Chapter 4: Congress

Question 1

pork barrel spending

Answer 1

members of Congress allocate funds to projects in their own district

Question 2

logrolling

Answer 2

trading of votes on legislation by members of Congress to get their earmarks passed into legislation

Question 3

oversight

Answer 3

efforts by Congress to ensure that executive branch agencies, bureaus, and cabinet departments, as well as their officials, are acting legally and in accordance with congressional goals

Question 4

constituency

Answer 4

a body of voters in a given area who elect a representative or senator

Question 5

apportionment

Answer 5

process of determining the number of representatives for each state after taking a census

Question 6

redistricting

Answer 6

states’ redrawing of boudnaries of electoral districts following each census

Question 7

gerrymandering

Answer 7

intentional sue of redistricting to benefit a specific interest or group of voters

Question 8

partisan gerrymandering

Answer 8

drawing of district boundaries into strange shapes to benefit a political party

Question 9

majority-minority districts

Answer 9

a district in which voters of a minority ethnicity constitute an electoral majority within that electoral district

Question 10

malapportionment

Answer 10

the uneven distribution of the population among legislative districts

Question 11

incumbency

Answer 11

being already in office and running for reelection

Question 12

incumbency advantage

Answer 12

institutional advantages held by those already in office who are trying to fend off challengers in an election. Experience, money, respect(proven track record), public recognition, familiar with constituents. Larger in House than in Senate

Question 13

Speaker of the House

Answer 13

leader of the House. Chosen every congress(2yrs) by vote, always in majority party. speakers must help raise money, controls agenda, and committee assignments

Question 14

political action committees(PACs)

Answer 14

an organization that raises money for candidates and campaigns. important to speaker of the house

Question 15

House majority leader

Answer 15

the person who is the second in command of the House. sets agenda for majority party

Question 16

majority whip

Answer 16

supports majoirty leader, collects info and rallies votes(same for minority)

Question 17

whip

Answer 17

a member of Congress, chosen by his party members, whose job is to ensure party unity and discipline

Question 18

house minority leader

Answer 18

coordinates minority party of Congress activity as leader of the party in House

Question 19

senate majority leader

Answer 19

most powerful person in Senate, shapes legislative agenda. VP is tiebreaker and the official head of the Senate

Question 20

senate minority leader

Answer 20

leader of opposition in the Senate, coordinate party agenda

Question 21

committee chairs

Answer 21

leader of a congressional committee who has authority over the committee’s agenda

Question 22

4 types of committees

Answer 22

standing: permanent/ most policy issues
joint: have members of both chambers, focused on an issue/gather info
conference: resolve differences between two chambers on a bill
select: temporary response for a crisis/issue

Question 23

discharge petition

Answer 23

a motion file by a member of Congress(house) to move a bill out of (house) committee and onto the floor of the House of REpresentatives for a vote

Question 24

House Rules committee

Answer 24

a powerful committee that determines when a bill will be subject to debate and vote on the House floor, how long the debate will last, and whether amendments will be allowed on the floor

Question 25

Committee of the Whole

Answer 25

all members of the House, governed by different rules that make it easier as opposed to the complex and controversial lesislation process

Question 26

hold

Answer 26

a delay placed on legislation by a senator who objects to a bill. Can be ignored by the senate majority leader

Question 27

unanimous consent agreements

Answer 27

the agreement in the Senate that sets the terms for consideration of a bill

Question 28

filibuster

Answer 28

a tactic through which an individual senator may use the right of unlimited debate to delay a motion or postpone action on a piece of legislation

Question 29

cloture

Answer 29

a procedure through which senators can end debate on a bill and proceed to action, provided 60 senators agree to it

Question 30

veto

Answer 30

the power of a presdient to reject a bill passed by Congress, sending it back to the originating branch with objections. Can be overidden by a 2/3s majority in both chambers.

Question 31

Office of management and budget(OMB)

Answer 31

the executive branch office that assits the president in setting national spending priorities

Question 32

entitlement program

Answer 32

a program that provides benefits for those who qualify under the alw, regardless of income

Question 33

mandatory spending

Answer 33

spending required by existing laws that is “locked in “ the budget

Question 34

discretionary spending

Answer 34

spending for programs and policies at the discretion of Congress and the president

Question 35

budget surplus

Answer 35

the amount of money remaining when the government takes in more than it spends

Question 36

budget deficit

Answer 36

the shortfall when a government takes in less money than it spends

Question 37

national debt

Answer 37

the total amount of money owed by the federal government. Accumulation of debt

Question 38

delegate role

Answer 38

idea that the main duty of a member of Congress is to carry out constitutents’ wishes

Question 39

trustee role

Answer 39

the idea that members of Congress should act as trustees, making decisions based on their knowledge and judgement

Question 40

politico role

Answer 40

representation where members of Congress balance their choices with the interests of their constituents and parties in making decisions

Question 41

bipartisanship

Answer 41

agreement between the parties to work together in Congress to pass legislation

Question 42

gridlock

Answer 42

a slowdown or halt in Congress’s ability to legislate and overcome divisions, especially those based on partisanship

Question 43

divided government

Answer 43

control of the presidency and one or both chambers of Congress split between the two major parties

Question 44

lame duck period

Answer 44

period at the end of a presidential term when Congress may block presidential initiatives and nominees

Question 45

descriptive representation

Answer 45

Congress members mirror the ethnic,social,economic, and racial experiences of those that they represent

Question 46

substantive representation

Answer 46

congress members may be different race, ethnicity, etc, but they still act in the interest of those that they represent

Question 47

Baker v Carr

Answer 47

Whose in charge of apportionment/redistricting. Supreme Court can intervene in redistricting. SC has intervened in many cases to more fairly represent underrepresented districts

Question 48

Shaw v Reno

Answer 48

do racially gerrymandered districts violate 14th amendment, equal protetion clause? Yes, b/c racially motivated drawing of district boundaries violates the equal protections clause. Shaw v Reno would effectively ban racial gerrymandering.