Unit 4 Ap Gov test

unit 2 (college board)

Incumbency

those that have been in office before and are currently running for reelection. They have more of a chance of being elected due to them already having experience in office and having gained supporters in the past.

Discharge Petition

• this is a device that states that any member of the house, after a committee has had the bill for 30 days is able to ask to have it brought to the floor. A simple majority is needed to discharge a bill out of the committee and onto the floor. 

Franking privilege- ONLY HOUSE

• congress members can use mail without having to pay for postage, they just have their own signatures on it. (Only applies to the HOR)

Pork Barrel spending/ legislation

• trying to get members of congress to pass or vote yes on a bill by giving money to local issues that usually benefit the citizens of the town or city they represent.

• Example: giving money to a certain bridge for it to be repaired.

• spending that is intended to benefit the constituents of a politician in return for their political support.

Logrolling

trading votes to gain support for specific bills

• Example: if you vote yes on this bill that I want to be past, then I will vote yes on a bill you like if it is in an area I agree with.

• An arrangement in which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other's bills.

Ways and Means Committee- HOUSE

• they are the economic committee in charge of taxation and tariffs (stopping people from buying something by making it more expensive)

• member that serve on this committee can NOT serve on another committee.

Rules Committee- HOUSE

• they determine the rules for bills (dates and time for debates)

• closed rule: set time limits, no amendments allowed for the bill.

• open rule: looser time limits, and amendments are allowed.

• speaker gets to directly pick the rules committee members and they have to say yes to bills.

• The rules committee is basically an extension of party leadership.

Speaker

this is the leader of the house of representatives and they stand as the third most powerful person in our country. The speaker is always elected by whichever party has majority rule over the house, and these elections take place every two years. 

Majority leader

HOR: this person helps with the majority party and is chosen by the speaker of the house usually because this person is popular with certain factions within their party.

Senate: this is the leader of the senate and is elected by the members of their party, and is usually supportive of the majority party in the house.  

• influences committee appointments, makes schedules, spokesperson for the party

Whips

 the whips have the tasks of counting up votes on important issues of legislation, and making sure the party members vote according to their party.  

President Pro Tempore- ONLY SENATE

when the vice president can not make it to a senate session the president pro tempore is given their role. This role is usually given to the senior member (longest serving not necessarily eldest) of the majority party. 

• third in line to be president (vice president, then speaker of house, then president pro tempore, then cabinet officials.)

Vice President- ONLY SENATE

 the vice president watches over the senate sessions sometimes and is one of the few constitutional duties they have. 

Minority leader

Senate: this is the party’s spokesperson.

House: this person is the spokesperson for the minority party of the house. 

• gain support/opposition for bills, count votes before the bill goes to floor.

committee chairs

• Influence the agenda of the committee

• Whichever party holds majority of the house and senate gets to choose the committee chair members.

• they get to schedule hearing, manage bills in committees

• committee chairs usually voted on, but typically given to the longest serving members (senior members)

Filibuster

• members can delay proposed legislation by “talking it to death” (effort to stop a bill from being passed).

Motion of Cloture

this ends a filibuster- to bring a bill to vote you need 60 members- (rarely used)

• this is a motion that closes the debate of a bill and then vote

Senate Hold

this is an anonymous filibuster (disapproval of a bill)

• motion of cloture gets rid of this filibuster if there are 60 votes the hold wont stick

Senatorial Courtesy

it is an agreement between senators that if a president asks to nominate someone from that senator's home state they can say they do not want that person. (When senator and president are from the same party)

Caucus

when people gather to vote publicly and try to get others to come and support their side.

Standing committee

A permanent committee that oversees bills that deals with specific types of issues

Joint committee

A committee that is made up of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. (Ex: the committee that oversees the library of congress)

Conference committee

this is a temporary joint committee which is created to sort of differences in a bill after it has been passed between the house and the senate

Select committee

these are temporary committees usually created for a specific purpose generally to investigate a specific problem.

Sub committee

a group within a standing committee that focus of a subcategory of its standing committee that it is apart of.

who can declare laws unconstitutional?

the judicial branch

Who has the power to appoint judges ?

the executive branch

Who has the power to veto bills(laws)?

The executive branch

Who has the power to impeach the president?

The legislative branch

Who can override a presidents veto with a 2/3 majority vote?

Senate

Who can approve federal judges?

Senate

original vs. appellate jurisdiction

• The authority of a court to hear a case in the first instance

• The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts

trustee

A member of Congress who acts like a trustee takes into account the views of their constituents, but ultimately uses their own judgment to decide how to vote.

delegate model

• A member of Congress who acts like a delegate always follows their constituents’ voting preferences.

politico

• sometimes follows what their constituents want

• sometimes using their own judgement

• both a trustee and a delegate

Amendment #1

freedom of speech, right to assembly and to religion

Amendment #2

right to bear arms

Amendment #3

no quartering of soldiers

Amendment #4

no unwanted search or sezuire

Amendment #5

• right to remain silent

• right in criminal cases

• no double jeopardy

Amendment #6

right to a fair and speedy trial

Amendment #7

right to a trial by jury

Amendment #8

no cruel and unusual punishment

Amendment #9

rights that people have are not constrained by the Constitution

Amendment #10

any power that doesn’t belong to the federal government belongs to the states.

Bureaucracy

• it is a part of the executive branch and the president is in charge of it.

• basically the alphabet soup of the government (FDA,FEC,FCC)

• these corporations write and enforce regulation, issue fines for non-compliance, interact with congress

Public Policy

laws and requirements and how they are enforced

what is the bureaucracy

non-elected government officials that work for government agencies.

official personal management

• responsible for hiring most federal workers

• director is appointed by the president, and confirmed by the senate

• civil service workers are protected from political firings.

hatch ACT

civil service employees can NOT participate in politics while working

Iron Triangles

• An iron triangle is how public policy is actually written and implemented.

• example of a linkage institution

• interest groups

• congress

• bureaucracy

Interest groups —> congress

Electoral support

Electoral support

• interest groups can use an endorsement to show electoral support to congress

• they can do this by donating money (hard money when directly donated, soft money when they go through super PACS)

• interest groups could donate money to a congressmen directly to gain electoral support or they could donate money to political parties or try to get a congressmen to vote for someone who is in favor of things that group supports.

• remember: PACS are NOT interest groups

Congress —> interest groups

friendly legislation and oversight

friendly legislation and oversight

• pass friendly legislation to make things easier to do (pass something the interest group may be in favor of)

congress —> Bureaucracy

Funding and political support

Funding and political support

• congress has the power to oversee the bureaucracy through hearings

• congress might choose to give more money to a certain issue that a bureaucracy may favor.

Bureaucracy —> interest groups

lower regulation and provide special favors

lower regulation and provide special favors

• a bureaucracy may choose to lower regulations to things that an interest group want to achieve

• the bureaucracy may choose to give them more contracts for things the interest group wants to do.

• interest groups try to influence bureaucratic agencies by persuading them to create a regulation or rule that would benefit that interest group.

Discretionary authority

an agency’s ability to decide weather or not to take certain care of action when implementing existing laws.

rule making authority

an agency’s ability to make rules that affect how program operate and to force states and corporations to obey these rules as if they were laws.

Red Tape

complex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done.

Cabinet department

• 15 departments

• head of each department is appointed by president, approved by the senate

• each department has a specific role

government corporations

• provide services by Americans that could be provided by private providers/sectors

• example: post offices because it is cheaper to mail out a letter by them than it is from a private corporation.

merit system

this is a system in which public employment and promotions depends on the performance rather than political patronage. ( favors given to loyal party members)

Pendelton Act- 1883

jobs and promotions are based off merit and must people must past tests to prove thier knowledge.

What does congress do in an iron triangle

congress passes laws and a budget

What does the bureaucracy do in an iron triangle

they decide how to execute these laws and budgets that congress is passing

interest groups —> bureaucracy

congressional support via lobby

congressional support via lobby

• interest groups can support favorable policies that the bureaucracy may favor

• the interest groups may be able to lobby congress which means they may meet with congress and draft things for the policy agenda

issue networks

• issue networks are more informal than an interest group, interest groups may be a part of an issue network

• they may not be a very formal group, but they can still act in ways an interest group acts.

Bureaucracy —> congress

policy choices and execution

independent regulatory agencies

• regulate certain aspects of the economy

• commissioners of agencies are appointed by the president, and approved by the senate, but the president can not remove them until their term is up

Agencies

they work together to accomplish the goals of the department

independent executive agencies

makes up the remainder of the federal government/ bureaucracy

• NASA is a big example

• this is a category that has all of the leftover departments that did not fit into the other 3 main components.

monetary policy

primarily concerned with the management of the federal funds rate (interest rates) and the total supply of money in the economy . (carried out by the federal reserve)

Fiscal Policy

• this is a collective term for the taxing and spending actions of the US government which is conducted primarily by congress

• any decision with money that involve or are from congress is a fiscal policy.

Partisanship

the strong support of their party and its policy stands within a company

Bully pulpit

president is the center of attention and can use his status to monopolize the media

Policy agenda

A set of issues, problems, or subject that gets attention from the people involved in policy making like government officials.

Agenda setting

The way the media influences what issues the public considers important enough to address through the government

Grassroots Lobbying

a form of pressure group activity that encourages average citizens to contact their own representatives about an issue that an interest group may care about.

Lobbying

This is direct contact with policymakers for the purpose of persuasion through providing them with expert information to get lawmakers to favor their group.

Ligation

this is the use of courts to try to influence policy by gaining policy preferences through cases or amicus curiae

Formal powers of the president

• Executive: take care that the laws be faithfully executed

• nominate officials with senate conformations

• request written opinions from administrative officials

• fill the roles of administrative during congressional recesses

• Foreign policy: act as commander in chief of armed forces

• make treaties with senate ratification

• nominate ambassadors with senates confirmation

• Judicial: nominate federal judges with senate confirmation

• Legislative: Recommend legislation to congress

• present information on the state of union to congress

• veto legislation

• These powers are listed in the constitution

Informal powers of president

• Bargaining and persuasion: setting priorities for congress and attempting to get majorities to put through the president’s legislative agenda.

• Issuing executive orders: regulations to run the government and direct the bureaucracy

executive privilege

when the president refuses to share information about private issues that go on in the government.

How is the bureaucracy held accountable and how do they use oversight

• congress passes laws that directly affect the bureaucracy and the courts ensure that they follow these laws.

• congress and the president are able to use direct oversight over the bureaucracy by holding hearings, making appointments, and setting budgets

Policy choices and execution

the bureaucracy makes policy through implementing laws that congress has passed and uses it for specific cases to put that legislation into effect.

Executive order

this is described as a force of law from the president onto an executive agency that creates new policy or implants existing policy to be carried out. (this does not require any approval of congress because they can’t over turn an executive order)

25th amendment

Cabinet members/ departments are in line to become president (oldest department).

Chief of state:

• this refers to the president as the leader of the government and he represents the people. In the U.S the president also rules the government but in many other countries the chief of state reigns over the government, but does not rule over the government. 

Chief executive:

• this position gives the president broad executive powers which can be used in their home country and extend to foreign affairs, but the executive powers can be limited by the system of checks and balances we have in the United States. 

Chief administrator:

• the president is in charge of the executive branch of the federal government. 

Chief diplomat:

• this position shows the president as being closet followed by their own country and other foreign countries. 

Commander in chief:

this means the president is in charge of the armed forces and gives them power to take immediate control over the military.

Chief legislator:

•  this leadership position gives the president the ability to shape public policy and they are able to request that congress enacts certain laws that the president may believe are needed, but congress can deny his request, so the president spends most of his time working with congress. 

Party chief:

• this leadership role is not listed in the constitution, but the present is in charge of the political party that controls the executive branch. 

Chief citizen:

•  the president should represent the people of the United States and citizens should expect for the president to work towards their interest. 

Office of management and Budget (OMB)

• the president is required to prepare a budget by early February

• the OMB prepares the president’s proposed federal budget

• OMB is in contact with federal agencies regarding their budgets

• requires senate approval

National Security Council (NSC)

a committee in the executive branch that advises the president on foreign and military and nation security.