Gov/Econ Unit 1 Quest Study Guide

Worksheet/Handout Q&A | American Government/Economics - Mr. Geisel (12th grade)

Describe what is meant by “midterm election”? After 2026, When will the next congressional midterm elections be held?

-An election that takes place in the Middle of a presidential term, two years after the presidential election.

-2030

Primary election

narrows down candidates for the general election

General election

Decides off

Bicameral Congress

Two chambers

House of Representatives

435 members with 2-year terms

Senate

-6 year terms

-100 members "staggered" 1/3 every 2 years

What factors make party control of Congress so important?

-Control of "floor" votes

-Control of leadership positions
-Speaker of the House most powerful person in the house
-The Senate President's exception is the Vice President of the United States
-Senate majority leader sets calendar, makes agenda, speaks as long as you want
-Control of all congressional committees

Who is currently serving as the following congressional leadership role?:

Speaker of the house

First and last name: Mike Johnson

State: Louisiana

Party: Republican

• controls house, calendar, debate rules

Who is currently serving as the following congressional leadership role?:

*Senate President

First and last name: JD Vance

State: Ohio

Party: Republican

• Not controlled by the majortity party, could be from the opposite but with them they would get an extra point.

Who is currently serving as the following congressional leadership role?:

*Senate Majority Leader

First and last name: John Thune

State: South Dakota

Party: Republican

• Most powerful in the state, decides when bills get to the floor, removes bills, controls all congressional commitees and chairs and numbers each.

Who is currently serving as the following congressional leadership role?:

House Majority Leader

First and last name: Steve Scalise

State: Louisiana

Party: Republican

Who is currently serving as the following congressional leadership role?:

House Minority Leader

First and last name: Hakeem Jeffries

State: New York

Party: Democratic

Who is currently serving as the following congressional leadership role?:

Senate President Pro-Tempore

First and last name: Chuck Grassley

State: Iowa

Party: Republican

Who is currently serving as the following congressional leadership role?:

Senate Minority Leader

First and last name: Chuck Schumer
State: New York

Party: Democratic

What is the current party control of the House of Representatives?

The total of the House of Representatives is 435
-House of Rep (Republicans 219, Democrats 212)
-4 vacancy (3 Democratic strongholds, 1 competitive)
The magic number is 218

What is the current party control of the Senate?

-Senate Republicans 53, Democrats "47" (2 independent)
-Magic number is either 50 (Republicans) or 51 (Democrats).

-Republicans have to defend more seats from very red states.
-Both Houses have extremely thin majorities; the House could easily flip, and the Senate has a slight possibility (1/3 up for election)

What is the midterm trend?

-The President's party loses seats in the midterm election
-Trend is not hard to continue
-president not on the ballot
-low voting turnout
-Mostly happens all the time (Both parties think the republicans will lose seats and Democrats will take control)
-Stricter voting restrictions such as ID Laws, more restrictive mail-in law,

-President's executive order congress could pass laws, and states essentially control elections within their states

What very strong trend exists for midterms that has republicans very concerned with regard to 2026?

The president’s party almost loses seats. This trend is especially strong in a president’s second midterm, called the “six-year itch”, and it has republicans very concerned with regard to 2026.

Understanding the current party situation in congress, what actions have the president, congress, and some states taken to try to deal with this trend?

The president has used executive power and the DOJ to influence elections and supported mid-decade redistricting. Congress has rebranded major bills and sped up judicial confirmations. Some states, like Texas and Missouri, pushed new GOP maps, while states like California used independent commissions or counter-maps to deal with this trend.

Reapportionment

the process of redistributing the 435 House seats among the states based on population

Resdistricting

the process of drawing new district boundaries within the states.

Reapportionment and redistricting:

-How often does the each occur?

-Why is this not done in the senate?

-Which states do not have to redistrict in the house? Explain why.

-Reapportionment occurs every 10 years after the census, and redistricting usually occurs every 10 years as well, after reapportionment.

-This is not done in the Senate because every state always has 2 senators, no matter the population.

-The states that do not have to redistrict in the House are states with only 1 House seat, such as Alaska and Wyoming. They do not have to redistrict because their whole state already makes up one district.

Which states do not have to redistricting in the state house? Explain why?

The states that do not have to redistrict in the House are states with only 1 House seat, such as Alaska and Wyoming. They do not have to redistrict because their whole state already makes up one district.

-Census (a process that counts and gathers data from an entire population, rather than a sample, and is used for a variety of purposes, including allocating government funding and determining political representation.)

-why not clone in this state?

-which states in house realistically don’t have to redistrict

-independent state legislature theory with regard to redistricting

What is gerrymandering?

A drawing district lines in a way that gives one political party an advantage, often by “packing” or “cracking” groups of votes.

Partisan Gerrymandering

Sectioning off the minority party during redistricting in order to create more seats for the majority party.

Racial Gerrymandering

Sectioning off a specific group within the population during redistricting in order to limit groups ability to gain representation.

Incumbent Gerrymandering

Drawing districts to protect incumbents during redistricting… usually greatest when the redistricting process is evenly split.

Incumbent

Someone running for reelection in office

a. Describe the controversy over Texas’ redistricting plan. How successful were the republicans in Texas?

-When? Why is this controversial?

Answer: This is a year that doesn’t end in zero. Texas is all of a sudden blue

-Who will it benefit?

-Who is requesting it? His reasoning?

Answer: 79%-21% expected new seat gap- his reasoning is that this is more in libe than it’s the percentage of districts won district

-56%-42% presidential results

-71%-29% previous seat gap

-Quorum: the minimum number of members of a group or organization required to be present at a meeting for the group to legally and officially conduct business. Any votes or decisions made without a quorum present are invalid.

b. How has California trued to counteract this (question a)? Have the Democrats been successful… Explain?

-mid-decade redistricting-essentially the same as Texas

-could gain as many as nine seats for democrats

-difference between Texas and California plans

-Texas can get it done through legislation

-California must do it through the initiative process and put it to the voters… so, they won’t find out until November whether they will have a

Why is the following case important with regard to process of reapportionment and redistricting?:

Baker vs. Carr

Justiciable and “one person, one vote”

Why is the following case important with regard to process of reapportionment and redistricting?:

Wesberry vs. Sanders

No malapportionment to protect “one person, one vote” principle

(Malapportionment is the unequal distribution of political representation, which gives some voters more influence than others. It is a system in which the number of seats in a legislative body is not proportional to the population of the districts or regions they represent. This violates the democratic principle of "one person, one vote". )

Why is the following case important with regard to process of reapportionment and redistricting?:

Rucho vs. Common Cause

Federal courts don’t have jurisdiction in partisan gerrymandering cases

Why is the following case important with regard to process of reapportionment and redistricting?:

Shelby county vs. Holder

Ruled section 4 and 5 of the 1965 voting rights as they currently exist to be constitutional…

1. Coverage formulas (mathematical/statistic) and pre-clearance

2. Court’s ruling and its impact on voting/election cases as a whole

1. Removed these protections, so states with histories of discrimination no longer needed federal approval before changing voting rules.

   -needs update

2. The courts’s ruling weakens protections against discriminatory laws and limited the role of the courts in elections.

Why is the following case important with regard to process of reapportionment and redistricting?:

Louisiana vs. Callais (on the upcoming Supreme Court docket)

-could overturn voting rights act entirely by ruling

-majority-minority districts: to be unconstitutional; race cannot be a consideration at all