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AP Government & Politics > Unit 4 Study Guide > Flashcards

Unit 4 Study Guide Flashcards

study for unit 4!

1
Q

House of Representatives Info

A

435 members
2 Year Terms
Faster, Efficient process

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2
Q

Senate Info

A

100 Members
6 year terms
Slower, Deliberative process

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3
Q

How a Bill Becomes a Law

A
  1. Introduction
  2. Committee + Subcommittee Action
  3. Rules Committee (House)
  4. Floor Action
  5. Conference Committee (House vs. Senate versions of bill)
  6. Presidential Action
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4
Q

Twenty Second Amendment

A

(1951) Presidents cannot serve more than 2 terms/more than 10 years

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5
Q

Twenty Fifth Amendment

A

The Vice President succeeds the president (if something happens); president nominates and Congress confirms new vice president

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6
Q

White House Office/Staff (WHO)

A

Immediate Staff of the President
- Circular & Pyramid Methods
- Appointments do NOT require Senate consent

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7
Q

Treaties vs. Executive Agreements (Foreign Policy)

A

Treaties
- require Senate ratification
Executive Agreements
- do NOT require Senate ratification
- deals between President and a foreign nation’s leader

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8
Q

Signing Statements

A

Written comments a president attaches to a bill he’s signing
- Controversy: can be his interpretation of the law or intentions on enforcing it (critics say it’s too similar to line item veto)

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9
Q

Executive Privilege

A

the right of the president to not disclose conversations between himself and his advisers

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10
Q

Presidential Vetoes & Overrides

A

Veto (subject to override by Congress 2/3 majority)
Pocket Veto (president doesn’t sign bill within 10 days but Congress adjourns during this time)

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11
Q

Sources of Presidential Power (Constitutional & Informal)

A

Constitutional
- Chief Legislator, Executive, Commander, Diplomat, & Jurist
Informal
- Mass Media attention
- personality/character
- Unity of the office
- Delegation by Congress (ex. they bow to him in times of crisis, executive agencies fill in holes of broadly worded legislation)re

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12
Q

Congressional Redistricting & Gerrymandering

A

States required redrawing district lines every 10 year census due to population changes
Gerrymandering: redistricting that purposefully favors 1+ groups of people in voting

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13
Q

Executive orders

A
  • Have the power of laws
  • do Not need congressional approval
  • can be struck down by Supreme Court
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14
Q

Most Important Senate Committees

A
  • Finance: tax bills
  • Foreign Relations: foreign affairs (highly prestigious)
  • Judiciary: screens judicial nominees
  • Appropriations: spending
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15
Q

Most Important House Committees

A
  • Rules Committee: sets calendar, debate rules (most powerful)
  • Ways and Means: tax bills
  • Appropriations: spending
  • Committee of the Whole: issues on H or R Union Calendar (more open & relaxed exchange of views, includes all members, 100 member quorum, dissolves upon examining a bill)
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16
Q

Representatives vs. Senators

A

Representatives (435)
- 2 year terms
- 25+ years old
- 7+ consecutive year residency
- Closer to public
Senators (100)
- 6 year terms
- 30+ years old
- 9+ consecutive year residency
- More removed from public

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17
Q

Committee & Subcommittee System

A
  • analyze legislation
  • investigates executive branch as needed
  • investigates exec. branch agencies on-going
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18
Q

Iron Triangle

A

policy making relationship between Congressional committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups

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19
Q

Casework

A
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20
Q

Impeachment

A

personal work done by a member of Congress for his constituents

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21
Q

House of Representatives Leadership

A

Speaker (partisan)
- presides over House
- appoints committee member (including Rules Committee + chairman)
Majority/Minority Leader (partisan)
- right hand man of speaker
- floor leaders & legislative strategists
Majority/Minority Whips
- ensure party unity & discipline
- links party members & leaders
Rules Committee
- sets legislative calendar (agenda
- issues rules for debate and amendment

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22
Q

Senate Leadership

A

Vice President
- ceremonially presides over Senate
President Pro Tempore
- most senior majority member
- ceremonially presides over Senate when VP is gone

23
Q

Congressional Chairpersons & Seniority System

A

Committee Chairmen are selected by secret ballot; Seniority System is generally followed (oldest gets position/most power)

24
Q

Piegonholing

A

postponing a bill in committee indefinitely; requires 218 House votes to discharge

25
Q

OMB & CBO & Budget

A

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) (Executive)
- prepares annual budget and reviews federal programs
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
- checks OMB (response to imperial presidency)

26
Q

Senatorial Courtesy

A

tradition in which the President consults with the senators within a state in which an appointment is to be made

27
Q

Midterms vs. General Elections

A

Midterms (Decides Congress Party)
- 35 Senate seats
- 435 Representative seats
- Happens midway every 4 year presidential election cycle
General Election
- Decides the president

28
Q

War Powers Resolution

A

(1973 - Vietnam War) President can only send troops to hostile lands without Congressional Approval if:
- Congress is notified within 48 hours
- Troops withdrawn after 60 days (extra 30 for safety of troops)
- Congress is consulted if troops are to engage in combat
- Congress can pass a resolution (not subject to presidential veto) to withdraw troops

29
Q

Congressional Funding

A

Congress controls the “purse” and therefore can control the other branches through control of funding

30
Q

Conflicts between the President & Congress

A

President can veto Congress
Congress can ignore President’s desired legislation agenda
Congress controls funding

31
Q

Legislative Oversight

A

ongoing process of congressional monitoring of the executive branch to ensure that the latter complies with the law

32
Q

Civil Service System (Spoils vs. Merit)

A

Spoils system: appointing people as a reward for loyalty
Merit system: appointing people based on competitive exams, performance, qualifications, etc.

33
Q

Pendleton Act (1881)

A

Created a civil service in which a merit system would be used to fill government jobs

34
Q

Civil Service Workers

A

(AKA public servant/employee) a person employed in the public sector by a government department/agency

35
Q

Bureaucratic/Administrative Discretion

A

The Bureaucracy has discretionary authority on choosing how to interpret broadly worded laws from Congress

36
Q

Bureaucratic Powers & Responsibilities

A
  • Implementing and enforcing laws
  • advising White House
  • helping Congress with legislation drafting & testifying when necessary
37
Q

How the Presidency and Bureaucracy Control Each Other

A

President:
- appoints (and can fire) top level bureaucrats BUT > requires Senate confirmation & most bureaucrats cannot be fired by president
- can reorganize executive branch BUT
> must go through Congress
- proposes agency budgets BUT
> must go through Congress

38
Q

Baker v. Carr (1962)

A

Redistricting counts as a justiciable question under 14th Amendment equal protection clause
- opened Supreme Court to more “political” issues

39
Q

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

A

You can’t redistrict based solely on race
- created a roadblock for future attempts to create majority-minority voting districts

40
Q

Levels of Federal Courts

A
  1. Supreme Court
    Almost always Appellate Jurisdiction (but CAN have Original)
  2. Court of Appeals
    Appellate Jurisdiction
  3. District Courts
    Original Jurisdiction
41
Q

Types of Jurisdiction (think: authority)

A

Exclusive: only Federal court can try a case
Concurrent: both federal and state courts can try a case

Original: first to hear a case
Appellate: can hear the a subsequent appeal (from a lower court)

42
Q

The Justice Department: Attorney General, Solicitor General, & US Attorneys

A

Attorney General
- Pres. Appointment, Senate consent
- head of justice department

Solicitor General
- Pres. Appointment, Senate consent
- represents US government in Supreme Court
- decides what role the Fed Government’s role in these cases
- “10th Justice” of Supreme Court due to influence

US Attorneys
- 1+ for each district court (94 total)
- appointed by president for 4 year terms
- Senatorial courtesy applies

43
Q

Federalist No. 70

A
44
Q

Federalist No. 78

A
45
Q

Supreme Court Opinion Types

A

Unanimous: everyone agreed
Majority: main reasoning for majority opinion
Concurring: alternate reasoning for majority opinion
Dissenting: reasoning for minority opinion
Writing the Opinion: (If Chief Justice is in the majority, he assigns it, if not the most senior majority Justice assigns it)

46
Q

Supreme Court Judge Appointments

A

Presidential appointment, Senate confirmation
- one of the most long lasting impacts a president can have on the government

47
Q

Rule of Four

A

If at least 4 Supreme Court Justices want to hear a case, then they do

48
Q

Stare Decisis

A

Latin for “let the decision stand.” Supreme Court policy of following precedent in deciding cases.

49
Q

Writ of Certiorari

A

allows a lower court to deliver its record of a case to be reviewed by a higher court

50
Q

Judicial Activism

A

philosophy that the courts should take an active role in solving problems/not be afraid to make landmark to adapt with the times

51
Q

Judicial Restraint

A

philosophy that the courts should restrain themselves from being involved in political questions and instead focus on interpreting law rather than making law

52
Q

How Congress controls the Bureaucracy

A
  • control over the funding of agencies
  • legislative oversight
  • can charge agency employees with stuff
  • appointment confirmation
  • Government Accountability Office (GAO) (watchdog ensuring money is spent in accordance with Congressional law)
53
Q

Federal Court Powers & Checks

A

They can make decisions but can’t enforce them

54
Q

Cabinet

A

Heads of Cabinet Departments & 5 “Cabinet Rank” others
- meet irregularly at call of president
- divided loyalties (to president and to own departments)

AP Government & Politics (2 decks)

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