Unit 3: Interactions Among Branches of Government

Question 1

Bicameral legislature

Answer 1

made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives

Question 2

What is the Senate?

Answer 2

• each state is represented equally (each state has two reps and votes)
• new jersey plan

Question 3

What are the requirements for the Senate? How long are the terms? How do they represent the people?

Answer 3

• must be at least 30 years old
• six-year terms meaning they spend more time developing their policies
• less connected to the people they represent because there’s only two senators, thus they have to represent a lot more people
• elected at large, meaning they represent a lot of people and everyone in the state votes for them

Question 4

What is the HoR?

Answer 4

• each state is represented by population (more populous states have more representation, less populous states have less representation)
• Virginia plan

Question 5

What are the requirements for the HoR? How long are the terms? How do they represent the people?

Answer 5

• must be at least 25 years old
• two-year terms
• Closer to the issues that people in their districts care about because they represent a smaller number or groups of people—their districts
• They hold shorter terms, so they have to be more sensitive about their constituents, constantly thinking about reelection
• Less likely to form bipartisan coalitions(groups) in order to pursue various legislative goals because they do not have time for that, and the people they represent has less time

Question 6

How many reps are each state is guaranteed? What is federal cap?

Answer 6

• at least one rep
• federal law caps at 435 reps in total

Question 7

Enumerated Powers

Answer 7

explicitly listed powers for Congress in the Constitution

Question 8

Implied Powers

Answer 8

• given through the necessary and proper (elastic) clause
• the power to pass any law which may be deemed necessary and proper to the execution of enumerated powers

Question 9

power of the purse

Answer 9

• the power to pass a federal budget, control the money, and determine where the money goes
• appropriate or designate money for specific purposes
• if they do not have a federal budget, they do not have money to operate for next year
• mandatory spending

Question 10

power to raise revenue

Answer 10

• accomplishment through income taxes, tariffs (taxes on goods or imports), etc.

Question 11

power to coin money

Answer 11

creates a uniform currency for the nation, determines who’s on the dollar

Question 12

power to declare war

Answer 12

branch that represents people responsible for sending people to war
- the one who decides to declare war should be the very branch that is directly elected by the people

Question 13

power to raise and maintain armed forces

Answer 13

• given to the people’s representatives instead of the president
• space force

Question 14

Who are in the House leadership?

Answer 14

• speaker of the House
• majority and minority leaders
• majority and minority whips

Question 15

Speaker of the House

Answer 15

• House members will choose this leader
• always a member of the majority party

Question 16

Majority and Minority Leaders

Answer 16

• the majority leader is the most powerful member because he sets the legislative agenda, controls when the bills will be heard, and decides which bills
• guide party members in policy-making
• direct debates

Question 17

Majority and Minority Whips

Answer 17

• render party discipline
• make sure party members walk in line with goals
• set the guide post

Question 18

Who are in the Senate Leadership?

Answer 18

• President of the Senate: the official head of the Senate
  
  • VP of the nation
  • non-voting member; only votes to break a tie
• Pro Tempore
  
  • member of the majority party
  • leads the Senate when VP is absent

Question 19

What are Congressional Committees?

Answer 19

• smaller groups of legislators who debate and draft legislation that would otherwise be impossible to do in a large group setting
• draft precise language
• specific groups of people handling healthcare, education, budget

Question 20

What are the different Congressional Committees?

Answer 20

1. Standing Committees
2. Joint Committees
3. Select Committee
4. Conference Committee

Question 21

Standing Committees

Answer 21

• remains from session to session
• deals with issues that are always present (health, education, budget, etc.)
• they remain in spite of the fact that Congress changes every two years

EX; Appropriations Committee, Ways and Means Committee, Committee on Health, Committee on education, committee on the environment, committee on the interior

Question 22

Joint Committee

Answer 22

• involves members from both House and the Senate
• Ex: Joint Committee on the Library, Joint Committee on Printing

Question 23

Select Committee

Answer 23

Temporary committees formed for a specific purpose
Ex: select committee on the Missouri Compromise

Question 24

Conference Committee

Answer 24

• formed if both houses can’t agree on an identical version of a bill
• hammer differences in House and Senate bill

Question 25

How does policy-making work in the House?

Answer 25

House Rules Committee
- gatekeeper of legisation: decide when the votes will happen, assign the bills to different committees, have to pass through house rules
- Use of committee of the whole: relaxes rules for quicker debate on bills and amendments
- use of discharge petition: if a bill gets stuck in committee, a majority can vote to move the bill out of committee onto the floor

Question 26

How does policy-making work in the Senate?

Answer 26

• rules are not as strict
• unlimited debate due to their terms
• Filibuster: any type of delay or obstruct or tactic used to stall a bill by talking for a long time (use by senators); they cannot leave the chamber
• Filibuster can be blocked through Cloture: vote of 60 or 3/5th senators

Question 27

What must happen for the federal budget?

Answer 27

• must pass every year to avoid government shutdown before October–if the continuing resolution is about to end

Question 28

What is mandatory spending?

Answer 28

• mandated by law to be allocated
• things that must be spent every year (by law)
• EX: Medicare/medicaid, social security, SNAP, or welfare programs

Question 29

What is discretionary spending?

Answer 29

what the leftover money is for

Question 30

What is deficit spending?

Answer 30

spending money they do not have (by borrowing) beyond means

Question 31

Republicans have become more ___ while Democrats have become more ____

Answer 31

• conservative (right)
• liberal (left)
• harder for the parties to compromise on ideas–ideas do not overlap anymore and they have a hard time talking to each other in a civil manner

Question 32

What two kinds of situations define a divided government?

Answer 32

1. opposing parties hold majorities in both changes of Congress (118th)
2. One party controls the white house while another party controls one or both of the US congress

Question 33

What are the 4 models of representation?

Answer 33

1. delegate model
2. trustee model
3. politico model
4. partisan model

Question 34

delegate model

Answer 34

• believes they must vote with the will of the people
• believes they are there to represent the people’s beliefs and desires, not their own
• observed mostly in the House since they have limited terms so they need to be for the people to keep their jobs

Question 35

trustee model

Answer 35

• believes they have been entrusted with the people’s faith and therefore must vote according to their conscience
• can vote against the will of the people if they believe it to be the right thing to do

Question 36

politico model

Answer 36

• a hybrid of the other two models
• acts like a delegate when it’s clear their constituents feel strongly about an issue
• acts like a trustee if their constituents do not feel strongly
• switch when it’s convenient for their reelection chances (mostly in senate)

Question 37

partisan model

Answer 37

• votes along party lines
• more common in recent years due to hyper-polarization

Question 38

redistricting

Answer 38

• occurs every ten years due to the census showing population changes
• redrawing district boundaries after the Census reserved by the State legislature

Question 39

Gerrymandering

Answer 39

• districting to gain a political advocate (benefits one group or party over another)
• bad because they draw around committees where they can predict which parties will vote
• the result is polarized Congress ( parties gain majority in Congress as well)