Unit 4 Study Guide

Question 1

House of Representatives Info

Answer 1

435 members
2 Year Terms
Faster, Efficient process

Question 2

Senate Info

Answer 2

100 Members
6 year terms
Slower, Deliberative process

Question 3

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Answer 3

1. Introduction
2. Committee + Subcommittee Action
3. Rules Committee (House)
4. Floor Action
5. Conference Committee (House vs. Senate versions of bill)
6. Presidential Action

Question 4

Twenty Second Amendment

Answer 4

(1951) Presidents cannot serve more than 2 terms/more than 10 years

Question 5

Twenty Fifth Amendment

Answer 5

The Vice President succeeds the president (if something happens); president nominates and Congress confirms new vice president

Question 6

White House Office/Staff (WHO)

Answer 6

Immediate Staff of the President
- Circular & Pyramid Methods
- Appointments do NOT require Senate consent

Question 7

Treaties vs. Executive Agreements (Foreign Policy)

Answer 7

Treaties
- require Senate ratification
Executive Agreements
- do NOT require Senate ratification
- deals between President and a foreign nation’s leader

Question 8

Signing Statements

Answer 8

Written comments a president attaches to a bill he’s signing
- Controversy: can be his interpretation of the law or intentions on enforcing it (critics say it’s too similar to line item veto)

Question 9

Executive Privilege

Answer 9

the right of the president to not disclose conversations between himself and his advisers

Question 10

Presidential Vetoes & Overrides

Answer 10

Veto (subject to override by Congress 2/3 majority)
Pocket Veto (president doesn’t sign bill within 10 days but Congress adjourns during this time)

Question 11

Sources of Presidential Power (Constitutional & Informal)

Answer 11

Constitutional
- Chief Legislator, Executive, Commander, Diplomat, & Jurist
Informal
- Mass Media attention
- personality/character
- Unity of the office
- Delegation by Congress (ex. they bow to him in times of crisis, executive agencies fill in holes of broadly worded legislation)re

Question 12

Congressional Redistricting & Gerrymandering

Answer 12

States required redrawing district lines every 10 year census due to population changes
Gerrymandering: redistricting that purposefully favors 1+ groups of people in voting

Question 13

Executive orders

Answer 13

• Have the power of laws
• do Not need congressional approval
• can be struck down by Supreme Court

Question 14

Most Important Senate Committees

Answer 14

• Finance: tax bills
• Foreign Relations: foreign affairs (highly prestigious)
• Judiciary: screens judicial nominees
• Appropriations: spending

Question 15

Most Important House Committees

Answer 15

• Rules Committee: sets calendar, debate rules (most powerful)
• Ways and Means: tax bills
• Appropriations: spending
• Committee of the Whole: issues on H or R Union Calendar (more open & relaxed exchange of views, includes all members, 100 member quorum, dissolves upon examining a bill)

Question 16

Representatives vs. Senators

Answer 16

Representatives (435)
- 2 year terms
- 25+ years old
- 7+ consecutive year residency
- Closer to public
Senators (100)
- 6 year terms
- 30+ years old
- 9+ consecutive year residency
- More removed from public

Question 17

Committee & Subcommittee System

Answer 17

• analyze legislation
• investigates executive branch as needed
• investigates exec. branch agencies on-going

Question 18

Iron Triangle

Answer 18

policy making relationship between Congressional committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups

Question 19

Casework

Question 20

Impeachment

Answer 20

personal work done by a member of Congress for his constituents

Question 21

House of Representatives Leadership

Answer 21

Speaker (partisan)
- presides over House
- appoints committee member (including Rules Committee + chairman)
Majority/Minority Leader (partisan)
- right hand man of speaker
- floor leaders & legislative strategists
Majority/Minority Whips
- ensure party unity & discipline
- links party members & leaders
Rules Committee
- sets legislative calendar (agenda
- issues rules for debate and amendment

Question 22

Senate Leadership

Answer 22

Vice President
- ceremonially presides over Senate
President Pro Tempore
- most senior majority member
- ceremonially presides over Senate when VP is gone

Question 23

Congressional Chairpersons & Seniority System

Answer 23

Committee Chairmen are selected by secret ballot; Seniority System is generally followed (oldest gets position/most power)

Question 24

Piegonholing

Answer 24

postponing a bill in committee indefinitely; requires 218 House votes to discharge

Question 25

OMB & CBO & Budget

Answer 25

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) (Executive) - prepares annual budget and reviews federal programs Congressional Budget Office (CBO) - checks OMB (response to imperial presidency)

Question 26

Senatorial Courtesy

Answer 26

tradition in which the President consults with the senators within a state in which an appointment is to be made

Question 27

Midterms vs. General Elections

Answer 27

Midterms (Decides Congress Party) - 35 Senate seats - 435 Representative seats - Happens midway every 4 year presidential election cycle General Election - Decides the president

Question 28

War Powers Resolution

Answer 28

(1973 - Vietnam War) President can only send troops to hostile lands without Congressional Approval if: - Congress is notified within 48 hours - Troops withdrawn after 60 days (extra 30 for safety of troops) - Congress is consulted if troops are to engage in combat - Congress can pass a resolution (not subject to presidential veto) to withdraw troops

Question 29

Congressional Funding

Answer 29

Congress controls the "purse" and therefore can control the other branches through control of funding

Question 30

Conflicts between the President & Congress

Answer 30

President can veto Congress Congress can ignore President's desired legislation agenda Congress controls funding

Question 31

Legislative Oversight

Answer 31

ongoing process of congressional monitoring of the executive branch to ensure that the latter complies with the law

Question 32

Civil Service System (Spoils vs. Merit)

Answer 32

Spoils system: appointing people as a reward for loyalty Merit system: appointing people based on competitive exams, performance, qualifications, etc.

Question 33

Pendleton Act (1881)

Answer 33

Created a civil service in which a merit system would be used to fill government jobs

Question 34

Civil Service Workers

Answer 34

(AKA public servant/employee) a person employed in the public sector by a government department/agency

Question 35

Bureaucratic/Administrative Discretion

Answer 35

The Bureaucracy has discretionary authority on choosing how to interpret broadly worded laws from Congress

Question 36

Bureaucratic Powers & Responsibilities

Answer 36

- Implementing and enforcing laws - advising White House - helping Congress with legislation drafting & testifying when necessary

Question 37

How the Presidency and Bureaucracy Control Each Other

Answer 37

President: - appoints (and can fire) top level bureaucrats BUT > requires Senate confirmation & most bureaucrats cannot be fired by president - can reorganize executive branch BUT > must go through Congress - proposes agency budgets BUT > must go through Congress

Question 38

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Answer 38

Redistricting counts as a justiciable question under 14th Amendment equal protection clause - opened Supreme Court to more "political" issues

Question 39

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Answer 39

You can't redistrict based solely on race - created a roadblock for future attempts to create majority-minority voting districts

Question 40

Levels of Federal Courts

Answer 40

1. Supreme Court Almost always Appellate Jurisdiction (but CAN have Original) 2. Court of Appeals Appellate Jurisdiction 3. District Courts Original Jurisdiction

Question 41

Types of Jurisdiction (think: authority)

Answer 41

Exclusive: only Federal court can try a case Concurrent: both federal and state courts can try a case Original: first to hear a case Appellate: can hear the a subsequent appeal (from a lower court)

Question 42

The Justice Department: Attorney General, Solicitor General, & US Attorneys

Answer 42

Attorney General - Pres. Appointment, Senate consent - head of justice department Solicitor General - Pres. Appointment, Senate consent - represents US government in Supreme Court - decides what role the Fed Government's role in these cases - "10th Justice" of Supreme Court due to influence US Attorneys - 1+ for each district court (94 total) - appointed by president for 4 year terms - Senatorial courtesy applies

Question 43

Federalist No. 70

Question 44

Federalist No. 78

Question 45

Supreme Court Opinion Types

Answer 45

Unanimous: everyone agreed Majority: main reasoning for majority opinion Concurring: alternate reasoning for majority opinion Dissenting: reasoning for minority opinion Writing the Opinion: (If Chief Justice is in the majority, he assigns it, if not the most senior majority Justice assigns it)

Question 46

Supreme Court Judge Appointments

Answer 46

Presidential appointment, Senate confirmation - one of the most long lasting impacts a president can have on the government

Question 47

Rule of Four

Answer 47

If at least 4 Supreme Court Justices want to hear a case, then they do

Question 48

Stare Decisis

Answer 48

Latin for “let the decision stand.” Supreme Court policy of following precedent in deciding cases.

Question 49

Writ of Certiorari

Answer 49

allows a lower court to deliver its record of a case to be reviewed by a higher court

Question 50

Judicial Activism

Answer 50

philosophy that the courts should take an active role in solving problems/not be afraid to make landmark to adapt with the times

Question 51

Judicial Restraint

Answer 51

philosophy that the courts should restrain themselves from being involved in political questions and instead focus on interpreting law rather than making law

Question 52

How Congress controls the Bureaucracy

Answer 52

- control over the funding of agencies - legislative oversight - can charge agency employees with stuff - appointment confirmation - Government Accountability Office (GAO) (watchdog ensuring money is spent in accordance with Congressional law)

Question 53

Federal Court Powers & Checks

Answer 53

They can make decisions but can't enforce them

Question 54

Cabinet

Answer 54

Heads of Cabinet Departments & 5 "Cabinet Rank" others - meet irregularly at call of president - divided loyalties (to president and to own departments)