Unit 2: Interactions Among the Branches of Government Test Review - Legislative and Judicial Branches

Legislative Branch

1. Structure of Congress (parts, representation, size, term limits, age, leaders, committees)

• Parts: House of Representatives & Senate

• Representation: House of Representatives represents their district & appeals to the people, Senate represents the entire state & ensures continuity/stability

• Size: House = 435 members, Senate = 100 members

• Term limits: House = 2 year terms, Senate = 6 year terms (both have unlimited re-election)

• Age: House = 25, Senate = 30

• Leaders: House = Speaker of the House, Senate = Vice President & President Pro Tempore (for the time being)

• Committees: 

- Standing Committees (House & Senate): handles in different policy areas; found in each house of Congress (Armed Forces, Appropriations, Foriegn Affairs, does most of the work)

- Joint Committees (House & Senate): only a few of these contain members from both houses of Congress and address matters of mutual interests between the two houses

- Conference Committees (House & Senate): TEMPORARY JOINT COMMITTEES that are only formed when there are different versions of the same bill to compromise

- Select Committees (House & Senate): TEMPORARY COMMITTEES that are given a certain amount of time to complete a task; they investigate government activity/issues, called upon a crisis or a scandal

- Rules Committee (House): assigns bills to committees, schedules bills for debate, decides when votes takes place

- House Rules Committee (House): determines when a bill will be subject to debate & vote on the House floor, how long the debate will list, and whether amendments will be allowed on the floor

- Committee of the Whole (House): consists of all members of the House & meets in the House chamber but is governed by different rules, making it easier to consider complex & controversial legislation, makes the considering process go faster, roll-call-vote = vote in which each member of the chamber debating a bill indicates “yea”, “nay”, or “present”

- Committee Chair: leader of a congressional committee who has authority over the committee’s agenda

2. Expressed/enumerated powers (powers Congress shares, powers only given to the House, powers only given to the Senate)

• Powers Congress shares: 

• collect taxes

• money - coin & borrow

• regulate interstate & foreign trade

• make laws

• declare war

• raise/support military

• punish piracy

• create more courts in judiciary

• add Supreme Court Justices

• add Constitutional amendments

• oversight of federal bureaucracy & public officials

• Powers ONLY given to the House:

• START revenue bills

• issue charge of impeachment

• Powers ONLY given to the Senate:

• approve ambassadors

• ratify treaties

• impeachment trials

• approve judicial appointments

• propose budgetary amendments

3. Implied powers given to Congress (and what clause gives them these powers)

• creating a national bank (McCulloch v. Maryland)

• regulates online commerce

• establishing air force

• minimum wage laws

• drafting soldiers

• gun control laws

• civil rights legislation

• given by the necessary and proper clause

4. Policymaking structures and processes

   1. committees (purpose, types, how are members assigned)

- Standing Committees (House & Senate): permanent committees handle legislation on ongoing policy issues; places where most bills start, ex. House Ways and Means Committee (tax policy)

- Select/Special Committees (House & Senate): temporary OR permanent committees that are formed for specific investigations or issues, do not usually write legislation

- Joint Committees (House & Senate): deal with issues affecting both chambers, conduct research or oversee agencies

- Conference Committees (House & Senate): temporary committees formed to resolve differences in the House & Senate versions of a bill, produces final versions for approval by both chambers

- Members are assigned based on party leadership decisions, seniority, expertise, and political balance of Congress

2. Describe the Rules Committee.

- Determines when a bill will be subject to debate & vote on the House floor, how long the debate will list, and whether amendments will be allowed on the floor (Consideration in the House)

3. Describe the process “How a bill becomes a law?”

1. A concerned citizen writes a letter to a congressman.

2. The Congressman sponsors a bill from a concerned citizen.

3. The bill is sent to a Senate committee to be studied.

4. The Senate committee passes the bill.

5. The Senate votes and passes the bill.

6. The bill is sent to a House committee to be studied.

7. The House committee passes the bill with revisions.

8. The House of Representatives votes and passes the bill.

9. A conference committee makes changes to the original bill.

10. The bill is sent back to both houses and passes. They agree to the changes.

11. The bill is sent to the president.

12. The president vetoes the bill.

13. Congress overrides the veto. The bill is law.

4. How can a bill “die”?

• In committee/subcommittee

• Pigeonhole (chair ignores it)

• Failed floor vote

• Presidential veto

• No compromise bill in conference committee

5. What can Congress do if the President rejects a bill but they still want it passed?

• Congress can override the veto with a ⅔ majority vote in the House & Senate

6. What is logrolling?

• Trading votes to get a bill approved by putting in earmarked projects, I’ll vote on this IF you vote on that

7. What are pork barrel projects?

• Legislation that directs specific funds to projects within district or states, politicians spend government money on local projects to win votes, rather than for the good of the whole country

8. oversight vs. casework

• Oversight is efforts by Congress to ensure that the executive branch, agencies, bureaus, and cabinet departments, as well as their officials, are acting legally and in accordance with congressional goals (keeps executive branch in check.

• Casework is Congress helping individual constituents with problems related to the federal government.

9. partisanship vs. bipartisanship

• Partisanship is the concept of political parties strongly supporting their own ideas and policies while opposing the other side, often leading to disagreements (gridlock).

• Bipartisanship is an agreement between the parties to work together in Congress to pass legislation.

5. Congressional elections - who draws electoral districts, what is redistricting/gerrymandering/malapportionment

• State legislatures draw electoral districts

• Redistricting is states’ redrawing of boundaries of electoral districts following each census

• Gerrymandering is the intentional use of redistricting to benefit a specific interest/group of voters and usually results in illogical and oddly shaped districts (gives an advantage)

• Malapportionment is the uneven distribution of the population among legislative districts, unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment

6. Supreme Court cases - explain the background and precedent for each of the following cases

   1. Baker vs. Carr (1962)

• Tennesse had not redistricted in about 50 years, causing voting districts to be unequal

• Could the national government review state voting districts (federalism)?

• Sided with Baker because he used the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause 

• Precedent: Voting districts must be equal

2. Shaw vs. Reno (1993)

• National government had approved 2 voting districts in NC based on race (unconstitutional)

• Was this aligned with the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause?

• Sided with Shaw because he said that racial gerrymandering was a form of segregation. He also stated that it violated the 14th Amendment and that racial gerrymandering segregated the rest of the population.

• Precedent: Race cannot be the sole factor in drawing voting districts

7. What are checks on the legislative branch by the executive and judicial?

• Executive branch vetoes bills or enforces (or not) laws.

• Judicial branch declares laws unconstitutional through judicial review

8. Know the rules and procedures unique to the Senate (filibuster, cloture, foreign policy)

• A filibuster is a tactic through which an individual senator may use the right of unlimited debate to delay a motion or postpone action on a piece of legislation

• A cloture is a procedure through which senators can end a filibuster and proceed to action, provided 60 senators to agree to it

• Foreign policy is a strategy by government for dealing with other countries, including diplomacy, trade, military actions, and international agreements

9. Budget (revenue sources for the budget, mandatory vs. discretionary spending/entitlement programs, roles of the President and Congress, budget surplus vs. budget deficit)

• Individual Income Taxes: taxes paid by workers on their annual income

• Corporate Taxes: taxes paid by businesses on their profit

• Social Insurance Taxes (payroll taxes): paid by employee and employer to fund social programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment

• Tarriffs and Excise Taxes: tariffs are taxes paid on certain imports, excise taxes are paid on certain LUXURY goods like cigarettes

• Other: interest on government holdings, estate taxes

• Mandatory Spending: spending required by existing laws that is “locked in” the budget, pays for entitlement programs

• Discretionary Spending: spending for programs and policies at the discretion of Congress and the president, who decides how to divide up funding such as the military

• Entitlement Programs: program that provides benefits for those who qualify under the law, regardless of income, ex. Social Security and Medicare = both consume the bulk of yearly federal spending

• President:

- Office of Management and Budget (OMB): established after WWI, develops and executes the country’s budget (budget must be presented to Congress for approval)

• Congress:

- Congressional Budget Office (CBO): counterweight to the OMB, it reviews the budget submitted by the President and gives it analysis to Congress, it has other responsibilities too

- House Ways and Means Committee: determines tax policy; it is the first to outline raising/lowering taxes

• Budget Surplus: the amount of money remaining when the government takes in more than it spends

• Budget Deficit: the annual shortfall when a government takes in less money than it spends

10. How did the 17th Amendment

11.  impact Congress?

• The 17th Amendment allowed voters to cast direct votes on Senators instead of being chosen by state legislatures.

12. Know the roles played by elected officials - trustee, delegate, politico

• Trustee Role: Members of Congress who make decisions based on their expertise and best thinking

• Delegate Role: Members of Congress who carry out their constituents’ wishes

• Politico Role: Members of Congress who balance their choices with the interests of their constituents and also their political party

Judicial Branch

1. What are the three levels of Federal Courts?  What is the job of each level?

• 3 Levels: Supreme Court (highest), Court of Appeals (middle), District Courts (lowest)

• Supreme Court: Determines facts, resolves differences between the states, resolves different interpretations of the law in the lower federal courts (review decisions = uphold, reverse, or remand)

• Court of Appeals: Reviews decisions from lower/district courts = uphold, reverse, or remand

• District Courts: Determines facts, hears & decides on criminal & civil cases = CANNOT uphold, reverse, or remand because it is a TRIAL court

2. How does one get to be a federal judge? How long-term? Why?

• An individual gets to be a federal judge by being nominate by the President and then being approved by the Senate.

• Federal judges must serve a term for life because it protects them from the political pressure of the people, ensures stability in the federal judiciary, promotes fairness, and allows judges to act without concern of being re-elected.

3. What is the difference between original and appellate jurisdiction? Know what each court has.

• Appellate jurisdiction only reviews the legal issues involved in the case from a lower court (“was it fair?”, given to Appeals and Supreme Court)

• Original jurisdiction gives the authority to hear a case first, determines facts, and renders verdict (ONLY to District Courts, ONLY given to Supreme Court when it involves foreign diplomat or a state = limited jurisdiction)

4. What types of cases go to federal courts?

• Things involving the Constitution

• Federal laws (tax evasion, kidnapping, counterfeiting, etc)

• Disputes between states

• Citizens from different states

• The federal government

• Foreign government and treaties

• Admiralty and maritime laws

• U.S. Diplomats

5. What is the difference between judicial activism and judicial restraint?

• Judicial activism is the philosophy of constitutional interpretation that justices should wield the power of judicial review, sometimes creating bold new policies (ex. Brown v. Board)

• Judicial restraint philosophy of constitutional interpretation that justices should be cautious in overturning laws (points to the dangers of going against the majority)

6. Explain the three decisions made by the Supreme Court (majority, concurring, dissenting)

• Majority: a binding Supreme Court Opinion, which SERVES AS PRECEDENT for future cases

• Concurring: an opinion that AGREES with the majority decision but offers DIFFERENT/ADDITIONAL REASONING that DOES NOT SERVE AS PRECEDENT

• Dissenting: an opinion that DISAGREES with the majority opinion and DOES NOT SERVE AS PRECEDENT

7. What are checks to the judicial branch by the executive and legislative?

• The executive can appoint judges with Senate approval and grant pardons. The legislative branch can approve appointments, impeach judges, change court rules, and amend the Constitution.

8. Marbury vs. Madison (1803) -explain the background and precedent

• Marbury did not get the job that Adams promised him. This is because Jefferson tells Madison to NOT give Marbury his job/contract, saying he got the job.

• Is Marbury entitled to his job? If so, can we make it happen as the Supreme Court?

• They sided with Marbury because they believed that he should get his job. However, they could not give it to him because they could not enforce the enforcers (Jefferson)

• Precedent: Judicial Review!

9. What are the main arguments in the Federalist #78?

• Judges should have their jobs for life, be protected from the people and other branches of government, and keep the courts fair.

• Judges should have the right of judicial review because it reserves privileges and rights not in the Constitution but intended by the framers.

• Judiciary must be bound by precedent because it prevents “arbitrary discretion” and keeps consistency.

• Judicial branch is the weakest branch.

• Doesn’t have the power over military (executive) or taxation (legislative)

10. What is judicial review?

• Courts check laws and government action to make sure they follow the Constitution.

11. What is precedent and why is it important?

• Precedent is the new norm that judges follow in similar cases in the future. It is important because it helps keep the courts fair and consistent.