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| A congressional committee appointed for a limited time to design and report a specific pieces of legislation |
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| Activity undertaken by members of Congress and their staffs to solve constituents’ problem with government agencies |
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| An order from the House Rules Committee limiting floor debate on a particular bill and disallowing or limiting amendment. |
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| A provision governing debate of a pending bill and permitting any germane amendment to be offered on the floor of the House. |
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| Was a case involving congressional district in the state of Georgia, brought before Supreme Court of the U.S. The Court issued a ruling on Feb 17, 1964 that districts have to be approximately equal in population. |
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| Also known as ‘talking out a bill’. It is a form of obstruction in a legislator or other decision-making body whereby one attempts to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a proposal by extending on a debate on that proposal. |
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| A parliamentary procedure used to close debate. Cloture is used in the Senate to cut of filibusters. Under the current Senate rules, three-fifths of senators, or sixty must vote for cloture to half a filibuster. |
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| A temporary joint committee of the House and Senate appointed to reconcile the differences between the two chambers on a particular piece of legislation. |
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| A permanent legislative committee specializing in a particular legislative area. Standing committee have stable membership and stable jurisdiction. |
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| Guarantee of access to benefits because of rights or by agreement through law. |
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| Form of boundary delimitation (redistricting) in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are deliberately modified for electoral purposes, thereby producing a contorted or unusual shape. |
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| Permanent congressional committees made up of both the House and the Senate. Joint committees do not have any legislative authority; they monitor specific activities and compile reports. |
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| Is the trading of favor or quid pro quo, such as vote trading by legislative members to obtain passage of actions of interest to each legislative member. |
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| Floor leader of the second largest caucus in legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the US system, the minority leader is almost inevitable either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. |
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| Partisan position in a legislative body. If the presiding officer of the body is not elected by the body itself, the majority leader is the floor leader of the majority caucus; otherwise, the majority leader is the second-most senior member of the majority caucus, while the floor leader becomes the presiding officer. |
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| Title often given to the presiding officer of a legislative body. The speaker’s official role is to moderate debate, make ruling on procedure, announce the results of cotes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the power to discipline members who break the procedures of the house. |
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| Process of sending legislation to be considered by more than one committee |
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| Legislative maneuver in American federal lawmaking that allows the President to indirectly veto a bill. The U.S. constitution requires the president to sign or veto any legislation placed on his desk within ten days while the U.S. congress is in session. If the President does not sign the bill within the required time period, the bill becomes law be default. However, the exception to this rule is if Congress adjourns before the ten days have passed and the President has not yet signed the bill. Until Congress adjourns is thus called a pocket veto. |
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| Congress can override a presidential veto by having a two-third majority vote in the both the House of Representatives and Senate, thus enacting the bill into law despite the president’s veto. |
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| Political action committee |
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| A federally registered fund-raising group that pools money from individuals to give to political candidates and parties. |
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| A derogatory term referring to appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primary to bring money to a representative’s district. |
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| Constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. |
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| Proportional representation |
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| Referred to as full representation, is a category of electoral formula aimed at securing a close match between the percentage of votes that group of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). |
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| A provision that governs consideration of a bill and that specifies and limits the kinds of amendments that may be made on the floor of the House of Representatives. |
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| Additional provision annexed to a bill under the consideration of a legislature, having little connection with the subject matter of the bill. Riders are usually created as a tactic to pass a controversial provision which would not pass as its own bill. Occasionally, a controversial provision is attached to a bill not be passed itself but to prevent the bill from being passed. |
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| A provision that governs consideration of a bill by the House by the House of Representatives by specifying how the bill is to be debated and amended. |
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| A temporary legislative committee created for a specific purpose and dissolved after its tasks are completed |
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| The congressional practice of appointing as committee or subcommittee chairs the members of the majority with the most years of committee service. |
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| Ticket splitting (Split ticket) |
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| The act of voting for candidates from different political parties for different offices—for example, voting for a Republican for a president and a Democrat for Senator |
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| Tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. |
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| Unanimous consent agreement |
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| A unanimous resolution in the Senate restricting debate and limiting amendments to bills on the floor. |
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| A member of a legislative party who acts as the communicator between the party leadership and the rank and file. The whip polls members on their voting intentions, prepares bill summaries, and assists the leadership in various other tasks. |
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Explain how the constitutional structure of Congress emerged during the Federal Convention.
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Basic structure of Congress is the product of Great Compromise. They balanced the demands of the bigger states and smaller states by creating the House of Rep and the Senates. Bicameralism (two houses) was also implemented. They also rejected property holding and religious qualification in the Congress.
House of Rep -- Seats allocated by population, members selected by the citizenry, 2 year term, minimum age of 25, they do not have to live in the district they serve in but must reside in the state they serve.
Senate-- Composed of two members from each state chosen by the state legislature, 6 year term, 1/3 of the Senate's membership stand for election every two years, minimum age of 30, have to live in the state they represent
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What are the powers of Congress? How does each chamber differ in terms of its powers?
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Congress has the power to impose taxes, coin and borrow money, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and spend money for the “common Defense” and “general Welfare.” They are also given the power of “Necessary and Proper Clause.” Only Congress is allowed to declare war raise and finance an army and navy, and call out state militias.
House-- Bill raising revenue
Senate-- Given power to ratify treaties and confirm presidential appointments of ambassadors, unrestricted right to amend the bills, and advise & consent capacity
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How does the electoral system (separate elections for president and congress and voting in congressional districts by plurality vote) affect the politics of Congress?
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Voters are presented separate choices for senator, representatives, and president. They do not have to choose one party, but rather, it can pick people from different parties.
Members of Congress are elected from state and congressional districts by plurality vote—that is, whoever gets the most votes win.
Legislators are elected from territorial units, not party lists. Parties do not control nominations. Almost all congressional nominees are now chosen by voters in primary elections.
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What are congressional districts and when and why do they change?
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Congressional district is an electoral constituency that elects a single member of a congress. A congressional district is based on population, which is taken using a census every ten years. House number is currently fixed at 435 seats, so we currently have 535 electoral votes. Changes in the sizes of state delegations to the House depend on the shift of population.
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Why are congressional politics more candidate-centered than party-centered and what are the implications of this fact?
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During the Republican Rule of the House in 1994, we did see little bit of party-centered politics, but during the long reign of Democrat rule of the House, we saw representatives from both Democrats and Republicans. Most of them stay there, largely because of their own efforts. Even though congressional candidates ran under party labels for national offices, most congressional campaigns were personal and centered on local interests and values, and most of the reelections depended on the services and project they ran during their term in office.
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Does incumbency guarantee reelection to the House or Senate? Why or why not?
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Incumbent reelection rates have been generally high but it does not guarantee reelection to the House or Senate. Incumbency advantage dos not accrue (to become a present and enforceable right or demand) automatically to officeholder’s; it stems from diligent use of the many resources that come with holding office. Incumbent win reelection consistently because they work so hard at it, and they work hard because so much of their electoral fate is in their own hands.
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How do national politics affect congressional races?
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| Depending on how the economy or the national is doing, the loss in seats and might be few or a lot. Losses tend to be fewer when the economy is booming and the president is popular, greater when the economy of the administration’s popularity sags. |
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What does it mean when we say that members of congress have more incentives to be individually
responsive than collectively responsible? And what are the negative outcomes of this? |
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Individually responsive means that instead of broad array of projects, they would promote narrowly targeted programs, projects, or tax breaks for constituents without worrying about the impacts of such measures on spending or revenues. Individually productive strategies all may end up in worse shape politically when shackled with collective blame for the overall consequences. Spending rises, revenues fall, the deficit grows, government programs proliferate, and the opposition attacks the logrolling coalition—in practice, the majority party—for wastefulness and incompetence. Individual responsiveness leads to collective irresponsibility.
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| What are the characteristics of those who serve in Congress? |
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| Almost all members have graduated from college; 41% have law degree. Next to law, business is the most common prior occupation. A large majority are professionals of one kind or another; only handful have blue-collar background. Most have served in the lower elected office. Congress remains overwhelmingly white and male because white male still predominate in the lower-level public office and private careers that are the most common stepping stones to Congress |
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What problems does Congress have to overcome in order to be an effective law-making body?
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Some of the problems they have to get over are: need for information, coordination problems, resolving conflicts, collective action, transaction cost, and time pressure.
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What role does “party” play in the House and the Senate?
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Majorities not only enact bills but also set rules, establish procedures, choose leaders, and decide how to organize their respective house. This reality creates powerful incentives for members of Congress to join and maintain durable coalitions—that is political parties.
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What types of committees have evolved in Congress?
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The committee system of the House and senate are the second organizational pillar upholding the institutional power of Congress in the federal system. Committee and party systems are closely intergraded and mutually dependent. House committees, like House party leaders, are more powerful than their counterparts in the Senate, again reflecting the need for tighter organization in the larger body. House: 1809—10 committees, 1825—28 committees. Senate: 1816—12 committees, 1841—22 committees.
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| How are committee assignments made? |
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| Committee assignments are made by party committees under the firm control of senior party leaders and are ratified by the party membership. The danger is that committee may become stacked with members whose views do not present those of their party’s majority. |
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| Why are committees powerful? |
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| Before, House committees were dominated by Speaker, but the power transfer over to the committee chairs, who, under the altered rules, owed their positions to seniority, not loyalty to their party or its leaders. The new rule gave committee chairs greater control over subcommittees by authorizing them to appoint all subcommittee chairs and control the work of the majority’s committee staff. |
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How does a bill become a law?
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House: Bill is draftedà introduced in House and referred to committee(s) à House committee hearing; markup; reported out àRule Committee à House Floor çèConference committee to reconcile House-Senate differences à President for signature or veto
Senate: Bill is drafted à Introduced in Senate and referred to committee(s) à Senate committee hearings; markup; reported out à Senate floor çè Conference Committee to reconcile House-Senate differences à President for signature or veto.
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| What is the president’s role with regard to a bill? |
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| Upon receiving a bill from Congress, the president has the choice of signing the bill into a law; ignoring the bill, with the result that it becomes law in ten days (not counting Sunday); or veto the bill. |
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| What do we mean when we say there is a ‘bias against action’ in Congress? |
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| It is far easier to kill a bill than to pass one. Passage requires a sustained sequence of victories. Opponents need only win once to defeat a bill. Dead bill, however, can be revived and reintroduced. Defeats are never final, but neither are most victories. |
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| A legislative "traffic jam" often precipitated by divided government. Gridlock occurs when President confront opposition-- controlled congress with policy preferences and political stakes that are in direct competition with their own and those of their party. Neither side is willing to compromise, the government accomplishes little, and federal operations may even come to a halt. |
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Trustee-- An individual or organization which holds or manages and invests assets for the benefit of another.
Delegate-- A person representing an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of a small level. |
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| Controlling which bills get into discussion floor. |
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