House of Representatives and Congressional Dynamics

These flashcards encompass key vocabulary, concepts, and facts related to the House of Representatives and congressional dynamics based on lecture notes.

The distribution of seats in the House of Representatives among the states on the basis of their respective populations is called:

apportionment

Every _ years, seats in the House of Representatives are redistributed based on the outcome of the census conducted by the U.S. Census :

ten

If a state has twelve congressional districts, it sends _ representatives to the House:

twelve

_ is a condition in which the voting power of citizens in one district is greater than the voting power of citizens in another district:

malapportionment

In Wesberry v. Sanders (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court held that _, a principle that came to be known as the "one person, one vote" rule:

congressional districts must have equal population

Which of the following is NOT true of gerrymandering?:

In the 1960s, the Supreme Court ruled that gerrymandering was unconstitutional.

Which of the following statements about the politico style of representation is TRUE?:

It suggests that there are times when a legislator will act according to his conscience, times when he will reflect the interests of his constituents, and times when he will follow the party line.

The U.S. Constitution requires that members of the House of Representatives be elected by popular vote every year and U.S. Senators every year:

second;sixth

Which of the following is NOT an advantage that incumbents tend to enjoy when running for re-election?:

Fresh ideas and fresh perspectives

Why does the president rarely call special sessions of Congress?:

because Congress now meets on nearly a year-round basis

Among other duties, the _ presides over sessions of the House of Representatives, schedules bills for action, and controls how bills get assigned to committees:

speaker of the house

The primary duty of the House minority leader is to _:

maintain solidarity within the party.

the _ presides over the Senate in the vice president's absence and is usually the member of the majority party with the longest continuous term of service in the senate.:

president pro tempore