Congress

The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been fixed at ________ since ________.

435; 1929

How long is a US senator's term?

6 years

In each House district there are approximately ___________________ people

700,000

What is a good example of congressional casework

Helping a constituent with the Veterans Administration

What purpose does pork-barrel legislation serve?

It funds specific projects and their location within a particular congressional district.

Over the past several decades, the ______ and the ______ have benefited most from apportionment?

South; West

In the House of Representatives what is the relationship between the Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House

The Majority Leader is subordinate to the Speaker of the House

Who is responsible for communicating the leaders' wishes to members in Congress?

The Party Whips

How is the Speaker of the House determined?

The elected leader of the majority party in the House is the Speaker.

the term Whip in discussions of Congress refers to

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

the process of allocating congressional seats among the 50 states is called

apportionment

typically, constituents value their congressperson working with members of the other party

as much as they value members of Congress spending time in the home district

Congress is a ______ legislature with ______ members.

bicameral; 535

what is defined as the activities that help individual constituents, particularly by cutting through bureaucratic red tape

casework

Where does most of Congress's work happen

committees

The House Rules Committee is important because it

decides the order in which bills come up for a vote on the House floor and determines the specific rules that govern the length of debate and opportunity for amendments.

Congressional staff members' responsibilities include

drafting legislative proposals handling constituent requests negotiating with lobbyists

How might the pork barrel aid a congressional member's district?

increasing jobs and revenue with federally funded projects

A senator or representative running for reelection is called the

incumbent

what is it called when two members of Congress share no common interests but agree to support each other's bill

logrolling

Who has the most real power in the Senate?

majority and minority leaders

Gerrymandering refers to the

manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group.

The frequency with which they must seek reelection makes members of the US House of Representatives

more responsive to the needs of local interest groups in the districts they represent

which of the following statements best describes the representation of women and minorities in the US Congress

representation of women and minorities has increased over the past over the past two decades but it is not comparable to their proportions in the general population

Congressional leaders form __________ committees when they want to take up an issue that falls between the jurisdiction of existing committees, to highlight an issue, or to investigate a particular problem

select

Over what does the House Ways and Means Committee have jurisdiction?

taxes, trade, and entitlement programs

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.

The framers gave the power to introduce "money bills" to the House of Representatives but not the senate because they believed that

the chamber closest to the people should exercise greater authority over taxing and spending

oversight can be best described as the

the efforts of congress to supervise the manner in which its laws are implemented by the executive branch

What formal structure of Congress exemplifies the need to divide the labor of legislation?

the establishment of standing committees

which of the following best describes a way in which the House differs from the Senate?

the house is more centralized and organized than the senate

The president pro tempore of the Senate is usually

the majority party member with the greatest seniority

What is cloture?

the process by which three-fifths of the Senate can end a filibuster.

Of the following groups, which is most underrepresented in Congress?

women