Untitled Flashcards Set

Congress

The legislature of the United States that has the power to make laws and check the power of the President.

Bicameral

A legislature consisting of two houses or chambers.

House of Representatives

The branch of government specifically created to closely represent the people's views.

Foreign Policy

The area of policy where many members of the Senate specialize due to its constitutional duties.

Japan's Diet

Similar in structure to the U.S. Congress.

Every two years

The frequency with which House members are elected.

Two years and six years

The lengths of service for House members and Senate members, respectively.

33

On average, the number of Senate seats up for election every two years.

Exactly two

The number of United States senators each state has.

Seventeenth Amendment

Shifted the power to elect senators from state legislators to popular elections.

10 million

The average cost to make a successful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2016.

Incumbency

The candidate's current holding of office, which is the MOST important determinant in a successful congressional campaign.

All of these answers are correct.

Factors such as stronger name recognition, easier access to media, the privilege of franking, and larger campaign contributions, which make it more likely for incumbents to prevail.

It redraws the congressional district boundaries within the state.

A statement about reapportionment that is NOT accurate.

Every 10 years

The frequency of reapportionment and redistricting of seats in the House of Representatives.

Gerrymandering

The practice of redrawing electoral boundaries for political advantage.

When it eliminates the minority party's influence statewide.

The condition under which drawing legislative district boundaries for the purpose of benefitting an incumbent is unconstitutional.

Majority-minority districts

The attempts by state legislatures to address racial imbalance in the House of Representatives.

All of these answers are correct.

The various powers granted to Congress by the Constitution.

Broad

The scope of authority exercised by Congress due to the elastic clause.

Establish taxes on exports

Not a power granted to Congress.

All of these answers are correct.

Sources of congressional power and authority including the Constitution, Supreme Court decisions, the media, and the people.

Checks and balances

An important consideration during the shaping of congressional functions.

Edmund Burke

The eighteenth-century political theorist who espoused the trustee model of political representation.

In line with constituents

The manner in which elected representatives act within the instructed delegate model.

A combination of the trustee model and instructed delegate model

The approach most representatives in Congress employ.

Pork barrel

Appropriations of funds by congressional legislators for projects in their districts.

Transportation bills

The type of bills traditionally used for legislators to appropriate funds to special projects.

Effective, with a significant decrease in the amount of dollars appropriated

The result of the recent moratorium on earmarks.

Casework

A special form of representation involving personal aid to a constituent or group of constituents.

Ombudsperson

The role of a member of Congress advocating on behalf of a constituent with a bureaucratic issue.

Walter Mondale

The former senator and vice president who warned of the constituent service dilemma.

Oversight

The process by which Congress checks the executive branch to ensure laws are administered according to legislators' intentions.

Legislative veto

One of the EXCEPTED tools that Congress uses to 'check' the executive branch.

Unified

The nature of positions that House members' constituencies tend to have on many issues, particularly in populated areas.

More prestigious

Compared to the House, the Senate is viewed as.

Less reliant on staff

The difference in support that House members typically experience compared to colleagues in the Senate.

Introduction, committee review, House and Senate approval, conference committee reconciliation, presidential approval

The correct chronological order of a legislative bill's passage.

The hopper

The wooden box into which House members insert proposed bills.

Referral to the lead committee

The process that replaced joint referral abolished in 1995.

Committee review

The second step in the process of a bill becoming a law.

Standing committees

Permanent committees with a defined legislative jurisdiction.

Select committees

Advisory committees that handle specific issues, like the House committee on Energy Independence.

Joint committees

Committees that include members of both chambers of Congress.

Agency review, hearings, markup, report

The correct chronological sequence of subcommittee procedures in Congress.

A majority

The number of House members' signatures necessary to execute a discharge petition.

Through the rules committee

How the House of Representatives determines terms of debate and scope of amendments on a bill.

Filibuster

The record-setting procedural move to delay passage of a bill, exemplified by Strom Thurmond's 24-hour speech.

Conference committee reconciliation

The fourth step in the process of a bill becoming a law.

The president sends a message to Congress explaining why the bill should not become law.

What is NOT required for an effective presidential pocket veto.

Second

The position of the Speaker of the House in the line of presidential succession.

Speaker of the House

The MOST powerful person in the House of Representatives.

House majority leader

The House leader responsible for developing party strategy and encouraging unity among majority party legislators.

House majority whip

The leader who acts as a go-between with the leadership and majority party members.

The Vice President

The president of the Senate according to the Constitution.

Senate majority leader

The MOST powerful person in the Senate.

1994

The year when Republicans regained control of both the House and the Senate.

Just prior to election

When partisan voting is usually MOST prominent.

Partisanship

The tendency that increases congressional due to computer-driven mapmaking.

Logrolling

The reciprocal practice of trading votes widely used in Congress.

The constituency

Typically wields the MOST influence in congressional decision making.

Congress is not demographically representative of the American public

The MOST accurate statement about members of Congress.

The creation of a bicameral legislature

How the framers balanced representation for two opposing groups.

Stronger name recognition, easier access to media coverage, redistricting that favors the incumbent party, franking, campaign contributions, casework

Advantages of incumbency in congressional elections.

Gerrymandering

The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit an incumbent or political party.

Trustee and instructed delegate models of representation

The contrasting approaches to how representatives decide their positions or vote.

Casework as a form of congressional representation

Providing personal aid to constituents often involving government assistance.

Congressional hearings, confirmation hearings, investigations, budgetary appropriations

Tools employed by Congress to fulfill its oversight functions.

Introduction, committee review, House and Senate approval, conference committee reconciliation, presidential approval

The five sequential features of the congressional legislative process.

Subcommittees handle specifics

The role of congressional subcommittees in managing legislative jurisdiction.

A filibuster

A procedural tactic used in the Senate to halt the passage of a bill.

Attentive public

Voters who closely monitor congressional actions, impacting political accountability.