Unit II Flashcards
Congress, Presidency, Bureaucracy, and Federal Courts
Terms and conditions for House of Representatives
serves 2 years, must be 25+ y.o., must be US citizen for 7+ years, must live in the state they represent. There are 435 seats
Terms and conditions for Senator
serves 6 tears, must be 30+ y.o., must be US citizen for 9+ years, and must live in the state they represent. There are 100 seats
define districting
Occurs after a census to equally spread the population into districts
define Gerrymandering
inhibiting voting strength of certain demographics. Gaining a vote advantage through cracking and packing
What are incumbents
Politicians who usually wins elections because of money, visibility, constituent services, and franking privilege to mail at the government’s expense.
Who can tax?
Only Congress
How do most bills die
Through Committee
Leader of the House of Representatives
Speaker of the House
Leader of Senate
The VP, however there is an informal leader, the pro tempore that usually does everything
How can people delay a vote on a bill in Senate
filibuster by not speaking and making people leave
What is a cluster motion
A motion to stop a talk in congress
What is Soft and hard money
Soft is infinite donations that someone can give to a candidate. Hard money is regulated money donated to a candidate
What is the bipartisan reform act
Banned soft money and limited contributions of interest groups and nation parties
What is a line item veto and can the president do it?
When the president only declines certain parts of a bill. They have not been able to line item veto since 1998.
Who must treaties from the POTUS(president of the United States) go through before being approves
Senate
What is a Bureaucracy
a large complex organization of appointed officials. In the federal government, it’s part of the executive branch but is known to operative as it’s “own branch”
What are the three points of the Iron Triangle
- bureaucracy
- Interest Groups
- Congress
What is the spoils system?
Governments officials would be hired based on who they knew and how much power they had
What is the Pendleton Act?
The Pendleton Act removed the spoils system and required government jobs to be earned through merit
What do regulatory agencies do?
They govern and standardize actions
What are the enumerated powers of the president?
- Executive order
- Command armies for 60 days without needing to consult congress
- Veto bills
- Represent the USA in foreign countries/making treaties
- nominating/appointing officials
- enforce laws with the bureaucracy
What does the Supreme Court do?
Judge if an action is constitutional based on the constitution of the US.
What is the Rule of 4 in the Supreme Court?
If at least 4 judges in the Supreme Court vote to see a case, it will be seen.
What is Judicial restraint?
A judge will judge a case based on past cases
What is Judicial activism?
A judge will decide differently on a case compared to the past in order to meet the modern justice standard.
