Term
|
Definition
| Government spending that benefits a narrow constituency in return for electoral support or some other kind of political support, including campaign donations. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
the view that the internal institutions of the congressional chambers are designed primarily to help members of Congress secure economic benefits for their constituents.
-Pass broad bills loaded with pork.
-Use logrolling to ensure the passing of pork filled bills. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an instance of two or more legislators agreeing to vote in favor of one another's proposed bills or amendments. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the view that the internal institutions of the congressional chambers are designed to help Congress make more informed decisions, that determine which policies go towards the goals of the majority. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the view that majority-party leaders dominate the workings of Congress and ensure that most legislative benefits come to majority-party members. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
the view that the workings of Congress are strongly biased toward serving the interests of wealthy, privileged people in society.
-Members rely on wealthy donors to win and retain their congressional seats, therefore legislation they pass mostly benefits them --> the need for individual candidates to raise their own money. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
a legislature consisting of two chambers or houses.
-House: according to population, remain responsive to the people, 2 yr. terms. 435 members. (25 yrs. old)
-Senate: equal representation, 6 yr. terms. 100 members. (30 yrs. old) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ("first-past-the-post") an electoral district in which a single person is elected to a given office. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a method for determining an election's winner in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins. |
|
|
Term
| Proportional representation |
|
Definition
| a method for allocating seats in a legislature in which the number of seats a party receives in a district or nationwide is proportional to the votes it receives in the elections. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| drawing strangely shaped districts to gain political advantage. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| representatives who make decisions using their own judgments about what is best for their constituents. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| representatives who listen carefully to what their constituents want and make decisions based on feedback from constituents. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
the advantage current officeholders have in an election, in particular relates to the high rates at which congressional legislators win re-election.
1. Growing success in gerrymandering districts.
2. Members have increased skill in delivering pork to constituents.
3. Increase in television appearance to enhance name recognition.
4. Campaign law that enable incumbents to amass huge amounts of money, "war chests".
- Candidates can roll over money not spent into the next election.
5. Political Parties target campaigns to incumbents and have war chests devoted to protecting them. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the tendency for legislators that belong to the same party to vote the same way on a given bill. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the constitutionally designated leader of the House of Representatives. In the modern House, he or she is always the leader of the majority party. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Procedural guidelines used by the majority-party leadership for determining who sits on which committees, how the order of business should be decided, and how the majority party should limit the powers of the minority party. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the head of the party holding a majority of seats and, in the Senate, the leader of the Senate. In the House, the majority leader is second to the Speaker of the House. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a member of the House or Senate who is elected by his or her party to help party leaders coordinate part members' actions, including enforcing party discipline. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
a group of legislators given permanent, specialized jurisdiction over a particular issue area or type of policy.
i.e. Ways and Means; Senate Finance Committee. |
|
|
Term
| Special (select) committee |
|
Definition
a committee appointed to consider a special issue or serve a special function that disbands once it has completed its duties.
i.e. the Senate Special Committee: Technology Problem --> dealt with the transition of technology in 2000. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
a committee made up of members of both the House and Senate.
-Their job is to craft a compromise bill that both chambers will approve of. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a meeting of legislators from the House and Senate to reconcile two bills passed on the same topic. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| in a legislature, a group of legislators that unites to promote an agenda not pursued within the parties or the legislative committees. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a rule (in place since 1975) that permits the Speaker to split a bill into sections and give sections to specific committees. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a committee or subcommittee process where committee members edit and amend bills. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a provision that allows any amendment to be proposed once a bill comes to the chamber floor. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a provision that allows no amendments to be proposed once a bill comes to the chamber floor. |
|
|
Term
| Restricted (modified) rule |
|
Definition
| a provision that allows only certain kinds of amendments to be proposed once a bill comes to the floor, typically only amendments that pertain to the original purpose of the bill. |
|
|
Term
| Unanimous consent agreement |
|
Definition
| rules under which the Senate debates, offers amendments, and votes on a given bill. All members of the chamber must agree to them, so any senator can object and half progress on a bill. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| instances in which senators, once recognized to speak on the floor, talk for an extended period ("hold the floor") in an attempt to block the rest of the Senate from voting on a bill. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a rule that limits debate on a bill to a specific number of hours. Senate rules requires 60 senators to support such a motion to end debate (including filibusters) and proceed to a vote. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a veto that occurs automatically if a president does not sign a bill for ten days after passage in Congress and Congress has adjourned during that 10-day period. |
|
|
Term
| What makes pork-barrel projects questionable? |
|
Definition
| When they are tacked onto the original appropriation bill, it raises the question whether the legislation had more to do with pork than with fundings for that particular legislation. |
|
|
Term
| What do political scientists believe about congressional lawmakers and their interests? |
|
Definition
| Political scientists often believe that congressional lawmakers place the interest of their districts and their own prospects for winning re-election ahead their own prospects for winning re-election ahead of the welfare of the country as a whole. |
|
|
Term
| How does Congress avoid coalition raiding? |
|
Definition
| Congress created institutions that placed someone to control the agenda and prevent repeated introductions of competing bills. |
|
|
Term
| What are the goals of Congress, the political parties, and individual members? |
|
Definition
-Congress wants to pass broad legislation and earn the reputation as an efficient party.
- Political parties want their party to have a good reputation among voters.
-Individuals engage in activity to sustain their political popularity. |
|
|
Term
| What do the four models for analyzing Congress reveal? |
|
Definition
| That congressional institutions work to help member solve collective dilemmas and accomplish their goals. As well as, emphasizing the different connections among the committees, party leaders, congressional elections, and voting on the floor; ascribing different importance to each of them in accordance to a particular faction of Congress. |
|
|
Term
| What are some of the enumerated powers of Congress? |
|
Definition
-authority to tax
-borrow and coin money
-declare war
-support and raise army |
|
|
Term
| What was the purpose of the Senate? |
|
Definition
To represent the states. It was meant to be the more deliberative chamber, acting to maintain continuity in government in the face of popular whims and shifts in public opinion. It gives power to individual senators to raise objections.
-The Senate uses unanimous consent agreement for relatively uncontroversial bill --> these agreements restrain individual action and solve collective dilemmas.
- Senators have developed norms for cooperation and for collegiality in every day interactions. |
|
|
Term
| Where does the president have more power than Congress? |
|
Definition
| In foreign policy and warkmaking, due to the evolution of the presidency's power. |
|
|
Term
| What does individualism mean in reference to Congress? |
|
Definition
| That members in Congress see their political fortunes ties to their own behavior and that the voters consider their representation in Congress to be tied to individual legislators. |
|
|
Term
| What are the main causes of individualism? |
|
Definition
1. Nature of electoral districts
2. Electoral rules create incentives to make personal connections |
|
|
Term
| What creates competition within parties during primary election process? |
|
Definition
| Voters select which congressional candidates will appear on ballets. |
|
|
Term
| What determines the constituencies for representative in the House? |
|
Definition
| Congressional district boundaries |
|
|
Term
| What did Baker v. Carr and Wesberry v. Sanders rule? |
|
Definition
| That all House districts and all state houses and Senate districts in a given state must be of approximate equal population size. |
|
|
Term
| What have Supreme Court rulings stated about redraw electoral boundaries? |
|
Definition
| Congressional districts cannot be drawn in ways that systematically disadvantage popular groups that have been historically discriminated against. |
|
|
Term
| How can redistricting aid an incumbent? |
|
Definition
| After a census, an incumbent can be safer by drawing the lines so that voters of the other party are in another district. |
|
|
Term
| What has caused the individualism of American congressional candidates to increase? |
|
Definition
| Rise of primary elections, methods of campaigning, and the types of policies adapted. |
|
|
Term
| What does Edmund Burke state about the attitudes of representatives towards their constituency? |
|
Definition
| They act either like delegates or trustees. |
|
|
Term
| What are the advantages of an incumbent? |
|
Definition
1. Growing success in gerrymandering districts.
2. Members have increased skill in delivering pork to constituents.
3. Increase in television appearance to enhance name recognition.
4. Campaign laws enable incumbents to amass huge amounts of money, "war chests".
- They can also roll money to the next election.
5. Political parties target campaigns to incumbents and have war chests devoted to protecting them. |
|
|
Term
| What is the incentive for congressmen to do in regards to legislation and their constituents? |
|
Definition
| There is a strong incentive for members to do the popular thing, and gain popularity within their district, rather than support legislation that is better for the country. |
|
|
Term
| How has Congress changed over the years? |
|
Definition
Institutions of Congress are designed to grand agenda control and have developed an elaborate committee system to deal with the volume and complexity of legislation. It has become more organized and rule based.
-Congress has developed a set of internal institutions designed to overcome collective dilemmas and enable members to sustain individual reputations that lead to re-election. |
|
|
Term
| What is the role of majority leaders within Congress? |
|
Definition
Majority party leaders solve coordination problems by enforcing party discipline on important voters and help organize congressional business. The majority party also chooses the Speaker of the House.
-can use committee powers over debate and amendments to get what it wants. |
|
|
Term
| What is the role of the majority/minority whips? |
|
Definition
| Whips organize the chamber for business, raise money for elections, and encourage party members to vote. |
|
|
Term
| How is the House Rules of Committee important in legislation? |
|
Definition
| The House Rules Committee can be used by the majority party to control House business. It determines which bills get considered for votes, under what amendment rules (open, close, restricted), and in which order. |
|
|
Term
| How do the chairs of major committee determine the fate of a bill? |
|
Definition
| They can slow it down, ignore it, or amend it so it can no longer accomplish its original purpose. |
|
|
Term
| What is the tempting thing for congressmen to do regarding legislation? |
|
Definition
| There is a strong incentive for members to do the most popular thing, rather than support legislation that is best for the country. |
|
|
Term
| How has Congress evolved over time? |
|
Definition
Congress has developed an elaborate committee system to deal with the volume and complexity of legislation; become more organized and rule based.
- Institutions of Congress are designed to grant agenda control to small subset of people. |
|
|
Term
| What is the role of majority/minority leaders? |
|
Definition
| Majority party leaders solve coordination problems by enforcing party discipline on important voters and help organize congressional business; majority party chooses the Speaker of the House. Their power is limited by the persistent individualism of their members. |
|
|
Term
| What is the role of the majority/minority whips? |
|
Definition
| Whips organize the chamber for business, raise money for elections, and encourage party members to vote. |
|
|
Term
| What is the purpose of the House Rules Committee? |
|
Definition
| It is used by the majority party to control House business. It determines which bills get considered for votes, under what amendment rules (open, close, and restricted) , and in which order. |
|
|
Term
| How do the chairs of major committees determine the fate of legislation? |
|
Definition
They defeat it by:
1. Slowing it down
2. Ignoring it
3. Amending it until it can no longer accomplish its original purpose. |
|
|
Term
| What purpose does the committee system serve? |
|
Definition
1. Provides expertise to improve lawmaking.
2. the committee system is well suited to enable members' to play a role in crafting legislation and earn credit from constituents. |
|
|
Term
| What is the role of congressional staffers? |
|
Definition
| They communicate with constituents, the press, organize members' schedules and even advise members and help them write legislation. |
|
|
Term
| How do the bureaucrats aid the Congress? |
|
Definition
| Bureaucrats help congressional members to conduct research. |
|
|
Term
| What is the process of lawmaking? |
|
Definition
1. Bill intro
2. Referred to committee
3. Referred to a subcommittee
4. Markup in subcommittee
5. Mark up in full committee
6. Rules committee proposes amendment rules
7. Chamber considers rule
8. House/Senate amends and considers bill
9. Conference Committee --> markup
10. Consideration of markups --> President signs the bill vs. President vetoes the bill |
|
|
Term
| What decides which committee receives what bill? |
|
Definition
| Ruled by the Speaker of the House, who solves coordination problem through agenda control; which committee receives given bill is usually determined by its topic. |
|
|
Term
| What occurs when the joint committee cannot reconcile the two versions of the bill? |
|
Definition
| The proposed legislation dies. |
|
|
Term
| What do all four models of analyzing Congress assume? |
|
Definition
| That members are driven by their desire to win re-election. |
|
|
