AP Gov Buzzwords Unit 6

Delegated Powers

Powers delegated to the national government (art 1 section 8)

Implied Powers

Powers given to congress through “elastic clause” or “necessary and proper clause”

like developing a national bank

Denied Powers

Powers that the government does not have ex. Ex post facto laws, suspending habeas corpus, and bills of attainer

Representational (Delegate) view

Vote as a majority of your constituents want

Attitudinal (Trustee) view

Vote as you (member of Congress) ideologically believe

Organizational view

Voting as your party/caucus wants

Politico view

Vote as you ideologically believe, unless constituents show

a strong interest in the topic

Cup and saucer

House is the Cup and Senate is the Saucer, as the senate catches what ever spills over from the house

Legislative process

I. Introduction

• Bill is drafted & member sponsors it

• Bill is read into the record (H.R. or S.)

II. Bill is Assigned to a Committee

• Speaker Assigns in House

• Senate Majority Leader Assigns in the

Senate

How a Bill Becomes a Law

III. Committee (Sub-Committee) Action

• Hearing  experts are brought in to gather

information (*Interest groups, CBO, CRS)

• Mark Up 

• 1) Pass – Report on the bill

• 2) Amend, then Pass – Report on the bill

• 3) Defeat (Kill It) or “Pigeonhole”  at any point

• Discharge petition?

IV. House of Reps Rules Committee

• Committee determines:

1. Scheduling of bill

2. Length of debate

3. Will amendments be allowed?

• Open, closed, or restrictive rule?

How a Bill Becomes a Law

V. Floor Action

• Entire House or Senate meet on the bill

• Quorum (218 – House OR 100 – Committee of the Whole)

• Debate  House – Limited

Senate – Unlimited  Filibuster, Cloture,

Double-tracking

• Voice, Standing (Division), Teller, or Roll-call vote

• Yea, Nay, or Present

• 1) Pass 2) Amend, then Pass 3) Defeat

VI. Repeat Steps I-V in Other House

• Introduction, Assigned to Committee, Committee

Action, House Rules Committee, Floor Action

How a Bill Becomes a Law

VII. Concurrence Vote

• Do you agree with the changes made by the other

house?

• Yes  Bill goes to President No  Go to step VIII

VIII.Conference Committee (joint committee)

• House and Senate members meet to compromise on the

differences in the bills

IX. Approve Conference Committee Report

• House and Senate each vote to approve compromise bill

by majority vote

• No ability to amend at this point

How a Bill Becomes a Law

X. President’s Action

• 1) Sign

• 2) Veto

• 3) Take No Action

• If Congress is in session…after 10 days it passes.

• If Congress is not in session, after 10 days it is

vetoed  “Pocket Veto”

XI. Override the President’s Veto

• 2/3 majority vote of the House and Senate

Single-member districts

An electoral district represented by a single officeholder

census

to acquire and record information about members of a population (done in the us every 10 years, important for redistricting)

redistricting

changing electoral district boundaries to reflect changes in a state’s population.

gerrymandering

drawing districts for political gain (state legislatures)

Marginal districts

competitive districts with close elections

safe districts

districts with wide margins (non competative)

Baker v Carr

1962, State of Tennessee had not redrawn districting lines since the 1800s so people were not equally represented in some areas, the ruling 6-2 was that the lines needed to be redistricted to Equally protect all citizens.

Shaw v. Reno

1993, North Carolina had one majority, minority district but Reno (U.S. attorney general wanted 2) although it had noble intentions, treating citizens unequally by gerrymandering districts was deemed unconstitutional by the Equal protection clause (5-4 for Shaw)

Filibuster

talking to prevent a vote on legislation (used in the senate)

Cloture

a vote in the senate to end a filibuster (takes 60)

Holds

senator informs floor of wish to stop bill (threaten to filibuster)

Speaker of the House

Presiding officer of the house (most important person in house)

Majority Leader

Head of party with greater numbers

Minority Leader

Head of party with lesser numbers (the main spokesperson)

President Pro Tempore

Head of the senate (presiding officer) when the V.P is not there (95% of time) (traditionally the senator with most seniority of major party)

Whip

Inform and influence party members (ex. voting on a bill) (both houses)

Standing committee

Permanent legislative committee specializing in a subject area (both houses)

House Ways and Means Committee

(ways and means of getting money) Tax writing committee in the House of Reps

House Rules Committee

Determines when bills are scheduled to be debated and for how long and if there will be amendments allowed for the house

Subcommittees

Specialized smaller groups within standing committees

Select committee

Temporary committees for a limited time and purpose

Joint committee

A committee with members of both houses

Conference committee

Examines details of proposed laws in the joint committee

Pocket veto

If president lets bill sit for 10 days with no congress in session then a bill is “pocket veto”ed

Line-item veto

an executive’s ability to block a particular provision of a bill passed by the legislature

Rider

provision added to a piece of legislation that is not germane to the bill’s purpose

Poison pill amendment

adding stuff to a bill so people vote against it and bill is killed

Earmarks

provisions within legislation that appropriate money to a specific project

pork barrel spending

Provisions within legislation for specific projects that benefit a specific district or state.

logrolling/reciprocity

legislator agreeing to vote for a bill in order to get a fellow legislator to agree to vote for a different bill

Pigeonhole

Purposely set aside a bill and forgotten

Discharge petition

member of the House may request to have a bill moved out of committee and to the floor

Bills of attainder

A bill that declares a specific person or group guilty of a crime (prohibited in art 1 section 9)

Ex post facto laws

Punishing actions that were done in the past

Oversight

the act of investigating or checking the actions of another branch

Casework/Constituent services

Services provided by members of congress to help constituents navigate federal agencies

Hatch Act (1939)

forbids the intimidation or bribery of voters and restricts political campaign activities by federal employees. It prohibits using any public funds designated for relief or public works for electoral purposes.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (1966)

generally provides any person with the statutory right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to government information in executive branch agency records.

Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Bill (1985)

first binding spending constraints on the federal budget.

War Powers Act (1973)

President shall in every possible instance consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement is clearly indicated by the circumstances.

Patriot Act (2001)

enabled investigators to gather information when looking into the full range of terrorism-related crimes