PSC 102 - Chapter 7 - State Legislatures

PSC 102 - Chapter 7 - State Legislatures

the governorship and both legislative chambers

If one party within the state controls “everything”, what exactly does that mean or what exactly do they have control over?

the legislature and governorship

What are the political branches of state government?

True

True or False:
Polarization—the inability of members of the two major parties to agree on almost anything—has stymied legislation in Congress in recent years, but it plays out differently in states.

Polarization

The inability of members of the two major parties to agree on almost anything

True

True or False:
When one party dominates a state, it is able to pass legislation pretty much to its heart’s content.

rank-and-file members that support party priorities

Who do legislatures count on to help pass legislation when there is or isn’t compromise?

“laboratories of democracy,”

__________ is referring to experimentation with ideas that often blossom into national policy.,

the states

“Laboratories of democracy” is a metaphor used by 20th-century Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis where laboratories is in reference to:

Legislatures

___________ are, in effect, the boards of directors of their states.

Legislatures

___________ set policy that is then carried out by the governor and the rest of the executive branch.

Separation of powers

______ _____ _______ is a hallmark of American governance.

governors

The power of _______ is constrained by what the legislature will or will not agree to.

False

True or False:
The power of governors is not constrained by what the legislature will or will not agree to.

house ; senate

Within a legislature, the ______ and ______ chambers often act as competing forces, each insisting on modifying proposals from the other.

chamber

Within each ______ , individual legislators jealously guard their ability to tweak or defeat the bills that come before them.

False

True or False:
Legislatures were designed to be simple.

True

True or False:
The congressional system was designed to be difficult enough to prevent new laws that have not been properly thought through and debated from bothering everybody.

congressional system

The ________________ was designed to be difficult enough to prevent new laws that have not been properly thought through and debated from bothering everybody.

Nebraska’s

Every state legislature but _______ shares the basic structure of the U.S. Congress, with a house and a senate, each of which must pass a bill before it can go to the governor to be signed into law.

True

True or False:
The road to a bill’s passage into law is twisty and sometimes full of unexpected hurdles.

John Dingell

Michigan Democrat _____________ is the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

True

True or False:
State legislators in the United States are divided between those populated by amateur, poorly paid legislators and those populated by professional, highly paid career politicians. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages, although recently a trend toward professionalization is evident.

legislature

It is the job of the ________ to set policy for the state, in consultation with the governor—or sometimes despite the governor’s wishes, if there are sufficient votes to override a veto.

the governor

It is the job of the legislature to set policy for the state, in consultation with ________.

Veto

The ability to reject a bill or proposal from a lawmaking body.

majority rule

The process in which the decision of a numerical majority is made binding on a group.

majority rule

If Republicans hold 60 seats in the Indiana House of Representatives and Democrats have only 40, then the Republicans have the __________.

super majority

When a certain group of legislatures have more than two-thirds of the seats, they hold the _____________.

True

True or False:
If a certain party holds the super majority in both chambers, this means they have the power to override a governors veto.

override

The process by which legislative chambers vote to challenge a gubernatorial veto; often requires a supermajority vote of two-thirds.

False

True or False:
Two-thirds majorities are always the share needed to override vetoes.

logrolling

A practice in which a legislator gives a colleague a vote on a particular bill in return for that colleague’s vote on another bill.

coalition building

The assembly of an alliance of groups to pursue a common goal or interest.

districts

The geographical areas represented by members of a legislature.

Filibuster

A debate that under U.S. Senate rules can drag on, blocking final action on the bill under consideration and preventing other bills from being debated.

unwanted amendments

Another way to derail legislation is to attach ___________ to a bill.

Riders

Amendments to a bill that are not central to the bill’s intent.

compromise

The result when there is no consensus on a policy change or spending amount but legislators find a central point on which a majority can agree.

True

True or False:
In many state legislatures, the minority has fewer opportunities to obstruct than they do in Congress.

barely more than 1/3

Approximately how many Americans approve of Congress?

purple

Those where voters are closely divided in terms of partisan loyalties are known as _______ states.

overreach

Pushing policies that go further than most of the public can accept is known as _________.

five

Only about _____ percent of all legislative districts in the country are represented by someone whose party failed to carry the district in presidential voting.

40 to 45

Every election cycle, about ___ to ____ percent of legislative seats are not contested at all by one of the major parties.

A lawmaking function: They pass laws and create policy for their states.

A representative function: They provide a means for various groups and individuals to have their interests represented in state policymaking.

A constituent service function: They offer personalized constituent service to help residents sort out their problems with the state government.

An oversight function: They oversee the activities of the governor and the executive branch and some private businesses through public hearings, budget reviews, and formal investigations.

All state legislatures share four basic interrelated and often overlapping functions: What are those functions?

The four basic interrelated and often overlapping functions state legislatures share

The following describe what:
A lawmaking function: They pass laws and create policy for their states.

A representative function: They provide a means for various groups and individuals to have their interests represented in state policymaking.

A constituent service function: They offer personalized constituent service to help residents sort out their problems with the state government.

An oversight function: They oversee the activities of the governor and the executive branch and some private businesses through public hearings, budget reviews, and formal investigations.

pass laws and create policy for their states.

During the lawmaking function legislatures:

provide a means for various groups and individuals to have their interests represented in state policymaking.

During the representative function, legislatures:

offer personalized constituent service to help residents sort out their problems with the state government.

During the constitute service function, legislatures:

oversee the activities of the governor and the executive branch and some private businesses through public hearings, budget reviews, and formal investigations.

During the oversight function, legislatures:

budgets

State senators and representatives fight their biggest battles over _______.

it is a bill that has to be considered, such as the annual state budget;
it is a bill dealing with a common problem modeled on another state’s legislation;
or it is something a legislator or an individual or a group outside the legislature—such as constituents, the governor, or lobbyists—wants considered.

The typical bill is introduced for one of several reasons. What are those reasons?

Constituents

_________ can have a lot of influence in government.

Governors; executive

_______ and the _______ branch in general are powerful players in the legislative process, promoting ideas they want legislators to work on.

trying to kill bills.

Although lobbyists promote bills, they also devote an enormous amount of energy to:

representation

The bulk of the work legislators do involves formulating the law and trying to keep an eye on the executive branch, but legislators’ primary responsibility is to provide ________ for their constituents

representation

Individual legislators acting as the voices of their constituencies within the house or senate.

Constituent service

The work done by legislators to help residents in their voting districts.

casework

The work undertaken by legislators and their staffs in response to requests for help from constituents.

incumbent

A person holding office

True

True or False:
Helping an individual may be all well and good, but changing the system based on the personal story of one constituent is not necessarily the best way to create policies that will affect thousands

oversight

The legislature’s role in making sure that the governor and executive branch agencies are properly implementing the laws.

oversight

Under the U.S. system of checks and balances, legislatures are charged with _______ , the task of making sure that the governor and the executive branch agencies are functioning properly.

executive

The _________ branch is so called because it executes the laws written by the legislature.

True

True or False:
Legislators are only doing their job when they call governors and executive branch agencies to account through hearings, investigations, and audits for how they are carrying out those laws.

a legislator’s intervening with administrative agencies on behalf of constituents or constituent groups in ways that are “episodic and punitive.

Unfortunately, the most ubiquitous form of oversight is:

bureaucratic

The point of _________ norms is to make sure that regulations and laws are applied fairly and evenly across the board.

True

True or False:
The point of bureaucratic norms is to make sure that regulations and laws are applied fairly and evenly across the board.

oversight

Most _______ comes through budget reviews and occasional committee hearings.

committee

A group of legislators who have the formal task of considering and writing bills in a particular issue area.

They clear up problems that citizens are having with public agencies or private businesses.

Which of these describes what a legislator does when they focus on constituent service?

They clear up problems that citizens are having with public agencies or private businesses.

They make sure that the governor and executive branches are functioning properly.

They create and pass laws for their states.

They ensure that the interests of those for whom they speak are properly considered in decisions.

provide representation to their constituents

The primary responsibility of any state legislator is to ______.

oversee the activities of other levels of government and private businesses

provide representation to their constituents

pass laws and create policy for their states

offer constituent service or casework

pass laws and create policy for their states: lawmaking function

provide a means for various groups and individuals to have their interests represented in state policymaking: representative function

offer personalized casework to help residents sort out their problems with the state government: constituent service function

oversee the activities of the government, the executive branch, and private businesses through public hearings, budget reviews, and investigations: oversight function

Match the description to the function of state legislatures using the following:
oversight function, lawmaking function, constituent service function, and representative function

Matching Question

pass laws and create policy for their states

provide a means for various groups and individuals to have their interests represented in state policymaking

offer personalized casework to help residents sort out their problems with the state government

oversee the activities of the government, the executive branch, and private businesses through public hearings, budget reviews, and investigations

lawmaking function

pass laws and create policy for their states

representative function

provide a means for various groups and individuals to have their interests represented in state policymaking

constituent service function

offer personalized casework to help residents sort out their problems with the state government

oversight function

oversee the activities of the government, the executive branch, and private businesses through public hearings, budget reviews, and investigations

majority rule

When one party holds more seats than the other in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, it is referred to as ______.

oversight

coalition building

apportionment

majority rule

oversight

Legislators are charged with ______ under the United States’ system of checks and balances.

constituent service

oversight

representation

lawmaking

True

True or False:
Legislators work on establishing bureaucratic norms to make sure that policies are applied as equally as possible for all residents of a state.

argue out our problems at appointed times and in a single space, in sessions at the capitol.

We elect legislatures in our republican form of government to:

True

True or False:
Congressional hearings are designed to allow every lawmaker on the panel to speak, which seems to be a bigger priority for them than gathering information from the witnesses who appear before them

One is that most governors have line-item veto powers, which allows them to strike out individual parts of bills. But the more important one is that nearly all states have language in their constitutions that limits the scope of bills to a single subject.

Two common features of state government limit the proliferation of riders in legislatures. What are those two features?

house of representatives or the assembly and the senate.

Every state has a constitution that describes a body that can pass state laws. In every state but Nebraska, the legislature is bicameral (divided into two houses), pretty much like the U.S. Congress. What are the two houses called in this type of governmental body?

house/assembly

The ________ is considered more of a “people’s house,” with its members representing fewer people for shorter terms than do their colleagues.

house/assembly

Are there more members in the state house/assembly or the state senate?

four; two

There are some exceptions, but generally senators serve_____-year terms, whereas house members serve ______-year terms.

True

True or False:
The two chambers (house/assembly and the senate) operate independently, with separate leaders, committees, and agendas, although both chambers have to pass the same version of a bill before it can be sent to the governor to be signed into law or vetoed.

caucus

the group of members belonging to the majority party

the speaker of the house.

The majority leader and the minority leader rank just below who?

the president, president pro tempore, president pro tem, or majority leader.

In the senate, the top leader is generally known as:

speaker

A _______ will typically preside over daily sessions of the house or assembly, refer bills to the appropriate committees, and sign legislation as it makes its way over to the senate or the governor’s desk

Leaders

_______ appoint committee chairs (in some states, all the members of committees), set or change committee jurisdictions, and offer staff or legislative help to rank-and-file members. They also generally help with campaigns, including providing financial support.

True

True or False:
Holding the leadership and chair positions means that the majority party gets to set the agenda—deciding which bills will be heard for a vote

True

True or False:
Legislators are divided into committees—usually about 15 or 20 per chamber—that grapple with particular issues, such as education, transportation, and taxes.

rank and file members

Legislators who do not hold leadership positions or senior committee posts.

delegates

Those who vote according to the wishes of their districts

trustees

Those who vote according to their own consciences.

Apportionment

The allotting of districts according to population shifts. The number of congressional districts that a state has may be reapportioned every 10 years, following the national census.

redistricting

The _________ process is the most naked exercise of political power in the states