period 2 / unit 2 A.P gov review

In congress how many representatives and senators are their?

435 representatives

100 senators

What is the speaker of the House?

Highest-ranking member of the U.S. House of Reps.

What is the president pro tempore?

The presiding officer of the U.S. Senate that serves in the absence of the V.P.

What are the 2 types of leaders?

• majority

• Minority

What are whips?

Legislators responsible for ensuring party discipline, counting votes, and persuading members to support their party’s spot on incoming bills

What is the caucus?

A group of members of congress who meet to persue common legislative objectives or represent shared interests

What are the powers that are unique to the Senate?

1.) Treaty ratification

2.) confirmation of judicial, and executive appts.

3.) try impeachment, conviction, removal from office

4.) more mature body

5.) more insulated from public opinion and elected indirectly

6.) longer and or staggered terms

7.) reflects state interests

What are powers unique to the House?

1.) initiate revenue bills

2.) choose the president, when the electoral college is deadlocked

3.) impeachment

4.) they are closer to ppl.

5.) more reps. & responsible to the public/ direct election to 2-year terms

What are additional powers to congress?

1.) empowered to create new federal courts and specify the # of judges who will sit on them

2.) 1 of the formal tools used by congress for oversight of the bureaucracy is authorization of spending

3.) the congressional power that has been contested most frequently in the federal courts is the power to regulate interstate commerce

4.) a legislative veto is unconstitutional b/c they violate the principles of separation of power

How are the members of the house and senate different?

H.) 435 members and 2 yr. Terms

S.) 100 members & 6 yr. Terms

Ex.) the house is closer to the ppl. W/ representation based on the population and has 2 yr. Terms, meanwhile, the senate is smaller and more deliberate

How are the turnover rates different in the house and Senate?

H.) Low turnover

S.) moderate turnover

Ex.) in he house, incumbents win re-election over 90% of the time in the House, meanwhile, the senate races are state-wide and more competitive

How are challenges speaker bills different?

H.) speaker bills referral is hard to challenge

S.) referral decisions are easily challenged

Ex.) in the House, it is hard for individual members to challenge he speaker of the House and members limited by strict rules, meanwhile, members of the senate are more independent operators

How are scheduling/ rules different?

H.) controlled by the majority party and has a powerful Rules Committee

S.) agreed to by the majority and minority leaders

Ex.) in the house, the majority party tightly controls Leadership and Rules w/ little minority party and the Rules Committee plays “traffic cop” role, meanwhile, the senate has much more cooperation between both parties

How are debate times different?

H.) debate limited to 1 hour

S.) unlimited debate unless cloture involved

Ex.) impractical w/ 435 members to have unlimited debate in the house and nothing will get done, meanwhile, the senate has only 100 members and more time

What policies do they each have?

H.) policy specialists

S.) policy generalists

Ex.) in order to get re-elected, members must become experts in policies that directly effect their districts snd must serve on those committees, meanwhile, senators represent diverse interest of an entire state

What policies do the emphasize?

H.) tax and revenue policy

S.) foreign policy

Ex.) all tax and revenue bills must originate in the house a much of public policy decisions in HR involve the budget, meanwhile, the senate “advice and consent” of ambassadors, cabinet, and ratify treaties

How are they different in terms of formality?

H.) formal and impersonal

S.) informal and personal

Ex.) the house is much bigger and needs strict rules to be efficient and members 1 of 435, meanwhile, the Senate is smaller so committees not as necessary to complete work

How is the committee system different?

H.) important

S.) less important

Ex.) the house is larger so more work can be accomplished through committees on the floor, meanwhile, the senate is smaller so committees not as necessary to complete work

How do they each feel about a bill?

H.) may NOT “hold” a bill

S.) may “hold” a bill

Ex.) the House may pass a bill w/ an individual member objections and an individual senator can allow a senator to temporarily stop a motion from reaching the floor

How do they feel about unanimous consent?

H.) NO unanimous consent

S.) unanimous consent agreements are allowed

Ex.) the Senate can ease passage of a bill w/ unanimous consent agreements, thus if no one objects to a motion, it is passed, meanwhile, the House has no such mechanism

How do they feel about germaneness?

H.) may NOT use germaneness

S.) may use germaneness

Ex.) the senate can add unrelated content that members of the house might find objectionable

Germaneness

The right to challenge the ruling of a presiding officer during debate

Incumbency

Determines which candidate will win he election; this gives expertise and stability to congress but also insulates it from change

How are incumbents different in the house and senate?

H.) more likely to be re-elected

S.) high profile and are more likely to be held accountable for public policy

Advantages of incumbents

• advertising / name recognition

• Credit claiming

• Position taking

• Party ID

• Campaign spending

Credit claiming

Can work for constituents pork barrel or casework

Position taking

Public image strengthened b/c already taken a stand on issues relevant to their constituents

party ID

Voters vote on party lines, thus how a district tends to lean will affect whether or not and incumbent wins

Campaign spending

Often due to contributions from interest groups and PAC’s

Franking privilege

Members of congress can send mail to their constituents at the gov’ts expense; extended to all members of congress

How are congressional boundaries drawn?

By state legislatures

Gerrymandering

Illogical district lines drawn to give advantage to 1 party

Malapportionment

Unfair or unequal distribution of representatives in a legislative body, resulting in districts w/ significantly different populations

Reapportionment

The process of declaring how many seats a state will have in the U.S. House of Reps., when its population changes

Redistricting

The process of deciding how areas will be dividing into sections or districts based on the # if seats a state has

What are “critical elections” associated with?

Party realignment

House Rules Committee

Set conditions for debate and amendment of most legislation; puts bills on calendar for debate

Appropriations committees ( both houses)

Decides how gov’t money will be apportioned to federal agencies

House ways and Means committee

Writes bills concerning tax and other public revenue

Senate finance committee

Works w/ House Ways and means committee to write tax revenue bills

What are the committee types?

• standing

• Joint

• Select

• Conference

What is a standing committee?

Handles specific policy areas, BOTH House and Senate, and are often divided into subcommittees

What is a joint committee?

Oversee areas where policy overlaps, made up of representatives and senators

What is a select committee?

Handles specific issues, like an investigation or impeachment trial

What is conference committee?

Iron out differences between the House and Senate version of a bill, have members of both houses

Committee chairs

Influence agenda of most committees

Chair

Member of majority party and is the most senior member of majority party of committee

Ranking member

Minority party member w/ the longest tenure

Seniority system

Formal rules used to select chairs, but is no longer a requirement

Line- item veto

Empower an executive to eliminate a line of spending from an appropriations bill or a budgeting measure, allowing the president to veto part, but NOT ALL of the bill

25th Amendment

Establishes procedures for filing a vacancy in the office of the V.P. And addresses presidential disability and succession

Impeachment

The House of reps charges a civil officer w/ misconduct, followed by a trial in the Senate to determine if they should be removed from office

Presidential coattails

Tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election

Pocket veto

Allows the bill to die

What re the roles of the president?

• chief of State

• Chief executive

• Chief administrator

• Chief diplomat (negotiate treaties)

• Crisis manager

• Commander in chief

• Chief legislator (present state of union)

• Chief of party

• Chief citizen

• Moral persuader

What are formal presidential powers?

• commander in chief of the armed forces

• Granting reprieves and pardons for federal offenses

• Making treaties, subject to senate ratification

• Appointing ambassadors, judges, and other public offices w/ senate approval

• Delivering the state of the union address

• Vetoing legislation passed by congress

• Convening or adjourning congress under specific circumstances

What are the informal presidential powers?

• executive orders (used more in the 970s b/c it does NOT need to be passed / approved by congress)

• Executive privilege

• Executive agreements

What do presidents try to do for their programs?

They try to transform popularity into congressional support for their programs

How might the public feel about the president’s message?

They may not be receptive or misperceive it all together

Have presidential coattails increased or decreased over the years?

Decreased

What happens to a president’s popularity when they are in office?

It tends to fall

Cabinet

Advisors to the president, regarding in a specific policy area, not a constitutional office, but every president as 1 ( 1 attorney general and 14 secretaries)

Executive office of President

Administrator and advisory bodies that assist president in overseeing policy; take care of political needs and manages the press; principal staff for president has made up of members of this office

What does the executive office of the president consist of ?

• national security council

• Council of economic advisors

• Office of management and budget

• Whit house office (personal and political advisors to the president)

Cabinet appointments

Require senate confirmation and some key independent executive agencies; the White House staff and the executive office of the president do NOT require senate approval

• chief of Staff

War powers resolutions

Designed to assure congressional involvement in decisions committing military forces in hostile situations overseas

What are provisions to the war powers resolutions?

• the president MUST notify congress w/in 48 hours of sending troops into combat

• The president MUST consult w/ congress whenever feasible

• Conflicts are limited to 60 days unless congress takes action

• Congress can extend time from the initial 60 days or can withdraw troops after 60 days w/ adequate notification to the president

What does cabinet appointments consist of?

• Secretary of State

• Director of the FBI

• attorney general