Am Gov Exam 2

Front 1

Speaker of the House

Back 1

presides over the House, majority party leader, 2nd in line for presidential succession, selects 9/13 members for the House Rules Committee, appoints all members of select and conference committees, determine which committee considers a new bill, determines what bills make it to the floor

Front 2

House Rules Committeee

Back 2

13 members, determines which bills comes to the floor, when, and under what conditions debate will be held

Front 3

John Boehner

Back 3

Current Speaker of the House

Front 4

House Majority Leader

Back 4

floor leader of the majority party, elected every 2 years by secret ballot of the party caucus

Front 5

caucus

Back 5

members of the party meet in privacy to plan their policies and political strategies, helps plan legislative agenda, consults with members, confers with president, works to advance programs of the majority party

Front 6

House Minority Leader

Back 6

floor leader of the minority party, tries to promote unity among party colleges, monitor the process of bills through committees, and form coalitions

Front 7

whips

Back 7

assistants to the majority or minority leaders, gather intelligence about party members, encourage attendance, count potential votes, persuade colleges, convey leadership view to colleges, encourage party discipline

Front 8

party discipline

Back 8

pressure on party members to vote on bills that have the support of the party leaders, tendency for for members of a legislative party to vote as a block (democrats vote like democrats, republicans vote like republicans)

Front 9

Senate Majority Leader

Back 9

the most powerful person in the Senate, but almost never presides in the Senate

Front 10

The Vice President - Joe Biden

Seldom presides over senate sessions and can only vote in case of a tie.

Back 10

Who is the president of the Senate?

Front 11

President Pro Tempore

Back 11

senator from the majority party with the longest continuous service, presides over the Senate in the Vice President's absence

Front 12

committee system

Back 12

provides Congress with its organizational structure, serves as a division of labor, breaks down into parts, makes it easier to be efficient

Front 13

1. Standing

2. Joint

3. Select

4. Conference

Back 13

4 Types of Committees

Front 14

standing committee

Back 14

permanent committee, survive from one congressional session to another (20 in the House, 17 in the Senate)

Front 15

joint committee

Back 15

made up of members from both the House and Senate, relatively small number of these committees, using concerned with a particular policy

Front 16

1. Joint Committee on Library of Congress

2. Joint Economic Committee

3. Joint Committee on Taxation

Back 16

3 Joint Committees

Front 17

select committee

Back 17

temporary committees created for a specific purpose, used to cover a particular issue

Front 18

conference committee

Back 18

temporary committee created to work out differences between the House and Senate on specific pieces of legislation, sometimes formed when each chamber passes a different version of the same bill

Front 19

1. Bill is read

2. Referred to the appropriate committee

3. Committee overseen by the chair can table the bill and kill it right away or assign it to a sub committee

4. Bill must go through the House Rules Committee who allots time for debate and decides what extend the bill can be amended from the floor

5. Bill sent to House floor

Back 19

How A Bill Becomes a Law: Making Policy in Congress - HOUSE

Front 20

bill

Back 20

proposed law drafted in precise legal language

Front 21

1. Bill is read

2. Referred to the appropriate committee

3. Committee overseen by the chair can table the bill and kill it right away or assign it to a sub committee

4. Bill sent directly to the floor

5. A bill can be stopped by a senator engaging in a filibuster

Back 21

How A Bill Becomes a Law: Making Policy in Congress - SENATE

Front 22

1. Open rules

2. Closed rules

3. Modified rules

Back 22

3 Options for the Rules Committee

Front 23

anybody can offer amendments and as many as they want as long as jermain (relevant)

Back 23

Open Rules

Front 24

no amendments may be offered

Back 24

Closed Rules

Front 25

allowed a certain number of amendments to vote on

Back 25

Modified Rules

Front 26

filibuster

Back 26

instances in which senators, once recognized to speak on the floor, talk for an extended period of time in an attempt to block the rest of the senate from voting on a bill

Front 27

Committee Chair

Back 27

majority leader of a committee

Front 28

ranking minority member

Back 28

minority leader of a committee

Front 29

consideration

Back 29

process through which a committee shapes a bill before it enters the floor

Front 30

1. Hearings

2. Markups

3. Report

Back 30

3 Steps of Consideration

Front 31

hearings

Back 31

committees listen to a wide variety of witnesses such as the bill's sponsors, federal bureaucrats, interest groups, and private citizens

Front 32

markups

Back 32

after holding hearings, the members of a committee must decide on the actual language of a bill

Front 33

report

Back 33

if the full committee votes to send the bill to the floor, the staff prepares a report describing the purposes and provisions of the legislation

Front 34

cloture

Back 34

established in 1919, a way for a filibuster to be ended through 3/5 vote (without it the bill dies)

Front 35

1. Members consider amendments

2. Each member votes

3. Two houses work out their differences through a conference committee

4. If passes both houses, moves on to the president

Back 35

After the bill reaches the floor...

Front 36

1. Sign the bill into law

2. Veto the bill

3. Do nothing, after 10 days bill automatically becomes law

4. Pocket veto and refuse to sign it, if Congress adjourns before 10 days the bill automatically dies

Back 36

4 Options the President has when Presented with a Bill:

Front 37

veto

Back 37

president turns down a bill and sends it back to Congress, can be overridden by a 2/3 vote by Congress

Front 38

pocket veto

Back 38

president refuses to sign a bill and congress adjourns before 10 legislative days, causing the bill to die

Front 39

1. Faithfully executing laws (executive orders)

2. Commander in chief of the military

3. Responsible for federal budget of the U.S. government

Back 39

Executive Powers of the President

Front 40

1. Sign and veto legislation

2. State of the Union address

Back 40

Legislative Powers of the President

Front 41

1. Nominate judges

2. Grant pardons

Back 41

Judicial Powers of the President

Front 42

Make treaties with foreign nations and receive ambassadors.

Back 42

Foreign Powers of the President

Front 43

1. Executive powers

2. Legislative powers

3. Judicial powers

4. Foreign affairs powers

Back 43

Constitutional Powers of the President

Front 44

1. The Bully Pulpit - president's platform to convey a message, even if it's not about politics

2. Unofficial head of political party

3. Patronage - giving government jobs to an ally

4. Elections - mandate, presidency backed by the people's support

5. Popularity - the more popular the president, the more leeway he has

6. Setting the agenda - everyone focuses on what you think is important

Back 44

Traditional Powers of the President

Front 45

"nation's preacher", privileged place as a speaker on the behalf of the American people

Back 45

Bully Pulpit

Front 46

patronage

Back 46

giving government jobs to an ally, or someone who backed you while running for president

Front 47

Pendleton Act of 1883

Back 47

can't hire or fire someone because of political parties, people have to be qualified, got rid of the spoils system

Front 48

spoils system

Back 48

supports for a president's campaign would be rewarded with government jobs once he had won

Front 49

Tonkin Gulf Resolution

Back 49

Congress allows more soldiers to be sent, allows the President to take all measures to repel any attack on U.S. forces or SEATO

Front 50

1. President must report to Congress with 48 hours of troop development

2. President must get congressional approval for the use of combat within 60 days

3. This can be extended 30 days if the president believes the extra time is neccessary

Back 50

War Powers Resolution (1973)

Front 51

1. Original Intent Approach

2. Living Document Approach

Back 51

Two Interpretation of the Constitution

Front 52

the Constitution is the law of the land, then we should try to figure out the intentions of the people who wrote that Constitution

Back 52

Original Intent Approach (Strict Constructivism)

Front 53

times change, society changes, so should change the way in which we view our constitution

Back 53

Living Document Approach

Front 54

the rule of four

Back 54

four Supreme justices must be willing to look at a case for review

Front 55

docket

Back 55

list of cases to cases to be heard by the Supreme Court

Front 56

At the end of John Adams presidency, Marbury as judge, but the papers weren't processed. Marbury filed suit against James Madison, because he wouldn't approve the appointment. The Supreme Court decided that although Marbury was positions, the Supreme Court had no power to order Madison to deliver it to them. *Gave the Supreme Court the power of judicial review.*

Back 56

Marbury vs. Madison (1803)

Front 57

judicial review

Back 57

the power to declare congressional acts invalid if they violate the Constitution

Front 58

Reed's rules

Back 58

procedural guidelines used by the majority party leadership in the House for determining who sits on which committee, how the order of business should be decided, and how the majority party should limit the powers of the minority party

Front 59

majority opinion

Back 59

the majority of judges whose votes win the case writes out why they voted the way they did, used a model for lower courts

Front 60

disenting opinion

Back 60

judge with the minority vote think the other side is wrong, writes out why they voted why they did

Front 61

concurring opinion

Back 61

judges go along with the majority for voting, but have a different reasoning as to why to vote that way

Front 62

distribution model

Back 62

the view that members of Congress help other members secure economic benefits for only their specific groups, not the general public

Front 63

impeachment

Back 63

process by which the House formally charges a federal government official with a high crime, then the Senate votes on whether or not to remove them from office

Front 64

delegates

Back 64

representatives who listen carefully to what their constituents want and make decisions based on feedback from their constituents

Front 65

common law

Back 65

the judiciary has the authority to determine how the law is be interpreted, legal precedent established by judges informs future decisions

Front 66

Chief Justice

Back 66

head of the Supreme Court, lead business of the Supreme Court and presides over oral arguments

Front 67

adjudication

Back 67

process by which a judge reviews evidence and comes to a decision determining rights and obligations of parties involved

Front 68

writ of certiorari

Back 68

an order by the Supreme Court directing an inferior court to deliver the records of a case to be reviewed, which means the justices of the Court have decided to hear the case

Front 69

Vice President

Back 69

Who is the president of the Senate?

Front 70

ratify

Back 70

to sign or give formal consent to a document or bill

Front 71

logrolling

Back 71

an instance of two or more legislators agreeing to vote in favor of one another's proposed bills or amendments

Front 72

"to table a bill"

Back 72

to suspend consideration of a bill indefinitely through a majority vote in the House

Front 73

informational model

Back 73

the view that internal groups in Congress help Congress make more informed decisions

Front 74

trustees

Back 74

representatives who make decisions using their own judgements about what is best for their constituents

Front 75

standing

Back 75

the official status of a case to be decided by the court

Front 76

statutory law

Back 76

the law expressed in writing passed by legislature

Front 77

stare decisis

Back 77

the legal principle that requires judges to respect the decisions of past court cases

Front 78

seniority system

Back 78

granting privileges to members of Congress who have been there the longest

Front 79

committee

Back 79

a sub unit of congress that handles a specific duty

Front 80

subcommittee

Back 80

division of a committee that considers specific matters and reports back to the full committee

Front 81

override

Back 81

counteracts a veto, needs 2/3 vote in both House and Senate

Front 82

pork barrel

Back 82

government spending that benefits a narrow constituency in return for electoral support or some other kind of political support including campaign donations

Front 83

oversight

Back 83

the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation

Front 84

cabinet

Back 84

departments within the executive branch that encompass many of the agencies that implement general policy, secretaries appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate are given the responsiblity of leadering these departments and probiding advice to the president

Front 85

partisan model

Back 85

the view that majority party leaders dominate the working of Congress and ensure that most legislative benefits come to majority party leaders

Front 86

split referral

Back 86

a rule that permits the Speaker of the House to split a bill into sections and give sections to specific committees

Front 87

signing statement

Back 87

a public statement written by the president and attached to a particular bill to outline the President's interpretation of the legislation

Front 88

executive order

Back 88

an official means by which the president can instruct federal agencies on how to execute the laws passed by Congress

Front 89

class action

Back 89

a lawsuit in which the plaintiff or defendant is a collective group of individuals

Front 90

constitutional law

Back 90

the collection of fundamental rules for making statutory laws and regulations, their enforcement, and the court decisions interpreting those rules

Front 91

amicus curiae

Back 91

letters to the court in which those who are not parties in a case provide their opinions on how the case should be decided

Front 92

appellate court

Back 92

the cases are brought there on appeal by either the plaintiff or the defendant after being decided in a lower level court, no new evidence or witnesses are brought in

Front 93

1. presides over the House

2. 2nd in line for presidential succession

3. selects 9/13 members for the House Rules Committee

4. appoints all members of select and conference committees

5. determine which committee considers a new bill

6. determines what bills make it to the floor

Back 93

Powers of the Speaker of the House

Front 94

1. schedules legislation to be presented on the floor

2. consults with other members on party issues

3. works to advance the goal of the majority party

Back 94

Powers of the Majority Leader

Front 95

1. Senators are there longer and are more independent with fewer rules

2. Senate has no Rules Committee, after deliberations bills are simply brought to the floor

3. A bill can be stopped before getting to the floor by filibustering

Back 95

How does the Senate differ from the House?

Front 96

Congress

Back 96

Who has the power to declare war?

Front 97

World War II was the last formal war that was declared by Congress.

Back 97

When was the last time that Congress declared war?

Front 98

Congress does not want to have to put full money and resources into a war at the cost of the people. Plus, once Congress declares war it also gives the president special war time powers that they might not want to provide.

Back 98

Why is Congress reluctant to declare war?

Front 99

1. Distribution

2. Informational

3. Partisan

Back 99

Three Models for Analyzing Congress