Inquizitive: Chapter 10- Congress

In either chamber, after a 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

Why is party unity voting in the House typically higher than party unity voting in the Senate?

-Senate party leadership does not have as much influence over its members as does House leadership. -The House party leadership has control over access to the floor, but Senate party leadership does not.

Which of the following are major reasons for why Congress has become more politically polarized in recent years?

-mobilization of conservative interest groups -population clustering

How many senators are needed to carry out the each of the following actions?

-overturn presidential veto: 67 -invoke cloture: 60 -pass a bill: 51

What is the advantage of the president using a pocket veto versus regular veto?

Because it occurs after Congress has adjourned, Congress cannot override the veto

A congressional race features incumbent Sarah Stewart, a progressive African American female who previously worked as a nurse, and John Tucker, a conservative White male who previously was in the marine corps. Identify whether the examples describe descriptive representation or substantive representation.

Descriptive Representation: -Bob, a conservative White male who previously served in the military, is primarily interested in supporting Tucker because he believes that Tucker can identify with his experiences. -Mia feels that government does not really work for her as an African American woman, so she intends to support Sarah Stewart because of their shared experience as women of color. Substantive Representation: -Theresa, a constituent of Rep. Stewart, is very unhappy with her performance in office, citing her support of Medicare-for-All, and plans to vote against her. -Beth, a constituent of Rep. Stewart, is pleased with her representative's voting record, which is closely aligned to Beth's political views.

Contrast the roles that the House and Senate play in the impeachment and conviction process by matching each chamber to its correct roles.

House: -charges an individual with "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" -involves a vote requiring a simple majority -initiates the impeachment process Senate: -convicts or acquits the individual charged -involves a vote requiring a two-thirds majority

Candidates Jones and Smith are competitors in the 2020 election. They have developed very different playbooks for targeting voters. Candidate Jones intends to focus primarily on the least-likely voter groups (i.e., those that were a low proportion of the electorate given their proportion of the population). Candidate Smith has adopted a much more conventional strategy, targeting those groups that had high turnout in the previous election. Based on their campaign playbooks, identify the groups that each candidate would most likely target their campaign messages.

Jones: -Latino Voters - Younger voters (ages 18-29) -Low-income voters (under 30K income) Smith: -older voters (age 65+) -high-income voters (over 100K income) -white voters

Rep. Stevens has sponsored a bill for universal background checks for the purchase of all firearms. Stevens is a party leader and views gun control as a top priority for the majority party. What type of rule—open or closed—would the following members of Congress prefer as they take up the bill?

Open Rule: -Rep. Jones is testifying before the Rules Committee because she would like to offer an amendment that exempts individuals who participate in the TSA pre-check clearance program from background checks. -The National Rifle Association has gotten Rep. Davis to present an amendment that exempts gun shows from the requirement. Closed Rule: -Rep. Stevens is testifying before the Rules Committee after his legislation was reported out of the Judiciary Committee.

The_____alone has the right to approve or deny the president's appointments of______. Approval for these nominees requires______.

Senate, federal judges, a simple majority

Party unity votes reached a 60-year high in 2010 in the______. The years after 1990 were characterized by a much greater degree of_______than were the years prior to 1970.

Senate, partisan polarization

Match each of the following procedural steps to its appropriate chamber, indicating whether it occurs exclusively in the House, the Senate, or both.

Senate: -filibuster -cloture vote House: -processing by Rules Committee Both: -undergoes debate in subcommittee -bill dies in committee

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 speaker's time to 30 minutes.

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.

Label each action as an example of either the trustee or delegate model of representation.

Trustee: -A representative pays fairly little attention to polling or to the requests of constituents and votes in accordance to his own personal preferences on most bills. -Although she knows it will be very unpopular at home, a representative votes to close a defense industry factory in her district. Delegate: -A representative is petitioned by a vocal minority of her constituents to vote in a certain way; though the majority opinion in the district is unknown, the representative votes as that minority wants. -A representative is aware that most of his constituents support rules allowing school vouchers; he votes for those rules despite his own reservations.

Which groups were overrepresented in the electorate given their percentages in the population, and which were underrepresented relative to their proportion of the population?

Underrepresented: Asian, Latino, and Black Overrepresented: White

How is a chair chosen for each of the committees in Congress?

by seniority, with occasional exceptions based on new policies.

At the beginning of each new session of Congress, the House Republican _______gathers to elect their leaders, and the House Democratic ______ elects officers and plans its strategy. The ______which serves as the chief presiding officer, is then elected by the full membership of the House with voting typically going along party lines.

conference, caucus, Speaker of the House

Which statement about the committee deliberation of a bill is accurate?

floor action on bills cannot proceed without deliberation by the committee that has jurisdiction

The process of apportionment occurs every __ years and may grant additional seats to those states with __. The process of redistricting is controlled by the majority party in the __. The process of __ occurs as part of redistricting and may intentionally give power to a specific political or demographic group.

ten, population growth, gerrymandering

Which power is granted to the Senate but not to the House?

the power to approve treaties

What does it mean for a member of Congress to represent her constituents as a delegate?

the representative votes according to the preferences of her constituency

What does it mean for a member of Congress to represent her constituents as a trustee?

the representative votes based on what she thinks is best for her constituency

The 2018 midterm election experienced relatively high turnout compared to previous midterm elections. However, some groups participated more than others. The gender breakdown of the electorate was fairly even, with______comprising a slightly higher proportion of the electorate. Older voters, particularly those over the age of 45, voted at a high level, comprising_____of the electorate.______income voters (those earning $100,000 or more) were overrepresented in the electorate relative to their composition in the population by_______.Finally, there were also significant differences across racial and ethnic groups. ________voters had the largest gap between their portion in the population and representation in the electorate.

women, 65 percent, Higher, 26 percent, White