Chapter 12: Congress

Conference

a gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their House leaders. Democrats call their gathering the caucus.

Logrolling

a legislative practice whereby agreements are made between legislators in voting for or against a bill; vote trading.

Caucus (political)

a normally closed meeting of a political or legislative group to select candidates, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters.

Whip

a party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes.

Standing committee

a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture.

The decision to run for Congress represents

a personal choice; candidates choose to run based on their own individual ambition and their ability to raise enough money to mount a credible campaign.

Pocket veto

a presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session.

A proposal to grant some kind of relief, special privilege, or exemption to the person named in a bill is the definition of __________.

a private bill

Appropriations are the

amount of money, approved by Congress in statutes, that each unit or agency can spend.

Pork barrel

(or pork) appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home districts.

Select committees

(usually) temporary legislative committees set up to highlight or investigate a particular and specific issue or address an issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committees.

Executive agreement

an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate's 'advice and consent.'

Members of Congress are most likely to listen to the interest groups that

are connected to the constituents in the member's district.

Impeachment proceedings

are highly political

Caucuses (congressional)

associations of members of Congress based on party, interest, or social group, such as gender or race.

Congress is a(n) __________.

bicameral legislature

The President's ability to bypass the Senate and create foreign policy directly through the use of executive agreements was limited by Congress in 1972 with the passage of the

case act

Bicameral

characterized as having a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or houses; opposite of unicameral.

In the House of Representatives, a bill's supporters generally prefer a(n) ____________ rule, which puts severe limits on floor debate and amendments.

closed

In Congress, seniority — the length of time one has served in the House or Senate — usually determines

committee chairs.

In general, the purpose of the congressional whip system is

communications

A group of senators or representatives who join together because they share certain opinions, interests, or social characteristics is the definition of

congressional caucuses

According to the authors of your textbook, all of the following except which one are influences from inside government that help determine how congresspeople vote?

constituents

According to the authors of your textbook, the Senate is a __________ body where __________.

deliberative; any and all ideas raised by members receive a thorough public airing

If a proposed bill does not get voted from the committee to go back to the House or Senate, the bill has ___________ in committee.

died

The House of Representatives is __________ elected by the people.

directly

House

districts with shorter terms 435 members elected by districts 2 year terms population determines number per state

Who has taken advantage of open committee meetings in Congress to put forth their agenda?

interest groups

The chances that an incumbent wins re-election

is very high, reaching as high as 98 percent of House members and 90 percent of Senators.

Conference committees

joint committees created to work out a compromise on House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation. for a bill to become a law, same wording of the bill must be passed by both chambers

The Speaker of the House is the

leader of the majority party.

Term limits

legally prescribed limits on the number of terms an elected official can serve.

Joint committees

legislative committees formed of members of both the House and Senate.

Staff agencies

legislative support agencies responsible for policy analysis.

According to your textbook, reforms enacted in the 1970s to make Congress more accessible have made Congress

less effective and more susceptible to special interests.

The President Pro Tempore in Senate is _________ the majority and minority leaders.

less powerful than

"You support me on bill X, and I'll support you on another bill of your choice." This statement illustrates the concept of

logrolling

Compared to the House, the leadership of the Senate has __________ over floor debates.

much less control

In terms of sociological representation, the current Congress

overrepresents certain groups.

A two thirds vote in both chambers of Congress is necessary to

override a presidential veto.

The effort of Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies is called ___________,

oversight

A vote on which 50 percent or more of the members of one party take one position while at least 50 percent of the members of the other party take the opposing position is called a ____________ vote.

party

Pork barrel legislation is a form of _________ in which members of Congress __________.

patronage; secure direct benefits for their districts or states

Standing committees

permanent and are where the majority of legislation is written

In a committee markup, members of Congress

rewrite legislation to incorporate changes discussed during the hearings on a bill.

the power of "advice and consent" allows

the Senate to approve Presidential appointments and treaties.

Presidential power to make treaties and to appoint top executive officers, ambassadors, and federal judges is subject to

the Senate's advice and consent power.

Appropriations

the amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes. (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend.

Gerrymandering

the apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party.

Speaker of the House

the chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives. The Speaker is the most important party and House leader, and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of individual pieces of legislation, and members' positions within the House.

Oversight

the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies.

Majority leader

the elected leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. In the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker of the House.

Minority leader

the elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate.

Impeachment

the formal charge by the House of Representatives that a government official has committed 'Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'

Agency representation

the type of representation in which a representative is held accountable to a constituency if he or she fails to represent that constituency properly. This is incentive for good representation when the personal backgrounds, views, and interests of the representative differ from those of his or her constituency.

In addition to the filibuster, members of the Senate can delay bills by

their unlimited ability to propose amendments

The Organization of Congress

1. At the beginning of each Congress, Democrats and Republicans gather to select their leaders. The leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives is elected Speaker of the House by a strict party vote. 2. In the Senate, the president pro tempore is the presiding officer, although the majority and minority leaders control the calendar and agenda of the Senate. 3. The committee system provides Congress with a second organizational structure that is more a division of labor than the party-based hierarchies of power. 4. With specific jurisdiction over certain policy areas and the task of processing proposals of legislation into bills for floor consideration, standing committees are the most important arenas of congressional policy making. 5. Power within committees is based on seniority, although the seniority principle is not absolute. . During the 1970s, reforms fragmented power in Congress—the committee system, specifically—by increasing both the number of subcommittees and the autonomy of subcommittee chairpersons. . Each member of Congress has a personal staff that deals with constituency requests and, increasingly, with the details of legislative and administrative oversight. 8. Groups of senators or representatives who share certain opinions, interests, or social characteristics form informal organizations called caucuses.

Rules of Lawmaking: How a Bill Becomes a Law

1. Committee deliberation is necessary before floor action on any bill. 2. Many bills receive little or no committee or subcommittee action; they are allowed to "die in committee." 3. Bills presented out of committee in the House must go through the House Rules Committee before they can be debated on the floor. The Rules Committee allots the time for floor debate on a bill and the conditions under which a bill may (or may not) be amended. 4. In the Senate, rules of debate are much less rigid. In fact, senators may delay Senate action on legislation by refusing to yield the floor; this is known as a filibuster. 5. Conference committees are often required to reconcile House and Senate versions of bills that began with similar provisions but emerged with significant differences. . After being adopted by the House and the Senate, a bill is sent to the president, who may choose to sign the bill or veto it. Congress can override a president's veto by two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.

Beyond Legislation: Other Congressional Powers

1. Congress has increasingly relied on legislative oversight of administrators. Oversight is carried out by committees or subcommittees of the Senate or the House, which conduct hearings and investigations to analyze and evaluate bureaucratic agencies and the effectiveness of their programs. 2. The Senate, through the constitutional power of advice and consent, approves or rejects presidential treaties and appointments. 3. Congress has the power to impeach executive officials.

Congress: Representing the American People

1. Congress is the most important representative institution in American government. Each member's primary responsibility is to the district―that is, to his or her constituency (the people in the district from which an official is elected). 2. The House and Senate play different roles in the legislative process. The Senate is more deliberative, whereas the House is characterized by greater centralization and organization. 3. House members are more attuned to localized narrow interests in society, whereas senators are more able than House members to represent statewide or national interests. 4. In recent years, the House has exhibited more partisanship and ideological division than the Senate. 5. Sociological representation is when representatives have the same racial, gender, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents. It is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives then one could correctly represent the other's views. . Agency representation is the sort of representation that takes place when constituents have the power to hire and fire their representatives. This is incentive for good representation when the personal backgrounds, views, and interests of the representative differ from those of his or her constituency. . Congress is not a sociological microcosm of American society. 8. Members of Congress frequently communicate with constituents and devote a great deal of staff time to constituency service. 9. Electoral motivations have a strong impact on both sociological and agency representation in Congress. 10. Incumbency affords members of Congress resources such as constituency service and mailing to help secure re-election. Incumbency can help a candidate by scaring off potential challengers. The overwhelming percentage of incumbents who run are re-elected. 11. In recent years, turnover rates in Congress have increased, although this is due more to incumbent retirement than to the defeat of incumbents in elections. 12. Supporters of term limits (legally prescribed limits on the number of terms an elected official can serve) argue that such limits are the only way to get new faces into Congress. 13. Apportionment and redistricting affect who wins seats in Congress. The manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group is known as gerrymandering. 14. Members of Congress often have an opportunity to provide direct benefits, or patronage, for their constituents. Members of Congress can supply benefits to constituents by passing pork-barrel legislation. Members of Congress exchange pork-barrel votes for votes on other issues.

Thinking Critically about Congress and Democracy

1. Congressional reforms of the 1970s fragmented power in Congress and made it more open to special interests. 2. For the Founders, Congress was the national institution that best embodied the ideals of representative democracy. 3. A member of Congress can represent his or her constituency as a delegate or as a trustee. 4. Most members of Congress take the threat of re-election seriously and try to anticipate the wishes of their constituents. 5. What the public dislikes most about Congress stems from suspicions that Congress does not act as a trustee or as a delegate of any broad interest but that it is swayed by narrow special interests with money.

How Congress Decides.

1. Creating a legislative agenda, drawing up a list of possible measures, and deciding among them is a complex process in which a variety of influences from inside and outside government play important roles. 2. Interest groups can influence congressional decision making by mobilizing followers in congressional districts, setting the agenda, or writing legislative language. 3. Party discipline is still an important factor in congressional voting, despite its decline throughout the twentieth century. Among the resources that party leaders have at their disposal are (1) leadership PACs, (2) committee assignments, (3) access to the floor, (4) the whip system, (5) logrolling, and (6) the presidency. Party leaders regularly use these resources, which are often effective in securing the support of party members. 4. Party unity is typically greater in the House than in the Senate. Party unity on roll-call votes has increased in recent sessions of Congress. 5. Party unity is a result of a combination of the ideology and background of individual members and the resources party leaders have at their disposal. . The influence of the presidency is probably the most important of all the resources that maintain party discipline in Congress

How a bill becomes a law

1. written 2. discussed in committee + voted 3. discussed in House of Reps. and Senate + voted on in both 4. President signs it or vetoes it (which brings back to Congress, needs 2/3 vote to override veto)

The percentage of women members of the U.S. Congress is:

increasing over the last two decades

Which type of representation occurs when constituents have the power to hire and fire their representatives?

Agency

Congress is a bicameral legislature, which means that its members are divided between the __________.

House of Representatives and Senate

How can a bill become a law without the signature of the president?

If the House and Senate override the president's veto through a two-thirds majority

__________ is the formal charge by the House of Representatives that a government official has committed "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Impeachment

Party leaders are able to create party unity through which resources?

Leadership PACs, committee assignments, and the whip system

The ____________ Committee in the House of Representatives allots the time for House debate and decides to what extent amendments to the bill can be proposed from the floor.

Rules

According to the authors of your textbook, in recent years, the House has exhibited considerably more intense partisanship and ideological division than the Senate. Why?

Since House members represent more homogeneous districts in which their party is dominant, they are less willing to seek compromise.

What trend has been observed in the congressional oversight power in recent years?

The power has been used as a tool of partisan politics

Private bill

a proposal in Congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief, such as a special exemption from immigration quotas.

Bill

a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate.

Closed rule

a provision by the House Rules Committee limiting or prohibiting the introduction of amendments during debate.

Open rule

a provision by the House Rules Committee that permits floor debate and the addition of new amendments to a bill.

Pork Barrel spending

a provision in a bill that benefits a specific congressional constituency

Delegate

a representative who votes according to the preferences of his or her constituency.

Trustee

a representative who votes based on what he or she thinks is best for his or her constituency.

Party unity vote

a roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party.

Cloture

a rule allowing a majority of two-thirds or three-fifths of the members of a legislative body to set a time limit on debate over a given bill. In the U.S. Senate, 60 senators. (three-fifths) must agree in order to impose such a limit.

Filibuster

a tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a vote of three-fifths of the Senate to end a filibuster.

Sociological representation

a type of representation in which representatives have the same racial, gender, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents. It is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one could correctly represent the other's views.

Roll-call vote

a vote in which each legislator's yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members alphabetically.

The leaders of the parties in Congress are determined by

a vote of the members of each party.

In the Senate, __________ can be used to "talk a bill to death" unless three-fifths of the Senate vote for __________.

filibuster; cloture

Strong candidate qualities

good name recognition success in prior elected offices ability to raise funds willingness to campaign ability to reach out to voters

The primary job of congressional staff members is to

handle constituency requests and deal with legislative details

The use of the filibuster and cloture in the United States Senate

has increased to record highs.

Congress conducts oversight over the executive branch by means of

hearings and investigations conducted by congressional committees and subcommittees.

Incumbency

holding a political office for which one is running.

If the House and Senate pass different versions of a piece of legislation, the differences will be resolved

in a conference committee.

According to the authors of your textbook, incumbency tends to

preserve the statues quo in congress

Closed rules in the U.S. House

provide the majority party more power by prohibiting the introduction of amendments on the House floor.

The process of redrawing the boundaries of congressional districts is called

redistricting

____ determines committee assignments

seniority

Which type of representation takes place when representatives have the same racial, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents?

sociological

The Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office are examples of ______________, which are designed to provide the legislative branch with resources and expertise independent of the executive branch.

staff agencies

The permanent committees with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture, are called __________.

standing committees

Historically, the most important arenas of congressional policy making have been

standing committees.

In the 1990s, the Republican leadership in Congress shifted power from ___________ to ___________.

standing committees; party leaders

Senate

states with longer terms 100 senators since 1913, voted directly by voters statewide 6 year terms 2 per state

Veto

the president's constitutional power to turn down acts of Congress. A presidential veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress.

Redistricting

the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives. This happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges to existing districts.

Apportionment

the process, occurring after every decennial census, that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states.

Seniority

the ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee in Congress.

Constituency

the residents in the area from which an official is elected.

Patronage

the resources available to higher officials, usually opportunities to make partisan appointments to offices and to confer grants, licenses, or special favors to supporters.

Committee markup

the session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearings on the bill.

Sociological representation is important in understanding the U.S. Congress because

the symbolic composition of Congress is important for the authority of the government.