Exam 2 Flashcards
What is bicameralism?
It is a type of legislature that has 2 separate assemblies/chambers/houses
What are the qualifications for becoming a member of the House?
- at least 25 years old
- American citizen for 7 years
- legal resident of the state representing and must reside there
What are the qualifications for becoming a member of the Senate?
- at least 30 years
- American citizen for 9 years
- legal resident of the state representing and must reside there
As of today, how many HOR members are there? how long are their terms?
There are 435 total members (number of representatives per state varies on population. They serve 2 year terms and are considered for re election every year
As of today, how many Senate members are there? how long are their terms?
There are 100 total Senators (2 per state). They serve 6 year terms but every 2 years, 1/3 of the members face re election
How are Congress members elected?
Although Senators were previously chosen by state legislators, both House and Senate members are elected by the people
What are some of Congress’ powers in economic matters?
They are allowed to impose tax, coin and borrow money, regulate interstate and foreign commerce and spend money on the common defense/general welfare
What is meant by elastic clause? How does Congress exercise their right?
The elastic clause AKA necessary and proper clause gives Congress the power to make “necessary and proper” laws that allows them to execute their own power.
What are some of Congress’ powers in foreign affairs?
Specifically, the Senate can ratify treaties and confirm presidential appointments. Only Congress can declare war and raise/finance the army/navy and call out the state militias.
What are the differences in power of House and Senate?
The House has the power to initiate bills (legislation to raise/spend money), impeach federal officials and elect Presidents in a tie. The Senate has the right to amend HOR’s bills, perform trials for impeachment cases, confirm pres. appointments and ratify treaties
t/f although Congress has legislative power, they don’t have exclusivity
true, the president can still veto their laws unless 2/3 of House and 2/3 of Senate override it. He can also recommend new laws calling Congress into special session
Are Congress and presidents elected separately or together?
separately, members of Congress are elected from States and congressional districts by plurality vote (majority)
In 1790, there was one House member for every _________ people but as population increased, total membership of the house reached in 1911 with ____ members. Now one House member represents about ____ people
33,000
435
700,000
What is gerrymandering?
the process of redrawing district lines to give an advantage to one party over another
Is gerrymandering constitutional?
Although it has been brought up multiple times, its constitutionality has not yet been determined
How does the Senate have unequal representation?
since we only get 2 Senators per state, some represent much more people than others. The problem is that the 9 largest states are home to 51 percent of the US population
How does the electoral environment of congress relate to their re elections?
Over time, Congress has managed to negotiate and win by holding their seats either by focusing on party-centered or candidate centered system in order to gain votes from the public.
What is a retrenchment?
When you try to make cutbacks on bureaucracies, agency budgets and it may also include when agencies are moved out of existence by deregulation
What is the bureaucratic culture?
It means bureaucracy prefers incremental change and it doesnt like to violate an equilibrium (does not like radical change)
What types of equilibriums do we have for bureaucracies?
- budgets from congress are constant
- number of personal they have access to
the culture of bureaucracies favor ______
procedures
What is a standard operating procedure?
a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out complex routine operations.
What is the problem with standard operating procedures?
If we ask an agency to do it’s duty, their standard operating procedure may be much different than the intended goal.
If a new governmental mission arises, what should we do?
Create a new agency to do its mission because the existing agencies are not good at performing tasks they are not assigned to initially.
According to Reagan, the closest thing to immortality is a _______ _______, why did he say this?
Government program. Because once an agency is established, they very rarely go away
If a president gets a bill and it is not signed after 10 days (not including Sunday) what happens?
If Congress is in session, the bill becomes a law.
If Congress is not in session, the bill is dead (pocket veto)
What is the difference between a regular veto and a pocket veto?
A regular veto is when a president forbids a law. A pocket veto is when the president allows a bill to die on his desk
How is a veto overruled?
2/3 of House and 2/3 of Senate
What happens when a president doesn’t like a veto but he cant “pocket veto” it because Congress is in session and it will be overruled?
A president signs the bill but also releases a signing statement that gives his reasons for not enforcing those laws
Are signing statements unconstitutional?
It has not yet been decided
What are some examples of areas where the Supreme Court has not weighed in their decision?
- signing statements
- war powers act
What is the war powers resolution act?
Congress wrote this law that says that presidents have to report everything to them in regards to war
In 1973, who vetoed the war powers resolution act? What happened after?
President Nixon
Congress overrides his veto and makes it an official law and since he didn’t chose to enforce it, he was forced out of office (impeachment)
why do some argue that the War Power resolution act unconstitutional?
Every president that has been involved with war and reports to Congress (War powers act), they never cite it as the War Powers act because they believe it is unconstitutional
Instead of the presidents signing under the War powers act, what law do they cite when reporting their war info??
They cite to UN resolutions about their conduct in War
what prevents the supreme court from enforcing laws?
Although they have the power to declare which laws are unconstitutional, they do not have the power of enforcing that.
Are signing statements vetos?
No. They require an action AKA signature that passes the law but revises it
What are line item vetos?
a special form of veto power that authorizes a chief executive to reject particular provisions of a bill enacted by a legislature without vetoing the entire bill. (similar to signing statements)
Are line item vetos unconstitutional? explain
Since Congress did not like that the president vetoed almost all of their bills, they sued to the Supreme court in the case of Clinton v. City of NY. Clinton lost and the line item veto was overthrown
What was the case of Clinton v City of NY?
It was a Supreme Court case that struck down the Line Item Veto Act because it gave the executive the authority to amend a law without having to go through the legislative process.
Why was the line item veto declared unconstitutional?
article 1 section 7 of the Constitution, lays out what vetos are and it says that a veto is when a president either signs it (approved) or sends its back. It doesn’t say a president can edit the bill therefore in order to perform a line item veto, one would have to amend the constitution’
Which amendment allows us to amend the constitution
28th
Based on what the Supreme Court says about a line item veto, what would they declare a signing statement?
It would be declared unconstitutional bc a signing statement is basically a line item veto
What is civil law?
law that comes from a political leader
What is common law?
judge made law (when no law is made by legislators). The judges have to make up law out of their own minds.
Which US state has civil law jurisdiction?
Louisiana
Which type of law does the US have?
We have both. Civil law, where things have been stated by legislators (state,local and national) but we also have gray areas where judges have to fill in.
How does common law refer to the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution gives them the authority to potentially overthrow laws that a legislator made based on his/her understanding of the constitution. So it is a common law understanding of the making of a law
Which amendments allow for privacy?
1st, 4th, 5th, 9th and 14th
What did the Supreme Court do in the Griswold v Connecticut case?
When the state of Connecticut wanted to prevent the use of condoms (contraceptives), the Supreme Court stepped in and denied that prevention based on the right to privacy (1,4,5,9,14 amendments)
What is American bicameralism?
Unlike most countries, the US is a true bicameral. Neither house can pass a law or resolution or anything that requires a president’s signature without each other’s approval. We have an establishment of 2 houses (lower and upper)
What are the types of committees?
Standing committees: permanent (legislative functions
Select committees: Temporary (limited purpose, limited duration)
Joint committees: members of House and Senate
Conference: temporary (works out the differences between House and Senate if they have similar bills
what other committees do congressional committees work with?
subcommittees: their purpose is to help each of the large committees
What is the only standing committee in which members are not permanent? Why?
The budget committee because it is so powerful (appropriation and authorization is brought together).So, people are required to rotate in and out every couple of years
What are the power committees of the US congress?
- The Appropriations committee (one for each)
- The Budget committee (one for each)
- The House of Representatives’ ways and Means committee: where the House originates tax legislation
- The Senate finance committee: where the Senate originates tax legislation
- The Rules Committee (one for each)
What is the most important rule that comes from the House Rules committee?
The rule that states what day they are debating on a certain bill. They set the schedule.
In order to avoid the president pocket vetoing legislation, what is the best method?
Make sure the legislation gets early in the year not towards the end because then it can be pocket vetoed and since Congress will not be in session, they will not have the ability to override it
What happens when the House and Senate pass a similar bill with minor differences?
They will have to go to a conference committee where some members of the House and some of the Senate iron out one bill that is identical from both bodies. It then goes back to Congress to be re-passed.