Question 1

What does it mean that the legislature is "bicameral"?

Accepted Answer

It has two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate

Question 2

What is apportionment?

Accepted Answer

Measuring the population so that seats in the House of Representatives are distributed proportionally

(states with larger populations get more seats)

Question 3

What is reapportionment?

Accepted Answer

Redistributing the seats in the House of Representatives based on changes in population

Question 4

What are congressional districts?

Accepted Answer

Areas from which members are elected to the House of Representatives

435 areas for 435 members

Question 5

What is congressional districting?

Accepted Answer

The act of drawing congressional districts in states

(need to be redrawn over time, e.g., due to reapportionment)

Question 6

What is gerrymandering?

Accepted Answer

Drawing congressional districts to favor one party over another

Question 7

What is racial gerrymandering?

Accepted Answer

Gerrymandering to prevent racial minorities from electing their preferred candidate

Question 8

What are majority-minority districts?

Accepted Answer

Districts where a racial minority makes up the majority of the total population

(some view this as a way to dilute minority voting power, while others view it as a way to ensure minority representation)

Question 9

What was the ruling of Baker v. Carr (1962)?

Accepted Answer

Federal courts could hear cases alleging that redistricting violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment

6-2 for Baker

(legislative apportionment is a justiciable issue)

Question 10

What were the facts of Baker v. Carr (1962)?

Accepted Answer

Charles Baker alleged that a 1901 law designed to apportion seats for Tenesee's General Assembly was virtually ignored

Baker claimed reapportionment efforts ignored economic growth & population shifts within the state

Question 11

What was the question of Baker v. Carr (1962)?

Accepted Answer

Did the Supreme Court have jurisdiction over questions of legislative apportionment?

(see ruling)

Question 12

What was the ruling of Shaw v. Reno (1993)?

Accepted Answer

The districting exceeded what was reasonably necessary to avoid racial imbalances and would need a different compelling governmental interest to justify it

5-4 for Shaw

(redistricting based on race must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny under the equal protection clause)

Question 13

What were the facts of Shaw v. Reno (1993)?

Accepted Answer

The Attorney General rejected a North Carolina congressional reapportionment plan because it only had one black-majority district

North Carolina came up with a second plan with two black-majority districts

North Carolina residents (Shaw) said that this was unconstitutional because it was only designed to secure the election of an additional black representative

Question 14

What was the question of Shaw v. Reno?

Accepted Answer

Was the claim that the State created a racially gerrymandered district a constitutional issue under the Equal Protection Clause?

Question 15

What does it mean that senators are elected "at-large"?

Accepted Answer

All the voters from a state elect that state's senators

Question 16

What is the incumbency effect?

Accepted Answer

The tendency for those already in office (incumbents) to win re-election

(reasons: name recognition, credit claiming, media exposure, fundraising ability, experience in campaigning, & voting record)

Question 17

Are there term limits for members of Congress?

Accepted Answer

No

SCOTUS ruled that adding term limits would require an amendment

Question 18

What is the Speaker of the House?

Accepted Answer

The presiding officer & most powerful member of the House

Assigns bills to committee, controls floor debate, and appoints party members to committees

(elected by members of their political party)

Question 19

What is the majority leader?

Accepted Answer

The major assistant to the Speaker

Helps plan the party's legislative program and directs floor debate

Question 20

What is the minority floor leader?

Accepted Answer

The major spokesperson for the minority party in the House of Representatives

Organizes opposition to the majority party

Question 21

Who is the presiding officer of the Senate?

Accepted Answer

The vice president (not a Senate member)

May not debate, and only votes to break a tie

Question 22

What is the president pro tempore?

Accepted Answer

A senior member of the majority party in the Senate who has power if the Senate's president is absent

Mostly ceremonial and lacks significant power

Question 23

What are whips?

Accepted Answer

Helpers to floor leaders in the House and Senate

Direct party members in voting, inform members of upcoming votes, keep track of vote counts, and pressure members to vote within their party

Question 24

What are committees in Congress?

Accepted Answer

Groups in Congress that speed up legislation by dividing work

Question 25

What is the seniority system?

Accepted Answer

A traditional system for choosing chairpersons of committees, where the most-senior member would become chairperson

Applies less today, but most chairpersons are still long-standing members

Question 26

What are standing committees?

Accepted Answer

Permanent committees that deal with specific policy matters

(agriculture, energy, veterans' affairs, etc.)

Question 27

What are select committees?

Accepted Answer

Temporary committees appointed for specific purposes

(there is a select committee for investigating the Jan 6th Attack)

Question 28

What are joint committees?

Accepted Answer

Committees made from both houses of Congress

(could be a select committee (Iran-Contra Committee) or a standing committee (Joint Committee on the Library of Congress)

Question 29

What are conference committees?

Accepted Answer

Temporary committees of members from both houses of Congress created to resolve differences in a bill

(creates a compromise between the House and Senate versions of a bill)

Question 30

What is a legislative caucus?

Accepted Answer

An informal group in Congress with a common purpose

(Women's Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus)

Question 31

What are the roles of members of Congress?

Accepted Answer

Make public policy

Represent their constituents and help them with problems

Serve on committees

Support their party

Question 32

What is the franking privilege?

Accepted Answer

Members of Congress can mail their constituents for free

Question 33

What are oversight powers?

Accepted Answer

The power of Congress to review, monitor, and supervise federal agencies and policy implementation

Question 34

What is a bill?

Accepted Answer

A draft of a law

Question 35

What is a discharge petition?

Accepted Answer

A method of bringing a bill out of a committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from the committee

(necessary when a committee chairperson refuses to report a bill; gives individual members more power)

Question 36

What is markup in legislation?

Accepted Answer

The process of debating, amending, and rewriting a bill

Question 37

What is a filibuster?

Accepted Answer

An "unlimited debate" to stall action on a bill and prevent it from being passed

"talking a bill to death" to prevent it from moving forward

(only occurs in the Senate)

Question 38

What is cloture?

Accepted Answer

The process of ending a filibuster

(petition to end debate; requires at least 60 senators)

Question 39

What is a "hold" in the Senate?

Accepted Answer

An informal procedure where a senator privately tells their party leader that they don't want the bill to reach the floor

Intended to prevent the bill from reaching a vote

Question 40

What is pork barrel legislation?

Accepted Answer

Legislation designed to appropriate govt. spending for a member's local district/state

(gets the member more support; negative association)

Question 41

What are earmarks?

Accepted Answer

A type of pork where funds are directed to a specific purpose/project

(circumvents the competitive funds allocation process)

Question 42

What is logrolling?

Accepted Answer

Members exchanging favors

("I'll support your bill if you support mine")

Question 43

What are riders (in legislation)?

Accepted Answer

An addition a bill that has no connection to the bill

(would not pass by itself, so it needs to be tacked on)

Question 44

What are amendments to a bill?

Accepted Answer

Additions or changes that are related to the bill

(unlike riders which have no relation to the bill)

Question 45

What is lobbying?

Accepted Answer

Influencing members of Congress (typically financially) to support or reject legislation

Question 46

What is a legislative veto?

Accepted Answer

A former way to reject an executive branch action with a vote from Congress

(declared unconstitutional in 1983)

Question 47

What are constituents?

Accepted Answer

Citizens whom a legislator represents

The legislator is intended to serve and represent their constituents

Question 48

What is a "divided government"?

Accepted Answer

When one party controls the executive branch and another controls the legislative branch

(often leads to partisanship and gridlock)

Question 49

What is political polarization?

Accepted Answer

Strong ideological differences between the parties

(makes members likely to vote on party lines and leads to gridlock)

Question 50

How do term-lengths impact the House and Senate?

Accepted Answer

Shorter-term lengths make the House more responsive to immediate demands than the Senate

Question 51

How does chamber size influence the formality of the House and Senate?

Accepted Answer

The House has more formal procedures because it has a larger chamber

Question 52

What does Federalist No. 70 argue for?

Accepted Answer

The need for a strong, single executive leader

(just one strong leader, rather than multiple presidents)

"energy in the executive is the leading character in the deﬁnition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks ... to the steady administration of the laws, to the protection of property ... to justice; [and] to the security of liberty ..."

Question 53

What did the 22nd Amendment do?

Accepted Answer

Limited the president's number of terms to two

Question 54

What does the 25th Amendment say?

Accepted Answer

The vice-president becomes president if the office of president is vacant

(e.g., the president dies, resigns, or is unavailable for medical reasons)

Question 55

What is impeachment?

Accepted Answer

Bringing charges of wrongdoing against a govt. official

(the House can impeach the president, and the Senate judges the charges under the chief justice; requires 2/3 Senate to remove from office)

Question 56

How does the electoral college work?

Accepted Answer

Each state chooses a number of Electors equal to its # of Senators (2) + its # of Representatives

These Electors meet to cast ballots for the president and vice president

Whichever candidate gets a majority of votes (270) wins the presidency

(electors usually vote with what their state popularly decides, but they don't have to)

Question 57

What happens if no candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College?

Accepted Answer

The House of Representatives chooses from the top three candidates

(the Senate has a similar process for the vice president)

Question 58

What are the vice president's duties?

Accepted Answer

Preside over the Senate

Take over the presidency if needed

Cabinet meetings, serve on Security Council, and represent the president (not in the constitution, but also important)

Question 59

What has happened to the power of the President over time?

Accepted Answer

It has greatly increased

Question 60

What is a pocket veto?

Accepted Answer

Taking no action on a bill, and waiting for it to die over time

Question 61

What is a line-item veto (partial veto)?

Accepted Answer

A theoretical veto on only specific parts of the bill; not allowed in the US

(allowed from 1996-1998, before the SCOTUS struck it down)

Question 62

What are executive agreements?

Accepted Answer

An agreement between the US and a foreign government (negotiated by the president)

Less formal and doesn't require Senate approval

Question 63

What are pardons?

Accepted Answer

Using executive power to relieve someone from the consequences of their conviction

(making a guilty person face no consequences; performed by the president)

Question 64

What is a bully pulpit?

Accepted Answer

A position that provides an opportunity to speak out and be listened to

(Roosevelt called the White House a bully pulpit, as he used it to promote his agenda)

Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches, AP U.S. Government and Politics Flashcards