Ch. 12 Flashcards
For every dollar an American citizen earns, the U.S. government takes how much and spends it?
28 cents
One way for citizens to keep a watch on what congress is doing is by reading——-, the official source of information on everything that has happened in congress
Congressional record
The people that a legislator spends considerable time and effort serving are called
Constituents
The founders of the American republic believed that most of the power that would be exercised by a national government should be in the hands of
The legislature
The logic of separate constituencies and separate interests underlying the bicameral congress was reinforced by
Differences in length of tenure
The principal and most obvious function of any legislature
Law-making
The concept of logrolling refers to
An arrangement by which 2 or more members of congress agree in advance to support each others bill
A representative who is performing the role of a trustee
Acting on conscience or representing the broad interests of the entire society
A representative who acts on conscience or to represent the broad interests of the entire society
Trustee
A representative who is performing the role of an instructed delegate is
Primarily representing the wishes of his or her constituents
A representative who primarily represents the wishes of his or her constituents is acting as an
Instructed delegate
One major problem with the role of the instructed delegate is that
The constituents may not actually have well informed views on many issues
Casework
Constituent service/personal work for constituents by members of congress
When gasoline prices increase to more than $3/gallon in 2006,
Members of congress acknowledged that their actions would have little effect on gasoline prices, but they wanted to show their constituents that they were doing something about the problem
Incumbents develop a hill style in order 2
Promote policies and their career aspirations
Oversight is the process by which congress
Follows up the laws it has enacted
When congress follows up on the laws it has enacted, it is exercising
Oversight
The House of Representatives is checked by all of the following except
The states
The enumerated powers of congress are powers
Expressly given to the body in the constitution
After the Supreme Court underwent extraordinary change in 2005, George bush nominated, and the senate confirmed, the nominations of ———-to become the newest members of the court
John Roberts and Samuel Alito
The necessary and proper clause
Has expanded the role of the national government relative to the states
One major difference between the house and the senate is the total number of members, a difference that has meant
A greater number of formal rules are needed to govern activity in the house
An attempt in the senate to prevent the passage of a bill through the use of unlimited debate is
Filibuster
Filibuster
An attempt in the senate to prevent the passage of a bill through the use of unlimited debate
Cloture
A prices that attempts to limit debate on a bill in the senate
When senate democrats made use of the filibuster to block so,d of president Bush’s nominees to the federal bench in 2005, senate republicans responded by threatening the “nuclear option” in which
The senate rules would be revised to disallow filibusters against judicial nominees
The largest occupational group among members of congress
Lawyers
Most majority party candidates for congress are placed on the general election ballot as a result of
Direct primary
Incumbents develop a Homestyle in order 2
Produce a favorable image with constituents
In mid term congressional elections, those held between presidential contests
Voter turnout falls sharply
The allocation of seats in the house to each state after each census
Reapportionment
Reapportionment
The allocation of seats in the house to each state after each census
Redistricting
The redrawing of district boundaries within each state to ensure equal district populations
Gerrymandering
The drawing of legislative district boundaries for the purpose of gaining partisan advantage
Members of congress are granted generous franking privileges that
Permit them to mail letters to their constituents w/o charge
The average senate office on Capitol Hill employs about
30 people
The “speech of debate” clause in article 1 section 6, of the constitution means that members of congress,
Are normally immune from libel or slander charges when conducting official duties
The most important committees in congress are—–permanent bodies that possess an expertise resulting from their jurisdiction over certain policy areas
Standing committees.
Most of the actual work of legislating is
Performed by the committees and subcommittees within congress
In the house, the discharge position is used to
Force a bill out of committee so that the entire house can vote on it
The seniority system provides that
The committee members of the majority party with the longest continuous service normally becomes the committee chairperson
The foremost power holder in the house is
Speaker of the house
The speaker of the house is
The lesser of the majority party
The house majority leader
Fosters cohesion among party members
An important function of the house majority leader is
To act as spokesperson for the majority party in the house
The whips assist the party leaders by
Passing information to members of congress from the leadership of the party
The president of the senate is
Vice-president
Generally, leaders in the house
Have more control over the agenda of the body than leaders in the senate
The real leadership power in the senate rests in the hands of the
Senate majority leader
Democratic members of congress from moderate districts who sometimes vote with republicans and who are frequently pursued by republican leaders are known as
Blue dog republicans
When a member trades his or her vote on a particular bill with another member in exchange for their votes on other legislation is known as
Logrolling
Logrolling
When a member trades his or her vote on a particular bill with another member in exchange for their votes on other legislation is known as
A members request for a special appropriation for projects back home that are attached to a bill to gain votes is
Earmark
Earmark
A members request for a special appropriation for projects back home that are attached to a bill to gain votes is
When a senator says, “one mans pork is another mans job,” referring to
Earmark
Most people who study the decision making process in congress agree that the single best predictor for how a member will vote is his or her
Party affiliation
Conservative coalition
Weakened because most southern conservatives congresspersons are now republicans
According to the cue-taking model
Members of congress made decisions by checking how key colleagues intend to vote on a bill
“Money-bills”
Most originate in the house
After a bill has been introduced and referred to a committee
The committee may hold hearings to explore the merits of the bill
After being reported by a committee but before being sent to the house floor, bills are given to the——-, which defines the conditions under which bills are to be considered by the house
Rules committee
The job of a conference committee,
Reconcile house and senate versions of a bill
The budget and impoundment control act of 1974 requires,
The president to spend the funds that congress has appropriated
One of the most powerful agencies in Washington, the———assists in the preparation of the federal budget and monitors federal agencies throughout the year
Office of management and budget
The actual passage of a bill setting the funds that an agency can spend is called
Appropriation
A temporary law that congress passes when an appropriations bill has not been decided by the beginning of the fiscal year
Continuing resolution
When a political party wins a majority of seats in parliamentary system, that party
Selects the prime minister( party leader)
Incumbents running for reelection are successful approximately—of the time
95%
If nonpartisan panels drew congressional districts, it is likely that
There would be an increase in the spending of tv and Internet ads
Which of the following is true about congress of 2006
Median age of congress is higher than the middle age of the american population
