ch. 3 The Texas Legislature

Question 1

Baker v. Carr

Answer 1

• ## court case that required state legislative districts to contain about the same number of citizens

Question 2

Bicameral

Answer 2

• defined in the TX constitution (Article 3, Sec 1)
  -The Texas legislature has 2 chambers
• senate and house of representatives

Question 3

Biennial Sessions

Answer 3

• The Texas legislature meets every two years

Question 4

Citizen legislatures

Answer 4

Legislatures characterized by low pay, short sessions, and fewer staff resources

Question 5

conference committees

Answer 5

joint committees of the house and senate that work out differences in bills passed in each chamber

Question 6

Delegates

Answer 6

The representational role of member stating that he or she represents the wishes of the voters.

Question 7

extra legislative powers

Answer 7

• The speaker and the lieutenant governor have them
• legislative leaders serve on boards outside of the legislature
• they are important powers becase these boards make policy
• Example: state budget

Question 8

extraordinary session

Answer 8

-A specifically called meeting of the legislature, outside the regular session, to discuss specified matters
- in Texas, only the governer has this power

Question 9

Gerrymandering

Answer 9

Drawing district boundary lines for political advantage. There is three types

Question 10

Hunt V. Cromartie 1999

Answer 10

• Allowed the use of political gerrymandering in drawing legislative districts
• Court case that ruled while race can be a factor, it can not be the primary factor in determining the makeup of legislative districts

Question 11

Informal Rules

Answer 11

Set of norms or values that govern legislative bodies

Question 12

Legislative professionalism

Answer 12

Legislatures with higher pay, longer sessions, and high levels of staff support are considered more professional

Question 13

Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB 1948)

Answer 13

• This board was given the authority to redistrict the seats in the Texas House and Senate if the legislature failed to do so

Question 14

Lieutenant Governer

Answer 14

• elected by the voters in a statewide general election and serves a four-year term
• does not owe their election to the legislative body
• ## cannot vote in the Senate exept in the case of a tie

Question 15

Roles of the lieutenant governer

Answer 15

• Appoint the chairs of all senate committees
• Select all members of all senate committees. No formal seniority rule applies in the senate
• Appoint members of the conference committees
• serve as presiding officer of the senate and interpret rules
• refer all bills to committees

Question 16

Multimember districts

Answer 16

more than one official is elected to represent the interests of a district. These multimember districts promote broader representation

Question 17

Non-competitive districts

Answer 17

• Districts in which a candidate from either party wins 55% or more of the vote

Question 18

Political Action Committees (PAC)

Answer 18

A spin-off of an interest group that collects money for campaign contributions and other activities +

Question 19

Political Gerrymandering

Answer 19

drawing legislative districts to the advantage of a political party

Question 20

Racial Gerrymandering

Answer 20

Legislative districts that are drawn to the advantage of a minority group

Question 21

Reapportionment

Answer 21

The process of allocating representatives to districts

Question 22

Redistricting

Answer 22

is the drawing of district boundary lines within states

Question 23

Reynolds V. Sims 1964

Answer 23

Court case holding issues of representation are justiciable, and that one persons vote should be roughly equal in weight to another persons

Question 24

Sine Die

Answer 24

Legislature must adjourn at end of the regular session and cannot continue to meet

Question 25

Single-member districts

Answer 25

District represented by one elected member to the legislature - In TX, there are 31 senatorial districts and 150 house districts. Voters in these districts elect one state senator and one state house member. - allows for geographic representation

Question 26

Speaker of the house

Answer 26

Member of the Texas House, elected by the house members, who serves as presiding officer and generally controls the passage of legislation

Question 27

Standing committees

Answer 27

committees of the house and senate that consider legislation during sessions

Question 28

term limits

Answer 28

limitations on the number of times a person can be elected to the same office in state legislatures

Question 29

trustees

Answer 29

Representational role of a member that states that the member will make decisions bases on his or her own judgement about what is best for voters

Question 30

turnover

Answer 30

refers to the number of new members of the legislature each session