Exam 2: American National Government Dr. Breezeel

What percentage of incumbents typically win reelection?

55%

How many members serve in each house of Congress?

House- 435

Senate- 100

How are seats in Congress apportioned?

House- state population

Senate- 2 per state

Who is responsible for drawing Congressional District lines?

State legislature

What is the purpose of gerrymandering?

maximize the effects of supporters' votes and to minimize opponents' votes.

How do packing and cracking work?

Packing: concentrating voters of one type into a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts

Cracking: spreading many voters of a particular type among many districts in order to deny them a sufficiently large voting bloc in any particular district

How does the current method of choosing Senators differ from that originally created by the founders?

Original: protect the rights of individual states and safeguard minority opinion in a system of government designed to give greater power to a national government

Modern: 17th amendment caused direct election of senators

What is the term of office for an individual elected to the House? To the Senate?

House: 2

Senate: 6

What are the formal requirements for members of the House & Senate?

House: at least 25 years of age, citizen of U.S. for at least 7 years, inhabit the state from which elected

Senate: at least 30 years of age, citizen of the U.S. for at least 9 years, inhabit the state from which elected

What activities are carried out by Congressional Committees?

Determine what groups of legislators with what political views will pass on legislative proposals, oversee the workings of agencies in the executive branch, and conduct investigations

What interests are served by the committee system in Congress?

Governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to the Senate.

What are the different types of committees found in Congress?

Standing, Select, and Joint

What are the "power committees" in the House? Senate?

House: Budget, Ways and Means

Appropriations, and Rules

Senate: Budget, Finance, Appropriations, Foreign Relations

Judiciary

What is the difference between an open and closed rule?

Closed: time limits on debate and forbids a bill from being amended on the floor

Open: permits a bill to be amended on the floor

Both are from House Rules Committee

What are the different leadership positions in the House and Senate?

House: speaker

Senate: majority leader, minority leader, and whip

What are pork-barrel bills?

Giving a certain group benefits in the hope of winning their votes in return

How does the impeachment and removal process work?

Like a set of charges against someone voted by the House of Rep. To be removed, the impeachment officer must be convicted by a two-thirds vote of the Senate

What functions are served by Congress?

Make laws that influence our daily lives, holds hearings to inform legislative process, conducts investigations to oversee the executive branch, and serves as a voice of the people and states

What is the most important power of Congress?

The authority to make laws

What is the importance of congressional staff and support agencies?

Congressional Staff: Research, Preparation of Briefs and Summaries of Bills, Drafting Legislation, and Constituent Service

Support Agencies: provide the Legislative branch with information and analysis unsullied by Executive branch bias.

What are the major support agencies associated with Congress?

Congressional Budget Office, Government Accountability Office, and

Congressional Research Service

What responsibilities are carried out by each of these agencies?

CBO: Preparing Economic Projections and Cost Analysis of Proposed Policies

GAO: Audits Federal Expenditures and Set Government Accounting Standards

CRS: Prepares Summaries of Bills and Tracks Progress of Major Legislation

What are the primary components of the legislative process?

Introduction:

- Spending Bills must originate in House

- Others may originate in either chamber

- Many work through system simultaneously

Committee Consideration

General Debate and Final Passage Votes

What is the filibuster?

An attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action on the bill.

What are cloture motions (rule 22)?

The rule provided that debate could be cut off if 2/3 of the senators present and voting agreed to a "cloture" motion.

What happens if the President does not act upon a bill that has been passed by both houses of Congress? (2 possibilities)

-After 10 days, becomes a law without his signature if Congress remains in session

-If Congress adjourns before 10 day period ends, the bill dies

What formal requirements for the Presidency are listed in the U.S. Constitution?

35 years of age, natural born citizen, lived in the US for 14 years

What are the informal requirements for the Presidency identified in class?

Political Experience, Party Differences, Personal Profile, Party Support, and Money

How does the political experience of candidates selected by the incumbent party tend to differ from that of the party out of power?

Incumbents- current president of VP

Party out of Power- Senators or State Governors

What personal characteristics fit the typical profile of a successful Presidential candidate?

Social Status, Education, Health, Physical Appearance, Media Friendly, and Religion

How long is the term of office for the President?

4 years

How many terms of office may a President serve?

2

How was this term limit initially established?

-Washington set precedent for stepping down after 2

-22nd Amendment

What is the legal basis for this limit on the number of terms that a president can serve?

22nd Amendment

What is executive privilege?

Power of the President and other officials in the executive branch to withhold certain forms of confidential communication from the courts and the legislative branch

What is divided government?

One party controls the White House and another party controls one or both houses of Congress

Who takes over in the case of death or disability to the President?

Vice President

What officials are the line of presidential succession determined?

Vice President, Speaker of the House, President Pro Tempore of Senate, and Cabinet Officials in Order Departments Created

What roles are served by the President (Think Hats)?

Chief of State, Chief Executive, Commander-In-Chief, Chief Diplomat, Chief Legislator, Party Chief, and Chief Economist

What are the formal powers the President derives from the Constitution?

Appointment, Veto Power, Convening Congress, Pardon and Reprieves, Negotiating Treaties, Serving as Commander-In-Chief, Receiving Ambassadors, and Executive Authority

What limits or checks exist for each of these powers?

legislation can override a veto, it has the power to improve Presidential nomination, control the budget, and can impeach the President to remove them from office

What are the informal powers that are associated with the Presidency?

Persuasion, Party Leadership, and Powers delegated by Congress

What are signing statements?

A presidential document that reveals what the president thinks of a new law and how it ought to be enforced

When does a President's popularity tend to be at its highest level?

Right after an election

What are executive orders and executive agreements?

Executive Orders: issued by the White House and are used to direct the Executive Branch of the U.S Government

Executive Agreements: pacts or understandings with a foreign government reached by the President or a Presidential agent

Which President holds the record for the largest number of vetoes exercised?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

What is the importance of the Vice-Presidency?

Other than succeed the Presidency upon death or resignation, the vice president's only constitutional duty is to preside over the Senate.

How many Vice-Presidents have been forced to succeed Presidents who died or resigned from office?

9

What are the official responsibilities of the Vice-President?

President of Senate, President in Waiting

What are the primary components of the 25th amendment?

1st provision for filling vacancies in VP office and provide mechanism for succession based on president's declaration of incapacity and claim of incapacity of VP or majority of cabinet

What are the procedures for addressing incapacity through the 25th amendment?

President's declaration of incapacity, Claim of incapacity by VP and majority of cabinet, subject to dispute by President, 2/3 of both chambers must approve removal i disputed cases

What is the cabinet? What purpose does it serve?

Cabinet: the heads of the 15 executive branch departments of the federal government.

The cabinet's role is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member's respective office

What is the Executive Office of the President?

A group of agencies that report to the President directly

What are the most prominent actors and agencies within the Executive Office of the President?

Council of Economic Advisers, Director of National Intelligence, National Security Council, Office of Management and Budget, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Office of the Vice President

What is the White House staff? Why is it important?

Provide clerical service, Scheduling and organization, Policy Advice and Promotion, and Chief of Staff. The staff works for and report directly to the President, including the West Wing staff and President's senior advisers.

What are the different types of organizations that exist within the Executive branch of government?

Regulatory agencies, Independent Executive agencies, and Government corporations

Be prepared to recognize examples from each category.

-Regulatory Agencies: Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Trade Commission

-Independent Executive Agencies: NASA, CIA, and EPA

-Government Corporations: Commodity Credit Corporation, Export-Import Bank

What is the OMB and why is it important?

-Office of Management and Budget

-It ensures that agency reports, rules, testimony, and legislation are consistent with the President's budget and administration policies

Who is the Chief of Staff? Why is this person important?

Top position in White House Office. This office helps negotiate with Congress and often controls access to President and his schedule

What are the primary characteristics of bureaucratic organizations?

Specialization, and division of labor, Hierarchical structure, Objective Rules Govern Decisions, Staffing based on expertise, and specialized training

How many civilian employees work the federal government?

2.1 million

What are the principle strengths of bureaucratic organizations?

Functions well, suitable for environments that are stable in nature. Bureaucratic organizational structure is often centralized; they have a clear, well defined vertical hierarchy of command, authority, and chain of control

What are the problems of bureaucracy identified in the textbook?

Red Tape, Conflict, Duplication, Imperialism, and Waste

What bureaucratic agency do the authors of the textbook associate with the beginning of federal regulation of the economy?

Interstate Commerce Commission

What is the purpose of the freedom of information act?

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

What is the "spoils system"?

The practice of a successful political party giving publice office to its supporters

How did the civil service system in the United States develop?

The passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883 marked the origin of the merit system and the classified civil service in the federal government

Under what circumstances was the Pendleton Act adopted?

President Grover Cleveland replaced some 40,000 Republican postal employees with Democrats. This Act was created to protect federal employees

How did the Pendleton Act change hiring and firing practices?

The President couldn't hire or fire at will anymore, a president could "blanket in" patronage appointees already holding office making it almost impossible for the next administration to fire them

What percentage of federal employees did it originally apply to?

10%

What are the different categories of federal employees?

Competitive Service, Excepted Service, and Senior Executive Service

Who are the actors associated with iron triangles?

Congressional Committee, Agency, and an Interest Group

What are the formal sources of power for bureaucratic agencies?

Legislative Authority and Budgetary Resources

What informal sources of power do these agencies possess?

Administrative Discretion, Control of Information and Expertise, Policy Promotion and Agenda Setting, and Political Support

What requirements does the Administrative Procedures Act create for creating regulations?

publishing notices of proposed and final rulemaking in Federal Register and provides for the public to comment on notices of proposed rulemaking

What are the primary checks on the exercise of power by administrative agencies?

-Courts-Rules can be challenged for: violating Constitutional Protections, Exceeding delegated authority, violation of process, and being arbitrary and capricious

-Congress: legislative veto and Congressional Review Act