POSCI FINAL GUIDE

Why can the debate over committee assignments be intense?

Because some are more prestigious than others.

What is the most important organizational feature of the US congress? Each has its own rules, and records that are both published in the ______ .

Bicameralism or a two house legislature. Congressional Record.

This coalition worked for budget cuts and increased defense spending against liberals who they felt had chocked them.

Blue Dog Coalition

Who selects committee members.

Each party in each chamber. They each use. House Republicans - Committee on Committees House Democrats - Steering and Policy Committe Senate Republicans - Steering committee Senate Democrats - Steering committee Based on what they want and need.

Special spending budgets that are set aside on behalf of individual members of congress for their constituents. Banned in 2010 but Opponents argue it is a way to give back fair tax returns and "will of congress"

Earmarks

Who selects the chair and ranking member of each committee?

Majority Party, Minority Party.

____ are informal groups of congress members who promote personal interests such as arts, arthritis, immigrations, women rights etc. and other industries such as corn and rice. They have no authority to pass bills under this but they can show their support through this.

Member Caucuses or Congressional Member Organizations.

The ___ is the spokes person of opposition. Assigned by the minority party. Becomes speaker when his party is the majority.

Minority leader

Can presidents introduce legislature?

No.

The ______ plans party strategy, confers with other party leaders, and keeps everyone in the party line. Assigned by the majority party

majority leader

The Jack Abramoff bribery scandal prompted Congress to enact new congressional ethics rules, starting in 2007. Under these new rules, members of Congress ___________. Super lobbyist. Free admission to free dinners though. No paid speech or events. Also applies to lobbyists.

may not accept gifts, travel, or meals from lobbyists

What are congresses implied powers clause?

necessary and proper clause.

Before 1913 Senators were selected by ____.

Their state legislatures

the powers explicitly granted to Congress by the Constitution

enumerated powers or expressed powers.

The process where presidents and judges can be charged of "high crimes and misdemeanors is known as"

impeachment.

Most congress members often have the reputation of being _______

leading thinkers far into the future.

All 435 House members serve for ____ years while all 100 senators serve for ____ years.

2 and 6 - space so that House members can focus on constituents.

The Constitution allowed for direct election of all senators in what year. Governors appoint new senators to fill vacant seats while special elections are used to till vacant House seats.

1913.

Name 3 reasons why incumbents fight for re-election

- High Salary - Health Benefits - Retirement Packages

Name 5 Reasons why Incumbents are hard to defeat

- They provide opportunities and benefits for their constituents. ie. Social Security, Scholarships, Internships. - Have strong presence in their home states within the media and letters that are free of postage to constituents and also physical offices for face to face contact. - They also have "free media" on local media and create jobs and give loans to local businesses - They are more experienced and have won many other elections so their names are more recognizable as they build connections. - Have high influence in using "earmarks" to fund special projects in their districts.

Small states like South Dakota are guaranteed at least __ House Seat and ___ senate seats so every state has at least 3.

1 , 2 , 3

What are the 5 main varying influences that affect legislative choices?

1. Colleagues - Logrolling, Seeking advice from like minded colleagues. 2. Congressional Staff - Complex issues need more staff and help incumbents have an edge. 3. Constituents - Misunderstanding what their constituents want. Attentive public is more of their focus. Have to express how they voted to their people. 4. Ideology - Ideology can predict how a party votes but party cannot predict ideology well. Blue Dog Coalition . Polarization and more conservative republicans. 5. Interest Groups - Contributions for campaigns, testify before committees, build pressure for causes. Lobby. Cancel each other out by opposing each other in the subcommittee level (invisible to the public) 6. Party - Members vote according to their party. Partisanship is greater than any time as more parties are polarizing. 7. The President - Distribute resources to friends. Set legislation at Annual state of Union Address, the budget and lobby congress on issues. Influence public opinion.

Name the 5 Steps a bill must survive before being at the presidents desk.

1. Introduction (formal request to congress) The House places in a mahogany box called the hopper at the front of the house chamber. designated (HR number) The senate hands it to a clerk or to colleagues in a floor speech. (S - number) 2. Referral to a committee for further review 3. Committee and sub - committee review (then sent back to referral committee) 4. Committee and sub - committee mark up - pencil to modify document and sent to the chamber 5. Floor debate and passage (calendar, passing in each chamber. Most bills pass after reaching here. Riders are added to reduce chances of passing or sweeten it for approval. 6. Presidential approval Hand delivered to the president to sign or veto. Bill becomes law if not signed within 10 days (sundays excluded) (pocket veto)

Standing committees fall into 6 types: BRARAG

1. Rules and Administration: Operations of their staff and their responsibilities. Makes the rules as well to get bills to the floor. 2. Budget: Each has one. Gives them discipline on the federal budget. Puts guidelines on spending. 3. Authorizing: Passes the laws that tells governments what to do. Sets rules to student loan applications and who qualifies. Reviews past programs that are expiring and hosts hearings for presidential people. 4. Appropriations: Make decisions on how much money government can spend on each program. Each program has a sub committee and they approve the final amount. 5. Revenue: Raises revenue through taxes for appropriations by authorizing spending. Ways and Means committee makes takes and revenue legislation. Social security and medicare programs. 6. General Oversight: 2 (House Oversight and Government reform Committee) and the (Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee) Evaluate government performance and can fix government wide management problems.

What are the 5 expressed powers of Congress?

1. The power to raise, make and borrow money. 2. The power to regulate commerce. i.e granting patents and copyrights, bankruptcy, and state and international business. (Cannot tax exports) 3. Power to Unify and Expand the country. i.e build roads, grand citizenship, manage land. 4. The power to prepare and declare war; recruit for the navy, foreign attacks, and support the army. (Only President can command the military) 5. Power to create the federal judiciary i.e create courts below the supreme court. House - Power to remove judges and presidents through 'impeachment'. (Requires majority vote) Senate - Trial of incumbent (requires 2/3 votes) Advices presidents on bills and appointed candidates.

__- ___ % of all bills pass

10-15 %

Every state has ___ senators for its state.

2

In the Federalist Number___, James Madison said to divide the "legislative branches".

51

There are ___ seats in congress

535

How many percent of House Incumbents had won reelection using their incumbency advantages.

90%

What is the exception to the filibuster rule?

A majority vote can confirm all presidential appointees except for the Supreme Court Justices.

The presiding officer in the house of representatives, formally elected by the house but selected by the majority party. Can punish or reward members, influence campaigns.

The speaker.

Who is next in line if the President and VP are not able to fulfill their duties?

The speaker.

As members of congress became attached to their careers, they ___. What are the 4 norms? CASS

Abandoned the norms, informal rules such as specialization norm, norm of seniority, norm of courtesy, norm of apprenticeship.

__ is responsible for drafting legislation, reviewing nominees, conducting investigations, and ironing out conflict between the two chambers.

Congressional committee

A national _____ taken every 10 years determines the number of districts assigned to each state as stated in the constitution.

Census.

____Prohibits amendments and requires only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments. Usually for ____ bills.

Closed Rule - tax and spending bills

This method is used to end a filibuster. Once it is approved by more than 60 senators, they can prohibit senators from talking for over an hour

Cloture.

What branch did the framers expect to be the most important branch of government? Which is why it is in Article I and why they had 2 branches (House and Senate)

Congress

Who disciplines members of congress?

Congress

House of Representatives serve ____ in the state. The more citizens they have, the more districts they have. _____ states have more influence in the house.

Districts, Large

The U.S spends more on ____ than any other country. ____ is authorized to fund it.

Defense (500 million dollars) - Congress.

A practice where congress colleagues are mutual aids in vote trading among legislators ie. vote for this and i'll vote for that.

Logrolling

When a bill is vetoed, the president does not have to explain why. T or F

False

Under _____ any senator can stop consideration of a bill by "talking it to death"

Filibuster

The drawing of district boundaries for political advantage to benefit a party, incumbent, or group. Term from the 1800's after Elbridge Gerry. What are the two types of this?

Gerrymandering. 2 Types Packing: Joins pieces of the majority party in a weak district to increase its strength. Cracking: Larger party breaks strong minority party to dilute its influence.

___ members can control their members actions more than ___ members because they enter office at the same time.

House - Senate.

Bills coming from the house have been reviewed by ___ before they can be brought to the full house for debate.

House Rules Committee

The ____ has more tighter controls while the ____ has more loose controls on members. Making legislation harder to pass in the ____

House and Senate. Senate

The Constitution gives ____ the ability to set number of seats in the chamber. Originally, it was set to ___ seats and now it has been capped at ____ seats.

House, 59 - 435 (2011) Apportionment Act.

While ___ incumbents can outspend opponents, ___ matches are more publicly visible.

House, Senate

House members must be ___ years old to take office and be citizens for ____ years. While Senators must be ____ years to take office and be citizens for ____

House: 25 and 7 Senators: 30 and 9

Who said "It is very easy to defeat a bill in Congress but it is more difficult to pass one."

JFK

Who is considered the speaker without a following?

John Boehner

A ____ committee has members from both chambers and come together to study an issue of mutual interest

Joint Committee

Congress has a split personanlity _ and _ and

Lawmaking Institution and Delegates (does what constituents want), Trustees (act and vote based on what is best for their district, state, and country despite what their constituents want) Free to vote as they please.

The Framers of the Constitution conceived the _____ branch of government to be the center of policy making in America.

Legislative

____ permits amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.

Open Rule

Action taken by congress to reverse a presidential veto. Requires 2/3's of majority of each chamber.

Override

The meeting of members in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and develop policy.

Party Caucus.

Today, Senators are selected by ____ in each state

Popular vote

What is a sly way to introduce legislation?

Presenting the bill as an amendment to pending legislation.

Members of congress always refuse the ____ influence in their voting.

President

The process of redrawing and converting the number of seats into districts after a census to match population changes and to keep districts equal is called

Redistricting

_____ seats are almost certainly won by incumbents.

Safe

The vice president has an important tie-breaking role in the ____

Senate

____ are more vulnerable to defeat than their colleagues in the ____

Senate - House

Which of the two congress branches candidates must be residents of the states from which they are elected?

Senate candidates

The senate is lead by the ___ who is elected by the majority party.

Senate majority leader

_____ is when the chair to a committee is assigned to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee when a current chair retires or there is a party change in congress.

Seniority Rule

Why did the framers set the senate requirements higher?

So they can check against the less predictable House. James Madison saw the senate as a "necessary fence against this danger."

A ________ committee is one appointed for a limited or long term basis to issues such as investigating the Watergate scandal or 9/11

Special or Select committee

____ committees are the most durable and important and are the sources of most bills. Also called full committees. A permanent committee that focuses on a specific policy area.

Standing committee

Under the constitution, _____ are responsible for determining the time, place, and manner of elections, including drawing district maps.

State governments

___ Have the right to draw House district lines for the number of states in their borders according to the Constitution.

States

The senate has the same basic structure as the house. Only difference is that the debates are more informal and are offered more time due to its small size. TorF

T

The ___ was a period of domestic turmoil in egypt, tunisia and libya, yemen and syria.

The Arab Spring

What are the two committees that enforce the rules of the house and senate?

The House Committee on standards of Official conduct The Senate Ethics Committee

The most powerful committee in both chambers is what? It decides and limits the length of floor debates and limits the number of amendments and issues allowed.

The House Rules Committee

Presidential appointments to the executive branch need approval from what branch of congress?

The Senate

Members of congress cannot make any stock trades in their portfolios after learning about changes in the economy before the general public in which act?

The Stock Act of 2012

The party leaders assistant who ensure attendance of all members in both house and congress at roll calls is called.

The party whip

What is the Houses most notable power?

To author bills for raising revenues.

The states require their legislatures to produce a balanced budget every year and run deficits paid through the sale of bonds called ____

Treasury notes - T Notes which accrue interest and gives the buyers IOUS.

The Senate operates through____ consent.

Unanimous

The party leader who is the liason between the leadership and rank and file in the legislature. They help gather up votes to support or not support legislatures.

Whips

____ is a committee made up of both chambers that settles differences between the chambers versions.

conference committee

The residents of a congressional district or state.

constituents

One shared power between the house and senate is that of

declaring war.

Independent candidates at caucus events show loyalty by siding with one of the either the __ or _-

democrats or republicans.

A petition that, if signed by a majority of the members of the House of Representatives will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration.

discharge petition

What is the only way a bill which has been killed in committee can reach the floor

discharge petition

Membership in Congress used to be a ___ as people served and returned to their private lives.

part time job

If Congress adjourns during the ten days the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of Congress, but which the president has not yet signed, what is the result?

pocket veto

The extent to which liberals and conservatives occupy the more extreme positions on the liberal conservative ideological spectrum.

polarization

A senate floor debate is usually held by a ____ who is the most senior member of the party and acts as the chair in the absence of the vice president.

president pro tempore

The process of changing number of seats allocated to each state is called

reapportionment

A provision attached to a bill to which it may or may not be related in order to secure its passage or defeat

rider

The House of Rules committee can refuse to grant a ___ which is the ticket to the floor. Which can delay consideration for a bill.

rule

When the president and majority leader are from the same party, the president gains more popularity. But when they are opposing, ___

the senate majority leader is considered their parties spoke person