PoliSci Ch. 6

1. What are the various duties of Congress? Congress can impose and collect taxes. They also regulate the military and foreign commerce. Congress’s main role is to make laws for us to follow. 2. What is the constituency and why is it important to representatives in Congress? The constituency is the people that elected a certain representative. Reps have to please their constituents, which can be difficult because everybody wants something different. 3. What is the difference between delegates and trustees? A delegate votes the way their constituents would want them to. A trustee just votes out of the best interest of their constituents, not necessarily what they voiced. 4. What are the different ways that the members of congress represent their districts? Members of Congress can actually be a representation of a minority group like the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color. By being a part of a minority group, they are able to draw attention and support from others of said group. 5. What is agency representation? This is a type of representation where you could get fired by your constituents for representing them ineffectively. 6. What are money bills? How do they reflect the bicameral nature of the legislature? A money bill deals with government spending and taxation. They start in the House and if passed, go to the Senate for a vote. This reflects the bicameral structure of Congress because the bill must be passed through both houses in order to be accepted. 7. What are the differences between the House and Senate? How are representatives apportioned differently in each body? How do term lengths differ? Why do these differences matter? In the House, the representatives are voted in by constituents of a district. The term length is 2 years. The House has room for specialized committees and full member meetings to respond to committee actions. The House has many more members than the Senate so, the members have more control over legislation. The Senate doesn’t have specialization. However, Senators represent larger areas than those in the House which allows them to work with different areas of policy. Senators serve 6 year terms and are voted for based on state. The differences between the two allow for each to perform certain tasks and represent in different ways. Senators serve longer and are able to make more long-term decisions. They also are able to represent us on a statewide scale rather than a districtwide one. Members of the House get to work more closely with their people because they represent smaller areas. They also have to work harder to keep their constituents since they have to run for reelection every 2 years. 8. What are the factors that affect a person’s decision to run for office? The biggest factor is being able to raise enough money to campaign through donations and connections. A candidate is also affected by the popularity they already have because it can be hard to run as a new candidate. The way a district is zoned can impact a person’s decision to run also. This is because of the nuances of each district and the people that make it up. 9. What is incumbency and why is it important? What are the different advantages available to incumbents? Incumbency refers to a public official which is important because they are able to influence politics in different ways. Incumbents can participate in legislation which can give them a reputation depending on their constituents. You can also gain seniority through incumbency and have a better chance at reelection. 10. What is casework? What is patronage? What is pork-barrel legislation? What is campaign financing? How do these things help incumbents stay in office? Casework refers to work that politicians can do to help their constituents like listening to them, making policy for them, or working with other officials to help them. Patronage is a direct service given to constituents which can come in many forms. For example, pork-barrel legislation is a type of patronage where the representative gets the federal government to aid their district specifically. Campaign financing is the way a candidate collects money for their campaign. These all are ways that representatives can directly impact their district and gain popularity. 11. In most states, who decides how electoral districts are drawn for house elections? What is gerrymandering and why is it significant? The majority party usually draws the districts in favor of their own party. This is called gerrymandering. It’s significant because it allows for one party to gain more congressional seats and forces the other party to lose seats. 12. What are the reasons why cooperation in Congress is often difficult? What challenges do legislators face in terms of cooperation? One reason is that every representative will have different ideas and viewpoints which makes it hard to unite. Even if they can agree on a broad topic, there will be different opinions on how to solve problems. Because of individuality, representatives also have different goals and priorities that can conflict with each other. Another disconnect happens when representatives are unable to see how a decision might

play out in reality. 13. In what ways do political parties help organize the activities of Congress? Because people of a party can usually agree on broad policies, it makes it easier for them to pass legislation. Because of this, collective action is much easier because most members will support legislation tied to their political party. 14. More specifically what is the following and why are they important: a. The Party Caucus is the democratic partisan group that votes for a party leader in the House as well as other policies. b. The Party Conference is the republican group in the House that votes for a leader and policy. c. Speaker of the House is the leader of the majority party. d. Majority Leader is the elected leader of the majority party. They have seniority and power, but not more than the Speaker of the House. e. Minority Leader is the leader of the minority party of the House. They don’t have much power considering they are a part of the minority party. f. Whips are elected by each party. They make sure people of their party are voting with their party. This allows for people to be held accountable if they were planning on voting out of self interest. g. Staff Agencies give Congresspeople an insight on proceedings by providing them with knowledge and management. h. Congressional Caucus determines how members associate with each other. This can be by party or socioeconomic statuses. 15. How do committees affect the legislative process? Committees create specialization in the legislative process. They allow for representatives to focus on one area of policy rather than all of it. It also allows for some things to come to fruition faster than others depending on the importance of the committee. 16. Describe the full process of how a bill becomes a law. Once a bill is submitted and given to the appropriate community, it is given to the Rules Committee that decides how the bill will be discussed by the whole House. The bill is debated by the House and the Senate and any changes are made. Then, it is adopted by both the Senate and Congress and sent to the president after the conference reports are approved by both houses. The president can either sign the bill into a law or veto it, rejecting it. 17. What is the filibuster? This is how Senators are able to prevent action they don’t agree with. They can talk for as long as they want to try and tire out the other party. A ⅗ vote is required to stop a filibuster. 18. What is a presidential veto and how can congress override that veto? The president can reject a bill within 10 days. But, if the president doesn’t sign it or veto it within the 10 days, it’s considered a pocket veto. It can be overridden with a ⅔ vote from both chambers of congress. 19. What are some of the strategies that congressmen use to get more people to vote on bills? Members of congress are able to gain support through specialized committees and being able to participate/advocate for beliefs on the floor. 20. Specifically, what are the following: a. The distributive tendency is when a bill includes a large array of areas it will help. For example, a bill might get more support by both parties if it impacts a larger area with both types of populations. b. Logrolling happens between two members that don’t have similar beliefs or goals. They make an agreement to support each other on certain bills in order to gain the support they need. c. Whip system is where elected whips of each party poll their party members in order to see how they will vote on certain bills. This allows for party leaders to visualize the support they have on a bill and what they need to do to gain more support. 21. How do interest groups affect the decisions of congressmen? An interest group has the ability