Outcome 6 (Congress)- not finished!!

Question 1

Incumbents

Answer 1

individuals who already hold office, they usually win congressional elections

Question 2

casework

Answer 2

activities of Congress members that help constituents as individuals, particularly by cutting through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they have a right to get

Question 3

Pork barrel

Answer 3

Federal projects, grants, and contracts available to state/local governments, businesses, colleges, and other institutions in a congressional district

Question 4

Bicameral legislature

Answer 4

a legislature divided into two houses

Question 5

Speaker of the house

Answer 5

Office is mandated by the Constitution. They are chosen in practice by the majority party, have informal and formal powers, are second in line (after vice prez) to succeed to presidency if the office becomes vacant

Question 6

Majority leader and their roles

Answer 6

Principal partisan ally of the speaker/majority party’s manager in the Senate.
- Schedule bills
- Influence committee assignments
- Round up votes on behalf of the party’s legislative positions.

Question 7

Majority/minority whips

Answer 7

Party leaders working with the majority and minority leaders to count votes beforehand and lean on wavers whose votes are crucial to the passage of a bill favored by the party

Question 8

Minority leader

Answer 8

The principal leader of the minority party in the House/Senate

Question 9

Types of congressional committees

Answer 9

• Standing committees
• Joint committees
• Conference committee
• Select committees (temporary or permanent with a specific focus)

Question 10

Standing committee

Answer 10

committees in each house of Congress that handle bills in different policy areas

Question 11

Joint committee

Answer 11

exist in few policy areas, exists in both houses

Question 12

Conference committees

Answer 12

formed when Senate + House pass a particular bill in different forms. Party leadership appoints members from each house to iron out differences and bring back a single bill

Question 13

Committee chairs

Answer 13

Most important influence of their committee’s agendas, play dominant roles in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when brought before the full house

Question 14

seniority system

Answer 14

The member who’d served on committee the longest and whose party controlled he chamber became chair, regardless of party loyalty, mental state, or competence

Question 15

Caucus (congressional)

Answer 15

Group of Congress members sharing some interest or characteristic. Many are composed of members from both parties and both houses

Question 16

Bill

Answer 16

a proposed law drafted in legal language

Question 17

Perks of being a Congress member

Answer 17

• power to make key decisions about important matters of public policy
• earn a salary 3x the typical American family
• generous retirement and health benefits

Question 18

Typical Congress member

Answer 18

• Male
• White
• 50-60 years old
• Protestant
• Worked public service/politics prior to
• Wealthy

Question 19

Descriptive representation vs. substantive representation

Answer 19

• Descriptive: representing constituents by mirroring their personal, politically relevant characteristics
• Substantive: speaks for the interests of groups of which they aren’t members of

Question 20

Why are women less likely to run for Congress?

Answer 20

• fewer women have become major party nominees for office
• voters appraise women candidates higher than male candidates on non-policy characteristics including integrity, competence, collaboration, and problem solving skills

Question 21

Advantages of incumbency over their opponent

Answer 21

• Advertising: make themselves visible among constituents by advertising their activities
• Credit claiming: enhancing their standing with constituents through service to individuals and the district. Can service through case work and pork barrel
• Weak opponents
• Campaign spending: benefit less from it because of recognition
• Party identification

Question 22

Difference between case work and pork barrel

Answer 22

Case work- helping individual constituents with problems like social security checks and federal loans
Pork barrel- winning federal funds for states and districts; composed of federal projects, grants, and contracts to institutions in a congressional district

Question 23

How can someone defeat an incumbent

Answer 23

• challengers are naive about their chances of winning
• incumbents can lose many supporters when the boundaries of their districts change
• major political tidal waves

Question 24

Criticisms of term limitations

Answer 24

• loss of experienced legislators who know the issues and process
• legislatures will lose incentives to acquire new policy/institutional expertise
• citizens should be able to vote for whoever they want

Question 25

Formal powers of the Speaker of the House

Answer 25

• Presides over the House when it is in session
• Plays a major role in making committee assignments, which are coveted by all members to ensure their reelection
• Appoints/plays a key role in appointing the party’s legislative leaders and the party leadership staff
• Exersizes substantial control over assigning bills to committees

Question 26

Legislative oversight

Answer 26

the review and evaluation of selected activities, services, and operations and the general performance of the executive branch

Question 27

Personal staff v. committee staff

Answer 27

• Personal staff: Work in the personal offices of individual Congress members. Most spend time on casework and providing services to constituents
• Committee staff: organize hearings, research legislative options, draft committee reports on bills, write legislation, keep tabs on executive branch activities

Question 28

Staff agencies (3)

Answer 28

• Congressional Research Service (CRS): track progress of bills, make info about bills available electronically, etc.
• Government Accountability Office (GAO): helps perform oversight functions by reviewing the activities of the executive branch
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO): analyzes the president’s budget and makes economic projections

Question 29

House of Representatives

Answer 29

represents the Virginia plan
- 435 members
- 2 year terms
- 25 years old
- based on population
- 7 years of citizenship
- elected by popular vote

Question 30

Senate

Answer 30

represents the New Jersey plan
- 100 members
- 6 year terms
- 30 years old
- equal representation
- 9 years of citizenship
- elected by popular vote

Question 31

Expressed v. implied powers

Answer 31

• expressed powers: stated in the Constitution
• implied powers: not stated in the Constitution, drawn from expressed powers

Question 32

Legislative roles as representatives (4)

Answer 32

• Delegate: “How do my constituents want me to vote?”
• Trustee: “What do I think are the best answers?”
• Partisan: “How does my party want me to vote?”
• Politico: “How can I balance all three options?”

Question 33

Proportional representation and which house uses it

Answer 33

Senators are divided among the population
Used by the House of Reps:
- every state is divided into congressional districts
- every district is given one representative

Question 34

Reapportionment

Answer 34

The process in which a state’s number of representatives can change in the house. The census is conducted every 10 years to see shifts in population

Question 35

Redistricting

Answer 35

Process by individual state legislatures to redraw the boundaries of House congressional districts based on population changes reflected in the census. All districts must have roughly the same amount of people. Also involves:
- splitting districts in two if it becomes too populous
- combining districts of population declines

Question 36

Gerrymandering

Answer 36

redrawing a district to consolidate/exclude a particular population. Historically used to dilute the voting of minority groups.