AP Gov Ch.6 Jeron Tainatongo

Question 1

bicameral legislature

Answer 1

a two house legislature

The Framers had created a bicameral legislature.

Question 2

apportionment

Answer 2

process of allotting congressional seats to each state according to its proportion of the population

Apportionment is able to adjust the seats allotted to states.

Question 3

bill

Answer 3

a proposed law

No bill can become a law without both houses consent..

Question 4

impeachment

Answer 4

power delegated to the House of Representatives in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president or other “civic officers”.

Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton are the only two presidents to be impeached so far.

Question 5

Edmund Burk

Answer 5

Conservative British political philosopher of the eighteenth century who articulated the view that elected representative should act as “trustees” and use their own best judgement when voting

Edmund Burk had served in the British Parliament.

Question 6

trustee

Answer 6

Role played by an elected representative who listens to constituents’ opinion and then uses his or her best judgement to make a final decision

Trustees are used to make their best judgments on a decision .

Question 7

delegate

Answer 7

Role played by a representative who votes the way his or her constituents would want, regardless of personal opinions

Delegates must be ready to vote against their conscience.

Question 8

politico

Answer 8

An elected representative who acts as a trustee or as a delegate, depending on the issue

Politicos alternately dons the hat of a trustee.

Question 9

incumbency

Answer 9

Already holding an office

Incumbency helps members stay in office.

Question 10

redistricting

Answer 10

The process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well population shifts within a state

Redistricting is a largely political process.

Question 11

gerrymandering

Answer 11

The drawing of congressional districts to produce a particular electoral outcome without regard to the shape of the district

Gerrymandering is often involved in the redistricting process.

Question 12

majority party

Answer 12

The political party in each house of Congress with the most members

The majority party is one part of the houses’ division.

Question 13

minority party

Answer 13

The political party in each house of Congress with the second most members

The minority party is the other half of the majority party in which the house is divided.

Question 14

party caucus (or conference)

Answer 14

formal gathering of all party members

Historically, party caucuses varied over powers.

Question 15

Speaker of House

Answer 15

only officer of the House of Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution

The Speaker of House is the chamber’s most powerful position.

Question 16

majority leader

Answer 16

The head of the party controlling the most seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate

Majority Leaders are the second in authority to the Speaker of House.

Question 17

minority leader

Answer 17

The head of the party with the second highest number of elected representatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate

Minority leaders are the level underneath majority leaders.

Question 18

whip

Answer 18

Party leader who keeps close contact with all members of his or her party, takes vote counts on key legislation, prepares summaries of bills, and acts as a communications link within a party

Whips are elected by party members in caucuses.

Question 19

president pro tempore

Answer 19

The official chair of the Senate; usually the most senior member of the majority party

The majority party selects the president pro tempore.

Question 20

standing committee

Answer 20

Committee to which proposed bills are referred; continues from one Congress to the next

Consider issues roughly parallel to those of the departments represented.

Question 21

joint committee

Answer 21

Standing committee that includes members from both houses of Congress set up to conduct investigations or special studies

Joint committees force public attention on the major matters.

Question 22

conference committee

Answer 22

Special joint committee created to reconcile differences in bills passed by the House and Senate

Conference committees originally considered the bill.

Question 23

select (or special) committee

Answer 23

Temporary committee appointed for a specific purpose

The select committee investigated the 9/11 attack.

Question 24

Hilary Clinton

Answer 24

First female major party candidate for president of the United States, a Democrat, who ran against President Donald J. Trump in 2016.

Hilary Clinton was a former first lady.

Question 25

House Committee on Rules

Answer 25

The influential “Rules Committee” determines the scheduling and conditions, such as length of debate and type of allowable amendments, for all bills in the House of Representatives

The House Committee on Rules for which no counterpart in the Senate exist.

Question 26

discharge petition

Answer 26

Petition that gives a majority of the House of Representatives the authority the bring an issue to the floor in the face committee inaction

Discharge petitions are signed by at least 218 members of the House and can remove bills from the House.

Question 27

seniority

Answer 27

time of continuous service on a committee

Committee chairs in the House are no longer selected by seniority.

Question 28

markup

Answer 28

A session in which committee members offer changes to a bill before it goes to the floor

A bill is required to go through markup.

Question 29

Committee of the Whole

Answer 29

A procedure that allows the House of Representatives to deliberate with a lower quorum and to expedite consideration and amendment of a bill

Members may offer amendments during the Committee of the Whole.

Question 30

hold

Answer 30

A procedure by which a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill or nomination is brought to the floor. This request signals leadership that a member may have objections to the bill (or nomination) and should be consulted before further action is taken

Holds may be anonymous or public.

Question 31

filibuster

Answer 31

A formal way of halting Senate action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate

The use of filibusters has increased over the years.

Question 32

cloture

Answer 32

Mechanism requiring the vote of sixty senators to cut off debate

Members may spend no more than 30 additional hours debating after the cloture.

Question 33

veto

Answer 33

The formal, constitutional authority of the president the reject bills passed by both houses of Congress, thus preventing them from becoming law without further congressional action

Vetoes are more likely to occur when the president is of a different party.

Question 34

pocket veto

Answer 34

If Congress adjourns during the ten days the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of Congress, the bill is considered vetoed without the president’s signature

The pocket veto is when a president doesn’t want to sign a bill.

Question 35

Richard M. Nixon

Answer 35

The thirty-seventh president, a Republican, who served from 1969 through 1974. Nixon advocated détente during the Cold War and resigned rather than face impeachment and likely removal from office due to the Watergate scandal

Richard Nixon exposed several shortcoming in the system.

Question 36

Congressional Budget Act of 1974

Answer 36

Act that established the congressional budgetary process by laying out a plan for congressional action on the annual budget resolution, appropriations, reconciliation, and any other revenue bills

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 led to the creation of the Congressional Budget Office.

Question 37

reconciliation

Answer 37

A procedure that allows consideration of controversial issues affecting the budget by limiting debate to twenty hours, thereby ending threat of a filibuster

Reconciliation received a great deal of attention back in 2010.

Question 38

pork

Answer 38

Legislation that allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs

Pork is what appropriations are best known for.

Question 39

programmatic requests

Answer 39

Federal funds designated for special projects within a state or congressional district. Also referred to as earmarks

Programmatic requests are funds that an appropriations bill designates.

Question 40

divided government

Answer 40

The political condition in which different political parties control the presidency and at least one house of Congress

Divided government is when the executive and legislative branches are controlled.

Question 41

War Powers Resolution

Answer 41

Passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit withdrawal) unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period

War Powers Resolution was passed over Nixon’s veto.

Question 42

congressional review

Answer 42

A process whereby Congress can nullify agency regulations within a 60-day window by passing a joint resolution of legislative disapproval. The president’s approval of the resolution or a two-third majority vote in both houses to overrule a presidential veto is also required

Congressional Review is when the house and senate nullify actions of the D.C. council.

Question 43

senatorial courtesy

Answer 43

A process by which presidents generally allow senators from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block a nomination by simply registering their objection

The senatorial courtesy is when senators have a say in the nominations of judges from their states.

Question 44

unified government

Answer 44

The political condition in which the same political party controls the presidency and Congress

A unified government can see a president act as chief of the party.

Question 45

logrolling

Answer 45

Vote trading; voting to support a colleague’s bill in return for a promise of future support

Logrolling occurs for issues that are of little interest to legislatures.

Question 46

Congressional Research Service

Answer 46

Created in 1914, the non-partisan CRS provides information, studies, and research in support of the work of Congress, and prepares summaries and tracks the progress of all bill

The Congressional Research Service helps members of congress.

Question 47

Government Accountability Office

Answer 47

Established in 1921, the GAO is an independent regulatory agency for the purpose of auditing the financial expenditures of the executive branch and federal agencies; until 2004, the GAO was known as the General Accounting Office

The Government Accountability Office is capable of helping Congress members who need assistance.

Question 48

Congressional Budget Office

Answer 48

Created in 1974, the CBO provides Congress with evaluations of the potential economic effects of proposed spending policies and also analyzes the president’s budget and economic projections

The Congressional Budget Office also helps members of Congress when they need the help.