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106 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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How many representatives are there in the US Congress? |
There are 435 Representatives. |
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How many senators are there in the US Congress? |
There are 100 US senators in the Senate |
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How many committee assignments do representatives generally hold? |
One and sometimes two major committee assignments |
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How many committee assignments do senators generally hold? |
Senators are in a range of major committees. Each committee has a handful of people. 4 |
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What is the "Committee of the Whole?" |
All senators or Representatives. |
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What is a standing committee? |
A permanent committee handling legislation and oversight area. |
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What is a conference committee? |
Committee of senators and representatives to compromise on bill before final votes. |
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What is the Rules Committee in the House of Representatives, and what does it do? |
The Rules Committee issues a rule to govern debate on the floor. Each bill gets special rule (i.e. How long is debate? Who can speak? Who can propose amendments? What amendments are allowed?) |
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In the House of Representatives, what is a special rule? |
A simple resolution of the House of Representatives, usually reported by the Committee of Rules, to permit the immediate consideration of a legislative measure, not withstanding the usual order of business, and to prescribe conditions for its debate and Amendment. |
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What does "markup" mean? |
When a subcommittee edits a bill. |
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What is a unanimous consent agreement? |
Every single Senator has to agree to rules of debate on senate floor. |
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What is a cloture rule, and how many signatures does it require? |
A means of limiting debate. Requires 60 signatures to stop debate and requires vote. Still allows 30 hours of debate afterwards. |
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What is a filibuster? |
A tactic to delay a vote on a topic. It is a common strategy, speaking endlessly and not yielding the floor. (Senate) |
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In an amendment to a bill being considered by Congress, what does "germane" mean? |
Relevant. |
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What is generally considered the most powerful position in the House of Representatives? |
The Speaker of the House |
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What is generally considered the most powerful position in the United States Senate? |
The Senate Majority Leader |
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What does a whip do? |
Formerly known as "assistant party leader," their responsibility is to keep track of the number of votes for and against a piece of legislation. They're also responsible, along with the party's leader, for "whipping up" support for a particular position. |
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What is a seat swing? |
When Democrats or Republicans in Congress gained many more seats than previous term. Seat swings follows a pattern. Parties that win White House usually wins congressional seats, by midterm election, party in the White House usually loses seats. |
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What does the term incumbency effect mean? |
The tendency of members of Congress to win reelection because they are the incumbent, also known as the office holder seeking reelection. |
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What are the reelection rates in the House of Representatives and Senate? |
Around 98% HOR. 70% Senate. |
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What are the main causes of the incumbency effect? |
Three reasons for incumbency effect so high: how campaigning has changed, role of government, District Lines. (name recognition, money or funding, candidate-centered campaign, challenger quality) |
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What is candidate - centered campaigning? |
Starting in the 1960s and used in today's politics. Advertise candidate as individual on television and radio, often downplays political party and focuses on personal characteristics of candidate. |
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In campaign politics, what is the challenger quality argument? |
Nobody wants to run against a strong incumbent - they will lose. Parties have trouble finding candidates because of this. |
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In campaign politics, what is a sacrificial lamb? |
Just to have a candidate name on a ballot. Not meant to win, always a weak candidate. |
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What is pork? |
Bringing money to District; bridge to nowhere. Pork barrel is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a Representative's District. |
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What is constituency service? |
To help out a single constituent. (helping the folks back home). |
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What is franking privilege? |
Member of Congress gets to regularly send information to all constituents. Allows members of Congress to transmit mail matter under their signature without postage. |
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What does gerrymander mean? |
Drawing district lines (by state government) for political gain. The states redraw district lines every 10 years. |
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What is "packing" and "cracking?" |
Packing is pushing a high percent of people from the other party into a single district. Cracking is dividing people from the other party into multiple districts. |
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What was the Supreme Court ruling in Reynolds vs Sims? |
1964 court case. Cause of court case was because states weren't redrawing district lines for decades, rural districts had far fewer people than urban areas. The ruling, all districts in state have to have equal population. |
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What is an "iron triangle?" |
Comprises the policy-making relationship among the congressional committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups. |
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How often is an election held for each seat in the House of Representatives? |
All 435 seats are up for reelection every two years during even-numbered years. Members serve two-year terms. |
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How often is an election held for each seat in the United States Senate? |
Senators serve six-year terms, approximately one-third of the Senate is up for reelection every two years. |
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What does federalism mean? |
Neither National nor Regional governments hold most of the power. Responsibilities in policy areas are shared between National and Regional governments. |
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What is a confederation? |
Power is derived from Regional governments. Regional governments send ambassadors to represent them. This form of government is extremely unstable and there are only a few examples of it historically. |
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What is a unitary government? |
Power is derived from national government which makes most major policy decisions. This is the most common type of government in the world: classic example is France. |
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What is the most common type of government internationally? |
Unitary government |
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Why do some countries choose to be federalist? |
How it was formed--if it was formed by a bunch of small states |
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What is dual federalism? |
A view holding that the constitution is a compact among sovereign states, so that the powers of the national government and the states are clearly differentiated. Federal and state governments had distinct responsibilities; layered cake. |
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What is cooperative federalism? |
A view holding that the constitution is an agreement among people who are citizens of both state and nation, so there is much overlap between State powers and National powers. All levels of government work together to fix problems. Federal government hand state and local government money, state and local government implement. |
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What is New Federalism? |
Shifted power back to states: much like cooperative federalism, but with states having a much more control. Enacted by Richard Nixon in 1968, it is the system we have today. |
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What were the initial responsibilities of the federal government? |
Defense (Army and Navy), Foreign policy, money (printing & regulating) , Post office, Interstate commerce. |
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What does the 10th Amendment to the Constitution state? |
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." |
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What is the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution? |
Constitution, federal law, and treaties are supreme law of the land. States must follow it or they can challenge it in court. |
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What is the Necessary and Proper Clause of the US Constitution? |
Federal government can create any laws it needs to execute its powers. |
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What is the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution? |
Federal government regulates all interstate commerce. |
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Why does the Commerce Clause significantly increase the power of the federal government? |
Allows federal government to basically control all inter- and intrastate commerce. All commerce. |
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What does the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution State? |
States cannot deny any person equal protection before the law. |
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What does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment state? |
States cannot take away anyone's rights without due process of law. |
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What was the primary original intent of the Fourteenth Amendment? |
Originally meant to end slavery. |
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What is an interest group? |
An organization that lobbies the government for specific policies. They are organized, focus on only one issue area, and influence government from the outside. |
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Who were the Pluralists and what did they argue? How does it relate to Madison's argument in Federalist Paper #10? |
Originated from political scientists who became very concerned about safety of democracy. Pluralists stated interest groups are the solution for voter ignorance. They form to support interest of factions in the public, they compete against each other, they balance each other out, and they inform public about policies. Based on Madison's theory on factions which are factions are bad and cancel each other out. |
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What is an intermediary group? |
The lobby the government for the public and they inform the public about policies. |
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What is the difference between "special interests" and "general interests?" |
Special interest is exclusive benefits such as Bankers Association. General interests are common benefits like Child Labor Laws. |
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What is the free rider problem? |
When policy benefits everyone equally. Everyone benefits even if fewer people do work; so some people "free ride" on other's work. Therefore, nobody does the work. |
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What does socialization of conflict mean? |
When you bring more people into a conflict. For example, when you tell your friends or colleagues, bring in mom or dad, or go to an administrator or your boss. |
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What does privatization of conflict mean? |
When you reduce the number of people involved in the conflict. "Let's keep this between the two of us," "maybe we should discuss this in private." |
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What is the domain of a conflict? |
When you shift how the conflict is fought. For example, when the military tries to get on top of a hill, or when you sue someone to move conflict to courts. |
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Why is the weaker party in a conflict the most likely to socialize it? |
They have less to lose because they are going to lose anyway, attempt to change domain. |
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Why does the weaker party in a conflict often not socialized it? |
Because they don't control the conflict. It could make the party lose even worse. |
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Who was the 1952 Democratic and Republican nominees for president? Who became president? |
Stevenson Vs. Eisenhower. Eisenhower |
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1956 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Stevenson vs Eisenhower. Eisenhower. |
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1960 nominees for president? Who became president? |
John F Kennedy vs Richard Nixon. Kennedy |
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1964 nominees for president? Who became president? |
LBJ vs. Barry Goldwater. LBJ. |
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1968 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Humphrey vs. Nixon. Nixon. |
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1972 nominees for president? Who became president? |
McGovern vs. Nixon. Nixon |
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1976 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Carter vs Ford. Carter |
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1980 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Jimmy Carter vs. Ronald Reagan. Reagan |
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1984 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Mondale vs. Reagan. Reagan |
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1988 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Dukakis vs George Bush. George Bush |
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1992 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Bill Clinton vs George Bush. Bill Clinton |
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1996 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Clinton vs Bob Dole. Clinton |
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2000 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Al Gore vs George W Bush. George W Bush |
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2004 nominees for president? Who became president? |
George W Bush vs John F Kerry. George W Bush |
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2008 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Barack Obama versus John McCain. Barack Obama |
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2012 nominees for president? Who became president? |
Barack Obama versus Mitt Romney. Obama |
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What was the "I like Ike" ad? |
Walt Disney Studios made Eisenhower a television ad for one of his first campaign ads aired on TV. |
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What was the "Daisy Ad?" |
A controversial political ad aired on television during the 1964 US presidential election by incumbent president LBJ's campaign. |
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What was the "Willie Horton Ad?" |
The 1986, convicted felon Willie Horton, who served a life sentence for murder, was released from a Massachusetts prison on a weekend furlough program, during which time he escaped and raped a woman. Then Governor Michael Dukakis had supported the prison furlough program, and when he ran for president in 1988, his opponent, George H W Bush, used that to his advantage. The revolving-door ad never mentions Horton by name, but the connection was clear and the ad received considerable news coverage. |
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What is a political party? |
Organization that runs candidates for elected office under a single label. A team of candidates that focus on winning elections by using label to attract voters. |
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What was the Whig Party? |
An American political party formed in the 1830s to oppose President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats. Whigs stood for protective tariffs, national banking, and federal aid for internal improvements. |
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What is a party system? |
Number of effective parties in a political system (effective meaning those that can potentially influence running of government). |
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What type of party system does the US have? (e.g. predominant, two-party, or multiparty)? |
Two-party system (2 powerful parties share power) |
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What is an electoral system? |
The overarching rules that govern how elections are run; Full rules for translating votes into seats. |
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What is district magnitude? |
How many seats per district. (United States: 1 representative per district. DM=1) |
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What is ballot structure? |
Main features of paper or computer screen voters see. (candidate and party names in the US; only party names in Denmark) |
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What is an electoral formula? |
How seats are calculated into votes. (US=whoever gets most votes wins; Australia=to win, candidate has to get a majority of votes; Sweden=seats based on percent of votes) |
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What is an SMP (single-member plurality) electoral system? |
Country divided into single-member districts; on ballot, see both candidate and party names; candidate who wins the most votes wins the seat. ((doesn't have to be a majority (50%+1), could be a plurality (the most)) |
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How many parties does the SMP system tend to produce? |
Multiple parties; two parties |
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What countries are most likely to use SMP electoral systems? |
Larger, big countries where more people live. Former colonies of the UK |
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What is Duverger's Law? |
SMP favors the two-party system. (1. Way votes are counted favors big parties 2. Voters avoid wasting their votes 3. Small parties join big parties |
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What is a PR (proportional representation) electoral system? |
Percent of seats in parliament approximately same as percent of votes nationally. Electoral system used by most democratic governments. |
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What is a minimum vote threshold? |
Requires a party must receive a specified minimum percentage of votes (e.g. 5%) to obtain a seat |
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Who are policy specialists? |
Representatives |
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What is a coalition government? |
No party has the majority in the legislature therefore multiple parties rule together. |
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What is preferential voting? |
Single member districts. On the ballot, you see both candidate and party names. Voters rank the candidates. |
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What country uses preferential voting? |
Australia |
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What's the term used by proponents of electoral reform for preferential voting? |
Rank voting, instant runoff |
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How has the vote for 3rd parties changed over the past century? |
High in the 19th century and early 20th. Nearly disappeared in mid-20th. Rising again today. |
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What was the Greenback Party? |
Wanted to get off the gold standard. Third party in the 1870s and 1880s, small farmers and laborers. |
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What was the Populist party? |
Third party in the 1890s, small farmers and laborers. Anti-big business |
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What was the Progressive Party? |
Third party in 1910s. Reformers and laborers. Economic and political reform. |
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What is a ballot access law? How have these laws changed over the 20th century? |
State laws that determine what candidates will be put onto the ballet. Two main type of arguments: signatures to get on ballot and percent vote to stay on ballot. State legislatures made laws steadily more difficult, so difficult that third-parties could not get onto the ballot. |
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What is fusion? |
When multiple parties co-nominate a candidate. |
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Over the 20th century, how has the level of political polarization in the US changed? |
Very high in the late 1800s, early 1900s, declined in the mid-century, and then increased again after 1968. Today, very polarized politics. |
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Why it is more difficult today than a century ago for third-parties to gain the resources they need to run electoral campaigns? |
Because of candidate-centered campaigns |
