AP Gov Unit 2 Exam Study Guide
Learn
Practice Test
Spaced Repetition
Match
Flashcards1/198
Earn XP
199 Terms
where are the constitutional requirements for HR found?
article 1, section 2, clause 2
where are the constitutional requirements for the senate found?
article 1, section 2, clause 2
how many standing committees in the HR and Senate?
20 in the House, 24 in the Senate
what is a joint committee?
includes members of both Houses (ex. Conference Committee)
what are oversight committees?
monitor the bureaucracy (federal agencies) and the execution of laws
what are the chamber & debate rules that are only in the House?
rules committee and discharge petition
what are the chamber & debate rules only in the Senate?
treaty ratification, advice & consent, filibuster, cloture, unanimous consent, and holds
what is a filibuster?
talking a bill to death
what is a rules committee?
the house “traffic cop” for bills that decides what bills go to the floor, how long the debate lasts, and if amendments can be made to the bill once on the floor
what is a discharge petition?
petition that forces a bill out of a committee and brought to the full House floor, but requires a simple majority vote
amendments proposed in the House of Reps must be?
germane (“relevant”)
what is a treaty ratification?
the Senate should be in charge of dealing with foreign continuity and they make binding agreements between nations and become part of international law
what is a cloture?
a vote to end a filibuster (minimum of 60 votes required)
what is the rule today about filibustering in the senate?
all you have to do is declare that you want to filibuster and if there are not 60 votes to overcome your filibuster, than the bill dies
power to control the lines is also the
power to maintain the districts
what is gerrymandering?
the act of drawing congressional districts to the advantage of the political party that controls the State legislature
why is gerrymandering legal?
there are rule like districts must be contiguous, have equal population, and not on the basis of advantaging or disadvantaging a “protected class” (race, religion, etc.)
what is a divided government?
when the Congressional majority is a different political party than that of the White House or if the legislature is controlled by different parties
what is a Bi-partisanship government?
when members from both political parties work together to compromise on legislation, gets more done than partisanship
what is a partisanship government?
when members of both parties refuse to compromise on legislation and leads to nothing getting done (aka. gridlock)
what is gridlock?
occurs when nothing gets done in legislation or when members of both parties vote strictly along party lines
what party is our current president (Biden) a part of?
democrat
how is our HR currently separated between parties?
222 Republicans, 213 Democrats
how is our Senate currently separated between parties?
48 Democrats, 49 Republicans, 3 Independents (count towards Democrats to give them 51)
what type of government do we have currently?
Divided government since Democrats have the White House
what are the 3 types of representation?
trustee, delegate, and politico models
what is a trustee model?
vote using their own conscience when deciding issue positions and are trusted by their constituents to make the right decisions on their behalf
what is the delegate model (also known as instructed delegate)?
vote in line with constituents’ views, even if it goes against the legislator’s own personal views and they are instructed by the people who voted them into office
what is the politico model?
hybrid of a trustee and a delegate model since they vote in line with constituents’ views on big, important matters, but vote with their own conscience on the more mundane matters
what is the most commonly used model?
politico model
what are “lame-ducks”?
a term used to describe a politician (can be any elected official) who was voted out of office in an election, but still technically has to serve the rest of their term
who was most recent “lame-duck” politician?
Donald Trump in 2020
what does “reapportionment” of the House mean?
to redistribute the seats in the House after each decennial census when the population is recounted to either grow or shrink
What was Baker v. Carr?
Charles Baker from Tennessee and citizens argued that the state was ignoring significant economic population shifts within the state during reapportionment
what did Baker v. Carr rule?
state reapportionment claims are justiciable in federal court and for the establishment of the “one person, one vote” principle for reapportionment AND redistricting cases
when was Baker v. Carr?
1962
what did the Voting Rights Act require?
that states must cease their existing practices of creating districts to ensure that minority group are always outnumbered
what was Shaw v. Reno?
US Attorney General rejected a North Carolina reapportionment plan because it created only one black-majority district and the state submitted a second plan that created two black-majority districts, but it was usually shaped. 5 NC residents challenged the constitutionality of the unusually shaped district, alleging that it was to secure the election for a black representative
what did Shaw v. Reno rule?
the district in this case was bizarre enough to suggest that it was created with the singular intent of separating voters based on race, which violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment
when was Shaw v. Reno?
1993
what does the Speaker of the House do?
presides over HR, determines committee assignments, appoints leaders, and assigns bills to committees
what does the Majority leader of the HR do?
represents their party on the floor
what does the Majority Whip of the HR do?
assists in managing the party’s legislation (collecting votes)
what does the Minority Leader of the HR do?
organizes the minority party in the house
what does the Minority Whip of the HR do?
same roles as the majority counterpart
what is the only Constitutionally required position in the House?
the Speaker of the House
what does the President of the Senate/VP of US do?
presides over the Senate, but only real role is to vote in the event of a tie
what does the President Pro Tempore of the Senate do?
presides when VP is not present (most of the time) and is the longest serving member of the majority party
what do the Majority & Minority leaders of the Senate do?
same roles as in the House: represent their parties on the floor
what do the Majority & Minority Whips of the Senate do?
same roles as in the House: collect votes for their party’s legislation
what are the only Constitutionally required positions of the Senate?
President of the Senate & President Pro-tem
what is the Presidential role of Chief of State?
they are the ceremonial head of the government of the US, the symbol of all the people of the nation
what is the Presidential role of Chief Executive?
the constitution vests the President with the executive power of the US, making them the Chief executive
what is the Presidential role of Chief Administrator?
they are the director of the US government and oversee over 4M employees
what is the Presidential role of Chief Diplomat?
they are the main architect of American foreign policy and the chief spokesperson to the rest of the world
what is the Presidential role of Commander in Chief?
they have complete control of the nation’s armed forces
what is the Presidential role of Chief Legislator?
they are the main architect of the nation’s public policies
what is the Presidential role of Chief of Party?
they are the acknowledged leader of the political party that controls the executive branch
what is the Presidential role of Chief Citizen?
they are expected to be the “representative of all the people” and to help the nation in a time of crisis and be a leader for all
what type of power are vetoes?
formal power
what are the options by the President in response to a bill?
sign it to become a law, veto it to not become a law, do nothing to automatically become a law, or pocket veto it to make it disappear
can a president only veto parts or word of the bill?
no, it must be the entirety of the bill
what type of power is Commander-in-Chief?
formal
what power does the president have as Commander-in-Chief?
calls the shots on our nation’s military, with the advice of our Secretary of Defense and other advisors, can deploy troops, but CANNOT declare war
what type of power are Treaties?
formal
what power does the President have with Treaties?
they can make formal agreements with foreign entities and they have to be ratified by the Senate with 2/3 vote
what type of power are executive agreements?
informal
what power over Executive Agreements does the President have?
they can make an international agreement that does not require approval of Congress
what type of power is Bargaining & Persuasion?
informal
what power does the President have with Bargaining & Persuasion?
they can bargain with Congress by “giving something up” in return for ultimately getting what they want
what type of power are Executive Orders/Ordinance Power?
informal
what powers does the President have with Executive Orders?
they can carry the force of law without Congressional approval as long as they don’t conflict with current laws already in place
what type of power is Appointing Supreme Court Justices?
formal
what is the duty of the white house office/staff?
equipt the president to do their job
how powerful is the White House Chief of Staff?
the second most powerful person in Washington
what is the Executive Office of the President?
an umbrella agency of separate, specialized offices that serves as the President’s expert advisors on a host of policy subjects
Note 
Flashcards (31)