Exam 2 Study Guide: Lectures: 1 - 4Lecture 1CongressWhat are some specific facts (such as the number of people, term limits, and number per state) about the Senate and House of Representatives? What are the qualifications for Senate and House of Representatives? Elaborate about the Senate seats and House seats. How is the apportionment set-up? What are the two terms dealing with illegal representation? How is there equal representation now? Name the court cases and historical time frame leading up to the decision what equal representation is. What are the representation styles? What is the incumbency advantage? How does Congress operate?Senate-6 year term; 100 Senators; 2 per stateHouse of Representatives- 2 year terms; 435 representatives, divided between states based on population (today, each member represents at least half million people)Qualifications:- Senate-must be a US citizen for at least 9 years, legal resident of the State, and at least 30 years old POLS 206 1st Edition- House of Representatives- must be a US citizen for at least 7 years, legal resident of the State, and at least 25 years oldSenate Seats- There are 2 Senators from each state, each Senator is elected per state (they stand for all of the state), the senators cannot be re-elected at the same time (for example, in Texas Ted Cruz (elected 2012) is called Jr.Senator until John Cormin (called Sr. Senator) is out of office. There are 100 Senators (First Congress had 24 Senators, in 1800 there were 32 Senators, in 1900 there were 90 Senators, in 1959 there were 100 because Hawaii became a stateHouse Seats- 435 seats (Texas has 32) starting from 1929, it is not Constitutional, so the government decided on the number, has to be at least one representative per state, in the First Congress there were 65 RepresentativesApportionment:- Every 10 years, a census (electronically, by mail, or even by person) is made to account for population in each state, in order for Congress to divide the 435 seats- State Legislatures figure out the single-member geographical sections a representative willrepresent- District qualifications: equal representation (there are rules to district boundaries so eachdistrict has roughly the same population, contiguous boundaries (no little sections not connected), the boundaries must be in a geographically dense area (so no Gerrymandering), however, not all boundaries are contiguous and denseIllegal Representation: - Malapportionment- essentially, one group has more influence than another group- Gerrymandering- purposeful drawing of boundaries in order to have a distinct supporter advantage Representation now- Supreme Court mandated the one-person one-vote rule requiring districts to have equal number of people in eachCourt Cases: - Baker v. Carr (1962)- can State court hear this? the issue is supported by 14th Amendment- Reynolds v. Sims (1964)- one person, one vote is mandated- Westbury v. Sanders - looks at Baker v Carr ideas from legislature view and decides all districts are equal by population- In 1990’s, “Minority-Majority” districts (where minorities are the voting power) was tested for legality and found no. Though trying to make it more equal, this is really considered Gerrymandering.Representation Styles: - Trustee- Does what’s best for the rest of the country (the Senate)- Instructed Delegate- Does only what is good for the people (House people)- Partisan- votes only on a political party’s opinion- Politico (Maverick)- Combination of all three, they often break the norm. (John McCain was this)Incumbency Advantage: Congress members get to mail letters for free, they have a budget which is specifically for Professional staff who know the business very very well, Access to the media (in order to promote them), Lawmaking power (power to make laws, especially for “their” people), and name recognition (people are going to want to vote for people they recognize)Congress Operating: - Congress meets for two terms (right now, it is the 113th-First Session) and each term is placed into 1-year sessions- Up until 1940, Congress met about 4-5 months per session, but now Congress meets for about 9-10 months out of each year- The President can call Congress into a special session to deal with very specific issues but does normally does not prefer to because can upset Congress members, only 26 special sessions has ever been calledLecture 2Congress Cont...What is the House of Representatives organized? How is the Senate organized? Elaborate on Congress committees. What are the three types of committees? What is the bill-making process in legislation? What are a few more Congress responsibilities? House of Representatives Organization:- Speaker of the House- essentially, leader of the House and majority party, controls what issaid and who speaks in the House, and assigns committees- so a very powerful position. (#3 in power over the US, the President being #1 and Vice President #2). Republican John Boehner is Speaker right now.- Majority Leader- essentially keeps the party together and in line, like a spokesperson.- Majority Whip- this person is the party discipline, getting people to vote for bills, the enforcer of the political party- Minority Leader- has same responsibilities as majority leader, but over the minority party (right now it is Democratic Nancy Pelosi).- Minority Whip- has same responsibilities as majority whip but on minority party side.Senate Organization- Vice President (VP) (currently Joe Biden) is President of the Senate, heads the Senate- President pro tem- has control when VP is gone (which is frequently), is elected by their own party, #4 in the line of controlling the US.- Majority Leader, Majority Whip, Minority Leader, Minority Whip- all much of the same responsibilities as in the House Majority but for the Senate insteadCongress Committees:- real work of making bills is done here- responsibilities is split, thus allowing subjects to be fully investigated- House: 19 Standing Committees (Standing Committees deal with large issues such as transportation)- Senate: 16 Standing Committees- Political parties decide who goes in each committeeTypes of Committees- Subcommittees are divided from committees, thus allowing concentration on subjects andreal work is done (200+ subcommittees)- Joint Committees- involve both the Senate and House, for certain/particular assignments/questions and for limited time- Conference Committees- involve both the Senate
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