Gov unit 2 question packet

Congress is which branch of the federal government?

Legislative

Two chambers of congress:

Senate and House of representatives

Requirements for new legislation

Approved by senate and house + signed into law by president

Senators per state

2

Representation in house

Population

17th amendment

allowed senators to be elected by the people

Term lengths in house and senate

House- 2 yrs, Senate- 6 yrs

Members in the house:

435

House of representatives procedures

Heavily structured debate with limited time to speak with given topic

Senate procedures

Allowed to speak more time, and allowed to make off topic statements

Five enumerated powers of Congress:

Power to regulate interstate commerce, declare war, tax, coin money, maintain the armed forces

Necessary and proper clause

Permits congress to make any laws that are needed to carry out its enumerated powers

McCulloch v. Maryland allowed congress to:

To have implied powers and established national bank

Where must all tax legislation originate:

Within the house of representatives

Who has power to confirm presidential appointments

Senate

3 powers exclusive to the house:

Create revenue (tax) laws, select president is no candidate wins electoral college, impeach federal officers

Advise and consent in the Senate:

Allow to recommend/reject major presidential appointees such as cabin secretaries and federal judges

How are treaties approved/ratified:

2/3 senate vote

House draws up impeachment charges, what is the Senate’s role:

Have to try an official wrongdoing, reach a judgement and determine whether to remove the official from office (requires 2/3 vote for conviction)

Power to declare war:

Congress

Most powerful position in the House:

Speaker of the House

Speaker’s responsibility:

Presiding debate, voting on parliamentary disputes and making committee assignments

How is speaker elected:

By majority house vote

Job of majority leader

Work with congressional leaders in the house/senate

Whip

Enforced intra-party discipline, encourages to vote in accordance

President of senate

Vice president of the US, seen in high profile/ceremonial occasions, break ties

Filibuster

Minority party can postpone the final vote

Cloture

Only way to end debate and call for a federal up or down vote (only way to end a filibuster)

Mandatory spending

Government preexisting financial obligations under entitlement programs like social security and medicare

Discretionary spending

Any other expenditures of the federal government (except for debt payments), up to congress

Appropriations committee

Determines how to allocate discretionary spending among the various federal agencies and programs

Trustee model

representative uses their own judgment to make decisions they believe are best for the people they represent

Delegate model

a representative votes the way their constituents want, directly reflecting the people’s opinions

Politico Model

a representative sometimes acts as a delegate and sometimes as a trustee, depending on the issue

Political gridlock

Represents a failure of congress to function effectively (opposing parties cannot agree)

Three conditions that can lead to gridlock:

divided governments (different parties control presidency and congress), polarizes parties (parties have opposing views with little willingness to compromise), strong interest group influence (powerful groups pressure lawmakers)

Gerrymandering

Drawing boundary lines for legislative districts so as to favor the party in charge of the redistricting process

Who controls the redistricting process

The party who controls the legislature

Baker v. Carr

Placed limits on redistricting (one person, one vote)

Shaw v. Reno

Supreme Court prohibited the practice of racial gerrymandering