Legislative Branch - Ap Gov Exam

Senate term length

6 years

House term length

2 years

Number of senators per state

2

Number of representatives per state

Depends on population.

Total membership in the senate

100

Total membership in the house

435

Minimum age for senate

30

Minimum age for representatives

25

Senate powers

• Approve presidential appointments

• Approve and ratify treaties

• Tries impeachments

Powers of the House

• Starts all revenue bills

• Starts motion to impeach

• Elects president in case of a tie

How is the senate organizes and how does the senate operate

• Less centralized and less formal

• More personal

• Power distributed evenly among members

• Emphasizes foreign policy

How is the House organized and how does it operate?

• More structured, formal, and centralized

• Power distributed less evenly

• Members are highly specialized

• Emphasizes tax and revenue policy.

Standing Committee

Permanent with specific responsibilities that are defined in the Senate’s rules.

Select/Special Committee

Appointed to perform a special function beyond the capacity of a standing committee. Expires when its goal is achieved.

Joint committee

• Has membership from members of the House and Senate

• Established with narrow jurisdictions and lack authority to report legislation.

Conference committee

Operates after the House and Senate have passes different versions of a bill to come to a compromise.

How does a member of Congress vote when acting as a Delegate?

follows the will of their constituents

How does a member of Congress vote when acting as a trustee?

Uses their own judgement to decide what’s best, regardless of their constituents views

How does a a member of Congress vote when acting as a partisan?

Makes decisions based on their party’s ideology

How does a member of Congress vote when acting as a politico?

Act as a trustee or delegate depending on the issues

Who may introduce a bill in Congress?

Any member of Congress

If a bill is a revenue bill where does it begin?

House

Which committee works out tax bills?

The Ways and Means committee

What occurs in committees to a bill

1. Introduced by a member

2. Members discuss the bill

3. Members propose changes or amendments as needed

4. Committee votes on the bill

5. Committee writes a report outlining the bills purpose

Which chamber has a rules committee?

House

Amount of debate that occurs in each chamber

House: debate is structured and limited, each member has a set amount of time to speak.

Senate: debate is more open and senators can speak without a time limit unless cloture is called

Which chamber has a filibuster?

Senate

How is a filibuster ended?

A call for cloture which requires 2/3 of the Senate’s approval.

What is a hold used in the Sénate?

A senator calls a hold which is used to delay or prevent a bill / nomination

Which committee reconciles differences between House and Senate versions of bills?

Conference Committee

How many votes are needed to override a veto?

2/3 in both chambers.

How would a pocket veto occur?

When the president doesn’t sign a bill in the legislative period.

Describe treaty ratification in the Senate

1. Treaties are negotiated by President

2. President submits treaty to the senate

3. Treaty is sent to Foreign Relations Committee

4. Committee amends or changes treaty as needed

5. Committee votes on treaty

6. Treaty is brought to the senate floor for debate

7. 2/3 vote is required for ratification

8. Once ratified, the president signs the treaty.

Pork-barrel legislation

Government funds directed to specific projects within a representatives state to benefit constituents. These are packed in with bills.

Log-rolling

When politicians exchange favors by voting for each others proposed legislation.

How do ideological differences within Congress create gridlock?

If one chamber is democratic and the other is republican, they have clashing ideals and will likely not vote in favor of the same bill. This causes it to be very hard to get any legislation passed.

Describe the role of the Speaker of the House

• Administers oaths

• Gives members permission to speak

• Counts and declares votes

Describe the role of the Party Leadership

Serve as spokesperson for the party’s positions of issues and coordinates their power.

Describe the role of the Committee Leadership

Shapes the committee’s direction, sets priorities, and influences key policy decisions.

Gerrymandering

Using redistricting to purposefully benefit one party over the other.

Redistricting

State legislatures redraw boundaries of the electoral districts.

Reapportionment

Redistribution of seats in the U.S. House based on population changes. Occurs every 10 years by census.

Malapportionment

Creation of electoral districts with divergent ratios of voters to representatives.

Baker v. Carr

6:2 “One person, one vote”

Established that federal courts have the power to determine the constitutionality of a state’s voting districts.

Shaw v. Reno

5:4 racial gerrymandering

NC drew oddly shaped districts to create majority black districts.

Using race as the only factor when drawing districts violated the “colorblind” ideal of US law. Any racial redistricting or classification by race must have a compelling government interest.

six incumbent advantages enjoyed by members of the House and or senate.

1. Name recognition

2. Credit claiming

3. Case work

4. Franking

5. Media access

6. Fundraising

Discretionary Spending

Portion of federal budget that isn’t required by law and is subject to annual appropriations bills passed by Congress.

Mandatory Spending/Entitlements

Government expenditures required by existing laws not subject to annual appropriations.

How gridlock impacts the budget process

It is unlikely that when the 2 chambers are majority different party that they will agree on the same budget bill. Republicans favor high budgets for defense whereas Democrats favor social services.