, the Senate, or both.
HOUSE AND SENATE -----A bill may die in committee in either chamber of Congress, a process in which the committee chooses not to give consideration to the bill, and it is never reported to the floor. -----undergoes debate in subcommittee SENATE filibuster cloture vote---Cloture is used to end a filibuster, which occurs only in the Senate. HOUSE processing by Rules Committee---Only the House has a Rules Committee, which determines how a bill will be treated on the House floor.
•Staffers
Handle constituent requests and services•Formulate and draft legislative proposals•Organize hearings•Deal with administrative agencies•Negotiate with lobbyists
Direct Patronage: Constituency Service•Other types of direct patronage
Intervention with federal administrative agencies•Members of Congress spend large amounts of time helping constituents with government bureaucracy.•Examples: helping seniors with Social Security or Medicare issues•The use of private bills•Private bill: a proposal in Congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief (often involving citizenship)
Whip
Keeps a tally on how party members will vote on legislation; builds support for the leadership's agenda •Coordinates the party's legislative strategy
Congress Decides: Tools of Party Leaders•Tools party leaders have at their disposal
Leadership PACs: organizations members of Congress use to raise funds•These funds can then be distributed to other members of their party running for election.•Committee assignments: party leaders create debts among members by helping them get favorable committee assignments.•Access to the floor: party leaders control access to precious floor time, as thousands of bills await passage.
private bill
Private bills tend to be less contentious than many other things Congress does. -----A representative introduces a bill that grants citizenship to an immigrant so that she can attend a state university. -----A member of Congress writes a bill that exempts a constituent from Medicaid limits for one year.
Can Be Sociological or Agency•How do we know that representatives are actually speaking on our behalf?•Sociological representation
Representatives have the same racial, gender, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents
.•Classic logrolling
Republicans got more money for the military and Democrats got more money for domestic programs•Congress is more polarized today than at any time in the last century.
select committee
Select committees are formed to deal with a particular issue that no other committee is well-equipped to handle.
The------------- alone has the right to approve or deny the president's appointments of ------------- Approval for these nominees requires a ----------------
Senate federal judges. simple majority.
Advocates for term limits believe they are necessary to overcome the advantage of incumbency
Some states have such limits, and one of the unintended consequences is that it empowers legislative staff who stay around for far longer than the legislators themselves.
Rank the House leadership positions in level of power, starting with most powerful.
Speaker of the house house majority leader majority whip FEEDBACK:The majority whip is responsible for coordinating party strategy and counting votes.
Recent Congresses have been notable for their inability to pass laws.
The 114th, 113th, and 112th Congresses were the three least productive in modern history.•
Which of the following is a power granted to the Senate but not to the House?
The Constitution gives only the Senate the power to approve treaties negotiated by the president.
What makes the House Rules Committee so unique?
The Rules Committee does not process proposed legislation into official bills. There is no counterpart committee in the Senate. The Rules Committee focuses on procedural, rather than substantive, matters.
Which statements about the power to provide "advice and consent" are accurate?
The Senate rarely rejects the president's treaties and appointments. FEEDBACK:Despite the frequent gridlock in Washington, the Senate has traditionally supported presidential action. Senate opposition to presidential requests is low when both the Senate and White House are controlled by the same party. FEEDBACK: The rejection rate is lower when the same party controls the Senate and White House.
Senate:
The leadership has much less control over floor debate.•
joint committee
There are four permanent joint committees, all which lack the power to report legislation. Temporary joint committees are sometimes created.
Why might earmarks be a useful thing for a Congress?
They help promote compromise among members of Congress. They often support legitimate district projects. FEEDBACK---An earmark can provide an incentive for someone to support a project they would otherwise oppose Most earmarks bolstered public projects such as highway transportation or parks.
Redistricting
a process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives•Happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges to existing districts•Known as gerrymandering Redistricting Court Cases•Race and redistricting•Miller v. Johnson (1995)•The Court ruled that race could not be the predominant factor in creating electoral districts.•Shelby County v. Holder (2013)•The Court invalidated some sections of the Voting Rights Act.•It ended the requirement for Justice Department approval of redistricting plans of jurisdictions with history of racial discrimination.
The Organization of Congress: Committees, Part 2•Select committees•Formed temporarily to focus on
a specific issue•Cannot present bills to the chamber•Instead, hold hearings to investigate particular problems•Bring attention to issues that fall outside the jurisdictions of existing committees
•House members more effectively and frequently serve as
agents of interests with specific legislative agendas.•Example: used-car dealers seeking relief from regulation
Which of the following statements about the committee deliberation of a bill is accurate?
floor action on bills cannot proceed without deliberation by the committee that has jurisdiction FEEDBACK:Floor action must wait for the relevant committee to have all the time it requires to consider the bill and make changes.
Bills that are taken seriously are given a
hearing
.How a Bill Becomes a Law: Committees•Committee action Subcommittees may hold
hearings, listen to expert testimony, and amend proposed legislation.•
The full committee may accept the recommendations of the subcommittee or
hold its own hearings and prepare its own amendments.
Congress passes a new tax bill with only five days left in the session. The president has no intention of signing it and lets it quietly die on his desk, without Congress having a chance to override the president's decisions. This is an example of a(n)
pocket veto FEEDBACK:Pocket vetoes are somewhat rare as they can only occur during the last ten days of a congressional session.
The "earmark" is a common form of
pork-barreling.
If passed with the same wording, the bill is sent to the
president; if not, it goes to the conference committee.•
•Cloture
procedure to end the filibuster; requires approval of three-fifths of the Senate
What is the difference between a public bill and a private bill?
public bills apply to everyone in a jurisdiction FEEDBACK:The difference between a public bill and a private bill lies in its scope—private bills are for the purposes of providing relief for a specific person.
Seniority
ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee•
The clerk of the House or Senate goes through and calls out members' names alphabetically and then records their votes during a If, during that vote, more than 50 percent of one party vote yea or nay, we consider it a party
roll-call vote. unity vote. FEEDBACK:Roll-call votes are what interest groups build their ratings of members off of. Party unity votes have been increasingly common in Congress over the past 50 years.
Congressional----------committees were tasked with investigating Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair, and the Benghazi scandal.
select
•A bill is submitted by a
senator or representative to the clerk of the House or Senate.
•Within each committee, hierarchy is based on
seniority.•
senators seek re-election every
six years:
Senate
six-year term; must be at least 30 years old •
Moira supports Senator Hanzo because the senator shares a similar demographic background with her, which is an important part of -----------Brigitte, on other hand, does not share these demographics but still supports Senator Hanzo because she knows she can always vote against the senator if needed. This is an example of----------
sociological representation. agency representation. FEEDBACK:Agency representation reflects the idea that accountability in the form of elections can lead to effective representation.
The Staff System•Every member of Congress has
staff members.
•Representatives should seek to discover
the interests of their constituencies.•This is done through constant communication with constituents.•Email, websites, blogs, and Twitter make this easier. •They spend considerable time and staffing on constituency service (casework).•This includes presenting special bills, helping constituents apply for federal benefits, and assisting with immigration cases.\
•Party leadership is determined by
the members of Congress through a party election.•Called a conference by House Republicans•Called a caucus by House Democrats •
In general, each committee is chaired by
the most senior member of the majority party.•But the principle of seniority is not absolute.•In 1995, Republicans selected committee chairs based on party loyalty and fund-raising abilities.•In 2007, Democrats returned to the seniority principle but offered freshmen a choice of committee assignments.
Representatives as Agents•The idea of the representative as agent is similar to
the relationship of a lawyer to a client.
