Unit 6 - Chapter 11 Flashcards
Connecticut Compromise
compromise founders made for bicameral legislature (rep. by population in House, equal rep. in Senate, gives smaller states more power)
Requirements to be member of the Senate:
legal resident of state, 30 years or older, have lived in US for 9 years, serve 6 year terms
Requirements to be member of the House:
legal resident of state, 25 years or older, have lived in US for 7 years, serve 2 year terms
Powers unique to the House:
initiates revenue bills, can formally start impeachment accusations, decides president if electoral tie
Powers unique to the Senate:
ratifies treaties, approves presidential nominations, conduct impeachment trials, if president doesn’t get 270 electoral votes Senate chooses president, House choose VP
Part of constitution that lists powers of Congress:
Article 1, section 8, expresses powers of Congress, application of limited government since can only do what is spelled out
elastic clause
gives Congress implied powers to make laws that “necessary and proper” to carry out given powers
McCulloch v. Maryland
court cases that justifies/establishes elastic clause
The 5 types of governmental powers:
expressed, implied, reserved (power just for the states, 10th amendment), concurrent (shared by state and federal), inherent (powers presumed to be the govt’s)
imminent domain
government can take private property for government use (part of inherent powers)
Non-legislative powers (definition and examples in Congress):
powers that don’t require making a law (approving members of cabinet, declaring war, amendment process 2/3 needed to propose, 3/4 state approval to ratify)
Strict Constitutionists
someone that follows exactly what the constitution spells out (doesn’t support elastic clause)
Baker v. Carr
court case that allows fed. courts to take apportionment related cases, says everybody’s vote should be one-to-one
Reno v. Shaw
district drawing can’t be based solely on race but allowed to be considered (states draw districts)
Gerrymandering
drawing congressional districts to benefit certain party, legal but frowned upon by many
Swing Districts
winner gets less than 55% of vote, easier to sway one way or another
Majority/Safe Districts
winner gets more than 55%
Incumbency Advantage
people currently in office running for reelection, highly likely to win, more likely in House than in Senate (sen. rep. more of state, better challengers)
Franking Privelige
allows current congressmen to send ads for free to people in district
Pork Barrel Bill
bill that benefits a particular group of people, congressmen pushes for it so can claim credit w/constituents
Speaker of the House
most powerful seat in House, decides which bills will be brought to floor, makes committee assignments, member of party that has House majority
Majority Leader/Majority Floor Leader
most powerful seat in Senate, member of majority party
VP’s role in Congress
president of the senate, votes if there’s a tie, usually too busy to be presiding president
President Pro Tempore
pres. in place of VP, senior member of majority party, 4th in line of presidential succession, not powerful position
Standing committee
permanent committees, handle bills in different policy areas
Joint committee
members from House and Senate
Conference commitee
compromise committee, when different versions of bills pass in different parts of the House/Senate, come together to make one version of bill
Select committee
limited time or permanent committee with specific purpose
Rules committee
most powerful committee in House, decides which bills hit floor, how long given to debate it
caucus
groups congressmen can belong to based on background, allows parties to decide leadership
quorum
minimum number necessary for something to count as official meeting
Committee of the Whole
special case of 100 people making up House session, can’t vote but can have official discussions and vote when more people there, speeds up process
markup
editing process of bill by a committtee/subcommittee
Pigeonhole
bill set aside by committee, ideally will be forgotten
Discharge Petition
allows a bill to be forced out of committee, combats pigeonholes
Fillibuster
action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill in Senate (no time limits on debate)
Log rolling
congresspeople trade votes so their bill will get passed
cloture
people vote to try to stop filibuster, must have 60+ votes to stop, so rarely happens
Christmas Tree Bill
added on bills are like ornaments, a bill that attracts many, often unrelated, floor amendments
sweetener amendments
things added to a bill to make people want to vote for it
killer amendments
things added to a bill to make supporters not want to vote for it
engrossed
the final copy of a bill (including all amendments) as it has been passed by the house or senate
trustee
congressmen trusting their judgment, vote how they want regardless of constituents
delegate
voting how constituents want regardless of personal opinion
politico
situationally, congressmen will trust judgment or vote how constituents want
influences on congressmen’s voting:
constituents (top priority)
advantages of being an incumbent:
name recognition (greatest reason), greater media access, can raise more money, greater campaign experience, casework (solving indiv. constituents’ problems for credit), franking, pork barrel
apportionment
the way the number of Representatives for each state is determined every 10 years, as required by the Constitution
authorization bill/legislative oversight
congress watches to make sure federal agency carries out bill, holds trials sometime to do so
redistributive policy
policies or actions taken by governments that result in wealth being moved from one group of society to another
continuing resolution
when Congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriations bills, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year
incrementalism
increasing budget of agencies/bills by small amounts
reconciliation
a way for Congress to enact legislation on taxes, spending, and the debt limit with only a majority in the Senate, avoiding the threat of a filibuster
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
gives information out, tracks progress of bills, summarizes bills, makes bill info available
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
reviews activities of executive branch, sees if law is being followed and being executed effectively
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
analyzes president’s budget, makes projections about economy’s performance, cost of proposed policies, economic effects of taxing/spending alternatives
Difference between House/Senate
House (controlled debate, more centralized, reps. specialized on few committees, leadership means more)
Senate (unlimited debate, less centralized, reps. generalized on many committees)
rider
bill won’t pass by itself so gets something added to it to help
earmark
“hidden” congressional provision that directs federal government to fund specific project or exempts specific people or groups from paying specific taxes
seniority system
rule for picking committee chairs, less used in modern day, longest serving majority party members would be committee chair (now appointed by Speaker)
