Civics H: Congress

congressional compensation: 1. salary: $___________ and retirement benefits; ________ leaders make more 2. ________ _______ - mail information to all constituents for free; material must relate to ________ and not campaigning 3. _________ plan and health benefits 4. free _______ in DC and travel home 5. ________ space in DC and back home 6. ______ deduction for maintaining 2 residences privileges: 1. free from _________ while in session except for felony/treason 2. can't be ________ for what they say on the floor of Congress

$174k, congressional, franking privilege, governing, retirement, parking, office, tax, arrest, sued

the Senate: 1. each state receives _____ US Senators - _______ total 2. known as the "_______ _______" because they represent an __________ state (7 states w/ 1 representative represent the entire state too) and have a longer term than _______ members, senators are supposed to be less willing to go with the whims of the moment and be steadier in their decision making. They're supposed to look more "__________ _________" than House members 3. originally chosen by __________ __________; since the ______ amendment, however, they have been voted in by the people. Problem with state legislatures: only chose the super _______ and well-connected; also issues of corruption and bribery. Elected "____-______" meaning by the whole state 4. senators serve a _____-year term; senate terms are _______ - only 1/3rd come up for reelection every 2 years. Thus, the Senate is a __________ body - 2/3rd of its members are guaranteed to continue serving after an election

1. 2, 100 2. upper chamber, entire, House, big picture 3. state legislatures, 17th, wealthy, at-large 4. 6, staggered, continuous

gerrymandering court cases: 1. _______________ - the supreme court established that gerrymandering solely on race is unconstitutional 2. ______________ - the supreme court established the "1 person, 1 vote" principle by requiring districts to be relatively equal in proportion 3. ______________ - the supreme court said that nothing prohibits a state from redistricting in between census if the so choose; also held that while race can't be the only favor when drawing districts, it can be a factor

1. Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960) 2. Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) 3. United Latin American Citizens v. Perry (2006)

representatives of the people: Most importantly, members of Congress are supposed to represent the people who elected them. How does a member of congress choose to cast a vote? 1. ________ - view themselves as agents of the people who elected them; generally find out what the voters back _______ want and go w/ that; more likely to ignore party __________ and special _________ 2. ________ - view each issue on its merits and make up their mind; not particularly concerned w/ the views of the ________ and go w/ their best judgment 3. _________ - view loyalty to party as the top priority; _______ stray from the party line; most members fall under the _________ model 4. _________ - try to balance all 3 of the previous models

1. delegate, home, leadership, interests 2. trustee, people 3. partisan, rarely, partisan 4. politico

types of gerrymandering: 1. _________ - putting as many people of the minor party as possible in a district; this leaves the other districts within a state safe for the _________ party 2. _________ - drawing districts to divide of the majority party; this makes it difficult for the _________ party to win any districts 3. _________ - redrawing districts to put an incumbent from the minority party in a tougher district; this can help ________ rising political states in the other party

1. packing, majority 2. cracking, minority 3. kidnapping, eliminate

the house is reapportioned every _______ years after each _______

10, census

Faced with the growing population of the country, Congress actually didn't reapportion the House after the _______ census. They didn't want the House to get any ________ but also didn't want to take ______ from states. In 1929, Congress passed the _____________ _____. Aspects: 1. set the house of representatives to ______ members permanently; only enlarged temporarily when ________ and ________ became states 2. The ______ _______ _______ sets the number of seats each state gets 3. the __________ sends the plan to Congress when it's ready 4. if neither chamber rejects the plan within ______ days, it takes effect

1920, larger, seats, Reapportionment Act, 435, Alaska, Hawaii, US. Census Bureau, president, 60

Members of the House serve _____-year terms. Are there term limits on members of the House?

2, no

3 constitutional formal qualifications for office: 1. _______ years old 2. ________ years a citizen 3. _______ of the state Custom requires one also be a member of the _________ from which he/she is elected

25, 7, resident, district

3 constitutional qualifications for office: senate 1. ________ years old 2. ______ years a citizen 3. ________ of state Same informal qualifications as House members, but even more because of the more expensive nature of Senate ___________.

30, 9, resident, campaigns

Until WWII, the nation's lawmakers typically met for ____ to ____ months each year. Today, Congress remains in session through most of each year. Each house may adjourn sine die when the other house gives _________.

4, 5, consent

members of congress: 1. avg age: ______ 2. vast majority are ______ males 3. most are _________ 4. ______% went to college 5. avg time spent in Congress is _____-_____ years

57, white, lawyers, 95, 8-12

The term gerrymandering comes from Massachusetts gov. _________ _________ in 1812; cartoon drawn by Gilbert Stuart. The main goal is to create as many _______ _______ as possible for the ________ party.

Elbridge Gerry, safe districts, majority

to suspend business until the next session

adjourn

a member of the House is known as a _______ or a _______

congressman, congresswoman

Terms of Congress are _______ numbered. The start of each new two-year term is now "noon of the _____ day of January" of every ______ numbered year. The date was changed by the ______ Amendment. We are currently in the ______ term.

consecutively, 3rd, odd, 20th, 116th

servants of the people: Members of Congress try to help their constituents in dealing with the _________ __________ - ex: entitlement issues, passport applications, federal loans, etc. People often try to take advantage of members by asking for special _________. It can be tough to legislators to say no because they know it can cost them __________.

federal gov, favors, votes

drawing House districts to advantage one political party (the party in control of the state legislature)

gerrymandering

informal qualifications for office: There are also a handful of informal qualifications in order to win a House seat: 1. being an ________ - over 90% of __________ win reelection to their House seat each year 2. __________ ability - House races are now very expensive, so one must have good connections in order to raise money

incumbent, incumbents, fundraising

committee members: Being a part of multiple committees is a major aspect of every _________'s job. Aspects: 1. determine which ________ should go to the floor to be voted upon 2. ________ and _________ about particular issues 3. watch over the _________ branch to ensure laws are being executed properly

lawmaker, bills, study, learn, executive

Congressional elections: during _________ or off-year elections, the party of the _______ almost always loses seats in the House and Senate (ex: 2018)

midterm, president

are members of Congress representative of the American people as a whole?

no

are there term limits on US senators?

no

Are delegates and resident commissioners full members? do they get to vote on bills?

no; no

The House: size and terms 1. the US constitution calls for the House to be distributed among the states based on their respective __________ (Virginia plan) - each state is guaranteed at least 1 seat; currently ____ states have only 1 seat 2. Washington DC, Guan, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa each send a ________ 3. Puerto Rico sends a _______ _______

population, delegate, resident commissioner

to end a session when the 2 houses cannot agree on a date for adjournment

prorogue

to suspend business temporarily during a session

recess

time period during which, each year, Congress conducts business

session

A _________ __________ is a meeting to deal with some emergency situation. The last one was called in _______. There haven't been any of these in so long because Congress now meets nearly _______-_______.

special session, 1948, year-round

__________ ___________ are responsible for drawing the congressional districts within their own state. Rules: 1. districts must be made up of _________ territory 2. districts should be made up of _________ territory 3. as much as possible, districts should have an _______ number of people Mostly, these rules were ignored by state legislatures during the _____ and early _____ centuries. In ___________, the Supreme Court ruled that since those rules weren't included in the 1929 Reapportionment Act, they were definitely repealed.

state legislatures; contiguous, compact, equal; 19th, 20th, Wood v. Brown

a 2-year time period in which Congress meets

term