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Pol_Sci 1100 > Chapter 11: Congressional Structure > Flashcards

Chapter 11: Congressional Structure Flashcards

1
Q

5 informal structures (norms) in congress:

A 
universalism
reciprocity
specialization
seniority
civility
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2
Q

universalism

A

distributing the benefits of legislation in a way that serves the interests of as many states and districts as possible (better in senate)

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3
Q

reciprocity

A

member votes for a vill that they may not otherwise support bc a colleague strongly favors it, and in exchange the colleague votes for a bill the member feels strongly about (If I scratch your back, you scratch mine)

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4
Q

specialization

A

expertise of a member of congress on a specific issue or area of policy (more common in house)

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5
Q

seniority

A

choosing the mimer who has served the longest of particular committee to be the committee chair

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6
Q

civility

A
  • differences between members of congress are philosophical not personal
  • parties to a debate are entitled to the presumption that their views are legitimate even if not correct
  • those on all sides are persons of good will and integrity motivated by conviction
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7
Q

speaker of the house

A
  • elected leader of the house
  • influence legislative agenda, make committee assignments, set committee schedules, & develop overall party strategy
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8
Q

majority leader

A
  • elected leader of the party holding the majority of the seats in the house or senate
  • one of the national spokespersons for the party and help w/ day-to-day operation
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9
Q

majority whip

A

person that oversees whip system (organization of house leaders who meet regularly to discuss legislative stately and scheduling)

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10
Q

information dissemination

A

the whips then pass along info to colleagues in their respective parties and indicate the party’s position on a given bill

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11
Q

information gathering

A

whips also take a headcount of party member sinter house on specific votes and communicate this info to party leaders

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12
Q

coalition building

A

if a vote looks close, whips try to persuade members to support the party’s position`

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13
Q

caucus chair

A

run party meetings to elect floor leaders, make committee assignments, and set legislative agendas

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14
Q

minority leader

A

elected head of the party holding the minority of seats in the house or senate; less powerful than majority leader

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15
Q

which leadership has more power?

A

House (bc individual senators have more power than reps)

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16
Q

filibuster

A

tactic used by senators to block a bill by continuing to hold the floor and speak until the bill’s supporters back down

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17
Q

cloture

A

a procedure through which the senate can limit he amount of time spent debating g bill (cutting off the filibuster), if a supermajority of 60 senators agree

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18
Q

Rules Committee

A
  • exerts considerable control over the nature of debate
  • defines time limits
  • restrict the degree to which a bill can be amended
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19
Q

open rules

A

conditions placed on a legislative debate by the house rules committee allowing relevant amendments to a bill

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20
Q

modified rules

A

conditions placed on a legislative debate by the house rules committee allowing certain amendment sot a bill while barring others

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21
Q

closed rules

A

conditions placed on a legislative debate by the house rules committee prohibiting amendments to a bill

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22
Q

3 differences between house and senate:

A

continuity of membership
reporting of bills
floor process

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23
Q

continuity of membership

A

senate: 2/3 members return to next session w/o facing reelection (more stable)
house: up for reelection every 2 years

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24
Q

reporting of bills

A

house: bill is reported from committee and goes to bottom of legislative calendar (can be changed by rules committee)
senate: if majority leader wants bill to be debated, they put it on legislative agenda either through a motion or unanimous consent

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25
Q

floor process

A

senate: unanimous consent (more individualistic)
house: majoritarian

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26
Q

How a bill becomes a law (basic aspects)

A
  • conference committee works out any differences between house and senate versions of the bill
  • conference committee version is given final approval on the floor of each chamber
  • president either signs or vetoes final version
  • if bill is vetoed, both chambers can attempt to override the veto w/ 2/3s vote
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27
Q

ways legislation doesn’t follow process:

A
  • in some congresses 20% of major bills bypass committee system (discharge petition or special rule in house)
  • about 1/3 major bills are adjusted post-committee before bill reaches floor
  • summit meeting between president and congressional leaders may bypass of jump-start normal legislative process
  • omnibus legislation
28
Q

omnibus legislation

A

large bills that often coverall several topics and may contain extraneous projects

29
Q

trustee

A

member of congress represents constituents’ interests, but also takes into consideration notional, collective, and moral concerns that sometimes cause member to vote against constituents’ interests

30
Q

delegate

A

member of congress loyally represents a constituents’ direct interests

31
Q

politico

A

member of congress who acts as a delegate on issues that constituents care about and as a trustee on more-complex or less-salient issues

32
Q

MS: pic of guy shaking hand

A

Jason Chaffetz (Utah)

33
Q

4 types of committees

A

standing
select
joint
conference

34
Q

standing committees

A

committees that are permanent part of the house or senate structure, holding more importance and authority than other committees

35
Q

select committees

A
  • committees in house or senate created to a dress a specific issue for one or two terms
  • primarily used to gather info, provide policy options, and draw attention to an issue
36
Q

joint committees

A

committees that contain member sod both house and senate but have limited authority

37
Q

conference committees

A

temporary committees created to negotiate the differences between the house and senate versions of a piece of legislation that thaw passed through both chambers

38
Q

distributive theory

A

members will seek committee assignments to bed serve their district’s interests, the leadership will accommodate those requests, and ht floor will respect the views of the committees in institutional-level reciprocity

39
Q

informational theory

A

committee system does not exist simply to further members’ electoral goals; it is also corrective to individualism bc the structure of committees creates policy expertise

40
Q

power of the purse

A

member sod congress think an agency is not properly implementing their programs, they can simply cut off the funds to that agency

41
Q

hearings

A

by summoning administration officials and agency heads to public hearings, congress can use the media spotlight to focus attention on problems w/in the bureaucracy or on issues that have been overlooked

42
Q

fire alarm oversight

A

a lot of times, members of congress wait until there is a crisis before the spring into action (different from patrol oversight)

43
Q

patrol oversight

A

involves constant vigilance in overseeing the bureaucracy

44
Q

legislative vetoes

A

in writing laws, congress often just gives agencies broad directives; however, congress is reluctant to give full control
(legislative veto allows them to overturn problematic agency decisions)

45
Q

advice and consent

A

senate gets to provide advice and consent for all presidential appointments and approval of treaties

46
Q

principal-agent game

A

interaction between a principal (such as president or congress), who needs something done, an agent (such as a bureaucrat), who is responsible for carrying out the principal’s orders

47
Q

problem of control

A

difficulty faced by congress in ensuring that when bureaucrats implement policies, they follow congress’ intentions but still have enough discretion to use their expertise

48
Q

regulatory capture

A

a situation in which bureaucrats favor the interests of the groups or corporations they are supposed to regulate at the expense of the general public

49
Q

bureaucratic drift

A

bureaucrats’ tendency to implement policies in a way that favors their own political objects rather than following the original intentions of the legislation

50
Q

descriptive representation

A

when a member of congress shares the characteristics of his or her constituents

51
Q

substantive representation

A

when a member of congress represents constituents’ interests and policy concerns

52
Q

redistricting

A

redrawing the geographic boundaries of legislative districts; happens every 10 years

53
Q

gerrymandering

A 
attempting to use the process of redrawing district boundaries to benefit a political party, protect incumbent, or change the proportion of minority voters in a district
4 types:
partisan
incumbent
racial
candidate
54
Q

partisan

A

elected officials from one party draw lines that benefit candidates form their party and hurt candidates from other parties

55
Q

incumbent

A

lines drawn to benefit current group of incumbents

56
Q

racial

A

redistricting used to help or hurt changes of minority legislative candidates

57
Q

candidate

A

district plans that favor certain individuals, particularly state legislators planning to run for the house

58
Q

communities of interest

A

districts must capture communities of interest, meaning they tend to group like-minded voters into same district

59
Q

compactness

A

districts must be compact, meaning they do not have extremely bizarre shapes

60
Q

contiguity

A

district is contiguous if all the lines that create it are connected

61
Q

Richard Fenno

A 
argues members of congress are motivated by 3 goals:
reelection (most important)
power w/in congress
good public policy
(target)
62
Q

David Mahew

A

members of congress are single-minded seekers of reelection:
advertising
credit claiming
position taking

63
Q

advertising

A

appeals or appearances w/o issue content that get the member’s name before the public in a favorable way

64
Q

credit claiming

A

member of congress takes credit for something of value to the voter

65
Q

position taking

A

an public statement about a topic of interest to constituents or interest groups

66
Q

MS company that Dietrich eats

A

morning star

Pol_Sci 1100 (15 decks)

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