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83 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What does bicameral mean?
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two house
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What are the two houses of Congress?
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House of Representative and Senate
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Are there term limits for congressmen or senators?
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no
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How old do you have to be to run for House? for Senate? for President?
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25
30 35 |
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Do you have to be a natural born citizen to run for Congress? for President?
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no
yes |
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Is gerrymandering legal?
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Yes
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Who draws the congressional district lines?
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usually the state legislature
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What is malapportionment?
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voting districts that are drawn so that votes of people in small town and rural districts are worth more than people in big cities
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Which case said that malapportionment was unconstitutional?
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Westbury v. Sander
one man one vote |
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What did Madison argue for in Federalist 51?
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Bicameral legislature
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Who is the leader of the Senate
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majority leader
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Who is the leader of the House of Representatives?
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Speaker of the House
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Which party gets to have the chairmen of the committees?
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majority party
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What is the difference between a committee and a caucus
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You are appointed by the party leadership to certain committees: caucuses are congressmen who have similar interests or ideology coming together.
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Who breaks a tie vote in the Senate?
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Vice President
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Who takes the place of the Vice President in the Senate in the daily activities?
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president pro tempore of the Senate
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How many votes do you need to end a filibuster
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60
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Who confirms Presidential appointments?
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The Senate
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Who ratifies treaties, the Senate or the House?
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Senate
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What is a select committee?
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set up for a temporary issue, usually not the source of legislation
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Which section of the Constitution has the "enumerated powers"?
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Article I, Section 8
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Which section of the Constitution limits the powers of Congress?
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Article I, Section 9
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Which section of the Constitution limits the powers of the States?
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Article I, Section 10
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Which Presidents have been impeached?
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Andrew Johnson
Bill Clinton |
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Who impeaches, House or Senate?
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House
majority vote |
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Once the president is impeached, what is needed to convict?
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a 2/3 vote in the SENATE
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what is a joint committee?
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has both house and senate members
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What are the four main types of standing committees?
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authorizing
budget rules and administration revenue and budget |
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What is Congress' investigative power?
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see if legislation is needed, call for hearings, investigate the facts
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What is Congress oversight power?
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they can make executive officials come before Congress and answer questions about their agencies and programs.
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What is the difference between a Congressman as a "trustee" and as a "delegate"
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the delegate finds out what the people want in his district and does only that
the trustee acts according to his own view of what is good for his district and good for the nation |
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What is discretionary spending?
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discretionary spending is
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What did Shaw v. Reno hold?
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no racial gerrymandering
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How does Congress force a bill out of committee?
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discharge petition
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what are the seven important functions of Congress
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representation
lawmaking consensus building overseeing the bureaucracy policy clarification investigation approval |
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Committees are more important in the House than in the Senate, true or false?
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true
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what are "enumerated powers"
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powers specifically given to Congress in the Constitution
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quorum in the house?
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majority, 218 members
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quorum in the "committee of the whole" in the House?
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100
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If the president and the vice president die, who is president?
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Speaker of the House
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Is the Speaker of the House different than the majority leader?
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Yes, the majority leader plans party strategy, keeps other party members in line
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Who is the leader of the Senate?
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the majority leader
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Who is the president of the Senate?
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the vice president
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What does the president of the Senate do?
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almost nothing except vote in case of a tie
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What is senatorial courtesy?
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The presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the sates in which the appointees are to work
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What happens to a bill if both houses of Congress pass it and Congress is in session but the president does not sign in within 10 days
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it becomes LAW
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senate quorum?
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51
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How many members in the House?
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435
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How often are Congressmen elected?
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every 2 years
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How many Senators are there?
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100
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How ofter are Senators elected?
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every 6 years
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Why does the census matter to Congress?
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Because the number of seats each state gets in the House of Representatives is based on the population which is determined every 10 years by the census
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What is reapportionment?
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adding to or taking away from the number of representatives that a state has based on population
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What is gerrymandering
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redrawing congressional districts in order to elect a certain party
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Is gerrymandering based on race legal?
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no: cite Supreme Court case Shaw v. Reno
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What was the main idea of Baker v. Carr
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malapportionment is unconstitutional, citizens can challenge voting districts
"one man one vote" |
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List five reasons incumbents usually win
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name recognition
free mailing (franking) access to media staff money raising advantage from PACS |
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Who has longer time for debate, House or Senate?
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Senate
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Which is more formal, House or Senate
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House
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What is the term for the congressional procedure where anyone can offer an amendment from the floor?
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open rule
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What is the term where only committee members can offer amendments?
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Closed rule
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Who make committee assignments in the Senate?
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majority leader
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What is filibuster
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in the SENATE, talking as long as you want
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What is the formal name for the procedure you need to end a filibuster?
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cloture
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What is a "hold"
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A Senator can stop a nomination or an issue from going forward with a "hold"
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What is a standing committee
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one that is permanent, not set up for one issue or task
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What is the "elastic clause"
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Article I, Section 8 Clause 1, Congress has all powers "necessary and proper"
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What is the "power of the purse" and who has it?
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House of Representative
raise money and authorize government spending for programs and agencies |
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How does Congress use the "power of the purse" as a check against the executive branch?
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Threaten to cut off money to agencies unless they have congressional oversight.
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What is a conference committee?
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specific house and senate committee to negotiation the language of a bill
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How many committee seats does each party get?
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proportion to the number of members in Congress (i.e. how big of a majority there is)
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What are two methods for choosing a committee chairman?
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seniority
merit |
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What is logrolling?
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voting in Congress where you vote for one congressman's bill and in return, he votes for your bill.
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what is pork barrel legislation?
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legislation that helps your district, especially spending money on federal projects in your district
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What are the four major steps that a bill goes through before it becomes a law
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introduce in House or Senate
committee review floor debate and majority vote in House and Senate president signs |
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what is "rider" to a bill
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a provision, that may or may not be related to the bill, that gets attached to bill in order for the bill to get passed.
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What is a pocket veto
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When the President does not sign a bill for 10 days AND Congress is not in session
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If the President vetoes a bill, can it still become a law?
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yes if 2/3 of the House and the Senate vote to OVERRIDE the veto.
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What is a "safe seat"?
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a congressional seat that is easily won by one party or another
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Who has the "advise and consent " powers, House or Senate?
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Senate
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The Rules Committee is in the House or Senate?
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House
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what are a couple of important, powers that the president has?
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national security
budget preparation setting the national agenda |
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Who is the presiding officer of the House?
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The Speaker of the House, chosen by the majority party.
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