AP Government Chapter 11 – Flashcards
78 test answers
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answers 78question
Newt Gingrich
answer
became the 1st Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives in 40 years following the 1994 elections
Unlock the answer
question
Nancy Pelosi
answer
Speaker of the House
Unlock the answer
question
Harry Reid
answer
Senate Majority Leader
Unlock the answer
question
Party caucus
answer
a meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and to develop party policy. Called a conference by the republicans
Unlock the answer
question
Rules Committee
answer
A standing committee of the House of Representatives that provides special rules under which specific bills can be debated, amended, and considered by the house.
Unlock the answer
question
filibuster
answer
a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches
Unlock the answer
question
17th Amendment
answer
established the direct election of senators
Unlock the answer
question
Rule 22
answer
Provides that debate in the Senate could be cut off if two-thirds of the Senators present and voting agreed to a cloture motion
Unlock the answer
question
cloture
answer
terminate debate by calling for a vote
Unlock the answer
question
term limits
answer
laws that limit the number of terms elected officials can serve
Unlock the answer
question
US Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton
answer
Ruled that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of Congress stricter than those in the Constitution
Unlock the answer
question
Marginal districts
answer
political districts in which candidates elected to the house of representatives win in close elections, typically by less than 55 percent of the vote
Unlock the answer
question
safe districts
answer
Districts in which incumbents win by margins of 55 percent or more.
Unlock the answer
question
House banking scandal
answer
1992 -it was revealed that the United State House of Representatives allowed members to overdraw their House checking accounts, but were not being penalized by the House Bank (actually a clearinghouse).
Unlock the answer
question
House post office scandal
answer
refers to the discovery of corruption among various Congressional Post Office employees and members of the United States House of Representatives, investigated 1991-1995, climaxing in the conviction of House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL).
Unlock the answer
question
Reapportionment
answer
the process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census
Unlock the answer
question
redistricting
answer
The drawing of a new electoral district boundary lines in response to population changes.
Unlock the answer
question
malapportionment
answer
drawing the boundaries of legislative districts so that they are unequal in population
Unlock the answer
question
gerrymandering
answer
the drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent
Unlock the answer
question
majority-minority districts
answer
Drawing district boundaries to give a minority group a majority
Unlock the answer
question
Wesberry v. Sanders
answer
The 1964 case in which the Supreme Court invalidated unequal congressional districts, saying that all legislative districts must contain about equal numbers of people. The ruling is popularly known as the principle of one person, one vote.
Unlock the answer
question
Baker v. Carr
answer
"one man, one vote," prohibited racial gerrymandering; ordered state legislative districs to be near equal in population as possible
Unlock the answer
question
"one man, one vote"
answer
principle meaning that election districts would have to be redrawn to provide equal representation for all of states citizens
Unlock the answer
question
Shaw v. Reno
answer
NO racial gerrymandering; race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; majority-minority districts.
Unlock the answer
question
descriptive representation
answer
the idea that an elected body should mirror demographically the population it represents
Unlock the answer
question
substantive representation
answer
The correspondence between legislators' opinions and those of their constituents
Unlock the answer
question
sophomore surge
answer
an increase in the votes congressional candidates usually get when they first run for reelection
Unlock the answer
question
privileged speech
answer
Congress Members cannot be arrested for what they say in Congress.
Unlock the answer
question
Edmund Burke
answer
In Reflections of the Revolution in France, he forecast problems as those without political experience attempted to govern
Unlock the answer
question
Representational theory
answer
Theory in which a member of Congress vote based on the popular opinions of their constituents
Unlock the answer
question
organizational theory
answer
Theory where members of Congress vote primarily to cues provided by their colleagues. Vote with party.
Unlock the answer
question
attitudinal theory
answer
Theory where the Congress member's ideology affects how they vote. They vote with their ideology.
Unlock the answer
question
President Pro Tempore
answer
Officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president
Unlock the answer
question
Majority and minority leaders
answer
There is one of these from each party in each house of Congress. They guide bills
Unlock the answer
question
Party Whip
answer
the assistant to the floor leader in each house of congress who tries to persuade party members to vote for bills the party supports
Unlock the answer
question
Steering Committee
answer
Guides and oversees systems development and acquisition.
Unlock the answer
question
Committee on Committees
answer
party committees that determine the assignments of party members to standing committees in the House of Representatives
Unlock the answer
question
Policy Committee
answer
Composed of party leaders; theoretically responsible for the party's overall legislative program.
Unlock the answer
question
Party polarization
answer
a vote in which a majority of Democratic legislators oppose a majority of Republican legislators
Unlock the answer
question
caucus
answer
a private meeting of party leaders to choose candidates for office
Unlock the answer
question
congressional black caucus
answer
an organization representing the African American members of the United States Congress
Unlock the answer
question
blue dog democrats
answer
Conservative Democrats in Congress.
Unlock the answer
question
standing committees
answer
permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area
Unlock the answer
question
select committees
answer
Congressional committees appointed for a limited time and purpose.
Unlock the answer
question
joint committees
answer
Congressional committees on a few subject-matter areas with membership drawn from both houses.
Unlock the answer
question
conference committees
answer
a joint committee appointed to resolve differences in the senate and house versions of the same bill
Unlock the answer
question
seniority system
answer
a system that gives the member of the majority party with the longest uninterrupted service on a particular committee the leadership of that committee
Unlock the answer
question
Congressional Research Service
answer
staff agency that employs many people with advance academic training to respond to more than a quarter of a million questions a year.
Unlock the answer
question
General Accounting Office
answer
reviews spending activities of federal agencies, studies programs, and recommends ways to spend taxpayers' dollars wisely
Unlock the answer
question
Congressional Budget Office
answer
Congressional agency of budget experts who assess the feasibility of the president's plan and who help create Congress's version of the federal budget.
Unlock the answer
question
simple resolution
answer
an expression of opinion either in the House or Senate to settle procedural matters in either body
Unlock the answer
question
concurrent resolution
answer
passed by both houses of Congress and is not signed by the president and is not a law
Unlock the answer
question
joint resolution
answer
a resolution passed by both houses of Congress which becomes legally binding when signed by the chief executive (or passed over the executive's veto)
Unlock the answer
question
multiple referral
answer
a congressional process whereby a bill may be referred to several committees
Unlock the answer
question
sequential referral
answer
a congressional process by which a speaker may send a bill to a second committee after the first is finished acting
Unlock the answer
question
discharge petition
answer
Petition that, if signed by majority of the House of Representatives' members, will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration.
Unlock the answer
question
closed rule
answer
An order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate; forbids a bill from being amended on the floor
Unlock the answer
question
open rule
answer
an order from the House Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor
Unlock the answer
question
restrictive rule
answer
an order from the House Rules Committee that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made into a bill on the floor
Unlock the answer
question
quorum
answer
a gathering of the minimal number of members of an organization to conduct business
Unlock the answer
question
quorum call
answer
a roll call in either house of Congress to see whether the minimum number of representatives required to conduct business is present
Unlock the answer
question
double-tracking
answer
A procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster in which the disputed bill is shelved temporarily so that the Senate can get on with other business.
Unlock the answer
question
roll call vote
answer
A congressional voting procedure that consists of members answering "yea" or "nay" to their names.
Unlock the answer
question
rider
answer
a clause that is appended to a legislative bill
Unlock the answer
question
Christmas tree bill
answer
a bill with many riders
Unlock the answer
question
Committee of the Whole
answer
a device in which a legislative body is considered one large committee. All members of the legislative body are members of such a committee
Unlock the answer
question
Pork-barrel
answer
the list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges, and institutions available in a congressional district
Unlock the answer
question
earmarks
answer
Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents.
Unlock the answer
question
congressional courtesy
answer
the set of rules, written and unwritten, that govern interactions between the 535 members of Congress
Unlock the answer
question
logrolling
answer
An agreement by two or more lawmakers to support each other's bills
Unlock the answer
question
Nongermane amendment
answer
An amendment that would add new and different subject matter to, or may be irrelevant to, the bill or other measure it seeks to amend. Senate rules permit these amendments in all but a few specific circumstances.
Unlock the answer
question
Unanimous consent
answer
Also called general consent. When no members object to a motion, there is unanimous or general consent, and there does not need to be a vote on a matter.
Unlock the answer
question
Holds
answer
Senators have power to place HOLD - Indication of disapproval for a bill, strong hesitation will likely lead to a filibuster, a hold allows Senators to be informed of any change in status or action on a bill or confirmation, holds can usually be very powerful/influencial, if there are 60 votes: Holds won't stick.
Unlock the answer
question
Packing and kidnapping
answer
redistricting inwhich partisan voters are concentrated in a single district, "wasting" their majority vote and allowing the opposition to win by modest majorities in other districts
Unlock the answer
