Unit 3 Exam Flashcards
What is the main function of Congress?
they have the power to alter many of the rules that determine who wins and who loses in American political life and the narratives that define the conflicts
Why does America have a love-hate relationship with Congress?
the behavior that helps a member of Congress keep their job doesn’t always give the institution more population, however, voters want their representatives in Washington to take care of their local or state interests and to ensure that their home districts get a fair share of national resources… the rules that determine how Congress works were designed by the founders to produce slow, careful lawmaking based on compromise that can often seem motionless to an impatient public
What is representation?
the efforts of elected officials to look out for the interests of those who elect them
What is national lawmaking?
the creation of policy to address the problems and needs of the entire nation
What is Partisanship?
loyalty to a party that helps shape how members see the world, define problems and identify appropriate solutions
What is constituency?
the voters in a state or district
What is policy representation?
refers to congressional work for laws that advance the economic and social interests of the constituency. FOR EX. house members and senators from petroleum-producing states can be safely predicted to vote in ways favorable to the profitability of the oil companies members from the Plains states try to protect subsidies for wheat farmers etc.
What is Allocative Representation
congressional work to secure projects, services and funds for the represented district
What are Pork Barrel Projects?
aka earmarks. provisions in various appropriations documents or the budget that direct funding for quite specific purposes. FOR EX. high way construction or the establishment of a research institution
What is Casework?
legislative work on behalf of individual constituents to solve their problems with government agencies and programs. FOR EX. Senators and representatives also represent their states or districts by taking care of the individual problems or constituents especially problems that involve the federal bureaucracy
What is Franking?
allows members to use the US mail at no charge, even though this perk is less valuable as members take greater advantage of social media to present themselves to their constituents
What is symbolic representation?
efforts of members of Congress to stand for American ideals or to identify with common constituency values
What is hyperpartisanship?
the raising of party above all other commitments
What is party polarization?
the greater ideological differences between the parties and increased ideological consensus within the parties
What is bipartisanship?
working with members of the opposite party, is increasingly rare, especially when the very act of cooperating with the other side can be seen as a betrayal of one’s own. (people tend to get butthurt)
What is Bicameral Legislature?
A legislature with two chambers ex. british parliament made up of the house of commons and the house of lords
What’s the difference between Senate and House?
Senate is less formal with only 100 members whereas House has 435 members and rules hierarchy in order to function efficiently. House impeached whereas the Senate tries the official. Senate is given the responsibility of confirming appointments to the executive and judicial branches and of sharing the treaty-making power with the president.
What does Congress give the power of?
to regulate commerce, the exclusive power to raise and spend money for the national government, the power to provide for economic infrastructure (roads, postal service, money, patents etc.), and significant powers in foreign policy including the powers to declare war, ratify treaties, and to raise and support the armed forces
What is Congressional oversight?
a committee’s investigation of the executive and of government agencies to ensure they are acting as Congress intends
Advice and Consent
The constitutional obligation that the Senate approve certain executive appointments (senators sometimes use their confirmation powers to do more than advise on and consent to the appointment at hand)
Reapportionment
the process in which the 435 House seats are reallocated among the states after each ten-year census yields a new population count
Redistricting
districts within the states have to be redrawn to keep them relatively equal in population
Gerrymandering
the process of drawing district lines to benefit one group or another and it can result in some extremely strange shapes by the time the state politicians are through
Partisan Gerrymandering
the process in a particular state legislature whereby the majority party draws districts to maximize the number of House seats their can win
Racial Gerrymandering
occurs when district lines are drawn to favor or disadvantage an ethnic or racial group. FOR EX. many years states in the Deep South drew district lines to ensure that black voters would not constitute an African American to Congress
1965 Voting Rights Act
intended to ease the way for African Americans to exercise their voting rights
Strategic Politicians
Office-seekers who base the decision to run on a rational calculation that they will be successful
What questions do strategic politicians ask when acting rationally and carefully in deciding whether a race is worth running?
Is this a district or state I can win? Who is my opponent likely to be? Can I get the funds necessary to run a winning campaign? What kind of year is this?
What is the Coat-tail effect?
the added votes received by congressional candidates of a winning presidential party
Incumbency Advantage
refers to the edge in visibility experience, organization and fundraising ability possessed by the people already hold the job
Midterm Loss
the tendency for the presidential party to lose congressional seats in off-year elections
Descriptive Representation
the idea that an elected body should mirror demographically the population it represents FOR EX. the 1990s representation of women and people of color began to improve though not of poor or less educated Americans
Majority Party
Decides the rules for the chamber and gets to fill the top leadership posts such as the Speaker of the House, the majority leader in the Senate, and the chairs of all the committees and subcommittees
What is Speaker of the House?
elected by the majority party as the person who presides over floor deliberations is the most powerful House member
Seniority System
the accumulation of power and authority in conjunction with the length of time spent in the office. This was reformed in the 1970s by a movement that weakened the grip of chairs and gave some power back to the committees and subcommittees but especially to the Speaker and the party caucuses
Congress’ four types of committees
Standing, Select, Joint and Conference
Standing Committee
permanent committees responsible for legislation in particular policy areas
House Rules Committee
A committee that determines how and when debate on a bill will take place; exists only in the House of Representatives: provides a “rule” for each bill that specifies when it will be debated, how long debate can last, how it can be amended, and so on. Because the house is so large, the debate would quickly become chaotic without the organization and structure provided by the committee
Select Committee
a committee appointed to deal with an issue or a problem not suited to a standing committee; committees are usually temporary and do not recommend legislation per see. They are used to gather information on specific issues. For example their subcommittee on the Covid Crisis that Pelosi established in 2020 to oversee the $2 trillion CARES Act or to conduct an investigation as did the select committee on Benghazi, established by Boehner in 2014 to investigate the deaths or four American diplomates in Libya in 2012
Joint Committees
temporary committees made up of members of both houses of Congress commissioned to resolves these differences, after which the bills go back to each house for a final vote
Fragmentation
how legislation is broken into bits, each considered individually in committees
Norms of Conduct
informal rules that establish accepted ways of doing things
Legislative Agenda
the slate of proposals and issues that representatives think it worthwhile to consider and act on
Policy Entrepreneurship
the search for the right issues to push at the right time - important in setting the congressional policy agenda, and it can reap considerable political benefits for those associated with important initiatives
Legislative Process: Moving Through Committee:
First: the bill has to be referred to a committee, Second the bills move on the subcommittees, where they may or may not get serious consideration. Third: bills that subcommittees decide to consider will have hearings, testimony from experts, interest groups, executive department secretaries and undersecretaries and even other members of Congress
Head of State
the symbol of the hopes and dreams of the people, responsible for enhancing national unity by representing that which is common and good in the nation EX Great Britain’s queen (now king)
Head of Government
Presidents are supposed to run the government, make law, and function as the head of a political party
Chief Administrator
the president is the chief executive officer of the country the person who more than anyone else is help responsible for agencies of the national government and the implementation of national policy
Cabinet
people who report to the president and oversee the work of implementation
Commander in Chief
the head of the command structure for the entire military establishment. The constitution gives congress the power to declare war, but as commander in chief the president has the practical ability to wage war
Chief foreign policy maker
this role is not spelled out in the constitution but this is how the president is the primary shaper of relations with other nations
executive agreements
presidential arrangements with other countries that create foreign policy without the need for senate approval
state of the union address
delivered before the full congress every January is a major statement of the president’s policy agenda
Presidential Veto
A president who objects to a bill passed by the house and the senate can veto it, sending it bak to congress with a message indicating the reasons
Executive Orders
supposed to clarify how laws passed by Congress are to be implemented by specific agencies
Signing Statements
a quasi-legislative that can significantly increase the president’s role as a policymaker, independent of Congress
Senatorial Courtesy
the tradition of granting senior senators of the president’s party considerable power over federal judicial appointments in their home states
Solicitor General
the third-ranking member of the Justice Department, a presidential appointee whose job is to argue cases for the government before the Supreme Court
Pardoning Power
allows a president to exempt a person, convicted or not from punishment or crime FOR EX. Kim Kardashian getting Trump to pardon Alice Johnson for a first-time offense
Traditional Presidency
the founder’s vision of limited executive power
Inherent Powers
presidential powers implied but not stated explicitly in the Constitution
Modern Presidency
the trend toward a higher degree of executive power since the 1930s
Weak Presidency
refers to presidents who do not excel at managing their executive offices
Expectations gap
the gap between popular expectations of what presidents can and should do and their constitutional powers to get things done
Going Public
based on the expectation that public support will put pressure on other politicians to give presidents what they want
Cycle Effect
refers to the tendency for most presidents to begin their terms of office with relatively high popularity ratings, which decline as they move through their four-year terms
Honeymoon period
the time following an election when a president’s popularity is high and congressional relations are likely to be productive
Legislative Liaison
the office that specializes in determining what members of Congress are most concerned about, what they need, and how legislation can be tailored to get their support
Divided Government
the situation that exists when political rule is split between two parties, in which one controls the White House and the other controls one or both houses of Congress
Executive Office of the President
a collection of organizations that form the president’s own bureaucracy
Office of Management and Budget
helps the president to exert control over the departments and agencies of the federal bureaucracy by overseeing all their budgets
White House Office
the more than four hundred employees within the EOP who work most closely and directly with the president
Council of Economic Advisors
to predict for presidents where the economy is going and to suggest ways to achieve economic growth without much inflation
National Security Council
gives the president daily updates about events around the world
Chief of Staff
who is responsible for the operation of all White House personnel
Presidential Style
the image that presidents project act represents how they would like to be perceived at home and abroad
What are the characteristics of a Parliamentary System?
No direct vote for a chief exec from citizens; vote only for one or more members of the legislature then the legislators choose a prime minister then the prime minister then designates a cabinet; Legislative and Executive functions are FUSED, can be fast; Used by Britain
Presidential System
Used by the US; citizens vote “directly” for a chief executive; executives designate cabinet members, who are NOT current members of the legislature; Legislative and Executive functions are separate (divided government) and tends to move very slowly
