Term
| Descriptive Representation |
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Definition
| Elected member of Congress supports interests of their race, socioeconomic group or geographic area of birth |
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Term
| Substantive Representation |
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Definition
| Elected member of Congress supports an agenda based on their personal & political part views |
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| Trends of Descriptive Representation |
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Definition
Higher levels of satisfaction w/ representatives who are same race or ethnic group
(Think interests are more represented based on that don't even know part views) |
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Definition
| Member of Congress who represents voter interests while also taking into account national, collective & moral concerns that sometimes cause the member to vote against the preference of a majority of voters |
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| Member of Congress who loyally represents the voters direct interests |
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Term
Four Concentric Circles
(Congressional perception of the consitiuency) |
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Definition
P.P.R.G.
Various parts of a district that a member represents
Personal (Advisors, friends, family)
Primary (Strongest Supporters)
Reelection (Those who vote for the member)
Geographic (The entire district) |
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Term
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Definition
| Process of assigning the 435 seats in the House of Reps to the states based increase/decrease in population |
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Definition
The redrawing of the geographic boundaries of legislative districts
Happens every 10 years to ensure that districts remain roughly equal in population |
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Definition
| Manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class |
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Term
| Three Gerrymandering Strategies |
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Definition
C.P.T.
Cracking = splinters minority populations into small pieces across several districts, so that a big group ends up w/ a very little chance to impact any single election
Packing = Pushing as many miniority voters as possible into a few super-concentrated districts & draining the population's voting power from anywhere else
Tacking = Going out & creating a district for these groups |
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Term
| The Incumbency Advantage in Congressional Elections |
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Definition
Relative infrequency w/ which members of Congress are defeated in their attempts for REELECTION
District home style = rooted in the diversity of congressional districts & states which congressmen develop a way of relating to the district by creating a homestyle (How they present themselves in district & way which they explain their policy positions)
Campaign Fundraising = Few ppl can raise as much money as an incumbent because it takes about 1 million to have a chance & much more to have a good chance
Constituency service = WORK THE DISTRICTS....take every opportunity to meet w/ voters & listen to their concerns |
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Term
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Definition
| Head of the Majority Party in the House of Reps, usually does not participate in debate and rarely votes, administers oath of office to members, calling the House to order, preserving order & decorum, recognizes members to speak on House floor, and makes rulings about House procedures |
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Term
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Definition
Chief spokesperson for the Majority Party
Manage/schedule legaislative and executive business of senate |
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Term
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Definition
Majority/Minority position depends on who is dominant party at time
Responsible for ensuring that important votes have the desired outcome for their party on major issues and also make sure that legislators are present for important votes |
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Term
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Definition
The head of the minority party in both Senate & House
Leads debate for minority & negotiate w/ majority party |
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Term
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Definition
Presides over Senate when Vice President is absent
"for the time being"
Mostly an honorary position & often given to the majority Senator who's held office the longest |
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Term
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Definition
UPPER CHAMBER of U.S. Congress 2 Senators from each state 6 Terms
Powers include: voting supreme court justices, fed judge, ambassadors, raitifcation of treaties, confirmation of cabinet secretaries |
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Term
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Definition
LOWER CHAMBER of U.S. Congress
435 Representatives
Each congressional district gets 1 Rep.
Charged w/ the passage of Federal legislation (Bills) |
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Definition
President of the Senate
Breaks tie votes in Senate, only votes when their is a tie |
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Term
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Definition
Elected by U.S. Congressmen in the political party holding largest # of seats in the House
Typically sets the floor agenda & oversees the committee chairmen |
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Term
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Definition
Major Types are S. S. J. C.
Standing Committee = permanent part of the House or Senate structure,recommend funding levels, authorizations for gov't operations and for new & existing programs
Select Committee = Created to address a specific issue, can be temporary, some cant write laws like global warming committee
Joint Committee = Contain members of both houses but with limited authority, joint committee on the library oversees library of congress, aka don't do much
Conference Committee = Negotiate differences b/w the House and Senate versions of legislation |
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Definition
| A person employed for a government department or agency |
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Term
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Definition
| Any employee who is appointed by the President, the Vice President or agency head |
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Term
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Definition
A way of administratively organizing large number of people who need to work together
Organizations in public/private sector rely on bureaucracies to function
"rule by desk or offices" |
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Term
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Definition
| Job is to implement government policy, to take the laws and decisions made by elected officials and put them into practice |
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| Problem of Control w/ Bureaucracy |
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Definition
| Elected officials need to ensure that when bureaucrats implement policies they follow the officials intentions but still have enough to use their expertise |
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Term
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Definition
Situation in which bureaucrats favor the interests of the groups or corporations they are suppose to regulate @ expense of the general public
Minerals Management Service was gov't agency that had responsibility for monitoring off shore drillings....they accepted meals, gifts, and sporting trips from corporations which changed relationship |
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Definition
| Practice when a political party, after winning an election, gives gov't civil service jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working towards victory, resulted in civil service reform |
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Definition
| Established that positions within the federal government should be awarded on basis of merit instead of political affiliation |
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Term
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Definition
Government programs implemented during FDR
allowed vast increase in the size, responsibilities and capacity of the bureaucracy w/ large transfer of power to bureaucrats and to president |
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Term
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Definition
| exemption of an agency head from full political supervision by the departmental minister |
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Term
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Definition
| Further expansion in size, capacity and acitivities of the bureaucracy during Johnson presidency (programs that funded bilingual education, loans and grants for college, special education, preschools) |
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Term
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Definition
| Size & scope of fed gov't was taken back but after his 8 years fed gov growth did not slow down |
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Term
| Big-Government Conservatism |
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Definition
George W. Bush w/ No Child Left Behind, education reform which imposed many new requirements on local schools
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, biggest new health care program before Obamacare
Sarbanes Oxley Act which increased Federal regulation reporting requirements |
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Term
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Definition
| Agencies that exist outside Fed. executive departments meaning they are out of presidential control/cabinent |
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Term
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Definition
| Executive power vested in a president of USA making him both the head of government and head of state |
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Term
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Definition
| President appoints ambassadors, senior bureaucrats, and members of Federal judiciary (including supreme court justices) |
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Term
| Treaty making & foreign policy |
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Definition
| President & staff negotiate treaties which are then sent to the senate for approval w/ support of 2/3 vote |
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Term
| Legislative Power (President) |
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Definition
| President can veto any bill passed by Congress & unless 2/3's in each house vote to override the veto, the bill does not become law |
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Definition
| In charge of military but gives congress the power to declare war (president controls day to day military operations) |
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Definition
Requires president to consult w/ Congress "in every possible instance" before committing troops overseas
Requires president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing troops overseas and forbids armed forces from remaining overseas more than 60 days without congressional authorization with 30-day withdrawal period |
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Term
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Definition
| (Informal Power) Proclamations made by the President that change government policy without congressional approval (change gov't policy without congressional consent) |
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Term
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Definition
| Right of president to keep executive branch conversations & correspondences confidential from the legislative & judicial branches |
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Term
| Presidential Popularity Change |
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Definition
Begins with honeymoon period where president is well liked in beginning months but this than drops
B/c during first term the president is trying to build himself up so he can be re elected but once this passes the president knows he can be re elected again |
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Term
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Definition
President goes public now to rally with the people who support him while trying to get members of congress to back him up on his views
May have positive effects on supports but it can fuel more hatred for those who oppose him...Americans beginning to ignore the president when he goes public...congress could get the feel that the president is trying to surpass them |
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Term
| The Executive Office of the President (EOP) |
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Definition
Consists of the immediate staff of the incumbent President and multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President
Size of white house staff has increased recently due to tech and global advancement to include an array of policy experts to effectively address various fields of the modern day |
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Term
| Office of Management and Budget (OMB) |
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Definition
| Office within executive office of president that is responsible for creating the presidents annual budget proposal to Congress, reviewing proposed rules and other budget related tasks |
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Term
| Development of a powerful Judiciary |
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Definition
Constitution says "judicial power" is vested in a Supreme Court, as well as lower courts that Congress may establish
Judges in Fed. courts serve life terms
Judicial power extends to "all cases...arising under this constitution"
Brutus was an anti federalist who warned that the new court would call for judicial review and would claim more and more power |
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Term
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Definition
Law in which congress laid out the organization of Federal judiciary
Refined and clarified federal court jurisdiction and set the original number of justices at six and also created office of attorney General and established lower courts |
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Definition
| Supreme courts power to strike down a law or an executive branch action that it finds unconstitutional...happened due to Marbury v. Madison |
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Term
| Constitutional Interpretation |
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Definition
| Process of determining whether a piece of legislation or governmental action is supported by the constitution |
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Term
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Definition
Various methods/tests used by courts for determining the meaning of a law & applying it to specific situations
Congress may overturn the court interpretation by writing a new law, thus it always engaged in statutory interpretation |
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Term
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Definition
| Plaintiff intents to collect damage, usually in form of money/compensation, only needs more than 50% to win case |
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Definition
| Gov't prosecutes someone of committing a crime to send them to jail and must prove beyond reasonable doubt |
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Definition
A legal norm established in court cases that is then applied for future cases dealing w/ same legal
Supreme court can overturn precedent (civil rights) |
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Definition
| Legitimate justification for bringing a civil case to court |
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Definition
| Courts legal authority to hear and decide cases |
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Definition
Supreme Court
Court of Appeals (11 Federal judicial circuits)
District (94 Fed district courts) |
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Term
| LOOK AT COURT DIAGRAM IN DOCUMENT |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| President appoints judge with advice from Senate |
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Definition
To attack a person's reputation and views unfairly
nominated by Reagan |
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Term
| How does Supreme Court decide what cases to hear |
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Definition
| Decide to hear based on 4 out of 9 judges agreeing to hear |
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Definition
| Document which a losing party files w/ supreme court asking them to review decision of lower court |
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| Approaches to Constitutional interpretation |
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Definition
| Original intent, plain meaning of the text, then living constitution |
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