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68 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Why do people like their congressmen, but not the institution as a whole?
-they have to be national law makers, they have to represent the needs of their constituents
Earmarks:
projects that are designated for their districts- bad when everyone tries to do it in their own district, inconsistent
British Parlimentary System compared to Legislative branch:
-house of commons and house of Lords
Colonies compared to Legislative Branch:
-colonial assemblies
-assemblies got more power, focused on people's political involvement
Continental congress--
the first national legislature
-articles of confederation
Article one gives power to...
the legislative branch
Each state has how many senators?
two
Senators serve how many years?
-6 year terms
-1/3 of the seats up for reelection every 2 years
How are senators elected:
17th amendment:
by popular election
How are representatives appointed?
by population
-serve for 2 year terms
Senator Qualifications
30 years old, citizen for 9 years and inhabit the state
House Member qualifications:
entire house elected at one time, 25 year old, citizen for 7 years, reside in state
Apportionment
the allocation of congressional seats among the states
how many members of the house?
435
Representatives per state?
Each state must have at least on, then the remaining 385 are divided based on population
how many people does a representative represent?
approximately 650,000
(montana rep has over 900,000)
Redistricting:
the redrawing of congressional districts to reflect changes in seats allocated of the states from population shifts
Who redistricts?
state legislatures
Gerrymandering:
when redistricting becomes outrageously political- challenged in court
112th congress- senate:
51 democrats
47 republicans
2 independents
112th congress- house:
242 republicans
192 democrats
1 independent
how is congress organized:
new congress is seated every 2 years- new leaders elected, closely tied to political parties
Whips:
vote counters and vote getter-outers
Spending cuts:
amount the govt. wants to cut from budget in fiscal year
debt ceiling
most debt the country can have
shut down
government shuts down all nonessential programs
Majority leader:
-elected leader of the party controlling most seats in the house or the senate
-second and authority to the speaker
-the Speaker is the Leader in the House
-in the Senate it is the party leader
Minority leader:
elected leader of the party with the second highest number elected
Who is the presiding officer of the Senate?
The Vice President
Who is the official chair of the Senate?
the president pro tempore
-honorary
-senior senator of the majority party
-Daniel Inouye from Hawaii
Committees
arranged by subject matter
-first stop for all bills
-organized by party
-Permanent committee is most important
Subcommittees:
allow for even greater specialization
-created in 1816
-1995- republican committee reform
Standing Committee:
continue from one congress to the next- 19 in house and 16 in the senate
-most powerful
-discharge petitions
Joint Committees:
includes members from both houses of Congress, conducts investigations or special studies
Conference Committees;
joint committee created to iron out differences between senate and house versions of a specific piece of legislation
Select (or special) Committees:
temporary committee appointed for specific purpose, such as conducting a special investigation or study
Appropriation committee
how money is spent
Ways and Means:
tax writing committee
Rules Committee
rules of debate
Committee Chairman:
-very powerful
-select subcommittee chairs
-call and control meetings
-call up bills for consideration, refer to subcommittees
-control staff and budget
-pick conference committee members
---write final versions of the bill
Committee membership
-interest or expertise
-help with reelection
--Pork/earmarks: allows reps to bring ohome the bacon
Statutes:
Laws passed by congress
Codes:
contains all laws made by congress and collected by topic
Supplementary Spending bills:
get by until congress passes budget
Powers of Congress:
-spend money
-regulate commerce
-create courts
-declare war
-necessary and proper laws
-lawmaking
-taxation
-bankruptcy laws, counterfeiting, piracy, postal service
What is the most important constitutional power of congress?
-to make laws
In order for a bill to become a law...
it must be passed by both the house and the senate
House vs. Senate:
house: initiate revenue bills, formal, specialists, tax policy

Senate: advise and consent- international treaties, generalists- broader areas of interest, foreign policy
Who can write and introduce a bill?
anyone can write a bill, burt only a member of the house or senate by introduce it
How many bills are proposed?
9,000 per year and fewer than 5-10% are enacted
Most bills originate where?
in executive brance
what three stages mush a bill survive?
committees, the floor, and the conference committee
Rule:
the terms of debate that the rules committee gives to each bill
Discharge petition:
gets a bill out of the committee especially if a chairman is against it- a written document that you sign to command the chairman to vote it out- takes majority of members of the house- rare
Hold:
if a senator doesn't like a bill, he can put a hold on the bill which says "I want to know in advance when the senate is going to talk about this"- means they are going to oppose it
Fillibuster:
one senator gets and holds the floor and can talk as long as he wants to, but he has to talk unceasingly
Cloture:
procedure to get around a filibuster, 60 senators have to sign for petition, but then they have to vote and set limit
how do members make decisions
interest groups, colleagues, party, staff, political action committees, constituents, caucuses
incumbent:
the person who currently holds an office and runs for reelection
-biggest single advantage
Key of getting reelected:
Name recognition!!
U.S. Term Limits v. Thorton (1995)
-need a constitutional amendment??
Personal Staff:
scheduling, travel, communications, media, research, constituent services
House members avg:17 and Senators: 40
Committee Staff:
legislative research and bill writing
Powers of Congress vis-a-vis the president
funding powers, oversight, impeachment/removal, checks on presidential power
Congressional oversight of the Executive branch
review actions, passes laws that sets guidelines, oversight ensures that the bureaucracy is enforcing and interpreting laws the right way
I.N.S. vs. Chadha (1983)
struck down the legislative veto
congressional review
can veto befor it becomes a law
Continuity and Change:
congress at center and presidential power has increased since FDR