Poli Sci Exam 3

First Branch of Congress

Expected Congress to wield most of the national government powers and Congress was written into Article 1 of the Constitution

Power of the Purse

Congress encompasses taxation and spending decisions w/ the authority to declare war

Linchpin of Checks and Balances

Congress is constitutionally empowered to override presidential vetoes and determine structure/jurisdiction of federal judiciary including the Supreme Court

Broken Branch

Congress has been unable to address the nation’s most pressing domestic, economic, and international problems effectively

Paradox of broken branch

Most Americans disapprove of Congress yet re-elect their own members (incumbency advantage)

Puzzle of broken branch

Why post-1970 Congress has become so polarized by partisanship and divided by ideology, and whether this represents citizens or politicians. We have a “disappearing center”

Partisan polarization

A party split, and during 1890-1910, more than 90% of each party’s members opposed the other. By 70s, this was the exception to the rule. Now we are extremely polarized once again, seen in the 2021 American Rescue Plan and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act

Bicameral (2-chamber) legislature

House of Representatives whose members are elected directly by the people for a two-year term, and a Senate, with two members from each state chosen by legislatures of each state

Problem for House

Wants to be powerful (435 members) and it’s members want power as individuals and a group. Being so big makes power difficult unless a small group has authority to run it

Senate and 17th Amendment

Senate of US shall be composed of 2 senators from each state, elected by the people thereof for six years. The motivation was to get the legislative branch closer to the people

Filibuster

Only in Senate, prolonged speech/speeches made to delay action in a legislative assembly

Rule 22 cloture motion

Debate could be cut off if 2/3 of senators present voted and agreed to a cloture motion

Diversity trend in Congress

More in Democratic party, but in ‘18, ‘20, and ‘22 elections, many women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals won seats.

Majority-minority districts

Majority of residents are racial/ethnic minorities, allow these groups to elect candidates of choice. Includes descriptive and substantive representation.

Descriptive representation

Officeholder from a racial/ethnic minority represents constituents who share the same identity

Substansive representation

Ability of voters to elect officials who will enact policies in line with their preferences

Career/professional politicians trend

People used to only serve one term because of unimportance and difficulties traveling to/living in DC, as well as low pay. Now, “career politicians’ are “out of touch” and the proposed solution is term limits.

Supreme Court on term limits

1995, could only be imposed by a constitutional amendment and such efforts to pass one in Congress failed (Congress will not vote for themselves to have term limits)

Arguments against term limits

Makes politicians less responsive to public, little to no effect on who is elected

Reapportionment

Proportional distribution of Representatives (seats) by population

House

Serves districts

Senate

Serves entire state

Marginal districts

Districts that have close elections (winner less than 55% of vote)

Safe district

Incumbents win by wide margins (55%+)

Gerrymandering

Drawing districts to favor one party or the other

Redistrcting

Controlled by state legislature, the way we change the districts that determine who represents us to benefit a particular party

Republican geographical advantage

House only, they do better in rural districts

Rucho v. Common Cause (2019)

5-4, federal courts cannot hear challenges to partisan gerrymandering

Congress behaviors/views

1. Representational view

2. Organizational view

3. Attitudinal explanation

Representational view

Reasonable assumption that members want to get re-elected, and vote to please their constitutents

Organizational view

Because most constituents don’t know how their legislator voted, it is essential to not please them and instead please fellow Congress members

Attitudinal explanation

Many conflicting pressures on Congress members cancel each other out, leaving members virtually free to vote on the basis of their own beliefs

Vice president and “president pro tempore”

Honorific position, greatest seniority in Senate

Majority leader

Schedules business of the Senate

Speaker of the House

Presides over the House, most important person and elected by whichever party has majority

What does the Speaker of the House influence

What bills are brought up for a vote and appoints members of special and select committees

Party voting

Increasing trend, members of a political party vote the same way

Why is party voting an increasing trend?

1. Members of Congress choose their party intentionally

2. If they don’t have an opinion, they look at their party members for advice

3. Supporting the party interest works to the long-term advantage of a member interested in gaining status/influence in Congress

Caucuses

Association of members in Congress to advocate a political ideology or advance an interest

Ideological caucus

Unite members around a set of beliefs

Regional caucus

Bring together members from a common geographical region to work together on area-specific issues

Issue caucus

Devoted to particular issues

Racial/ethnic caucuses

Advocate for those from particular racial/ethnic groups

Types of congressional committees

1. Standing

2. Select

3. Conference

Standing committee

Decides what bills get an initial hearing

Select committee

Groups appointed for a limited purpose, do not introduce legislation and only exist for a few years

Conference

Reps/senators appointed to resolve differences in Senate and House versions of a bill before final passage

Appropriations bill

Proposed law that authorizes federal agencies to spend $ from US Treasury for specific purposes, must originate from House

Rules Committee in House

An arm of leadership (especially Speaker) reviews most bills and sets rules under which they will be considered by the House. Serves as “traffic cop”

Quorum

Half of the house membership (218 reps) needed to pass a bill

Recent trend in filibusters

Rise in filibusters or “threat of a filibuster,” bills require 60 votes to pass

Why is it difficult to keep Congress accountable for their vote?

Some observers make the mistake of looking at who was for/against a bill based on the final vote even though many members of Congress switch up throughout the bill

Roll-call vote

Names are recorded of who voted which way, done only when 1/5 of House requests it

Omnibus legislation

A single bill that contains many other bills all rolled up together

Divided government

Decreases legislative productivity and can lead to gridlock

Unified government

Increases legislative productivity, is the USA right now because Republicans dominate the House and Senate

House Rule change by Rules Committee

Any single member can motion to vacate the Speaker and force a floor vote

Cracking and packing

Most common method of gerrymandering

Partisan trend with Supreme Court justices 1986 and on

Judicial nominations have had a less certain reception in the senate

Changes in % of federal judges confirmed since 1995

Number dropped to 80% of nominees

Increasing number of days to confirm a nomination

Increased from 45 to 229

Judicial review (Marbury v. Madison)

Right to declare laws of Congress and acts of the executive branch void and enforceable if they are judged to be in conflict with the Constitution

Judicial review approaches

1. Judicial restraint

2. Activist

Judicial restraint approach

Judges should only judge by confining themselves to applying those rules stated in or clearly implied by the Constitution

Activist approach

Judges should discover the general principles underlying the Constitution, amplify those principles, and apply them to cases

Federalist 78

Hamilton said the judicial branch was the “least dangerous branch" because they interpret, not create law and policy, they also had no influence over the purse and are isolated from public government pressure"

Issues that dominated Marshall court

Nation state relationships, federal supremacy, inter-state commerce, national bank

Roger-Taney court

Tried to bring slavery back to states rights, infamous for Dred Scott decision

FDR Era Court packing bill

Wanted to “pack the court” for the New Deal legislation to pass when he got re-elected

Switch in time that saved the nine

Owen Roberts switched his position on New Deal measures, court switches away from business/economy and more towards personal liberty

Warren Court

Switch from 1937-1974, did not overturn a single law aimed at regulating businesses, focused more on personal liberties and heavily on Civil Rights, most “activist” period of the court

Printz v. US

States don’t need to use their resources to enforce federal laws

Attempts to weaken Affordable Care Act

• Healthcare National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, two decisions

  • Individual mandates to purchase minimum-essential health insurance

  • State governments expand Medicaid coverage

• King v. Burwell: Case about healthcare subsidies for 6 million Americans

Supreme Court

Set up in Article III of the Constitution, all federal courts after the Supreme Court were created by congress

Constitutional courts

US district courts, courts of appeals

US District courts

Most federal cases begin here, which is why there is so many. 94 of them in 11 districts

Courts of appeals

Only hear appeals from district court, no original cases. 12 of them (1 in each 11 districts +DC)

Party effect on behavior and diversity in appointments

Democrats tend to vote liberal and Republicans tend to vote conservative

Senatorial courtesy

Mostly district courts, president nominates a qualified person to be a judge and the Senate approves or rejects the nomination based on those qualifications

Blue slip

Senator records views on nominee, negative opinion or failure to return the blue slip may kill nomination, so president nominates only people recommended by the key senator

When did we steer away from blue slips

2017, returned power back to Article II Section II - “the president has the right to nominate federal judges”

Litmus test

Test of ideological purity in selecting judges

Different interpretations in different circuits

Different combinations of judges in each circuit interpret things differently

Chief issue for litmus test

Hard to imagine neutral ideologies

Why are 60 votes needed to confirm Supreme Court justices

Mounting a filibuster is easy and 60 votes are needed to end one

Gang of Fourteen

14 senators (1/2 from each party) agreed they would vote to block filibusters on court nominees unless there was “extraordinary circumstances,” this was done to nominate Gorsuch

Jurisdiction

Power, right, or authority to interpret the law

Original jurisdiction

Federal judges can overturn state court rulings even when they had no jurisdiction over the original matter

Appellate jurisdiction

Can be appealed to the Supreme Court under specific circumstances

Dual sovereignty doctrine

State and federal authorities can prosecute the same person for the same conduct

Case to supreme court

If 4/9 judges think the case has merit, they issue a writ of certiorari which schedules the case for hearing

Writ of certiorari criteria

1. 2+ federal circuit courts of appeals decided the same issue in different ways

2. Highest court in a State held federal/state law to be in violation of the constitution

How many writ of certiorari petitions actually get reviewed

100/7,000, supreme court does not want to cert too often or too rare

Forma pauperis cases

Case begins as a criminal trial, if you do not have money for a lawyer, the government provides one. Sometimes interest groups will take these cases

Standing

Legal concept that refers to who is entitled to bring a case. Must have actual controversy and show you’ve been harmed by law

Class-action lawsuits

Case brought into court for not just person filing suit but everyone affected. Appealing to lawyers because sometimes laws/interest groups finance cases

Brief

Document that sets forth facts of the case, summarizes lower court decisions, etc.

Amicus curae

From party not directly involved

Majority opinion

Must be in agreement

Dissenting opinion

Opinion from losing side