American Politics Exam 2 Study Guide Chapter 5 Congress Committees o Detailed legislative work occurs in committees o Each has jurisdiction granting discretion over its particular policy area o E g Farm bill sent to Agriculture committee foreign aid bills sent to Senate Foreign Relations committee o Types of committees Standing committee Group of legislators given permanent jurisdiction over a particular issue area or type of policy remain in existence permanently unless they are formally abolished E g House Ways and Means Senate Finance Committee Special select committee Group appointed to consider a special issue or serve a special function that disbands once it has completed its duties E g Senate special committee covering the technology issues related to the transition from twentieth to twenty first century y2k Joint committee Include members from both the House and Senate no legislative authority E g Joint committee for taxation Conference committee Consist of members of House and Senate formed when each chamber passes a different version of the same bill E g A bill in which reconciliation is necessary may be reviewed by a conference committee o Committee membership Each committee has a chair Position of great power In many instances can determine the fate of a bill in their respective committee The following actions can be taken to defeat a bill o Slow it down in committee o Ignore it o Encourage colleagues to water it down to the point it doesn t accomplish its intended goal Process of lawmaking o Proposals o Referrals One member of either the House or Senate begins by submitting a bill only a legislator can submit a bill however sometimes bills are written by the office of the president Speaker of the house sends bill to particular committee If speaker doesn t like the bill he can send it to a committee in which it is likely to be ignored Most bills are ignored by committees those taken seriously are sent to subcommittees o Moving bill to floor o Senate If full committee wishes to move forward it send the bill to the floor for a possible vote Rules committee decides whether the bill will be voted on Approved bills move to senate Unanimous consent agreement 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 halt process of a bill Filibuster Instances in which senators once recognized to speak on the floor talk for an extended period in an attempt to block the rest of the senate from voting on a bill goal is to get proponents of specific bill to drop the legislation Cloture Rule that limits debate on a bill to a specific number of hours Senate rules require 60 senators to support such a motion to end debate and proceed to a vote o Executive Enrolled bills sent to president Sign Veto Pocket Veto House and Senate can override veto by 2 3 vote in each chamber Redistricting o Districts based on population o Each state has at least one o 435 total districts o Most states redraw district lines every ten years even if they don t lose gain seats o Supreme court has restricted on the drawing of districts Baker v Carr 1962 Wesberry v Sanders 1964 Forced states to draw districts with equal populations o Politics play major factor in redistricting o States can manipulate representation o Districts are frequently drawn in strange shapes to gain political advantage referred to as gerrymandering Models of congressional decision making o Pork barrel model The view that the internal institutions of congress are designed primarily to help members of congress secure economic benefit for their constituents Logrolling mechanism used to pass pork barrel legislation instance of two or more legislators agreeing to vote in favor of one another s proposed bills or amendments o Expertise model o Partisan model o Elitist Model The view that the internal institutions of congress are designed to help congress make more informed decisions The view that majority party leaders dominate the workings of Congress and ensure that most legislative benefits come to majority party members The view that the workings of Congress are strongly biased toward serving the interests of wealthy privileged people in society Congressional elections o Primary o General ballot to a given office Originally state level party leaders chose who would appear on the ballot beginning in the first half of the twentieth century voters began choosing which candidates would appear on the ballots Whichever candidate wins the primary appears on the general election o Single member district An electoral district in which a single person is elected o Plurality rule Method for determining an election s winner in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins o U S House Two year terms 435 members All members elected at same time o Senate Six year terms 100 members Each state has same number of senators 1 3 are elected every two years Caucuses o Way for members to group themselves together for business o CBO and CRS provide independent information for members Congressional representation o Trustees Representatives who make decisions using their own judgments about what is best for their constituents o Delegates Reps who listen carefully to what their constituents want and make decisions based on feedback from constituents Constitutional prerogatives o Designed to be the most powerful branch o Primary lawmaking body o Broadest power is found in the necessary and proper clause Grants congress the authority to make laws in the national interest Chapter 6 The Executive Branch Presidential powers from becoming law o Veto President can veto legislation passed by congress in an attempt to keep it o Executive order An official means by which the president can instruct federal agencies on how to execute the laws passed by congress can be used to avoid waiting for legislation that might not be forthcoming by a congress controlled by the opposite party o Signing statement Public statement written by the president and attached to a particular bill to outline the president s interpretation of the legislation o Practice of rewarding loyal partisans with government positions after they demonstrate their support during an election o A government in which the president is from a different party than the majority of The spoils system Divided Government congress The Vice Presidency o Assumes role of president if needed o Key advisor o Breaks ties in