Exam 4

House of Representatives:

435 member, population based, up for reelection every 2 years, Represent single districts. Members are elected to represent the interests of their constituents in legislative decisions.

Senate

100 members, 2 per state, up for reelection every 6 years (⅓ every 2 years) Represents Larger/more diverse area

Where does the rules of congress come from?

The constitution article 1 Section 5

Requirements of representative in the house

Must be 25 years old

Must be a citizen for at least 7 years

Must be a legal resident of the state you want to represent

Local constituency(represent the interests of that community. )

Requirements of Senator

Must be 30 years old

Must be a citizen for 9 years

Must be a legal resident of the state they want to represent

Both local and state constituencies

(Originally chosen by state legislatures, but now chosen by the people (due to amendment))

Specific powers of the House

Impeachment has to begin in the house

Decides elections if no candidate wins a majority in the electoral college(only happened 3 times thus far)

Power of the purse(All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house)

Specific powers of the Senate

Confirmation power(nominations for supreme court applies to over 1k positions)

Impeachment trials

Ratify Treaties

Where do Bill start?

Most bills can start in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. But if it's a bill that has to do with taxes or raising revenue, it must start in the House of Representatives.

Conference(republicans)/Caucus(democrats):

Choose who is in the house and senate leadership positions and set party agendas.

How is the house setup:

• Speaker of the House: Majority party in the House

• House Majority Leader: 2nd in command to Speaker of the House

• House Minority Leader: Leader of the minority party in the House

• Whips: Makes sure everyone is on board (usually favors for favors or threatening) – 4 whips

How is Senate Set up?

• President of the Senate: Vice President of the U.S. (can cast tie-breaking vote)

• President Pro Tempore: Longest-serving member of the majority party; presides when VP is absent

• Senate Majority Leader: Most powerful person in the Senate; sets the agenda

• Senate Minority Leader: Leader of the minority party in the Senate

• Whips: Keep party members in line (favors, pressure, etc.) – 4 whips total

Why do we have committees in the house? 

Much easier to write laws in smaller groups

Allows for congresspeople to develop expertise on a particular subject

Standing committees:

permanent committee, power to propose and write laws that deal with their specific topic,responsible for oversight 

Joint committees:

made up of both members of the house and senate

Conference committee:

temporary most common type of joint committee, resolve differences in senate and house versions of a bill

Select committee:

Temporary Set up to investigate specific issues or oversee government functions

Apportionment:

The Diving up of the Number of houses of reps. seats each state gets Occurs every 10 years after the Census, Only 2 members of senate per state

Redistricting:

Roughly every 10 years, Where do we draw the lines in districting the votes for members(from constitution)

Redistricting rules:

• In most states, states legislature is responsible for creating redistricting plan

  • Usually states governor has to approve the plan

  • Could be a source of possible gerrymandering 

• Some states(AZ,CA,CO,HI,ID,MI,MT,NJ,WA) use an independent or bipartisan(both parties) redistricting commission to map out new districts

• Smaller number of states give independent agencies authority to propose plans, but still allow the legislature to approve them(VA,NY)

• Six states do not redistrict, Because they only have one seat

How does Gerrymandering happen now?

Some states that have legislatures that are solidly blue/red pack districts in such a way as to help their party win elections

• Supreme court has decided that it is within states legislaturesʻ rights to design districts to their choosing (At federal Level)

  • Cannot on race, but on partisanship as long as it is not extreme

  • Allen v. Milligan (2023)

  • Alexander v. South Carolina state conference of the NAACP

• At state laws some states say that you cannot design districts at their choosing(State level)

GerryMandering:

Process of manipulating boundaries in order to give one party a greater chance of winning over another, Aims to leave out, or include, specific populations to ensure reelection of a given candidate party

(Gerrymandering) Packing a district:

Packing opposing districts into one district, leading to opposing district to have less seats

(Gerrymandering)Cracking a district:

spreading voters of a particular type among many districts in order to deny them a sufficiently large voting bloc in any particular district.

How to get rid of gerrymandering 

• Independent Commission (By partisan group, or independent group)

• Shortest split line method, (Results in odd districts but is mathematically un biased)

• Proportional Gerrymandering (Purposive gerrymandering in a way that represents population)

Influences on members of congress

External

• Constituents 

• Interest Groups

Internal

• Party Discipline(especially floor action)

What is the Legislative Process of creating a bill

Majority party controls much of the process

1. A congressperson sponsors a bill. (either chamber, House and senate)

2. Assigned to a committees for study 

3. Committee chair schedules a hearing for members to discuss the bill and to hear testimony from the public or experts regarding the issue

4. If released by the committee, bill moves to the full chamber

5. If the bill passes by simple majority(218 of 435) for the House(51 of 100 for the senate), 

6. bill moves to other chamber

7. Assigned to another committee

8. If released debated and voted on 

9. Simple majority passes the bill

10. Goes to joint committee

11. Goes to president's desk 

    1. President has 10 days to sign or veto 

12. Congress can override presidential veto with super majority

Constituency:

the residents in the area from which an official is elected

Bicameral legislature:

a legislative body consisting of two chambers (house of reps and senate)

Delegate:

acting on the express preferences of their constituents,

Trustee:

more loosely tied to constituents and empowered to make the decisions they think best.

Descriptive Representation:

sort that takes place when representatives have the same racial, gender, age, social class, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents.

Incumbency:

holding the political office for which one is running

Pork Barrel:

refers to government spending for localized projects secured primarily to bring money to a representative's district. These projects are often not essential on a national level but are included in legislation to help legislators gain favor with local voters and increase their chances of re-election.

Appointment:

the process, occurring after every decennial census, that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states

Redistricting:

the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives; this happens every 10 years, to reflect shifts in population

Gerrymandering:

drawing legislative districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to a political party or one racial or ethnic group

Conference:

a gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their House leaders; Democrats call their gathering the “caucus”

Caucus:

a normally closed political party business meeting of citizens or lawmakers to select candidates, elect officers, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters

Speaker of the House:

the chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives; the Speaker is the most important party and House leader and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of individual pieces of legislation, and members’ positions within the House

Majority leader:

the elected leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate; in the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker of the House

Minority Leader:

the elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate

Whip:

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

Standing committee:

a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture

Markup:

the session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearings on a bill

Seniority:

the ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee in Congress

Staff Agencies:

legislative support agencies responsible for policy analysis

Bills:

a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate

Open Rule:

a provision by the House Rules Committee that permits floor debate and the addition of new amendments to a bill

Closed Rule:

a provision by the House Rules Committee limiting or prohibiting the introduction of amendments during debate

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Cloture:

a rule or process in a legislative body aimed at ending debate on a given bill; in the U.S. Senate, 60 senators (three-fifths) must agree in order to impose a time limit and end debate

Veto:

the president’s constitutional power to turn down acts of Congress; a presidential veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress

Pocket Veto:

a presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session

Ping Ponging:

sending amendments back and forth between the relevant House and Senate committees to reconcile differences between bills or major measures without convening a conference committee at all 

Appropriations:

the amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend

Omnibus appropriations bill:

a bill that deals with a number of unrelated topics

party unity vote:

a roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party

Oversight:

the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies

Expressed Powers:

powers that are specifically established by the language of the constitution

What are the president’s military powers?

• Commander in Chief: President is the highest military authority in the US, head of defense, intelligence network,

• Domestic: And has power to cover domestic disputes, can deploy federal troops in order to maintain order

What are the presidents Judicial powers?

• grant reprieves, pardons, and amnesty.

Wjat are the presidents Diplomatic powers?

Executive Agreement: an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate’s “advice and consent”

Presidents Executive powers

• Executive Privilege:  the claim that confidential communications between a president and close advisers should not be revealed without presidential consent.

• power to appoint, remove, and supervise all executive officers and to appoint all federal judges.

What are the presidents legislative powers

• Veto: Power to reject acts of congress, may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress

• Pocket Veto: a presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session

Delegated powers:

from congress constitutional powers that are assigned to one governmental agency but are exercised by another agency with the express permission of the first 

Unitary executive theory:

theory holds that all executive power within the national government belongs to the president except as explicitly limited by the Constitution. Thus, all the officials of the executive branch must take their orders from the president.

Executive Office of the President(EOP):

the permanent agencies that perform defined management tasks for the president; created in 1939, the EOP includes OMB, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), the NSC, and other agencies

Cabinet:

the secretaries, or chief administrators, of the major departments of the federal government; Cabinet secretaries are appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate

White house staff:

analysts and advisers to the president, each of whom is often given the title “special assistant”

Executive Office of the President(EOP):

the permanent agencies that perform defined management tasks for the president; created in 1939, the EOP includes OMB, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), the NSC, and other agencies

National Security Council(NSC):

a presidential foreign policy advisory council composed of the president, the vice president, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, and other officials invited by the president

Vice President duties:  

to succeed the president in case of death, resignation, or incapacity, and to preside over the Senate, casting a tie-breaking vote when necessary.

executive order:

a rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect and formal status of legislation

signing statements:

announcements made by the president when signing bills into law, often presenting the president’s interpretation of the law

Gridlock:

Too many things happen at once everything comes to a halt

Committee assignments:

Sending a bill to a committee that will not allow a bill to pass

Refusal to schedule things:

By whose in charge(majority speaker) 

Committee ASsignments:

Sending a bill to a committee that will not allow a bill to pass

Presidency Requirements:

35 years old, Natural born US citizen, Lived in US for at least 14 years, Cant serve more than 2 terms(from 22nd amendment)

How to pick a president:

Electoral college(indirectly on purpose because framers believed that the general population was not fit to vote, also said that it can help smaller states with fewer population, 538 based on number of house of reps and number of senators)

Electoral inversion:

who wins electoral college does not match popular vote

Faithless electors:

member of the electoral college who does not vote for the candidate for whom they had pledged to vote. (most states have state laws that try to stop this)

Modern Presidency

• Began in early 20th century traced to remarkable growth and expansion of powers of the executive branch(traditional Federalism->Cooperative Federalism)

• Contrasted with “Traditional Presidencies” 

  • Enduring, formal,constitutional presidency drafted in 1787 by the founders

  • Presidents began to play a bigger role, Increased size of government and Bureauaucracy

• Modern Presidency was a metamorphosis of the role

  • Altered, informal, presidency, articulated by presidents in the 20th century

Development of Modern Presidency:

• FDR(Democrat) founded modern presidency(New Deal)

  • Presidents start to talk more with general population

• Truman(Democrat) Institutionalized the modern presidency

  • Continued FDR style of presidency and organized the white house like never before

  • Worked closely with Budget Bureau to become more involved in legislative process

• Eisenhower(Republican) Ratified the modern presidency

  • Did not disavow expanded powers

4 Key differences between modern and traditional presidency

• Increased Legislative and budgetary role

  • Through initiating and seeking congressional support for legislation

• Unilateral use of powers

  • Making policy through executive orders/informal actions

• Increased presidential bureaucracy 

  • To support Legislative agenda and policy preferences

• Popular/personalized leadership

Executive order:

a rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect and formal status of legislation, Not as permanent as a law, Court has power to invalidate executive order, successor can eliminate executive order, 

Impeachment:

Article 2 section 4 Legislative branch bringing charges against a government official for an alleged crime

How does impeachment work?

• Initiated by house of reps by chargingin a person with “treason,bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”

• High crimes and misdemeanors: been subject of debate for a long time

• Needs a simple majority for impeachment, leads to indictment(hows says theres enough evidence to investigate a crime and hold a trial)

• Then goes to senate requiring ⅔ majority of votes for removal

Bureaucracy:  

the complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, and principles that organize all large-scale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel. 

Implementation(Bureaucracy):

the efforts of departments and agencies to translate laws into specific bureaucratic rules and actions

Characteristics of Bureaucracies:

defined by a mission statement, populated by experts, characterized by hierarchical structures and standardized procedures

Principal-agent problem(bureacracy):

a conflict in priorities between an actor and the representative authorized to act on the actor’s behalf

Bureaucrats:

Qualified individuals that work in the government

Spoil system:

Rewarding someone for helping you with a job

Merit system:

most bureaucrats now gain a job from their merit

Pendleton Act:

Most bureaucratic jobs require a background in the position you apply for

Examples of bureaucracy integrated in our daily life

US weather service- weather app

US department of Transportation- roads and highways

US postal service- mail

Federal Aviation Administration- flying home

Food and Drug Administration- checking calories

US department of Education- School

Advanced Research Projects Agency- Created internet

DMV

Initial Intent of Bureaucracy

Efficiency: Enables government to get stuff done

EX: IRS, who else would do taxes? Congress? President?

Perform Specialized Tasks Which require routine action, but also undertake politically controversial tasks which require them to exercise discretion 

-Manya re highly educated experts in their respective fields

-Doctors Lawyers Meteorologists Scientists 

Fill Roles that the private sector may not be able to do

Nasa flying people to the moon during the cold war

Or if there's not much profit in a certain sector bureaucracy fills that role

3 main goals of bureacracies

Promote public welfare: keep people safe FDA, CDC

Deal with economic Matters: IRS 

Promote national security(internal and external): NSA, TSA

How do Bureaucracies work in branches of government?

1. Implement laws-congressional 

   1. Fill in blanks of determining how laws should be carried out

2. Make and Enforce rules-Legislative

   1. Study Legislation and propose set of rules to guide implementation 

3. Administer Adjudication- JUdicial

   1. Settle disputes regarding rules

   2. Determines compliance with the rules