Midterm 2

Question 1

Hyperpartisanship

Answer 1

commitment to party so strong it can transcend other commitments.

Question 2

Polarization

Answer 2

greater ideological (liberal vs conservative) differences between parties and increased ideological consensus within the parties.

Question 3

Gerrymandering

Answer 3

redistricting to benefit a particular group.

Question 4

Partisan Gerrymandering

Answer 4

redistricting controlled by the majority party in a state’s legislature, to increase the number of districts that party can expect to carry

Question 5

racial gerrymandering

Answer 5

redistricting to enhance or reduce the chances that a racial or ethnic group will elect members to the legislature

Question 6

Incumbency advantage

Answer 6

the electoral edge afforded to those already in office

Question 7

Standing commitees

Answer 7

permanent committees responsible for legislation in particular policy areas

Question 8

House Rules Committee

Answer 8

the committee that determines how and when debate on a bill will take place.

Question 9

select committees

Answer 9

a committee appointed to deal with an issue or a problem not suited to a standing committee

Question 10

joint committee

Answer 10

combined House- Senate committees formed to coordinate activities and expedite legislation in a certain area.

Question 11

conference committee

Answer 11

temporary committees formed to reconcile differences in House and Senate versions of a Bill.

Question 12

Head of State

Answer 12

the apolitical, unifying role of the president as a symbolic representative of the whole country

Question 13

Head of Government

Answer 13

the political role of the president as a leader of a political party and chief arbiter of who gets what resources.

Question 14

Impeachment

Answer 14

the process used to charge, try, and remove public officials for misconduct while in office.

Question 15

The first 100 days

Answer 15

refers to the beginning of a leading politician’s term in office.

Question 16

Inherent Powers

Answer 16

presidential powers implied but not stated explicitly in the Constitution

Question 17

Cabinet

Answer 17

a presidential advisory group selected by the president, made up of the vice president, the heads of the federal executive departments, and other high officials to whom the president elects to give cabinet status.

Question 18

Constitutional Powers of the President

Answer 18

chief administrator, commander-in-chief, chief foreign policy maker (negotiation of treaties), State of the Union Address, presidential veto, executive orders, pardoning power,

Question 19

Expectations gap

Answer 19

the gap between popular expectations of what modern presidents can do, and their constitutional powers to get things done.

Question 20

Honeymoon period

Answer 20

the time following an election when a president’s popularity is high and congressional relations are likely to be productive

Question 21

Divided Government

Answer 21

the situation that exists when political rule is split between two parties, in which one controls the White House and the other controls both houses of Congress

Question 22

iron triangles

Answer 22

the phenomenon of a clientele group, a congressional committee, and a bureaucratic agency cooperating to make mutually beneficial policy.

Question 23

Pendleton Act

Answer 23

the 1883 civil service reform that required the hiring and promoting of civil servants to be based on merit not patronage

Question 24

Agency Capture

Answer 24

a process whereby regulatory agencies come to be protective of and influenced by the industries they were established to regulate.

Question 25

Criminal Laws

Answer 25

laws prohibiting behavior the government has determined to be harmful to society; violation of a criminal law is called a crime

Question 26

Civil Laws

Answer 26

laws regulating interactions between individuals, violation of civil law is called a tort.

Question 27

Executive Orders

Answer 27

clarifications of congressional policy issued by the president and having the full force of law

Question 28

Marbury v. Madison

Answer 28

the landmark case the established the U.S. Supreme Court’s power of judicial review

Question 29

Judicial Restraint

Answer 29

the view that the courts should reject any active lawmaking functions and stick to judicial interpretations of the past.

Question 30

D.C. v Heller

Answer 30

ruling on the second amendment, protects an individuals right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service in a militia

Question 31

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Answer 31

removed any limits on political expenditures by corporations and unions.

Question 32

Roe v. Wade

Answer 32

right to privacy did encompass the right to an abortion, treated the three trimesters differently limiting late term abortions.

Question 33

reappointment

Answer 33

a reallocation of congressional seats among the states every ten years, following the census.

Question 34

cycle effect

Answer 34

the predictable rise and fall of a president’s popularity at different stages of a term in office.

Question 35

Supreme Court Make up

Answer 35

Sonia Sotomayer (D), Ruth Ginsburg (D), Elena Kagan (D), Stephen Breyer (D), Brett Kavanaugh (R), John Roberts (R), Neil Gorsuch (R), Samuel Alito (R), Clarence Thomas (R)

Question 36

Procedural Laws

Answer 36

laws that establish how laws are applied and enforced- how legal proceedings take place

Question 37

Substantive laws

Answer 37

laws whose content, or substance, defines what we can or cannot do