American Government Exam 4

25th Amendment

(1) Succession of VP if president dies or become incapable to do his job.(2) if there is no VP, president must appoint one, and congress must approve

20th Amendment

(FDR) , change of dates for start of presidential/congressional terms

Reed's Rules

(developed by Thomas Reed [R-ME] who was Speaker of the House in the late 1890s) used his power as Speaker of the House to control the agenda, dictate who was going to sit on which committees, and how the order of business should be decided. Speakers do not, generally speaking, have as much power today as Reed did, but to a large extent the House still operates under many of these rules, every member present in the House must vote, those present and not voting still counted for quorum

Rule 22

, which allowed the chamber to hold a cloture vote to end debate. To invoke cloture, the Senate had to get a two-thirds majority.

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. -A lengthy speech designed to delay or kill the vote on a bill; used only in the Senate

select committee

A temporary legislative committee established for a limited time period and for a special purpose.

Congressional apportionment

-the process by which seats in the United States House of Representatives are distributed among the 50 states according to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. -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.

Duties of the Speaker of the House

1. Keeps order in the house as presiding officer 2. Leads the majority party in the house 3. Appoints members to certain committees 4. Schedules bills for votes in the House 5. Sends bills to the proper committees 6. Speaker is next in line to become president after the vice president

4 Constitutional Amendments of Presidency

12th;20th;22nd;25th

joint committee

A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations.

Cloture

A procedure for terminating debate, especially filibusters, in the Senate.

Omnibus Bill

A single document that is accepted in a single vote by a legislature but contains amendments to a number of other laws or even many entirely new laws.

The Congressional Black Caucus

An informal organization consisting of African Americans elected to the United States Congress.

Office of Management and Budget

An office that prepares the president's budget and also advises presidents on proposals from departments and agencies and helps review their proposed regulations.

3 stages of Bill survival

Committee Consideration,Floor Debate,Conference Committees

Apportionment

Distribution of representatives among the states based on the population of each state

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Established judicial review

executive agreement

Executive agreements are formal agreements negotiated between two countries but not ratified by a legislature as a treaty must be.

Executive Order 9066

FDR's order to place all Japanese Americans in Internment Camps

Speaker Pro Tempore

Fills in for the Speaker of the House when he/she is absent

Pro Forma Session

From the Latin, meaning "as a matter of form." A brief meeting (sometimes only several seconds) of the House or Senate in which no business is conducted. It is held usually to satisfy the constitutional obligation that neither chamber can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other.

Process of impeachment

House brings charges against president -> senate tries the case of impeachment -> 2/3 vote to remove from office

Judiciary Act of 1789

In 1789 Congress passed this Act which created the federal-court system. The act managed to quiet popular apprehensions by establishing in each state a federal district court that operated according to local procedures.

Duties of the OMB

In addition to preparing the executive budget proposal and overseeing budgetary implementation during the federal fiscal year, the office oversees the acitons of the executive bureaucracy

22nd Amendment

Limits the president to two terms.

Factors that influence the voting paterns of Members of Congress

Party, Constituents, Pressure Groups and Lobbyists, Executive Influence, Beliefs, Party and Constituency Link

implied powers

Powers not specifically mentioned in the constitution

President Reagan & the Berlin Wall

Reagan called for the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open the Berlin Wall, which had separated West and East Berlin since 1961. The name is derived from a key line in the middle of the speech: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Tenure of Office Act

Required the president to seek approval from the Senate before removing appointees.

Signing statements are

Statements in which the president, when signing a bill into law, nonetheless indicates doubts about the constitutionality of particular provisions

rally around the flag effect

Surge of public support for the president in times of international crisis.

Clean Water Act of 1972

The Act that created water quality standards to control pollution, including elimination of point source discharge of pollutants.

House Ways and Means Committee

The House of Representatives committee that, along with the Senate Finance Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as a whole.

Congressional Oversight

The United States Congress has the authority to conduct hearings, investigations, and budget reviews of the actions by the executive branch.

inaugural address

The address (speech) given by the President as he is sworn into office

enumerated powers

The powers explicitly given to Congress in the Constitution.

Evolutionary Powers

Those powers that the office of the President has gained or assumed over time.

senatorial courtesy

When a vacancy occurs in a lower federal court, by custom, the president consults with that state's U.S. senators before making a nomination. -Senators exert considerable influence on the selection of judges in their state, especially those senators who share a party affiliation with the president. In many cases, a senator can block a proposed nominee just by voicing his or her opposition.

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 (Angus Campbell came up with this in 1960)

line-item veto

a type of veto that keeps the majority of a spending bill unaltered but nullifies certain lines of spending within it.

The President in Wartime

chief executive is more powerful and congress is less powerful

Executive Office of the President

collection of nine organizations that help the president with policy and political objectives

EPA

determine how much pollution is allowed in U.S. waterways. Environment Protection Agency

Congressional Powers

enumerated;implied;inherent

Budget and Accounting Act of 1921

gave the president authority to prepare an annual budget and submit it to Congress for approval(Woodrow Wilson)

Richard Neustadt

political scientist who says that a presidents power to persuade is key because constitutional powers alone don't provide modern president with the authority to meet rising public expectations

inherent powers

powers claimed by a president that are not expressed in the Constitution but are inferred from it

executive order

rules that bypass Congress but still have the force of law if the courts do not overturn them.

12th Amendment

separation of votes for President and Vice President

Congressional Budget Office

staff agency that advises Congress on the likely economic effects of different spending programs and provides information on the costs of the proposed policies.

standing committee

standing committees - permanent committee in a legislative body to which bills in a specified subject area are referred-20 in house, 20 in senate

4 types of committees

standing, select, joint, conference

Conference committees are

temporary, involve members from both houses of Congress, and are charged with reaching a compromise on legislation once it has been passed by both the House and the Senate.

Bully Pulpit

the president's use of his prestige and visibility to guide or enthuse the American public -was coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, who believed the presidency commanded the attention of the media and could be used to appeal directly to the people.

executive privilege

the right to withhold information from Congress, the judiciary, or the public. was first asserted by George Washington to curtail inquiry into the actions of the executive branch.

3 models of representation

trustee, delegate, politico

Pork Barrel 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.