democracy- unit 1 quiz

what is a representative democracy?

a democracy where elected delegates/officials represent a group of people. these officials represent the people’s interests and vote for/make laws on behalf of the people.

• a direct democracy is where citizens vote directly on policies and laws, and majority rules

what is a constitutional federal republic?

the US is a constitutional federal republic.

• constitutional: the US is based on a written constitution. ‘the supreme law.’

• federal: the US has both a federal government and governments for its 50 states.

• republic: similar to representative democracy, referring to the fact the that people who hold the power, but elected representatives exercize that power.

what are the 6 big ideas of the constitution?

• limited government

• republicanism

• checks and balances

• federalism

• seperation of powers

• popular sovereignty

what are the requirements to be a voter in the state of ohio?

• voting age is 18

• cannot be currently incarcerated for a felony

• must provide photo id

• voters must register 30 days prior to an election- register on the OH secretary of state website

how many lawmakers are there in the HOR?

the number is based on population, but there are currently 435 members

how long is a term for a member of the HOR?

there are no term limits or retirement age

what is the role of the house speaker in the HOR?

the house speaker is elected by the other representatives, and serves as presiding officer and administrative head, as well as the majority leader for whatever party has the power

what is the role of committees in the HOR? what are some examples of these committees?

• different committees in the house are created to debate issues/study laws based on the allotted subjects

• examples of these include things like energy and commerce, or budget

what does allocation by population mean? how are a representatives constituents decided?

• distributing a fixed number of political seats among geographic areas based on their population size, which is decided every 10 years by the US census

• districts are created by states

what is gerrymandering? why might a politician gerrymander an area?

• gerrymandering means drawing the boundaries of a district a certain way to give one party an advantage

• this usually isolates voters and can make many people’s votes feel ineffective

• the majority party draws district lines, so a politician or party would gerrymander an area to try and ensure that they stay in power

what does it mean when a representative’s seat is considered a ‘safe seat?’

• usually, after a district is gerrymandered, it gives one party a ‘safe seat,’ meaning that that particular district is guaranteed to vote for a certain party, and therefore a certain candidate/representative

• only 70 out of the 435 seats in the house are considered competitive

what does it mean if a politician ‘gets primaried?’

getting primaried means to lose an election in the primary. typically, the candidates that ‘get primaried’ are those who are more moderate in their politics, and those people end up losing seats or elections to more far-right or far-left candidates.

how many senators are there?

100; 2 for each state, regardless of state population

how long is a term in the senate?

a senate term is 6 years long

what are some of the ‘unique powers of the senate?’

• confirm presidential appointments, like justices to the supreme court

• confirm treaties on things like defense and trade

• power of one senator: hold and filibuster, where one senator can stop or delay a vote for the entire senate

who are the ohio senators?

bernie moreno and john husted (both R)

what does ‘powers of the majority party’ mean? what are some examples of this?

• currently, republicans control the senate 53-47, with the vice president serving as a tie breaking vote, who is also republican

• this means that lots of bills are passed into law that are in favor of the republican party and its values, because majority of the people in the senate skew republican

what are lobbyists? what do lobbyists do?

a lobbyist is someone who advocates on behalf of a certain organization or group by directly communicating with lawmakers in order to influence their decisions (get them to vote a certain way) on policy and legislation.

what are some values held by liberals? what are some values held by conservatives?

• liberals

  • support social programs like medicaid, and economic regulation like government restrictions on big business

  • support individual liberty and majority of social justice causes

• conservatives

  • limited government interference with people and businesses

  • rule of law/’enduring moral order’

  • free markets

  • individual liberty and freedom

what is political socialization?

where a person, throughout their life, acquires/develops their political views with influence from outside sources like family, friends, region, and media.

how does a bill become a law?

• the bill is introduced to congress (by a lawmaker)

• the bill is assigned to a committee (changes can be made to the bill, then the members of that committee vote for/against it- or the bill is ignored)

• there is a full chamber debate/vote (amendments can be made)

  • this process must repeat in both chambers of congress, and both chambers must pass identical bills

• the president signs the bill into law or vetoes it (this can be overruled, but it must be by a 2/3rds vote in congress)

what are some examples of express and implied powers of congress?

• express: powers granted by the constitution (tax, citizenship, regulation of interstate commerce, creation of army/navy).

• implied: can pass laws deemed ‘necessary and proper’ to carry out expresses duties (draft soldiers, create immigration laws)

what are political action committees?

• these are a type of organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation.

• example: a hit ad on a certain candidate that was paid for by ‘friends of ___’ would come from a pac.

what is the role and what are some of the powers of the supreme court?

• as ‘the highest court in the land,’ the supreme court’s job is to uphold justice, civil rights, and the constitution

• unique powers include judicial review, in which the supreme court can look at a law passed by congress, or something decided by the president, and determine whether or not it is constitutional