Government Chapter 11: Congress
11. What are majority-minority districts?
Attempts at African American disenfranchisement continued until the civil rights struggle of the 1960s finally brought about the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act cleared several final hurdles to voter registration and voting for African Americans. Following its adoption, many Democrats led the charge to create congressional districts that would enhance the power of African American voters. The idea was to create majority-minority districts within states, districts in which African Americans became the majority and thus gained the electoral power to send representatives to Congress.
71. Who serves on more committees—individual House members of senators? Why?
Because the Senate is much smaller than the House, senators hold more committee assignments than House members. There are sixteen standing committees in the Senate, and each position must be filled. In contrast, in the House, with 435 members and only twenty standing committees, committee members have time to pursue a more in-depth review of a policy.
2. What was the Connecticut Compromise?
Connecticut Compromise, also called the Great Compromise, proposed a bicameral congress with members apportioned differently in each house. The upper house, the Senate, was to have two members from each state. This soothed the fears of the small states. In the lower house, the House of Representatives, membership would be proportional to the population in each state. This measure protected the interests of the large states.
36. What percentage of House incumbents seeking reelection are typically successful?
In the House, the percentage of incumbents winning reelection has hovered between 85 and 100 percent for the last half century. In
41. Have midterm elections grown more or less nationalized?
Indeed, the 2014 midterm election was the most nationalized election in many decades.
68. What procedures do committees follow?
It will reach out to relevant agencies for comment on resolutions to the problem at hand, such as by holding hearings with experts to collect information. In the Senate, committee hearings are also held to confirm presidential appointments (Figure 11.17). After the information has been collected, the committee meets to discuss amendments and legislative language. Finally, the committee will send the bill to the full chamber along with a committee report. The report provides the majority opinion about why the bill should be passed, a minority view to the contrary, and estimates of the proposed law's cost and impact.
56. If Congress is unpopular, why do most individual members of Congress win reelection?
The reason has to do with the remarkable ability of many in the United States to separate their distaste for Congress from their appreciation for their own representative.
70. Why are committee chairs powerful?
They control the committee's budget and choose when the committee will meet, when it will hold hearings, and even whether it will consider a bill (Figure 11.19). A chair can convene a meeting when members of the minority are absent or adjourn a meeting when things are not progressing as the majority leadership wishes. Chairs can hear a bill even when the rest of the committee objects.
83. How is the budget process used to advance legislation?
This and successive similar uses of the budget process convinced many in Congress of the utility of this strategy. During the contentious and ideologically divided 1990s, the budget process became the common problem-solving mechanism in the legislature, thus laying the groundwork for the way legislation works today.
54. What is collective representation?
collective representation describes the relationship between Congress and the United States as a whole. That is, it considers whether the institution itself represents the American people, not just whether a particular member of Congress represents his or her district.
31. What is the Federal Election Campaign Act?
created the Federal Election Commission (FEC), required candidates to disclose where their money was coming from and where they were spending it, limited individual contributions, and provided for public financing of presidential campaigns.
79. What is the purpose of a conference committee?
negotiates a reconciliation both chambers can accept without amendment. Only then can the bill progress to the president's desk for signature or veto.
6. What is a representative's constituency?
—the body of voters who elect him or her
65. How is the Senate president pro tempore selected and what is the importance of the position?
—usually the most senior senator of the majority party—who presides over the Senate. Despite the title, the job is largely a formal and powerless role.
17. What is the single largest source of federal revenue?
Federal income tax
44. What is the trustee model of representation?
a model of representation in which representatives feel at liberty to act in the way they believe is best for their constituents. contrast, a representative who understands their role to be that of a trustee believes he or she is entrusted by the constituents with the power to use good judgment to make decisions on the constituents' behalf.
53. What is an earmark?
earmarks—funds appropriated for specific projects—
35. Who is an incumbent?
elected officials who currently hold an office.
76. What does the House Rules Committee do?
establishes the rules of debate, such as time limits and limits on the number and type of amendments.
4. How are the House and Senate structured?
every state will have two senators who each serve a six-year term. Therefore, with fifty states in the Union, there are currently one hundred seats in the U.S. Senate. Senators were originally appointed by state legislatures, but in 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment was approved, which allowed for senators to be elected by popular vote in each state. Seats in the House of Representatives are distributed among the states based on each state's population and each member of the House is elected by voters in a specific congressional district. Each state is guaranteed at least one seat in the House
52. What is pork-barrel politics?
federal spending intended to benefit a particular district or set of constituents. politics—federal spending on projects designed to benefit a particular district or set of constituents—has been around since the nineteenth century, when barrels of salt pork were both a sign of wealth and a system of reward.
33. What is the difference between hard money and soft money?
"soft money," (had almost no regulations or limits before bipartisan campaign reform act) which is raised for purposes like party-building efforts, get-out-the-vote efforts, and issue-advocacy ads............"hard money" contributed directly to a candidate, which is heavily regulated and limited, soft money had almost no regulations or limits.
63. What role do whips play in the House?
. A whip's job, as the name suggests, is to whip up votes and otherwise enforce party discipline. Whips make the rounds in Congress, telling members the position of the leadership and the collective voting strategy, and sometimes they wave various carrots and sticks in front of recalcitrant members to bring them in line.
8. How many members serve in the U.S. House?
435
25. What are the constitutional requirements to be a member of the House or Senate?
A House member must be a U.S. citizen of at least seven years' standing and at least twenty-five years old. Senators are required to have nine years' standing as citizens and be at least thirty years old when sworn in.
50. What is the Congressional Black Caucus?
African American representatives also began to enter Congress in increasing numbers. In 1971, to better represent their interests, these representatives founded the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), an organization that grew out of a Democratic select committee formed in 1969. Founding members of the CBC include Ralph Metcalfe (D-IL), a former sprinter from Chicago who had medaled at both the Los Angeles (1932) and Berlin (1936) Olympic Games, and Shirley Chisholm, a founder of the NWPC and the first African American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives
13. What are enumerated powers? What are some examples?
An enumerated power is a power explicitly stated in the Constitution...........include the power to levy and collect taxes, declare war, raise an army and navy, coin money, borrow money, regulate commerce among the states and with foreign nations, establish federal courts and bankruptcy rules, establish rules for immigration and naturalization, and issue patents and copyrights. override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote of both houses, sole power to introduce legislation, the Senate's final say on many presidential nominations and treaties signed by the president, and the House's ability to impeach or formally accuse the president or other federal officials of wrongdoing, grants Congress oversight
14. What are implied powers? What are some examples?
An implied power is one not specifically detailed in the Constitution but inferred as necessary to achieve the objectives of the national government...............................The "necessary and proper clause" directs Congress "to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." Laws that regulate banks, establish a minimum wage, and allow for the construction and maintenance of interstate highways are all possible because of the implied powers granted by the necessary and proper clause. Today, the overwhelming portion of Congress's work is tied to the necessary and proper clause.
51. Is the membership of Congress representative of the population of the country in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and religion?
Congress as a whole is still a long way from where the country is and remains largely White, male, and wealthy. For example, although more than half the U.S. population is female, only 25 percent of Congress is. Congress is also overwhelmingly Christian (
16. What is the power of the purse? On what is it based? What branch of government has the power of the purse?
Congress controls the money.............The power to levy and collect taxes, along with the appropriations power, gives Congress what is typically referred to as "the power of the purse"
39. What is constituent casework?
Constituents routinely reach out to their congressperson for powerful support to solve complex problems, such as applying for and tracking federal benefits or resolving immigration and citizenship challenges.21 Incumbent members of Congress have paid staff, influence, and access to specialized information that can help their constituents in ways other persons cannot. And congresspersons are hardly reticent about their efforts to support their constituents. Often, they will publicize their casework on their websites or, in some cases, create television advertisements that boast of their helpfulness. Election history has demonstrated that this form of publicity is very effective in garnering the support of voters.
7. Why is the large size of a House constituency a problem?
First, the average number of citizens in a congressional district now tops 700,000. This is arguably too many for House members to remain very close to the people.
12. What is gerrymandering? How has it affected Austin, Texas?
Gerrymandering is the manipulation of legislative district boundaries as a way of favoring a particular candidate. The term combines the word salamander, a reference to the strange shape of these districts, with the name of Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry, who in 1812, signed a redistricting plan designed to benefit his party. .....................In Austin, TX Republican-controlled legislature has redrawn House districts to reduce the number of Democratic seats by combining voters in Austin with those in surrounding counties, sometimes even several hundred miles away. Today, Austin is represented by six different congressional representatives.
28. Which chamber's members would you expect to be more attuned to the demands of their constituents? Why?
House members of the same party in the same state will occasionally disagree on issues because of the different interests of their specific districts. Because its members serve short, two-year terms, they must regularly answer to the demands of their constituency when they run for election or reelection.
37. Are House members or senators more likely to win reelection?
House- but only slightly- In the Senate, there is only slightly more variation, given the statewide nature of the race, but it is still a very high majority of incumbents who win reelection
19. In the early days of the nation, which branch of government was considered the most powerful?
In the early days of the republic, Congress's role was rarely if ever disputed.
58. How are party leaders in Congress selected?
Leaders are elected by the two-party conferences in each chamber. In the House of Representatives, these are the House Democratic Conference and the House Republican Conference. These conferences meet regularly and separately not only to elect their leaders but also to discuss important issues and strategies for moving policy forward. Based on the number of members in each conference, one conference becomes the majority conference and the other becomes the minority conference. Independents like Senator Bernie Sanders will typically join one or the other major party conference, as a matter of practicality and often based on ideological affinity.
67. How are committees staffed and chaired?
Members of both parties compete for positions on various committees. These positions are typically filled by majority and minority members to roughly approximate the ratio of majority to minority members in the respective chambers, although committees are chaired by members of the majority party.
29. Why is fundraising important for members of Congress?
Political campaigns are expensive
57. What factors influence the popularity of Congress as a whole?
President Bill Clinton's approval ratings and general satisfaction with the state of the country and the economy. In 2001, approval spiked after the September 11 terrorist attacks and the Bush administration launched the "War on Terror," sending troops first to Afghanistan and later to Iraq. War has the power to bring majorities of voters to view their Congress and president in an overwhelmingly positive way. citizens tend to rate Congress more highly when things get done and more poorly when things do not get done.
22. Who was president during most of the Great Depression and World War II?
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (elected 4 times) His popularity and his ability to be elected four times allowed him to greatly overshadow Congress. As a result, Congress attempted to restrain the power of the presidency by proposing the Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution, which limited a president to only two full terms in office.8 Although this limitation is a significant one, it has not held back the tendency for the presidency to assume increased power.
73. Where must tax bills originate?
Technically, bills that raise revenue, like tax bills, must begin in the House. "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills."
81. How did the Budget and Impoundment Control Act affect the legislative process?
The 1974 Budget and Impoundment Control Act gave Congress a mechanism for making large, all-encompassing, budget decisions. In the years that followed, the budget process gradually became the vehicle for creating comprehensive policy changes. One large step in this transformation occurred in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan's administration suggested using the budget to push through his economic reforms. The benefit of attaching the reforms to the budget resolution was that Congress could force an up or down (yea or nay) vote on the whole package.
27. Which chamber of Congress would you expect to have more structured rules? Why?
The House of Representatives has developed a stronger and more structured leadership than the Senate. Because its members serve short, two-year terms, they must regularly answer to the demands of their constituency when they run for election or reelection.
26. How have the structures of the House and Senate been affected by such matters as term length of individual members and the sizes of each chamber?
The House of Representatives has developed a stronger and more structured leadership than the Senate. Because its members serve short, two-year terms, they must regularly answer to the demands of their constituency when they run for election or reelection. .........In contrast, members of the Senate are furthest from the demands and scrutiny of their constituents. Because of their longer six-year terms, they will see every member of the House face his or her constituents multiple times before they themselves are forced to seek reelection........the Senate chamber's distance from the electorate was even greater. Also, unlike members of the House who can seek the narrower interests of their district, senators must maintain a broader appeal in order to earn a majority of the votes across their entire state. In addition, the rules of the Senate allow individual members to slow down or stop legislation they dislike........The heat of popular, sometimes fleeting, demands from constituents often glows red hot in the House. The Senate has the flexibility to allow these passions to cool.
60. What are the powers of the Speaker?
The Speaker is the presiding officer, the administrative head of the House, the partisan leader of the majority party in the House, and an elected representative of a single congressional district (Figure 11.16). As a testament to the importance of the Speaker, since 1947, the holder of this position has been second in line to succeed the president in an emergency, after the vice president. The Speaker is invested with quite a bit of power, such as the ability to assign bills to committees and decide when a bill will be presented to the floor for a vote. The Speaker also rules on House procedures, often delegating authority for certain duties to other members. He or she appoints members and chairs to committees, creates select committees to fulfill a specific purpose and then disband, and can even select a member to be speaker pro tempore, who acts as Speaker in the Speaker's absence. Finally, when the Senate joins the House in a joint session, the Speaker presides over these sessions, because they are usually held in the House of Representatives.
24. What was the purpose of the War Powers Act?
The War Powers Resolution was intended to strengthen congressional war powers but ended up clarifying presidential authority in the first sixty days of a military conflict.
38. Why are incumbent House members usually reelected?
The amount of money they raise against their challengers demonstrates their advantage. incumbent advantage or the incumbency effect. The advantage in financing is a huge part of this effect, but it is not the only important part. Incumbents often have a much higher level of name recognition. All things being equal, voters are far more likely to select the name of the person they recall seeing on television and hearing on the radio for the last few years than the name of a person they hardly know. And donors are more likely to want to give to a proven winner. But more important is the way the party system itself privileges incumbents. A large percentage of congressional districts across the country are "safe seats" in uncompetitive districts, meaning candidates from a particular party are highly likely to consistently win the seat. This means the functional decision in these elections occurs during the primary, not in the general election. Political parties in general prefer to support incumbents in elections, because the general consensus is that incumbents are better candidates, and their record of success lends support to this conclusion. Another reason incumbents wield a great advantage over their challengers is the state power they have at their disposal.
82. What is an omnibus bill?
The benefit of attaching the reforms to the budget resolution was that Congress could force an up or down (yea or nay) vote on the whole package.Such a packaged bill is called an omnibus bill.36 Creating and voting for an omnibus bill allows Congress to quickly accomplish policy changes that would have taken many votes and the expending of great political capital over a long period of time.
64. What is the role of the majority leader in the Senate?
The duties and powers held by the Speaker in the House fall to the majority leader in the Senate. the majority leader is the chief spokesperson for the majority party, but unlike in the House he or she does not run the floor alone. Because of the traditions of unlimited debate and the filibuster, the majority and minority leaders often occupy the floor together in an attempt to keep things moving along.
21. Why has presidential power grown in recent decades?
The executive branch, because of its hierarchical organization with the president at the top, is naturally seen as a more smoothly run governmental machine than the cumbersome Congress. This gives the president advantages in the struggle for power and indeed gives Congress an incentive to delegate authority to the president on processes, such as trade agreements and national monument designations, that would be difficult for the legislature to carry out. The second reason has to do with the president's powers as commander-in-chief in the realm of foreign policy.
3. How does a bicameral Congress affect the legislative process?
The framers intended there to be a complex and difficult process for legislation to become law. This challenge serves a number of important and related functions. First, the difficulty of passing legislation through both houses makes it less likely, though hardly impossible, that the Congress will act on fleeting instincts or without the necessary deliberation. Second, the bicameral system ensures that large-scale dramatic reform is exceptionally difficult to pass and that the status quo is more likely to win the day.
1. How did the Congress created by the Constitution of 1787 compare with Congress under the Articles of Confederation?
Under the Articles, the national legislature had been made up of a single chamber composed of an equal number of delegates from each of the states. Constitution of 1787 created two houses- one house representation was based on population (House of Representatives) and the other House- Senate- each state represented equally- 2 each
66. Why does Congress use a committee system?
With 535 members in Congress and a seemingly infinite number of domestic, international, economic, agricultural, regulatory, criminal, and military issues to deal with at any given moment, the two chambers must divide their work based on specialization. Congress does this through the committee system. Specialized committees (or subcommittees) in both the House and the Senate are where bills originate and most of the work that sets the congressional agenda takes place. There are well over two hundred committees, subcommittees, select committees, and joint committees in the Congress.
49. What is Emily's List?
a PAC founded in 1985 to help elect pro-choice Democratic women to office, plays a major role in fundraising for female candidates.
45. What is the politico model of representation?
a model of representation in which members of Congress act as either trustee or delegate, based on rational political calculations about who is best served, the constituency or the nation. few if any representatives adhere strictly to one model or the other. Instead, most find themselves attempting to balance the important principles embedded in each.
43. What is the delegate model of representation?
a model of representation in which representatives feel compelled to act on the specific stated wishes of their constituents. A representative who sees him- or herself as a delegate believes he or she is empowered merely to enact the wishes of constituents. Delegates must employ some means to identify the views of their constituents and then vote accordingly. They are not permitted the liberty of employing their own reason and judgment while acting as representatives in Congress.
77. What is a filibuster?
a parliamentary maneuver used in the Senate to extend debate on a piece of legislation as long as possible, typically with the intended purpose of obstructing or killing it.............The word "filibuster" comes from the Dutch word vrijbuiter, which means pirate. And the name is appropriate, since a senator who launches a filibuster virtually hijacks the floor of the chamber by speaking for long periods of time, thus preventing the Senate from closing debate and acting on a bill.
78. What is cloture?
a parliamentary process to end a debate in the Senate, as a measure against the filibuster; invoked when three-fifths of senators vote for the motion.................This was difficult to do, but it generally did prevent anyone from hijacking the Senate floor, with the salient exception of Senator Strom Thurmond's record twenty-four-hour filibuster of the Civil Rights Act.
23. What effect did the Cold War have on the relative powers of Congress and the president?
a seemingly endless conflict with the Soviet Union without actual war, and therefore a period that allowed the presidency to assert more authority, especially in foreign affairs. In an exercise of this increased power, in the 1950s, President Harry Truman effectively went around an enumerated power of Congress by sending troops into battle in Korea without a congressional declaration of war (Figure 11.6). By the time of the Kennedy administration in the 1960s, the presidency had assumed nearly all responsibility for creating foreign policy, effectively shutting Congress out.
40. What is the surge-and-decline theory?
a theory proposing that the surge of stimulation occurring during presidential elections subsides during midterm elections, accounting for the differences we observe in turnouts and results. Political scientists have taken note of some voting patterns that appear to challenge this common assumption, the president's party has consistently lost seats in Congress during the midterm elections. He proposed that the reason was a surge in political stimulation during presidential elections, which contributes to greater turnout and brings in voters who are ordinarily less interested in politics. These voters, Campbell argued, tend to favor the party holding the presidency. In contrast, midterm elections witness the opposite effect. They are less stimulating and have lower turnout because less-interested voters stay home. This shift, in Campbell's theory, provides an advantage to the party not currently occupying the presidency.
32. What is the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act?
also referred to as the McCain-Feingold Act. The purpose of this law was to limit the use of "soft money,"
15. What are inherent powers? What are some examples?
an inherent power, while not enumerated or implied, must be assumed to exist as a direct result of the country's existence........powers. Inherent powers are not only not mentioned in the Constitution, but they do not even have a convenient clause in the Constitution to provide for them. Instead, they are powers Congress has determined it must assume if the government is going to work at all. The general assumption is that these powers were deemed so essential to any functioning government that the framers saw no need to spell them out. Such powers include the power to control borders of the state, the power to expand the territory of the state, and the power to defend itself from internal revolution or coups.
9. Does the District of Columbia have voting representation in Congress?
approximately 675,000 residents of the federal district of Washington (District of Columbia) do not have voting representation. Like those living in the U.S. territories, they merely have a non-voting delegate.1
72. What are the steps in the traditional legislative process?
classic legislative process. First, legislation must be drafted. Theoretically, anyone can do this. However, Congress is under no obligation to read or introduce this legislation, and only a bill introduced by a member of Congress can hope to become law. Even the president must rely on legislators to introduce his or her legislative agenda...........Once legislation has been proposed, however, the majority leadership consults with the parliamentarian about which committee to send it to. Once a committee has been selected, the committee chair is empowered to move the bill through the committee process as he or she sees fit. This occasionally means the chair will refer the bill to one of the committee's subcommittees......the next step is typically to hold a hearing on the bill. If the chair decides to not hold a hearing, this is tantamount to killing the bill in committee. ............Once hearings have been completed, the bill enters the markup stage. This is essentially an amending and voting process. In the end, with or without amendments, the committee or subcommittee will vote. If the committee decides not to advance the bill at that time, it is tabled. If the committee decides to advance the bill, however, it is printed and goes to the chamber, either the House or the Senate.....Before it reaches the House floor, it must first go through the House Committee on Rules. This committee establishes the rules of debate, such as time limits and limits on the number and type of amendments. After these rules have been established, the bill moves through the floor, where it is debated and amendments can be added. Once the limits of debate and amendments have been reached, the House holds a vote. If a simple majority, 50 percent plus 1, votes to advance the bill, it moves out of the House and into the Senate...........Once in the Senate, the bill is placed on the calendar so it can be debated. Or, more typically, the Senate will also consider the bill (or a companion version) in its own committees. Since the Senate is much smaller than the House, it can afford to be much more flexible in its rules for debate. Typically, senators allow each other to talk and debate as long as the speaker wants, though they can agree as a body to create time limits. But without these limits, debate continues until a motion to table has been offered and voted on.
30. What is the single most important source of campaign funds for members of Congress?
direct campaign donations by individual donors?
10. How were slaves counted for purposes of representation in the U.S. House?
each slave (who could not vote) to count as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional representation.
47. What was the significance of the Nineteenth Amendment?
gave women the right to vote and women now made up 5% of voters in either chamber politicians had to cater for women voters as constituents
20. When is the president most powerful?
it is during wartime that the chief executive is most powerful and Congress least powerful.
61. What role does the majority leader have in the House?
majority leader also has considerable power. Historically, moreover, the majority leader tends to be in the best position to assume the speakership when the current Speaker steps down.
75. What is markup? Where does it occur?
markup - This is essentially an amending and voting process. In committee stage
62. What role does the minority leader have in the House?
minority leader has a visible if not always a powerful position. As the official leader of the opposition, he or she technically holds the rank closest to that of the Speaker, makes strategy decisions, and attempts to keep order within the minority.
55. Is Congress popular?
no- high public disapproval ratings experienced by Congress. the national perception of Congress is near an all-time low.
42. What is representation?
refers to an elected leader's looking out for his or her constituents while carrying out the duties of the office.
69. What are standing committees, joint committees, ad hoc committees, and conference committees?
standing committees: The core/permanent committees-There are twenty standing committees in the House and sixteen in the Senate...........Joint committee members are appointed from both the House and the Senate, and are charged with exploring a few key issues, such as the economy and taxation. However, joint committees have no bill-referral authority whatsoever—they are informational only....................A conference committee is used to reconcile different bills passed in both the House and the Senate. The conference committees are appointed on an ad hoc basis as necessary when a bill passes the House and Senate in different forms. Conference committees are sometimes skipped in the interest of expedience, in which one of the chambers relents to the other chamber.
34. What are Super PACs? What is the difference between a Super PAC and a PAC?
super PACs aren't bound by regulations. While they cannot give money directly to a candidate or a candidate's party, they can raise and spend unlimited funds, and they can spend independently of a campaign or party. ..............................A traditional PAC is an organization designed to raise hard money to elect or defeat candidates. Such PACs tended to be run by businesses and other groups, like the Teamsters Union and the National Rifle Association, to support their special interests. They are highly regulated in regard to the amount of money they can take in and spend,
74. What actions take place in committee?
the committee chair is empowered to move the bill through the committee process as he or she sees fit. This occasionally means the chair will refer the bill to one of the committee's subcommittees. Whether at the full committee level or in one of the subcommittees, the next step is typically to hold a hearing on the bill. If the chair decides to not hold a hearing, this is tantamount to killing the bill in committee. The hearing provides an opportunity for the committee to hear and evaluate expert opinions on the bill or aspects of it. Experts typically include officials from the agency that would be responsible for executing the bill, the bill's sponsors from Congress, and industry lobbyists, interest groups, and academic experts from a variety of relevant fields. Typically, the committee will also accept written statements from the public concerning the bill in question. For many bills, the hearing process can be very routine and straightforward. Once hearings have been completed, the bill enters the markup stage. This is essentially an amending and voting process. In the end, with or without amendments, the committee or subcommittee will vote. If the committee decides not to advance the bill at that time, it is tabled. If the committee decides to advance the bill, however, it is printed and goes to the chamber, either the House or the Senate.
46. What is descriptive representation?
the extent to which a body of representatives represents the descriptive characteristics of their constituencies, such as class, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, socio economic, and gender
48. What is the significance of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972?
the first Asian American woman elected to Congress, was the coauthor of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, Title IX of which prohibits sex discrimination in education.
59. What is the most important leadership position in the U.S. House?
the most important leadership position in the House is actually elected by the entire body of representatives. This position is called the Speaker of the House and is the only House officer mentioned in the Constitution.
5. What is apportionment? How often does it happen and on what is it based?
the process by which seats in the House of Representatives are distributed among the fifty states. is achieved through the equal proportions method, which uses a mathematical formula to allocate seats based on U.S. Census Bureau population data, gathered every ten years as required by the Constitution. In 1929, an agreement was reached to permanently cap the number of seats in the House at 435.
80. What is the new, unorthodox legislative process?
the process described above was the standard method by which a bill became a law. Over the course of the last three and a half decades, however, changes in rules and procedure have created a number of alternate routes. Collectively, these different routes constitute what some political scientists have described as a new but unorthodox legislative process.
18. What is oversight? What are some of its components?
the right to review and monitor other bodies such as the executive branch..........The Senate's exclusive power to give final approval for many of the president's nominees, including cabinet members and judicial appointments, compels the president to consider the needs and desires of Congress when selecting top government officials. Finally, removing a president from office who has been elected by the entire country should never be done lightly. Giving this responsibility to a large deliberative body of elected officials ensures it will occur only very rarely.
