Unit 2 Review: Legislative Flashcards
Bicameral
Divided into 2 houses
Why are the House of Representatives more closely tied to the people?
• Only serve 2 year terms (so they better listen to the people who elect them)
• House members represent fewer people and thus are able to know their constituency better
Why is the Senate less tied to the people?
Because they represent an entire state, therefore are less connected to their constituency
Constituency
A body of voters in a specific area who elect a representative to a legislative body
Coalitions
Two or more political parties work together to try and win an election or govern an area
• Formed in both houses but the durability of the working relationships are affected by term length differences
• Senate coalitions are more long lasting and durable while House coalitions the opposite
Enumerated powers
Powers explicitly listed in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution
• Federal funding, foreign policy & military legislation
What funding powers does Congress have?
• Can raise revenue through taxation
• Coin money for a uniform currency throughout the nation
• Pass a federal budget
What foreign policy / military legislation powers does Congress have?
• Power to declare war
• Raise armies
• Pass draft laws
• Direct funding to the armed forces
Implied powers
Congress can pass any law that’s required by the enumerated powers. Justification for these powers is at the end of Article 1 Section 8 (Necessary and Proper Clause, aka Elastic Clause)
House Leadership
Speaker of the House, Majority & Minority Leaders, Whips
Speaker of the House
• House members will choose this leader
• Speaker will always be a member of the majority party
(Example of their duties: assigning representatives to committees)
Majority & Minority Leaders
Depending on which party is in power, one party leader serves as a majority leader and the other, a minority leader. Both party leaders, also called floor leaders, serve as the spokesperson for their party’s positions on the issues
Duties: directing debates, guide their party members in policy making issues
Whips
• One each for the majority and minority parties
• Keep parties disciplined, make sure they walk in line with their goals
Senate Leadership
President of the Senate, President Pro Tempore, Senate Majority Leader, Whips
President of the Senate
• Vice President of the United States
• Non-voting member of the Senate unless there’s a tie, to which the VP can then vote
President Pro Tempore
• Most senior member of the majority party
• Has authority to act as President of the Senate when the Vice President is not present
Senate Majority Leader
• Sets the legislative agenda (determines which bills reach the floor for debate & which ones don’t)
How does the legislative branch get its work done
In committees
Committees
Small groups of representatives who can debate and draft precise legislation that would otherwise be impossible in the large group setting
• Serves the goals of the majority party
Types of committees
Standing Committees
• Committees that last for a long time (ex: standing committee on the budget, house judiciary committee)
Joint Committees
• Members from both the house and the senate (ex: joint committee on the library of Congress)
Select Committees
• Temporary and created for a specific purpose
Conference Committees
• Formed to work out different interpretations on bills and come to the same conclusion
House Rules Committee
(House of Representatives)
Decides which bills make it to the floor for debate
Committee of the Whole
(House of Representatives)
Called to relax the rules for debate so that amendments for bills can be considered and debated more quickly
• Includes all 435 representatives
Discharge Petition
(House of Representatives)
Used to force a bill out of committees for debate and voting with a majority vote
How much time do members have to debate bills in the House of Representatives
1 hour
How much time do Senate members have to debate bills?
Unlimited time
Filibuster & Cloture Rule
(Senate)
Filibuster: An attempt to stall or kill a bill by talking about it for a long time
Cloture Rule: A way to get a filibustering senator to shut it (requires a 2/3 vote)
Unanimous Consent
(Senate)
• Senate president asks all the senators if they will agree to limit debate (this is a way of avoiding the possibility of a filibuster)
Hold
When even one senator objects during unanimous consent & thus the bill under consideration can be stalled
Process of how a bill becomes a law
• Bill has to be introduced (by a member from either house)
• The bill is assigned to a committee (And there, it often undergoes some changes. See Riders and Pork Barrel Spending)
• Bill comes back to the whole group where they vote on it
• If it gets a thumbs up then it’s sent to the president where he can sign it
Pork barrel spending
(During the process of a bill becoming a law, when the bill is assigned to a committee)
• Funds given for special projects in a representative’s district
Riders
(During the process of a bill becoming a law, when the bill is assigned to a committee)
Can be added which are non-relevant additions that benefit a representatives own agenda or alternatively, something added to help get the bill passed
Logrolling
(During the process of a bill becoming a law: where the bill is being voted on by the whole group)
• Representatives agree & say to each other, if you vote for my bill I’ll vote for yours
Federal Budget
(Done by Congress)
• Most of the government’s income is gathered from federal income taxes, so Congress has to distribute funds according to two categories (Mandatory Spending and Discretionary Spending, where as MS increases, DS decreases)
Mandatory Spending
Payments required by law
• Entitlement spending (Ex: Social Security Act, where Congress has to make certain payments to retirees by law)
• Medicare & Medicaid
• Interest payments on debt
Discretionary Spending
All funds that remain after Mandatory Spending is accounted for
(Ex: paying federal employees)
Ways to increase discretionary spending
• Congress can raise taxes
• Congress can approve an increase in deficit spending
Deficit
Gap between the budget & the actual funds available
Political polarization
Over the last 30 years, democrats have become more liberal and republicans have become more conservative
• Makes negotiation and compromise which is essential for passing legislation very difficult
Solution to political polarization
For one party to have a majority in both houses of Congress
• Means they can just push their legislation through without any interruption from the minority
Divided government
President is from one party and both houses of Congress are from another
• Can really slow things down
• Opposite of unified government
Lame duck
President has very little power to do anything since he’s on his way out of office
Models of Representation
Trustee, delegate, politico
Trustee
They believe that they’ve been entrusted with the peoples’ faith to vote according to the representative’s best judgment
(Ex: Republican senator Mitt Romney’s vote to remove Donald Trump from office)
Delegate
Representative believes that they must vote with the will of the people even if it goes against their own better judgment
• (This model is often found in the House since their 2 year terms make them more accountable to the people)
Politico
Blend of Trustee and Delegate. How they vote depends on the situation
(Ex: If there’s a strong public opinion on an issue then the politico will consider that when voting and may act like a delegate. If not, they will vote like a trustee)
Redistricting
Constitution says that every 10 years a Census must be taken to find out how many people live in the US and where they live. Based on that information, the number of representatives for each state is apportioned to reflect the population and then congressional districts are redrawn to reflect those new seats
Reapportionment
(Part of redistricting / gerrymandering)
Reassignment of representation in congressional & state legislative districts due to changes in population
Redistricting
Redrawing the district based on population changes
Baker v. Carr
Established the right of federal courts to review redistricting issues
• Supreme Court ruled that such a situation violated the equal protect clause of the 14th amendment
• One person, one vote principle. Districts must be drawn in order to evenly distribute voting power
• Court can rule on apportionment issues because it’s a constitutional issue and not a political issue
Shaw v. Reno
Considered the constitutionality of drawing the districts based on race alone.
Two districts in North Carolina were drawn with strange shapes and created majority black districts (which actually meant that these districts had a very good chance of electing black people to office, thus upholding the provisions of the voting rights act of 1965 for historically discriminated people)
The court ruled that drawing this district solely based on race, even if it helped discriminated people, was a dangerous practice and thus unconstitutional
Gerrymandering
A way of drawing districts to ensure that a certain party has an advantage in the district
Racial Gerrymandering
Districts are drawn so that certain races constitute the majority in those districts
