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