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Reading Study Questions -  Chapters 12, 13 and 15

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Chapter 12: Congress
1.	What is a constituency?  is an area for which someone is elected as the representative in a parliament or government 

What relationship should constituents have with their representative? In democratic societies, legislators are expected to represent citizens’ interests while the constituents need to express their views and discuss their issues with representatives

2.	What is a bicameral legislature? 
A legislature with two houses, or chambers 

What are the Houses of Congress? The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives 

How many members are there in each? 

There are a total of 535 Members of Congress. 100 serve in the U.S. Senate and435 serve in the U.S. House of Representatives

3.	Why does the House tend to represent local interest groups more than the Senate? 

Strict party loyalty makes it more difficult for members of Congress to break from the party line to represent their constituents' special needs and interests or that of the senate. 

4.	What is the length of a Senator’s term of office?  

Six years and approximately one-third of the total membership of the Senate is elected every two years

Of a Representative’s term of office?  

Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are considered for reelection every even year

How does that affect their behavior while in office?

It increases corruption and dependence on interest groups 

5.	What is the difference between the delegate style of representation and the trustee style of representation? 

In a trustee style of representation, Constituents elect their representatives as 'trustees' (or 'entrust' them) for their constituency while in the delegated style of representatives or the model of representative democracy, delegates act only as a mouthpiece for the wishes of their constituency, and have no autonomy from the constituency.

6.	What is the difference between sociological and agency representation? 

Sociological representation occurs when the representative resembles his or her constituents in terms of race, religion, ethnicity, and education. Agency representation occurs when the representative acts as an agent of his or her constituents and is thrown out of office if the people do not like what he or she does.

7.	What are the three main occupational backgrounds of members of Congress?

The three main occupational backgrounds for member of Congress are legal professions, public service or politics, and business and industry. 

8.	How many people does each US Representative represent? 

The relationship between the member of Congress and the clients are around710, 767 clients per representative.

9.	What is constituency service?  Is it important? 
	"Constituency service" is the general term for what parliamentarians do to serve and represent the interests of their constituents. It’s so important as party leaders will not ask any member to vote in a way that conflicts with the interests or opinions of the member's district

10.	What three factors related to the electoral system affect who gets elected and what they do once in office?  
•	The voter's background and identification with the candidates
•	The voter's party identification
•	The voter's view of the incumbent's previous performance
•	Party Identification 
•	Incumbency performance
These factors affect the way the elected behave and work as try to please or meet the needs of interest groups such as NGOs and the party affiliation. 

11.	What advantages does incumbency provide?
•	Incumbents have an advantage over their opponents because they have name recognition
•	Incumbents have an advantage over their opponents because they have name recognition
•	Incumbents have an advantage because of their role as an elected official.

12.	 Why do people support term limits? Who would benefit the most from them? 
•	No Specific Political Party Can Keep Control Indefinitely
•	Fewer Career Politicians
•	Less corruption
•	More opportunities for leadership in the communities
•	More options for voters
•	Extended term limit
•	Protection from indefinite corporate influence 
	It would benefit both the electorate and elected.
 
13.	What is apportionment?  What is redistricting?

Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions entitled to representation

Redistricting is the process of drawing boundaries for electoral and political districts in the U.S. and is usually done every ten years after the census.

14.	What is gerrymandering?

The process of manipulating the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favour one party or class 

15.	What did the Court do in 1995 in the case of Miller v Johnson?

Miller appelent claimed that the state of Georgia's redistricting plan enacted in 1991 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution when the Eleventh District was created. The appellants claimed that the redistricting plan was based upon racial factors and did not serve any compelling governmental interest.

16.	What is patronage? What is pork barreling? 

Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another.

Pork-barrel politics describes a process that legislators use to obtain funding from a central government to finance projects benefiting the legislators' local constituents.

17.	What is an “earmark?”  

“Earmark refers to any element of a spending bill that allocates money for a very specific thing—a given project, say, or location, or institution.
18.	What is a private bill? What is the subject matter of the majority of private bills? 
A private bill is a proposal for a law that would apply to a particular individual or group of individuals, or corporate entity. The subject matter for majority of private bills applying to the whole nation private bills measures applying to certain persons or places rather than the whole nation

19.	How are minority and majority leaders and the Speaker of the House selected? 

The Senate Republican and Democratic floor leaders are elected by the members of their party in the Senate at the beginning of each Congress. Depending on which party is in power, one serves as majority leader and the other as minority leader. The leaders serve as spokespersons for their party's positions on issues. The majority leader schedules the daily legislative program and fashions the unanimous consent agreements that govern the time for debate.
20.	Who has the most real power in the Senate?

The majority and the minority leaders

21.	What is a standing committee?  Give an example.

A standing committee is a subunit of a political or deliberative body established in a permanent fashion to aid the parent assembly in accomplishing its duties. An example is the Appropriations Committees that recommend legislation to provide budget authority for federal agencies and programs.

22.	What is a select committee? 

A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy
23.	What is joint committee?  List the four major joint committees in Congress.

A joint committee is a committee made up of members of both chambers of a bicameral legislature

•	Joint Committee on the Library of Congress
•	Joint Committee on Printing
•	Joint Committee on Taxation
•	Joint Economic Committee
24.	What is a conference committee? What can happen if one party controls both houses? 

Is temporary committee set up to resolve the different versions of the same bill that House and Senate have passed.

25.	List some of the responsibilities of Congressional staff members. 
Administrative support
Communication
Schedule and appointment of the secretary 
Prepare requests
Monitor legislation schedules

26.	What is a staff agency? What are the three staff agencies that help Congress do its job? 

Staffing agencies are responsible for assisting clients in finding good candidates for their job opportunities. To be successful in this business, staffing agencies hire good recruiters. Recruiters are responsible for using the telephone and Internet to identify strong candidates for their clients.

27.	In Congress, what is a caucus?

A congressional caucus is a group of members of the United States Congress that meets to pursue common legislative objectives

28.	What is a bill?  What is a “money” bill and where can it be introduced? 

A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. Money Bills can be introduced only in Lok Sabha (the directly elected 'people's house' of the Indian Parliament). Money bills passed by the Lok Sabha are sent to the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of parliament, elected by the state and territorial legislatures or appointed by the president).

29.	What is the closed and open rule? Who decides which applies?

A closed rule is a procedural maneuver that prohibits any amendments to bills up for a vote on the House floor, unless they are recommended by the committee reporting the bill. Under an open rule, any Member may offer an amendment that complies with the standing rules of the House and the Budget Act. Basically it’s the members who make the decision. 

30.	What is a filibuster? What is cloture specifically, and how does it work? 

A filibuster is an attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter. On the other hand, a is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end.

31.	What is the purpose of a conference committee? 

Conference committees are usually convened to resolve bicameral differences on major and controversial legislation.
32.	How does a veto and pocket veto work? What does it take to override a veto? 

Congress can override the veto by a two-thirds vote of both chambers, whereupon the bill becomes law. If Congress prevents the bill's return by being adjourned during the 10-day period, and the president does not sign the bill, a "pocket veto" occurs and the bill does not become law.

33.	What is a party unity vote? What is a roll-call vote? 
The files below contain the party unity scores by Congress for every Democrat and Republican voting on at least 10 party unity votes in the Congress. A party unity vote is defined as one where at least 50 percent of Democrats vote against at least 50 percent of Republicans

34.	According to your text, what are six ways that party leaders can reward loyal party members?

1.	provide selective incentives to loyal party members in the form of desirable committee transfers
2.	leaders pick and choose among members’ requests for legislative preference
3.	Appointments
4.	Easy legislation
5.	Immunity to prosecutions’
6.	Financial support 
35.	What is a party whip? What is the main task of the whip system? 

In countries influenced by the British political system, a whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are the party's "enforcers"; they invite their fellow legislators to attend voting sessions and to vote according to the official party policy.

36.	What is logrolling? 

Logrolling is the trading of favors, or quid pro quo, such as vote trading by legislative members to obtain passage of actions of interest to each legislative member.

37.	What are the two reasons that members of Congress don’t try to compromise on legislation?

The need to dominate governing in democratic politics
Ideological differences between two parties

38.	What is meant by congressional oversight?

Congressional oversight includes the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation. Congress exercises this power largely through its congressional committee system.

39.	What is an executive agreement?

An executive agreement is an agreement between the heads of government of two or more nations that has not been ratified by the legislature as treaties are ratified.

40.	How do you impeach a president?  What role does the Senate play in the process? What role does the House play 

Impeachment in the United States is an enumerated power of the legislature that allows formal charges to be brought against a civil officer of government for crimes alleged to have been committed. Most impeachments have concerned alleged crimes committed while in office, though there have been a few cases in which Congress has impeached and convicted officials partly for prior crimes
The senate, ultimately, acts as the jury. In order for the president to be removed from office, in this case, it would require a two-thirds vote among the 100 senators.

Chapter 13: The Presidency
1.	What established the office of the Presidency? The constitution established the office of the presidency
2.	What was the “King Caucus”? King Caucus is a closed door-door meeting of a political party's leaders in congress. The common people had no opportunity to participate
3.	How are presidential candidates selected now? Who controls that process?  political parties in the United States typically conduct national conventions to choose their presidential candidates. The political parties control the process.
4.	List the five expressed Presidential powers identified in the text. 
i.	commander in chief of the military
ii.	appointment power; that is he appoints people to important government positions like SCOTUS
iii.	Veto power over legislative bills that can only be overridden by 2/3s majority
iv.	Power to negotiate treaties that must be approved by the Senate
v.	Authority to propose legislation is his legislative agenda

5.	What are implied powers? A political power not expressly named in a constitution but that is inferred because it is necessary to the performance of an enumerated power. example. When Congress passes legislation on national health care based on the power granted to Congress by the Constitution to collect taxes and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.
6.	What is an executive agreement? What is the difference between an executive agreement and a treaty? Treaties are international agreements which are described under Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution. While executive agreement is an international agreements which are brought to force in relation to the U.S. without the advice and consent of the Senate on a Constitutional basis.
 
7.	What is executive privilege and what happened in U.S. v Nixon? Executive privilege is the constitutional principle that permits the president and high-level executive branch officers to withhold information from Congress, the courts, and ultimately the public. A grand jury returned indictments against seven of President Richard Nixon's closest aides in the Watergate affair. The special prosecutor appointed by Nixon and the defendants sought audio tapes of conversations recorded by Nixon in the Oval Office. Nixon asserted that he was immune from the subpoena claiming "executive privilege," which is the right to withhold information from other government branches to preserve confidential communications within the executive branch or to secure the national interest. Decided together with Nixon v. United States
8.	How do the veto and pocket veto work? An automatic veto of a bill that occurs if the president or governor neither signs nor vetoes a bill within ten days of receiving it — as long as the legislature adjourns during that period. Pocket veto is an absolute veto that cannot be overridden Can Congress override each one? No. Congress cannot override a pocket veto.
9.	Who does Congress expect to set its agenda and what is legislative initiative? legislative initiative is the constitutionally defined power to propose a new law (bill). Congress expect the presiding officers to determine the legislative business.
10.	What is an executive order? are legally binding orders given by the President, acting as the head of the Executive Branch, to Federal Administrative Agencies
11.	In the context of the presidency and the executive branch, what are delegated powers? What is the source of those powers? Delegated powers are government powers specifically outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
12.	What does a federal agency in the executive branch do – make the law or enforce the law? The federal agency enforce the law enacted by the Congress.
13.	Does the IRS have broad powers? Yes. Why or why not? The secretary has full authority to administer and enforce the internal revenue laws and has the power to create an agency to enforce these laws.
14.	According to your text, why are delegated powers broader in scope now than they were prior to 1930? It is because of the changes to the law that has occurred over the years.
15.	What are inherent powers?  Powers held by the U.S. President which are not specified in the Constitution, but which are needed to efficiently perform the duties of the office. What are the sources of those powers? The powers are defined in practice by the congress.
16.	 What is the War Powers Resolution? It is a federal law intended to check the president's power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S. Congress. How does the War Powers Resolution limit a president’s actions? It gives the congress powers to approve the president’s action. How  have presidents responded to that limitation?  Presidents have paid almost no attention to the constitutional requirements. 
17.	What is the Cabinet? A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the top leaders of the executive branch.
18.	What is the NSC and what officials sit on the NSC? The National Security Council (NSC) is the President's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials.
19.	What group do “Special Assistants to the President” belong to?  What do they do? Reporting to the Chief of Staff and Strategy, the Special Assistant will provide critical support to the President across their full range of work to help ensure prioritization, increased bandwidth, and effective coordination of all engagements and work output.
20.	What is the presidents’ kitchen cabinet? the collection of unofficial advisors he consulted in parallel to the United States Cabinet
21.	What is the EOP? It stands for Educational Opportunity Program. What is the OMB and what does it do? The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) serves the President of the United States in overseeing the implementation of his vision across the Executive Branch
22.	What political value does a vice-presidential candidate provide for a presidential candidate? The Vice President serves as ceremonial assistant to the President and is an important part of the President's administration.
23.	In the event of the incapacity of a president, who takes over the presidential responsibilities? Who is next in line? The vice president
24.	What role does the vice-president play in the Senate? The vice president preside over the senate.
25.	According to your text, what are the three ways that a president can expand his or her power? party, popular mobilization, and administration
26.	What does “going public” mean? What are the ways that a president can “go public”? Going public means trying to influence political opinions across certain issue types and groups. While in office, a president can choose to "go public" through direct television appeals to the American people that are designed to circumvent party leaders
27.	What is the typical pattern for presidential approval ratings? A percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program 
28.	According to your text, what are the three parts of a president’s “Administrative Strategy”? White House Office,Office of Management and Budget, and appointments 
29.	What is regulatory review? The regulatory review process allows the executive branch of the United States federal government to ensure that the regulations drafted by different agencies contribute to the current administration's overall goals
30.	Why are executive orders important to an “administrative strategy”? White House Office,Office of Management and Budget, and appointments 
31.	What is a “signing statement”? Signing Statement” is a written comment issued by a President at the time of signing legislation.
32.	Does the Congress still have the “power of the purse”?  Why? Yes. In order to authorize the president's budget requests to fund agencies and programs of the executive branch.

Chapter 15: The Federal Courts--Judiciary
1.	Who or what is a defendant?  Who or what is a plaintiff? The person suing is the plaintiff and the person against whom the suit is brought is the defendant
2.	What types of cases are case of criminal law? Who is always the plaintiff? These are offenses against the state, and are accordingly prosecuted by the state. Criminal cases do not have plentiffs. They have the complainant which is the state.
3.	What types of cases are cases of civil law?  A civil case begins when a person or entity (such as a corporation or the government), called the plaintiff, claims that another person or entity (the defendant) has failed to carry out a legal duty owed to the plaintiff
4.	What is a precedent? It is an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances What does stare decisis mean? A doctrine or policy of following rules or principles laid down in previous judicial decisions unless they contravene the ordinary principles of justice
5.	What is a plea bargain? A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant that typically involves the defendant's agreement to plead guilty, often to a lesser offense or to a reduced sentence that has been agreed upon in advance.
6.	What is a court’s jurisdiction? Jurisdiction exercised simultaneously by more than one court over the same subject matter and within the same territory. A litigant can choose in which jurisdiction the case is filed.  What is original jurisdiction? The right to hear cases for the first time 
Decide guilty or not guilty What is appellate jurisdiction? The authority of a court to hear a case appealed from a lower court.
Checks over first jurisdiction
7.	What kinds of cases are heard in federal court? Who decided this court’s jurisdiction? federal court jurisdictions only hear cases in which the United States is a party, cases involving violations of the Constitution or federal law, crimes on federal land, and bankruptcy cases. Federal courts also hear cases based on state law that involve parties from different states.
8.	What article in the Constitution deals with the judiciary and jurisdiction? Article III
9.	For justices, what is “life tenure”?  Do all judges in the federal system have it?  Life tenure was presumably meant to protect judges' probity and prevent political pressure in passing out opinions. Only judges in federal courts have it.
10.	What is due process of law? Refers to fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially a citizen's entitlement to notice of a charge and a hearing before an impartial judge What is a writ of habeas corpus? It is a court order to a person or agency holding someone in custody (such as a warden) to deliver the imprisoned individual to the court issuing the order and to show a valid reason for that person's detention.
11.	Why are federal cases so important?  They are important because they help in the determination of those cases which lawyers commonly refer to as "federal 'question" cases."  What kinds of cases are heard by the Supreme Court? the Supreme Court is almost always hearing cases where only matters of law are at issue
12.	What is the primary difference between a trial court and an appellate court?  In the trial court, both sides present evidence to show their version of what happened. However, in the appellate courts, there are no witnesses, and no evidence is presented
13.	What does the chief justice of the Supreme Court do?  The Chief Justiceleads the business of the Supreme Court and presides over oral arguments
14.	How many justices are on the United States Supreme Court? There are Nine Justices in the Supreme Court. Can that number be changed? Yes. Through approval of the Congress.
15.	What is senatorial courtesy? It refers to a custom of the U.S. Senate of refusing to confirm a presidential appointment of an official in or from a state when the appointment is opposed by the senators or senior senator of the president's party from that state Does this practice apply to justices of the Supreme Court? No. It does not apply to Supreme Court appointments.
16.	Has the process of judicial appointments gone smoothly in the past twenty-five years? Why or why not? Judicial selection has been contentious at numerous junctures in U.S. history due to the influence of politics and centrist ideologies.
17.	What is judicial review? Judicial review is a type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body How or what established judicial review as a power of the Supreme Court? Was established in the landmark decision in Marbury v. Madison, 1803.
18.	What is the supremacy clause?  It establishes that the federal constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions. How does it impact state laws? It gives power to the decisions in Supreme Court over those in state courts.
19.	How are appellate decisions like common law and statutory law? They both result into laws that are enforceable.
20.	How does the doctrine of “cases and controversies” limit judicial power? It provide congress with an opportunity to disturb final judgment which violates the separation of powers. 
21.	What does standing mean?  standing or locus standi is the term for the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case
22.	What does mootness mean? Mootness doctrine is a principle of judicial procedure whereby American courts will not decide moot cases that is, cases in which there is no longer any actual controversy
23.	What is a writ of certiorari? A writ of certiorari orders a lower court to deliver its record in a case so that the higher court may review it
24.	Aside from the formal criteria, what 3 types of cases is the Supreme Court most likely to accept? U.S Government Cases, Treaties and Diplomats, and Admiralty.
25.	What does ‘certworthy’ mean, and what is the certiorari pool? Certworthy refers to cases that are deserving of review by writ of certiorari. The cert pool is a mechanism by which the U.S. Supreme Court manages the influx of petitions for certiorari ("cert") to the court
26.	What percent of petitions filed are granted cert? 1.21%
27.	Who is the solicitor general and what does he/she do? When the federal government loses a case in a federal district court, it is the Solicitor General who must decide whether to appeal or instead to accept the loss
28.	What does amicus curiae mean and when/why would the solicitor general be one? one (such as a professional person or organization) that is not a party to a particular litigation but that is permitted by the court to advise it in respect to some matter of law that directly affects the case in question. Because Solicitor general  influences the voting behavior of individual justices
29.	What is included in a brief? Complaints, answers, discovery documents, motions and legal memoranda that make up part of the court file.
30.	In terms of court cases, what is an opinion? A statement that is prepared by a judge or court announcing the decision after a case is tried
31.	What is a majority opinion? A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision. Who writes it and why does that matter? The chief justice appoint one judge to write it. It is important because the majority opinion reflects the resolution agreed upon by more than half of the members of the court
32.	Why would a justice write a concurring opinion? Because it describes the basis for their decision
33.	What is a dissenting opinion? A dissenting opinion is an opinion written by a justice who disagrees with the majority opinion. Why is it important?  Because the nine Justices commonly disagree on the method for solving a case in the majority opinion 
34.	What is the difference between judicial activism and judicial restraint? Judicial activism describes judicial rulings suspected of being based on personal or political considerations rather than on existing law while judicial restraint encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power.
35.	What were the traditional limitations on judicial power? The limitations included the 11^th Amendments, Case or Controversy, and policy limitations
36.	 According to the text, what are the three changes in judicial procedures that courts created in the 1960s and 1970s to expand the power of the courts? The liberalization of the concept of standing, broadening the scope of relief in the federal courts, and employment of structural remedies.