Chapter 11 Study Guide: Congress

What are the 5 ways the House and Senate differ?

What are the 5 ways the House and Senate differ?

- size
- seats per state
- term lengths
- citizenship
- age requirements
- constitutional powers

Why did the Founders Chose Bicameralism ?

To promote a "mixed regime" and representing large and small states in the federal system.

What is the idea of a "mixed regime"? How is it reflected in bicameral structure of Congress?

The idea of using bicameralism to combine the advantages of democracy and aristocracy while avoiding the shortcomings of each to avoid the disadvantages of either a pure democracy or pure aristocracy while gaining the advantages of both.

The House was designed to be more democratic than the Senate while the Senate, by contrast, was intended to embody a more aristocratic spirit.

How did the Great Compromise contribute toward the establishment of congressional bicameralism?

The small state preference for equal state representation applied to the Senate and the large state preference for representation proportionate to state population size applied in the House

What are the advantages of bicameral legislatures?

- greater diversity of constituents to be represented
- having both chambers come together to reduces the likelihood of passing flawed or reckless legislation.

What are some disadvantages of bicameral legislatures?

- Slower to act on things because they require the coordination and concurrence of two chambers to pass laws.
- the diversity of bicameral legislatures can lead a disproportionate representation aka malapportionment

What are the 5 basic types of committees?

- standing committees
- permanent select committees
- temporary select committees
- joint committees
- conference committees

Which committees are the core committees in both the House and Senate?

- standing committees

What is the difference between a standing committee, a joint committee, a select committee, and a conference committee?

standing committee- is permanent congressional committees with responsibility for a particular area of public policy

joint committee-composed of members of both houses and perform advisory functions

select committee- aka special committees and can be either permeant or temporary

conference committee- formed temporarily to work out differences in House and Senate versions of a particular bill.

How is the party balance on a committee determined? Which party has more seats on a committee: the majority or the minority party?

The party balance on a committee is a direct result of the party balance of its legislative chamber.
The ratio of Dem and Rep on each committee is approximately the same as the ratio in the full House or Senate.
The majority party has more seats on a committee.

What do the party conferences in Congress do?

meet regularly (and separately) to discuss important issues and strategies.

What are the different leadership positions in Congress? (For example, House Majority Leader, Speaker of the House, etc.). Be able to describe what each position does.

Speaker of the house- always a member of the majority party; Has certain formal powers that enhances their ability to influence legislative activity in the House

House Majority Leaders- Second most influential leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives;

House Minority Leaders- make strategy decisions, and attempt to keep order within the minority party. Leads in developing the party's legislative strategies

House whips- is to whip up votes and otherwise enforce party discipline

President of the Senate- is the elected Vice President of the United States; only votes in case of a tie

Senate Majority Leader- chief spokesperson for the majority party

majority and minority leaders often occupy the floor together in an attempt to keep things moving along.

Senate Minority Leader- Top leader of the minority party in the Senate.

What are the six stages before a bill can become a law?

1. The first step is that a bill must be drafted.

2. a committee is selected, then the committee chair is empowered to move the bill through the committee process as they see fit.

3. Floor Debate and Voting

4. bills must be sent to a conference committee

5. Presidential Decision

6. Veto Override Votes (if required)

In which chamber must bills that raise revenue begin?

under the Constitution in Article I, Section 7, the House of Representatives

What do committees do with bills that are sent to them?

hold a hearing for the bill, markup the bill(amending and voting process), and If the committee decides not to advance the bill at that time, it is tabled(dead)

What is a traditional filibuster?

A procedural tactic in the U.S. Senate whereby a minority of Senators prevents a bill from coming to a vote by holding the floor and talking until the majority gives in and the bill is withdrawn from consideration. which can lead to a cloture vote

Which chamber allows for a filibuster of legislation?

Senate

What is a cloture vote? How many votes are needed to end a filibuster?

A legislative maneuver that, if a three-fifths majority votes for it, limits Senate debate to thirty hours and has the effect of defeating a filibuster.

What is a pocket veto?

If the President receives a bill from Congress less than ten days prior to the end of the Congressional term, and if the President does nothing, the bill does NOT become law.

How can a bill become law even if the President vetoes the legislation?

If Congress override it by a 2/3 vote in both chambers or without the President's signature.

What is an omnibus spending bill?

combines smaller ordinary appropriations (spending) bills into one larger single bill that can be passed at once

The balance of power between congressional committees and political parties has shifted heavily toward which since the 1980s?

party leadership (political parties)

What is a modern filibuster? How is it different from a traditional filibuster?

mf: a warping of the original intent of the cloture rules adopted to control the filibuster. Unlike the traditional filibuster, in which a senator took the floor and held it for as long as possible

What is the budget reconciliation process? What is its relationship to the modern filibuster?

br: federal budget can be amended through a simple majority vote and the process has been used for getting around the filibuster to enact major policy change

What is reapportionment?

the redistribution of seats in the House of Representatives based on changes in state population as revealed by the census

Who is in charge of conducting reapportionment?

Congress

What is the one-person, one-vote standard? Which institution established it?

if a state holds elections using single-member districts, there must be a roughly equal number of voters in each district; established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964

What is redistricting? Which level of government (the national government or the state governments) is in charge of it?

when states government redraw their district lines to make sure they are in compliance with the one-person, one-vote standard.

According to the textbook, what percentage of 2022 House district elections are genuinely competitive "toss up" races that could go either way?

8%

According to the textbook, what percentage of House elections in the year 2000 were genuinely competitive "toss up" races that could have gone either way?

40%

What is the "Big Sort"?

is the trend over the past forty years in which Americans who are similar in educational level, lifestyle, and political orientation increasingly choose to live close to each other.

What is gerrymandering?

the manipulation of legislative district boundaries as a way of favoring candidates from a particular party, group, or socio-economic class.

Has gerrymandering or the "Big Sort" had more impact on the decline of competitive congressional elections?

The "Big Sort" had more impact on the decline of competitive congressional elections

What are the effects of uncompetitive elections on voters and civic health?

voters are less informed about politics/public affairs and voters become disengaged which is detrimental to civic health.

Party Representation in a "Malapportioned" Senate

Party Representation in a "Malapportioned" Senate

What is malapportionment?

drawing the boundaries of legislative districts so that they are unequal in population which can lead to an unequal distribution of voting power per citizen across geographic electoral units

Is the U.S. SENATE one of the most or one of the least malapportioned legislative chambers in the world?

one the most

Is the U.S. HOUSE of Representatives one of the most or one of the least malapportioned legislative chambers in the world?

one of the least

According to the textbook, how many people does each elected member of the House represent?

764,000 persons per representative

Why do some political scientists think this number is far too high?

- people can not easily monitor the performance of their representatives and hold them accountable.
- believe members of the House should have fewer constituents so that they can better understand their interests and values.

What does political scientist Lee Drutman propose the U.S. do about the high number of people per representative?

increase the number of seats of House from 435 to 700 = House to around 470,000 persons per representative.

Even if Drutman's proposal was adopted, how would the ratio of representation in the House compare with the global average?

U.S. has a number of persons per representative that is 4.7 times greater than the global average for lower legislative chambers.

What is descriptive representation?

the idea that an elected body should mirror demographically the population it represents

demographic (racial, religious, gender, etc.) composition is proportional to the demographic composition of the population served by the legislature

What are two reasons descriptive representation is beneficial?

- assure that all those who are affected by public policies have their rights, interests, and perspectives adequately represented in the policymaking process.

- promote a widespread sense of trust in the democratic process and perceptions that decisions are fair and legitimate.

What is constituent service?

wide array of non-legislative activities undertaken by members of Congress or congressional staff that are aimed at helping and/or honoring constituents.

What is the practice of "pork-barrel politics"?

federal spending on projects designed to benefit a particular district or set of constituents

What are the differences between the delegate, trustee, and politico models of representation?

delegate- the FIRST duty of representatives is to follow the opinions of their constituents(the people who voted for them)

trustee- elected representatives should NOT be STRICTLY bound by the opinions of their constituents. =(can act according to their own best judgment)

politico- members of Congress act as either trustee or delegate depending on the issue and political context.= BALANCE

According to the textbook, what approach to representation did Representative Liz Cheney take in 2021-2022?

trustee