POS 101 - Week 6 Flashcards
The US Congress is made up of __ legislative chambers: the ____ and the ____.
2
the Senate and the House of Representatives
Senate:
the ____ chamber
___ members
___-year terms
membership based on ________
upper
100
6
equality of states
House:
the ____ chamber
___ members
___-year terms
membership based on ________
lower
435
2
population
Majority Party
the party with the largest number of members in each chamber
Committees
groups of congressional representative with specific subject areas
What are the 4 types of committees?
- Conference
- Select
- Standing
- Joint
Conference committees
special joint committees appointed to reconcile bills
Select committees
committees created for limited time with special purpose
Standing committees
permanent committees
Join committees
committees made up of members from both chambers
Reapportionment
the allocation of seats to the house after each census
Redistricting
redrawing of congressional districts within each state
Congressional Leadership
those members of Congress who exercise leadership roles
President Pro Tempore
temporary presiding officer of the Senate absent the vice president (vice –president also serves as president of the senate)
Speaker
presiding officer of the House of Representatives
Majority Leader
chief spokesman for the party in each chamber who directs legislative programs and party strategy
Minority Leader
minority party officer who directs opposition to other party’s policies and directs legislative programs and party strategy for his/her party
Whip
an aide to the majority or minority leader in each party
Seniority Rule
the longest serving member of the majority party will be the chairperson of a committee
Legislation
the process of creating a law
List the ___ steps of the legislative process.
- Bill is introduced in committee and referred to subcommittee for hearings, revisions, and approval
- Back to committee for approval and recommended passage
- Bill is debated and amended in the original committee then sent to the floor for a vote by the chamber
- Bill is sent to the other chamber (House or Senate)
- Differences between the chambers are worked out in a conference committee and sent to each chamber for approval
- Bill as approved by both chambers is sent to the President to sign into law
At what time can a bill die?
At any stage of the legislative process
Budgeting
the process of determining the government’s budget for one year
Budget Process
the President prepares an executive budget; the budget is reviewed by the Office of Management and Budgeting and is sent to Congress, it is reviewed and a final budget is passed, the President either accepts the final budget and signs it into law or sends it back to Congress
