Exam 2 Flashcards
What can interest groups do to promote their interest?
- Lobbyers- interest groups hire people to talk to legislators- can offer to endorse that candidate, lobbyers develop a close relationship by creating a relationship with a member of congress, sharing information about their issue with them, congress members rely on their interest groups friends for speeches
- electioneering- taking part in a campaign and convincing people to vote for a certain candidate
- litigating- take to court
- share information on the interest
Which interest groups have the lowest and highest success rates?
- Public interest groups have the lowest success rates - National affordable housing management association, National center for homeless education, American foundation for AIDS research
- American Medical association has a very high success rate, also NRA, and NAM (national association of manufacturers), all of these groups are big because of stagnation and gridlock, they don’t want more legislation, against change and the government can’t do much so this is why they are successful
Compare the senate and house of representatives
- The house and senate usually have different personalities and have the ability to block each other
- Each house must pass the exact same bill
Senate-
o 100 members- two per state, high representation for low population states
o More functional as 100 members respect one another
o Committees are less important- floor is more important
o Less “partisan” (adherent to party- more moderate relating to which party controls it)
o 6-year term
House of Reps-
o 435 members- even representation for state populations
o Less functional
o committees are much more important- where the action is done,, floor is less important
o More “Partisan” (adherent to party- more extreme- more conservative if republicans more liberal if democrats )
o 2-year term
Filibuster
Allows a senator to engage in unlimited debate and talk for as long as they need to prevent the senate from voting on a bill- emotional closure can end the filibuster
Appropriations committee
Responsible for appropriating funding for most functions of the federal government, the money and idea for a proposal
Budgeting committee
Decides who gets to spend money on what
Rules committee
Has the power to change the process for desired pieces of legislation
Bicameral legislature
Having two houses, created to make government difficult
If the president is republican, which party will likely win the house during midterms?
Democrats will likely win the house because democrats are more likely to be upset and vote during midterms
Why might it be difficult for legislators in the house of reps to focus on governing?
They must focus on re-election since they only have a 2-year term
Gerrymandering
Manipulating boundaries to favor a party, can cause a candidate to win in states because they are in a state of their party
Committee chair members
Leader of a committee, In the house of reps are always members of the majority party
What are the phases of committee work
Hearings, markup, report – phases occur in every subcommittee and committee
Party whips
Work with majority leader, convey the party’s position to rank-and-file congresspersons, count votes before they are passed
Reconciliation bills
Tweaking a piece pf legislation rather than making something new- must make an argument with a parliamentarian that you are only tweaking the legislation, prevents gridlock
Iron triangles (subgovernments)
Informal act of communication between three different votes in attempt to make small changes- mutual, helpful relationships- between house committee chair, interest group leader, and bureau chief- runs around policy when you are administering something small- prevents gridlock/ pluralism
Majority leader
The Speaker’s principal partisan ally in the house or the party’s manager in the senate
Executive Order
Method president can use to control the bureaucracy
Why might Americans be confused when voting for a president of a particular party?
The President is seen as the leader of their party and of the nation itself, they get most public attention of American Government, and this causes confusion for Americans because congress has more power than the president in reality
What’s the president’s power related to the military?
The president in in charge of armed forces, control of the military gives him authority relating to foreign policy
Commander in chief- has the constitutional right to wage war
Veto power
Package veto- all or nothing, the president can’t change the legislation they must only say yes or no
-Congress must have 2/3 votes in both houses to override veto
-congress will likely try to change bill to get president to sign it
–If a president doesn’t veto after 10 days, it will pass
War powers act
Reappropriates control for congress, the president must tell congress in advance of foreign attack, but congress would likely lose if they tried to use it because the president as commander in chief is in the constitution
Pocket veto
if a president doesn’t sign a bill after 10 days, it dies and can’t be overridden
What could Harris have done differently/ what should she have said she’d do differently?
She could’ve said she’s not going to continue Biden’s presidency, because many undecided voters voted republican simply because they’re not currently happy
