AP GOV UNIT 2 FULL REVIEW
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103 Terms
Republicanism
the democratic principle that the will of the people is reflected in government debates and decisions by their representative.
How is the principle of republicanism reflected in the structure of Congress?
Reflected through the bicameral structure of Congress. The Senate is designed to represent the states equally, whereas the House is designed to represent the people.
Describe the size, term lengths, who they are representing, and formality of debate of the House of Representatives.
435 members, each representing a district; 2 year terms; more formal and stricter rules because of large size.
Describe the size, term lengths, and formality of debate of the Senate.
100 members, 2 per state; 6 year terms; less formal, less rules.
How much of Senate is up for election every 2 years?
1/3 of the Senate is up for election every 2 years.
What are the three exclusive powers of the House?
Initiates all tax and revenue bills.
Has the power to impeach federal officers.
Can elect the president in case of an electoral college tie.
What are the three exclusive powers of the Senate?
Confirming presidential nominations (cabinet, judges)
Ratifying treaties.
Holds impeachment trials.
What are the two types of powers that Congress has, according to the Constituition? Where do they derive the basis of these powers from?
enumerated (Article 1, Section 8) and implied (Necessary and Proper Clause)
What are the enumerated and implied powers of Congress? (Policy Areas: legislative, economic, defense/foreign policy, legal, oversight.)
Legislative- Enacting legislation under the authority of the Necessary and Proper Clause.
Economic- imposing and collecting taxes; borrowing and coining money; regulating interstate commerce; passing federal budget.
Defense/Foreign Policy- declaring war; ratifying treaties; providing the funds to maintain armed forces.
Legal- determining the process for naturalization; creating federal courts and jurisdiction.
Oversight- conducting oversight of the executive branch, including federal agencies of the beauracracy.
What are the purpose of committees?
Committees are where the majority of work of Congress is done, in which smaller groups of legislators are responsible for drafting, debating, and revising proposed legislation.
Each members of the House and Senate are assigned to specific committees, which focus on bills per specific policy area.
What two advantages does the majority party have in committees?
the majority party always has more members on every committee.
The committee chairperson is always from the majority party.
What are the four types of committees?
standing committees, joint committees, conference committees, select/special committees
Standing Committee
permanent committee that addresses legislation in a specific subject area.
Joint Committee
includes members of both the House and Senate.
Conference Committee
a type of joint committee which forms to reconcile differences between the House and Senate version of a bill, because for a bill to pass it must be identical.
Special/Select Committee
temporary committee formed for a specific purpose, such as investigation, and disbanded when complete.
Speaker of the House
most powerful person in the House, elected by majority party, presides over legislative work of the House and sets legislative agenda.
Senate Majority Leader
most powerful person in the Senate, sets legislative agenda, assigns members to committees.
House Rules Committee
“gatekeeper of bills” Decides which bills make it to the floor, when they will be debated, how long debate lasts, and if amendments are allowed.
Discharge Petition
legislative tactic used in the House to have a bill brought to the floor by “discharging” it (forcing it) out committee through majority vote.
Committee of the Whole
House acts as a committee to expedite the passage of legislation.
What are the three main legislative tactics/procedures used by the Senate to slow down/speed up the process of passing legislation?
slow down- filibuster, hold.
speed up- cloture, unanimous consent
filibuster
a tactic, such a long speech, to prolong debate and delay/prevent voting on a bill.
cloture
a legislative procedure used to end filibuster or bring debate to a close, allowing for a vote. Requires 3/5 supermajority (60 senators.)
hold
a senators request to delay consideration of a bill or nomination.
unanimous consent
a senate procedure where all 100 senators agree to waive standard rules to expedite the process of passing legislation.
pork barrel spending
funding for a local project designed to please constituents in a larger appropriations bill.
logorolling
“you vote for mine, I vote for yours” exchange of political favors among legislators, such as trading votes.
What are the two types of spending Congress when it approves the federal budget?
mandatory and discretionary
Mandatory Spending
money that must be allocated by law for entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Discretionary Spending
approved on an annual basis, for defense, education, and infrastructure.
Why is mandatory spending increasing?
aging population and entitlement obligations
What trend occurs with discretionary spending as mandatory spending increases?
As mandatory spending increases due to an aging population and entitlement obligations, discretionary spending becomes more limited, unless tax revenues increase or the budget deficit increases.
budget deficit
the shortfall that occurs when government spending exceeds tax revenues.
What are the terms/institutions associated with the House, in comparison to the Senate? (ex: discharge petition, fillibuster)
House- Committee of the Whole, discharge petiton
Senate- unanimous consent, filibuster, cloture
party polarization
increasing ideological division between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans are growing increasingly conservative and concurrently, Democrats are growing increasingly liberal.
party line voting
most or all party members vote with their party on a bill.
gridlock
a situation in which no congressional action can be taken due to lack of consensus. During gridlock, it is slower and more difficult to pass legislation.
What two factors can lead to gridlock?
polarization and party line voting
divided government
different parties control the House, Senate, or presidency.
What can divided government lead too? How does this effect presidential initiatives?
Elections which result in divided government can lead to greater partisanship. This partisanship can lead to members of Congress voting against presidential initiatives and appointments.
What is reapportionment? When does it occur?
the process of redistributing the seats in the House of Representatives among the states to reflect population shifts. Occurs every 10 years after the national census.
redistricting
the process of redrawing the boundaries of congressional districts, can greatly effect representation in Congress.
gerrymandering
the deliberate manipulation of electoral district boundaries to give one party the advantage over the other.
What are the two types of gerrymandering?
cracking and packing
cracking
dividing a constituency across multiple districts to deliberate dilute the voting power of a particular demographic group.
packing
concentrating as many voters of one type into a single district to reduce their influence in other districts.
Baker v. Carr (1962)
Supreme Court used Equal Protection Clause to establish “one person, one vote” principle of voting equality in House elections.
Declared malapportionment, the creation of voting districts with unequal populations, UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
malapportionment
the creation of voting districts with unequal populations.
Shaw v. Reno (1993)
Ruled racial gerrymandering to be UNCONSTITUTIONAL, declaring that congressional districts cannot be be drawn based only on race.
Lines in electoral districts must be contiguous.
Minority voting strength must not be diluted.
What are the three models of congressional representation?
trustee, delegate, politico
trustee model
representative votes on issues based on their own knowledge, judgement, and conscience, regardless of their constituents views.
delegate mdoel
representative sees themself as an agent of the constituents who elected them, and will vote eon issues based on the interests of constituents, even if they disagree.
politico model
combination of delegate and trustee model.
Where does the president derive their formal powers from?
Article II of the Constituion
What are the four main formal powers of the president, granted to them by the Constituion?
Veto power
Pocket veto
Position as Commander in Chief
Making treaties
What is veto power, and what is a check on veto power?
president can reject legislation passed by congress. However, this veto can be overrided by a 2/3 vote in both Houses.
What is a pocket veto, and why is it special?
president rejects legislation by taking no action (not signing a bill) within 10 days and the session of Congress ends. Cannot be overridden by Congress.
What are the four main informal powers of the president?
Executive Orders
Signing Statement
Bargaining and Persuasion
Executive Agreements
executive order
a directive issued by POTUS to federal agencies managing operations of the federal government without congressional approval.
signing statement
a written statement issued by the president when signing a bill that provides their interperation of the bill.
bargaining and persuasion
informal powers used to persuade and enable the president to secure congressional action.
executive agreements
agreements between the president and foreign heads of state, not requiring Senate ratification.
What is an important check on presidential appointment powers by Senate?
Senate confirmation of presidential nominees is an important check on appointment powers, but can lead to conflict between the Senate and president based on who the president chooses to nominate.
What positions require both a presidential nomination and Senate confirmation?
Cabinet members, federal judges, ambassadors
Congressional Agenda
the formal list of policies Congress is considering at any given time.
The president may have policy conflicts with the congressional agenda. How might the president might try to combat these policy conflicts?
the president may use executive orders to address the presidents own agenda items.
How has advances in communication technology affected presidential communication?
Advances in communication technology has increased the impact of presidential communication. Social media allows for rapid responses to political issues and for the president to communicate directly to the people.
bully pulplit
the unique platform that the president has to advocste for their agenda and influence public opinion on what policies are the most important.
What are the two main tools the president uses for agenda setting and to influence public opinion about which policies are most important?
State of the Union adress and bully pulpit.
Why might some argue for the president to have a more limited role in government?
The Constitution limits presidential power, as the president has no policy making power.
Reflects principles of limited government and checks and balances.
Why might some argue for the president to have a more expansive role in government? What document argues this?
State that presidents are elected by the entire nation and thus represent the will of the people.
Presidents can act quickly in times of crisis.
Argued in Federalist 70
What policy area do presidents hold great power over? What are these powers?
Foreign policy. Preisdents serve as the commander in chief, can negotiate treatees, nominate ambassadors and issue executive orders to direct military.
executive privilege
a limited power claimed by presidents to withhold information to protect confidential communications and national security.
US v. Nixon (1974)
Ruled that executive privilege is NOT ABSOLUTE and that president must comply with a judicial subpoena in a criminal investigation.
22nd Amendment
established and limited presidents’ to 2 terms
What two documents provide the basis for the powers of the judicial branch, and provide arguments for how its independence checks the other branches?
Article III- powers of judicial branch
Federalist 78- provides arguments for the independence of the judicial branch
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Established the power of judicial review, which allows the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of federal laws, executive orders and actions, and state laws.
What is original jurisdiction and who is it held by?
the first court to hear a case, held by district courts.
What is appellate jurisdiction and who is it held by?
power of a high court to review decisions made by lower courts; Circuit Courts of Appeals
What kind of jurisdiction does the Supreme Court have?
original and appellate
rule of four
informal rule that the Supreme Court hears a case if four justices vote to hear it.
Stare Decisis
the legal doctrine under which courts follow legal precedents when deciding cases with similar facts.
How do presidential appointments effect the Supreme Courts establishment/rejection of existing precent? (hint: Roe v. Wade)
Ideological changes in the composition of the Supreme Court as a result of new presidential appointees have led to the Court establishing or rejecting existing precedent.
Why is judicial independence important? What instituion allows the Supreme Court to function independently?
Judicial independence allows the court to deliever desicions on controversial and unpopular topics; Life tenure.
What is life tenure and how does it reflect judicial independence?
Life tenure, where federal judges serve for life, allows the Supreme Court to function independent of the current political climate.
What are the three main debates in oppositon to the Court’s legitimacy and power?
Justices are not democratically elected
Life tenure
Court’s power of judicial review is not enshrined in the Constitution.
What is judicial restraint? Does it advocate for a limited or expansive role for the Supreme Court?
asserts that judicial review should be constrained to decisions and adhere to current constitutional and case precedent. Further states that courts should defer to elected branches whenever possible. Advocates for limited role of Supreme Court.
What is judicial activism?
asserts that judicial review allows the courts to overturn current constitutional and case precdent, or invalidate legislative/executive acts. more likely to trike down policies and past rulings.
Give three examples of the limits and restrictions on the Supreme Court’s power.
Court lacks police power to enforce its desicions.
Congressional legislaton can be used to modify impact of Court desicons.
Judicial appointments effecting ideological balance of the Court.
Give one real world example of a restriction/limit on the Supreme Court’s power.
Supreme Court ruled federal income tax to be unconstitutional in 1865, but Congress passed 16th Amendment anyway, which established a federal income tax.
Discretionary authority
the power granted to government agencies to make desicons and take desicons based on their expertise and judgement.
Rulemaking authority
power of government agencies to create rules and regulations that have the power of alw.
What are the benefits of giving government agencies discretionary authoirty?
Allows Congress to set broad policy guidelines, while experts create policy based on expertise.
What is the federal bureaucracy and what is its purpose?
The federal bureaucracy is composed of departments, agencies, commissions and government corporations that implement policy.
How does the federal bureaucracy implement policy?
writing and enforcing regulations, testifying before Congress, issuing fines, forming iron triangles and issue networks
iron triangles
a close, mutually beneficial relationship between congressional committees, beauracratic agencies, and interest groups prominent in specific policy.
issue network
temporary colaitions that form to promote common issue/agenda.
What are the four main organization forms within the beuracracy?
cabinet departments, independent regulatory commissions, executive agencies, government corporations
What are independent regulatory commissions? Give an example.
makes rules regarding specific industries. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)