AP Gov Congress Study Guide
Constituency caucuses:
- established to represent groups, regions or both - Ex. Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Women's Issues, Sunbelt Caucus, Suburban Caucus, Steel Caucus.
Issue with Senate:
- filibuster: restricted by Rule 22 (1917) Cloture, which allows a vote of cloture=60 votes to stop a filibuster. - Filibuster literally is a lack of rule. No rules on DEBATE.
What happens to each bill?
- given to a certain committee with political purposes of intentional failure or passage in mind
Two major issues of the senate:
- how members should be chosen and filibusters
What is gridlock?
- inability to function
Senate Whips:
- inform leaders as to what party is thinking, round up votes, head counts, reliable.
Speaker of the House:
- is leader of majority party and presides over House, elected by whole house, recognizes all speakers, rules on relevance, sends bills to committees, appoints to committees, extra powers. - Schedules votes
What happens to a bill after the Rules Committee?
- it goes to the Full Senate
House Whips:
- keep leaders informed and round up votes
Congress's principal job?
- lawmaking and administration
House Majority leader:
- lead majority party on floor - Few formal powers
House Minority leader:
- lead minority party on the floor, watchdog.
Senate Minority leader:
- leads opposition, watchdog
Does President have more or less power under a gridlock?
- less
Diversity in 113th Congress:
- less male and less white
Intra-party caucuses:
- members share a similar ideology - Ex. Tuesday Lunch Bunch
Personal interest caucuses:
- members share an interest in an issue - Ex. Art Caucus
Representational View:
- members vote to please their constituents, in order to secure re-election - Civil Rights law example. - All depends on how close issue is to the people. - Some conflicting issue- guns, abortion - Be out of town.
Incumbency advantage:
- membership in Congress became a career - Incumbents still have a great electoral advantage - marginal vs. safe districts
Becoming a member of Parliament:
- no primary. - National and local party selects candidate - Each local party in district chooses candidate
Congressional privileges:
- office (up to 22 staff), travel, computers, "franking," $150,000
Congress's focus:
- on constituents - being decentralized
Are US cabinet members inside or outside executive branch?
- outside - No sitting member of Congress can be in executive branch- Constitutional.
A divided government results in:
- partisan politics, bickering, gridlock
Individual organization of the House:
- power struggles have occurred between members and leadership - Recent decentralization and power to individual member. But still less individual then Senate - House wants power to individual and group.
What is different between presidential and parliamentary elections?
- president is popularly elected - Prime Minister chosen by parliament. Majority party or a coalition.
President pro tempore (Senate):
- presides in place of VP - this is the member with most seniority in majority party (a largely honorific office)
How to become a member of Congress:
- primary. - Little party control.
Senate Majority leader:
- real power - Schedules business, recognized 1st on floor, committees, need skill
Truly important for productivity:
- similar ideology
Who does bill go to after Full House votes on the bill?
- the President
Attitudinal View:
- the member's ideology determines her/his vote
Republican and Democratic Caucus:
- the parties
Parliament's principal job?
- to debate
What privileges do parliamentary members get?
- very little
What happens when the Full Senate gets the bill for the second time?
- votes on the bill. If it passes, it goes to the President
Organizational View:
- where constituency interests are not vitally at stake, members primarily respond to cues from colleagues
Voting methods:
1) Role Call Vote- senate 2) Voice Vote- procedural 3) Standing Vote- senate 4) Teller Vote- house only
How to end a filibuster:
- Cloture
Is Congress or Parliament more independent?
- Congress
What is Congress's check on the President?
- Congress can override it by 2/3 majority vote in the House and Senate.
What do committees do?
- Consider bills or legislative proposals- vote, amend, table, mark up, change, investigate - Maintain oversight of executive agencies - Conduct investigations
Congress means:
- "a coming together"
Parliament means:
- "to talk"
About how many bills are introduced per year?
- 10,000
Divided government 1952-2000:
- 10/24 presidential or congressional elections resulted in divided govt.
113th House diversity:
- 101+ women (Nancy Pelosi) - 45 AFA - 37 Latino - 7 openly gay - 37 Hispanic - 13 Asian - 2 Native American
How many committees are there in the Senate?
- 15
How many cabinet members are there?
- 15 members (GWB only 4 formally in Congress) - Usually close personal friends and campaign aides.
How many countries have a presidential system of government?
- 16
Examples of productivity with gridlocked governments:
- 1946 Marshall Plan - 1986 Tax Cuts.
113th Senate diversity:
- 20 women - 2 AFA (Scott, Booker) - 4 Hispanic (Menendez, Rubio, Cruz, Flake) - 21 Asian (Hirono)
First unified government since 1964:
- 2008- unified govt. 4th Rep. since 1953. - lasted until Jim Jeffords from VT went Independent. time since 1964- Bush 1st
How many committees are there in the House?
- 22
113th House parties:
- 231 Republicans - 206 Democrats
113th Senate parties:
- 52 Democrats - 46 Republicans - 2 Independents
Averages ages of 113th Congress members:
- 57 to 62
113th Congress religious division:
- 57% Protestant - 31% Catholic - 7% Jewish, Quaker, LDS, Buddhist, Muslim
What is a cloture?
- 60 votes to stop filibuster
Organization of Senate:
- A Much More Independent Body - The Senate escaped many of the leadership tensions encountered by the House (only 100). because of their LACK OF RULES. - The major struggle in the Senate was about how its members should be chosen; 17th amendment (1913)
Do Americans like gridlocks?
- Americans like the checks and balances of gridlock. - 25% of people split ticket between Pres. and Congress on purpose.
What happens after a bill is drafted and sent to the Senate?
- Bill is introduced and assigned to a Committee which refers to a Subcommittee.
What happens after a bill is drafted and sent to the House?
- Bill is introduced and assigned to a Committee which refers to a Subcommittee. Only members can introduce bills.
What does the President do with a bill?
- Can sign or veto the bill. - President can sign the bill, veto it or do nothing.
Popularly elected AFA:
- Carol Mosley Braun - Obama - Edward Brooke
Who promised to end gridlock?
- Clinton
What happens in the Full Senate?
- Debates the bill and may amend it. If it is different from the House version, it must go to a Conference Committee.
What happens in the Full House?
- Debates the bill and may amend it. If it is different from the Senate version, it must go to a Conference Committee.
What happens in a Senate committee?
- Full Committee considers the bill. If it approves the bill in some form, the bill goes to the Rules Committee.
What happens in the House committee?
- Full Committee considers the bill. If it approves the bill in some form, the bill goes to the Rules Committee.
Do gridlocks matter?
- Hard to tell. - Do about same amount as unified ones as far as being productive
Effect from incumbency advantage in Congress:
- In the past low pay, travel, and less importance of federal govt. turned people away. - Decreased party strength made things less competitive.
What does the Rules Committee do?
- It issues a rule to govern debate on the floor. Sends it to the Full House.
Incumbent advantage in electoral college:
- Media coverage is higher for incumbents - Incumbents have greater name recognition due to franking, travel to the district, news coverage - Members secure policies and programs for voters. PORK
Who drafts bills?
- Members of Congress, the Executive Branch, and even outside groups can draft (write or draw up) bills.
What happens in the House subcommittee?
- Members study the bill, hold hearings, and debate provisions. Marks up the bill. If it passes goes to Committee.
What happens in the Senate subcommittee?
- Members study the bill, hold hearings, and debate provisions. Marks up the bill. If it passes goes to Committee.
Majority of Congressional members 113th:
- Middle Aged - White - Protestant - lawyer - male
Does the senate have a Rules Comittee?
- No
What do Parliament members do?
- Party in power selects Prime Minister. And Cabinet - Refuse to vote with party and lose seat - Parties form coalitions. - Power to vote "no confidence"
President v. Parliament:
- Popularly elected President. An American invention. - Parliament- Western Euro., Japan, Israel. o France has a combo of both.
Where are presidents normally from? Why?
- Pres. Are outsiders from DC • Easy to win in US if you are not from • Carter, Reagan, Clinton, GWB- all governors. Washington.
Differences between president and parliament?
- Pres. Popularly elected - Pres. Are outsiders - Cabinet from outside of Congress - Pres. have no guaranteed majority
President vs. Prime Minister majority:
- President has no guaranteed majority; however, PM will always have a majority - President often does NOT have congressional majority
Types of member behavior:
- Representational - Organizational - Attitudinal
What happens in the Senate Conference Committee?
- Senators and Representatives meet to reconcile differences between bills. When agreement is reached, a compromise bill is sent to Full Senate.
why unified doesn't mean "unified":
- Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans
Divided government:
- They often work at Cross-Purposes even when Congress and Pres. are from the same party they often do not work together - JFK vs. Democrat Congress- only passed 1⁄4 of his proposals. - FDR, LBJ, GWB- had some success.
Framers intent of Congress:
- To oppose the concentration of power in a single institution. No oppressive majority. • "First Branch of Govt." - To balance large and small states •Bicameralism- "two chamber" - House and Senate
What do members of Congress do?
- Voters choose President and Pres. Choose Cabinet. - "no fear" of govt falling apart. - Have independent Constitutional Powers. Art. 1 Sec. 8 - Free to express views.
First step for how a bill becomes a law:
- a bill is drafted
Where is the bill sent after the House subcommittee?
- a committee hears the bill
Where is the bill sent after the House committee?
- a rules committee
Are prime ministers usually inside or outside government prior to obtaining their position?
- always inside the government
Congressional Committees:
- are the most important organizational feature of Congress -The "Real Work" is done and the "Real Power" lay - make the law
VP power in Senate:
- constitutional head of the Senate. - No real power except to vote in case of a tie and preside at ceremonies.
What did framers want Congress to be:
- dominant institution
Caucus:
-an association of members of Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional or economic interest. Push an agenda.
Uncertainty/Issues with gridlock:
1. No proof gridlock produces less than unified govt. 2. Not sure gridlock is bad for country.
Organization of House since 1994:
1994 brought changes: - Committee chairs hold positions for only 6 years - Reduced the number of committees and subcommittees - The Speaker dominated the selection of committee chairs - The Speaker set the agenda (Contract with America) and sustained high Republican discipline in 1995
