Unit 2 Congress

Identify the Constitutional requirements to be a member of the House of Representatives

must be at least 25 years old, a citizen of the United States for at least seven years, and a resident of the state they represent.

Identify the Constitutional requirements to be a member of the Senate

must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the United States for at least nine years, and a resident of the state they represent.

Explain how members of the House and the Senate were originally elected to office and how the 17th Amendment brought change

Originally, members of the House were elected directly by the people, while Senators were chosen by state legislatures. This Amendment, ratified in 1913, established the direct election of Senators by the voters in each state.

Constitutional powers that belong to the House

has the power to initiate revenue bills and impeach federal officials, while the Senate confirms appointments and conducts impeachment trials.

Constitutional powers that belong to the senate

include the power to conduct impeachment trials, approve treaties, and confirm presidential appointments.

the operational and institutional in the House

structures that govern how the House of Representatives functions, including its rules, procedures, and leadership roles.

the operational and institutional of the Senate

structures and rules that dictate Senate operations, including leadership roles and procedures.

redistricting

the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries to reflect population changes and ensure equal representation.

define and explain how the following are used for purposes of congressional representation: census

a complete count of the population conducted every ten years in the United States. It provides essential data that determines congressional representation by allocating seats in the House of Representatives based on state population.

Define and explain how the following are used for purposes of congressional representation: reapportionment

Relocation of the number of seats in the house after each census

Define gerrymandering-who in most states redraw districts and why gerrymandering occurs

Illogical district lines drawn to give the advantage to one party. State legislatures redistrict or commissions.

Packing

Putting many people into a district that are the same party

Cracking 

spreading out voters of a particular type among many districts to dilute their strengths

Identify arguments against judicial remedies for gerrymandering

There is no legal standard to partisan gerrymandering and the courts ca not get invovled in it 

Identify arguments for judicial remedies for gerrymandering

This proccess goes against 1 person equals 1 vote. Also the politicians are choosing their voters rather than voters choosing them. 

Safe seats

Districts in which a party consistently wins by more than 55% of the vote

Marginal seats

Districts with closer elections, the competitions higher for seats

Colegrove v. Green

Justice Felix Frankfurter held that the federal judiciary had no power to interfere with malapportioned Congressional districts

Baker v. Carr

Facts: Charles Baker and other Linighan sued the Tennessee Secretary of State, because the populations and various legislative districts very greatly. One person equals one vote was not equal and violated the 14th amendment because rural areas had more say in the legislative process.

Clause: the clause used is the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment

Courts rationale: the courts can intervene when states do not follow constitutional principles in defining political borders, since those practices undermine the idea of the equal protect protection clause

Dissenting opinion with the rationale: justice is Frankfurt and John Marshall, Harlan the second dissented the decision because it establishes presidents and oversteps the separation of powers between Congress and the court.

Impact of case: every state had to redraw legislative boundaries

Gray v. Sanders

Facts: the state of Georgia used a county unit system for counting votes in primary elections. Under the system, the Canada who received the highest number of votes in a county would receive all the county unit votes. The overall winning candidate would receive the majority of the county unit vote statewide. This system ended up giving rural counties, a majority of unit votes, even though rural counties made up only about a third of the population. James O’Hare Sanders a voter in George’s most populous county brought a suit against several representatives of Georgia State democratic executive committee, and the secretary of State of Georgia.

Amendment and Clause used: 14th amendment and equal protection clause and 17th amendment

The court held that the weighing of votes through the county unit system violated the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment by giving more power to residence of particularly small rural counties.

Reynolds v. Sims

Facts: voters from Jefferson County Alabama challenge the portion of the state legislature. Lines dividing electoral districts had resulted in dramatic population discrepancies among the districts. The state constitution required at least one representative per county and senatorial district. However, the district in Jefferson County, which is near Birmingham contained 41 times as many eligible voters as those in another district of the state. Sims and other voters argued that this lack of proportionality prevented them from effectively participating in a republican formed government.

Amendments and clauses used: 14th amendments equal protection clause

Rationale of the court: the court upheld the challenge to the Alabama system, holding that the equal protection clause demanded no less than substantially equal state legislative representation for all citizens. The core held that both houses of the bicameral state legislature had to be a portion on population basis. States were required to be honest and have good faith in efforts to construct districts as nearly equal population as practicable.

Shaw v. Reno

Facts: North Carolina submitted the federal justice department. It’s new map of congressional districts for review. Decades of racial gerrymandering had effectively disfranchised black voters and kept them from serving in halls of government.

Question: does congressional district, designed for the process of assuring, a major African-American population, violate the 14th amendments equal protection clause.

Answer: North Carolina submitted their legislative district, only one district was major majority minority district. US Attorney General Janet runout sent the map back to the state and insisted they redraw the map. They complied, but oddly shaped district.

The courts rationale: Race was used as a factor to explain the irregular district shape and its lack of other characteristics. Using race opposed the colorblind ideal of the US law and it put citizens into different categories.

Dissenting: the 12th district did not dilute the votes of citizens. Just Stevens dissented that minorities benefited from redistricting. Justice Stevens, white, black band said the oddly shaped district whites remain majority.

Identify advantages that incumbents use to their advantage when running for reelection

Name, recognition, credit claiming, casework, fringe privilege, access to media, fundraising, experience, redistricting/gerrymandering

speaker of the house

Access a leader of the house and combine several roles, is second in line to succeed the president after the vice president. only in the House of Representatives.

whip

Assist leadership managing parties legislative program

Majority leader

Represents Republicans on the floor

Minority leader

represents Democrats on the house floor

president pro-tempore

To decide over the Senate in the absence of the vice president

vice president

Votes only to break a tie position position is identified in the constitution. President over the Senate.

Describe the legislative process-steps taken from introduction of a bill to the desk of the President

1) only members of each chamber of Congress may introduce a bill however, many other factors shape its content, including the president, interest groups, and congressional staff

2) bills are assigned to a committee based on topic, however, bills may be assigned to multiple committees

3) in the house, the chamber members may force a bill out of committee through discharge petition

4) chambers made bypass conference committee action bypassing amended bills from another chamber. Party leaders in two chambers will also negotiate throughout the process

5) president may shape the bills through the threat of a veto, but Congress can override the veto

Explain the importance of the committee system in Congress

Mention the workload of the legislative branch because it specializes in specific topics. Also is used for drafting and evaluating legislation, and conducting oversight of the government operation.

Standing Committee

Are permanent committees, established under the standing rules of the Senate and specialized in considering a specific subject areas. The Senate has 16.

Joint Committee

Membership of both houses of Congress, and are usually established with narrow jurisdiction and normally lack authority to report legislation

Conference Committee

a temporary, composed of house and Senate conferences, re-counseling differences and legislation that has passed in both houses and is used to resolve by caramel differences on major or controversial legislation

Select/Special committee

Established by the Senate to perform a particular study or investigation and might be given or denied authority to report legislation to the Senate and it is usually temporary

Identify the steps taken for a bill to become law and how the process may differ between the House and the Senate-i.e. Filibuster, cloture, etc.

in the House of Representatives revenue bills must originate from it and in the Senate it has a filibuster and cloture

First step passing a bill

Introduction a member of Congress introduces a bill, which can be created by anyone

second step in passing a bill

Committee action, the villa is referred to a relevant committee which holds hearings, debates the bill, and may amend it

third step in passing a bill

For action if approved by the committee the bill is placed on the legislative calendar and debated on the floor of the house or Senate

fourth step in passing a bill

Though after debate and potential amendments, the chamber votes on the bill if it passes and moves to the other chamber

fifth step in passing a bill

Consideration by the other chamber the bill van goes through the committee and floor process in the second chamber

sixth step in passing a bill

Conference committee if the house in Senate passed different versions of the same bill a conference committee is formed to create a single identical bill for both to approve

seventh step in passing a bill

Presidential action once both chambers passed. The identical bill is sent to the president for presidential veto or approval.

Describe the oversight function of Congress

If a president vetoed a bill, Congress can override the veto with 2/3 majority vote in both the house and Senate.

Identify checks the legislative branch has over the executive and judicial branches and checks that the executive and judicial have over the legislative branch

The legislative branch checks, the executive branch by controlling funding, impeaching the president, and confirming appointments, while checking the judicial by impeaching judges, and controlling the courts budget. The executive branch has veto power, calling special sessions, and executive order. The judicial branch has judicial review so the Supreme Court and other federal courts can review laws pass by Congress and actions taken by the president determine if they are constitutional.

Trustee

The idea that members of Congress should act as trustees, making decisions based on their knowledge and judgment.

Delegate

Emphasizes that Congress is to carry out the constituents votes.

Politico

Emphasizes that Congress is a politicized body, and its members months balance their choices with interest of constituents and their political party.

Partisan

Emphasizes that Congress members must vote with their party

substantive representation

a political concept that describes when elected officials advocate for the interest and policy preferences of the people they represent

descriptive representation

a political theory that holds that elected bodies should reflect the demographic composition of its constituents, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation

 Congressional Research Service

a public policy research division of the library of Congress that provides non-partisan, adjective, and authoritative research and analysis to support members of the US. Congress and their staff.

Government Accountability Office

An independent, non-partisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the US Congress. It is a supreme audit institution of the federal government.

Congressional Budget Office

A federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States the government that provides budget and economic information to Congress

Explain why Congress’s approval ratings are generally very low

Intense partisan polarization, president, gridlock, intense, partisanship, leads to legislative stalemates and government shut downs. Support in Congress tends to shift based on which party is empower. However, when one party holds a legislative majority, the other party base typically reports very low approval.

Identify and explain proposals to reform the U.S. House

Gerrymandering, legislative process, bottleneck, and partisanship.

Identify and explain proposals to reform U.S. Senate

Partisan gridlock, unequal representation, and procedural block aids like the filibuster.

Identify obstacles that prevent reform from occurring

Lack of political will and leadership, reforms often fail when leaders are uncommitted to the process when their priorities are short termed, focusing on electoral cycles rather than sustain long-term changes. Political resistance from elite and special interest those who benefit from existing systems, including powerful individuals or special interest groups will actively resist changes that threaten their wealth or influence.

Define pork-barrel legislation

A metaphor for allocating government spending to localized projects in the representatives district or securing district expenditures primarily serving the soul interest of the representative

Earmarks

Designated(something that is typically funds or resources) for particular purpose

City of New York v. Clinton (1998)

Clinton has the power to lime Vito in the state of New York said that it was unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court agreed with the state of New York that the president does not have the power to line-item veto

Line-item veto

A special executive power to cancel specific provisions of a bill without rejecting the entire legislative package