Unit 4

Question 1

What does a Rules Committee do? Where do they operate in the gov.?

Answer 1

• resolutions governing the amending process & length of debate
• operate in the House

Question 2

House Rules Committee: what are closed rules?

Answer 2

rules that do not allow any amendments to a bill

Question 3

House Rules Committee: what are open rules?

Answer 3

rules that allow any germane (related) amendments to a bill

Question 4

House Rules Committee: what are modified rules?

Answer 4

allow some specific amendments but not others

Question 5

What is a “hold”? Which chamber is this used in?

Answer 5

• used in the Senate
• “hold” is a tool that Senators use to prevent a motion from reaching a vote on the floor (permitted by the Standing Rules of the chamber)

Question 6

What is a “rider”? Which chamber is this allowed (used) in?

Answer 6

• used in the Senate
• additions added to a proposed bill or another measure that has little connection with the subject matter of the bill
  OR
• germane amendments added to bills

Question 7

What is the 17th Amendment? Why does it matter?

Answer 7

• Senators are elected “by the people”
• changed the election of U.S. Senators from st. legis. to the people casting direct votes
• ratified in 1913

Question 8

Define McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Answer 8

SCOTUS case declared Congress had the power (under the Necessary and Proper Clause) to establish a Federal Bank, and states (Maryland) do NOT have the right to tax the Fed. Gov.
- Maryland tried to put a tax on any banks not chartered by the state (including the Fed. Bank)

Question 9

Define Discretionary Spending

Answer 9

the portion of the budget that the President requests and Congress appropriates every year.
- It represents less than 1/3 of the federal budget
- national defense, foreign aid, education, etc.

Question 10

Define Mandatory Spending

Answer 10

spending not controlled by annual budget decisions
- accounts for around 2/3 of the federal budget

Question 11

Define Pork Barrel Legislation

Answer 11

legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hope of winning their votes in return

Question 12

What is Logrolling?

Answer 12

when mems. of Cong. support bills that they otherwise might not vote for in exchange for votes on bills important to them
- “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours”

Question 13

What is Omnibus Legislation?

Answer 13

massive bills that run hundreds of pages long & cover many different subjects & programs

Question 14

Define Partisanship

Answer 14

strong allegiance to one’s own political party, often leading to unwillingness to compromise with members of the opposing party

Question 15

Define Baker v. Carr (1962)

Answer 15

SCOTUS case that forced the Tennessee legislature to reapportion itself on the basis of population
-a Republican voter (Charles Baker) who lived in an urban area of Shelby County said that he was denied equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment because his vote was devalued
- established the right of federal courts to review redistricting issues

Question 16

Define Shaw v. Reno (1993): what did it do?

Answer 16

SCOTUS case declared that race may be a factor but cannot be the predominant factor in the redistricting process.
- (before) violated white plaintiffs ‘ equal protection under the laws of the 14TH AMENDMENT
- (after) opened the door for dozens of lawsuits abt. racial redistricting

Question 17

What is a “Trustee”?

Answer 17

congressperson who reps. voters’ interests while also taking into account nat., collective, & moral concerns that may cause them to vote against a majority of voters

Question 18

What is a “Delegate”?

Answer 18

congressperson who carries out the direct desires of voters

Question 19

What is a “Politico”?

Answer 19

congressperson who acts like a DELEGATE on issues voters CARE ABOUT, but a TRUSTEE on more complex issues (ex. foreign policy)

Question 20

What are the Formal Powers of the Pres.?

Answer 20

• vetoes & pocket vetoes
• commander in chief
• treaties
• state of the union

Question 21

What is a “Pocket Veto”?

Answer 21

an indirect veto of a legislative bill by the president by not signing the bill until Congress adjourns its session

Question 22

What are the Informal Powers of the Pres.?

Answer 22

• executive orders
• executive agreements
• bargaining & persuasion
• signing statements

Question 23

Summarize Fed. No. 70

Answer 23

a unitary executive is necessary to: ensure accountability in government. enable the president to defend against legislative encroachments on his power.

Question 24

Define the 22nd Amendment

Answer 24

no person shall be elected to the office of President more than two times

Question 25

What does “Imperial Presidency” mean?

Answer 25

the Pres. is the head of gov. & the face of the country

Question 26

Define the “Lame Duck Period”

Answer 26

an official (especially the president) in the final period of office, after the election of a successor

Question 27

Define “Bully Pulpit”

Answer 27

a public office or position of authority (Presidency) that provides its occupant with an outstanding opportunity to speak out on any issue

Question 28

Summarize Fed. No. 78

Answer 28

describes the process of judicial review
- federal courts review statutes (laws) to determine whether they are consistent with the Constitution and its statutes (laws)

Question 29

Define Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Answer 29

William Marbury was supposed to be appointed to SCOTUS under Addams, but the Pres. changed to Jefferson before it could be heard & Jeff. told his Sec. of St. (Madison) to NOT deliver the commission that was issued by the outgoing Federalists
- Marbury asked to be given his position, but Marshall didn’t want Jeff to ignore the order & weaken the court (they didn’t like each other)
- JUDICIAL REVIEW YAY
- Judiciary Act of 1789

Question 30

What is “stare decisis”?

Answer 30

“to stand by things decided”; the legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent

Question 31

What are “Precedents”?

Answer 31

court decision that is considered as authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts

Question 32

Define Judicial Restraint

Answer 32

a procedural or substantive approach to the exercise of judicial review

Question 33

Define Dissenting Opinion

Answer 33

the separate judicial opinion of a judge who disagreed with the majority’s decision explaining the disagreement.

Question 34

Define Concurring Opinion

Answer 34

when the justice agrees with the Court’s disposition but not its opinion

Question 35

What are the functions of the Bureaucracy?

Answer 35

• regulations & enforcement
• information experts
• issues networks & “iron triangles”

Question 36

Define Political Patronage (& how it relates to the Bureaucracy)

Answer 36

it’s a spoils system, people get rewarded (given jobs in the gov.) for supporting/are friends or family with a politician who won an election
- reformed the Bureaucracy

Question 37

What is the Merit System? How does it relate to Bureaucracy?

Answer 37

process of promoting and hiring government employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than on their political connections
- reformed the Bureaucracy

Question 38

Define Discretionary Authority (& how it relates to the Bureaucracy)

Answer 38

an agency’s ability to decide whether or not to take certain courses of action when implementing existing laws
- a way to implement policy

Question 39

Define Rule-Making Authority (& how it relates to the Bureaucracy)

Answer 39

an agency’s ability to make rules that affect how programs operate, and to force states and corporations to obey these rules as if they were laws
- a way to implement policy

Question 40

What is a ¨Writ of Certiorari¨?

Answer 40

a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the record of the case for review
- case has to have reasoning of why it should be heard again

Question 41

What is a ¨Unilateral Action¨?

Answer 41

any policy decision made and acted upon by the president and his staff without the explicit approval or consent of Congress