Ch 12 Congress Flashcards
The Constitution & Congress
what does a congressmen look like? congress in constitution where?
Mostly white, male, highly educated, generally well off $ (not representative of U.S.)
Article 1
The Constitution & Congress
how old to work in hor? senate? other regulation?
House:25yrs-old, live in state
Senate: 30yrs-old, live in state
Powers of Congress (7)
many enumerated powers
Declare war taxation postal matters issue patents coin money set weights & measures create courts
Power of Congress to declare war means?
pres. prosecutes war but Congress declares war (not replay of King George)
Most important priority of ALL MCs (members of congress)?
GET REELECTED (ppl w/ power & wannabe’s) (want to stay as long as possible)
Congressional seats (House of Reps) how is it assembled? (3 parts)
Census- every 10 yrs
Apportionment: deciding how many congressional seats a state gets (Senate doesn’t do this)
Redistricting: redrawing of state district boundaries
Ohio Congressional District
Gerry-Mandering ex?
map & see concentration of Chinese who vote democratic, illegal but can bend rules
separate the Chinese to give republicans an advantage
Ohio Congressional District
Malaportion ex?
1 district that has out of step population it represents from another, like 2 senators irrespective of size
(Congressional) Funding
individual limits ($5,000 for each election primary & general)
(Congressional) Funding
PACs?
Political Action Committee - funding $ operations that are coordinated w/ campaign (popular in HOR)
(Congressional) Funding
Bundlers?
give $ in the name of other ppl/ large groups
(Congressional) Funding
Citizen’s United, 527s,501c4s
Citizen’s United- organization that spends $ to advance ideas, protected by 1st amendment
527s- can’t work w/ campaign but can run ads
501c4s- nonprofit, operate for improving the world (#s directly from US tax code)
Incumbency
means?
a person that already holds the job
Incumbency
incumbency advantage?
incumbency advantage: the electoral edge afforded to those already in office
Incumbency
incumbency advantage gained via… (5)
edge in visibility (know their names already) experience (job experience, already doing the job) organization (put together that got them elected know how to do that again) fund raising ability (Congress 90% reelect chance, $ to 90%) franking privileges (US postal free, running opponent has to pay)
Reasons why incumbents lose (4 reasons)
not often but they do
redistricting(facing grow of ppl that dont know their name)
scandals(own or being associated w/ someone that had 1)
coattails(either riding in or out on someones political good or bad fortunes, riding on someones reputation can be good or bad, ex:RR-good,in /Nixon-bad,out)
midterm elections (turnout smaller)
Role of Congress
role of balance-of-power (zero-sum equation)
Role of Congress
zero-sum equation meaning? ex?
one side to gain, other side has to lose power
ex: exec. have gained more power & leg has lost power
Role of Congress
representational roles? (Congress members represent themselves as either a….___ or ___?
- trustee (go to Congress & make decisions that benefit country @ large, not individual) (trust them to do right thing)
- delegate (expect ppl to do something for me, represent you directly)