APAG Ch. 12 Congress

1. APAG Ch. 12 � Congress Assignment 2 Pages 368-376

2. 1. What does bipartisan mean? Give an example of partisanship.

3. Bipartisanship is something that has the support of both Democrats and Republicans. Judiciary committees vote along party lines. Impeachment of Clinton

4. 2. What is reapportionment? Redistricting? Justiciable Questions?

5. Reapportionment is the allocation of seats in the House of Rep. to each state after each census. Redistricting is the redrawing of the boundaries of the congressional districts within each state. Justiciable Question is one that may be raised and reviewed in court.

6. What was significant about these three cases: a) Baker v. Carr b) Reynolds v. Sims c) Wesberry v Sanders

7. In Baker, the Court made reapportionment a justiciable question. In Reynolds, the Court held that both chambers of a state legislature must be apportioned with equal populations in each district- �one person, one vote� In Wesberry, the Court held that this �one person, one vote� applied to congressional districts too.

8. 4. What is gerrymandering? What did the Court say about it in Davis v. Bandemer?

9. Gerrymandering is the drawing of legislative district boundary lines for the purpose of obtaining partisan or factional advantage. A district is said to have been gerrymandered when its shape is altered substantially by the dominant party in a state legislature to maximize its electoral strength at the expense of the minority party.

10. The Court ruled in the Davis case that redistricting for the political benefit of one group could be challenged on constitutional grounds. However, in this particular case, the Court did not agree that the districts were drawn unfairly.

11. 5. What is �packing and cracking�? How many seats in the House of Rep. were open for real competition in the 2002 Congressional elections?

12. �Packing and cracking� is the use of powerful computers and software that packs voters supporting the opposing party into as few districts as possible or crack the opposing party�s supporters into different districts. Only 30-50 seats out of 435 were really open in the 2002 Congressional election.

13. 6.What are �minority-majority� districts? What has the Court ruled about them?

14. They are gerrymandering districts to make sure that a minority population becomes the majority in order to win a seat. The Supreme Court has ruled consistently that race-based districting is unconstitutional.

15. 7. What are some of the pay, perks, and privileges that members of Congress receive?

16. In 2002, annual congressional salaries were $150,000. They have access to a private gym, free parking at Dulles airport and on Capitol Hill, subsidized dining, free medical care, inexpensive but generous pensions, liberal travel allowances, and special tax considerations.

17. Franking privilege-free mail A large personal staff Average of 30 per senator Average of 15 per house member Protected from arrest except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace while in office. Protected from libel or slander suits while in office.

18. 8. Where is most of the work done for legislating? Who controls most bills?

19. In committees or subcommittees. Committees control most bills. *Most bills die in the committees.

20. 9. What is required to get a bill out of a committee that doesn�t want to release the bill?

21. Discharge petition�which must be signed by a majority of the House members (218) to release the bill.

22. What is the importance of each of these committees: a) Standing Committees b) Select Committees c) Joint Committees d) Conference Committees e) House Rules Committee

23. Standing Committees are the most important of all committees in Congress. They are permanent bodies that are established by rules of each chamber and consider bills within a certain subject area. The most important of these are the Appropriations Committee, the Ways and Means Committee in the House, the House Education and Workforce Committee.

24. Select Committees are temporary and established for a limited time period and for a special purpose. Joint Committees are formed from both houses and deal with the economy, taxation, and the Library of Congress.

25. d) Conference committees are jointly formed to reconcile differences when bills pass the two chambers of Congress in different forms. e) The House Rules Committee is uniquely powerful in that it sets the time limit on debate and determines whether and how a bill may be amended. It can initiate legislation on its own.

26. What is the seniority system?

27. The seniority system is a custom followed in both chambers of congress specifying that members with longer terms of continuous service will be given preference when committee chair-persons and holders of other significant posts are selected.

28. 12. What is a �safe seat�?

29. A safe seat is a district that returns the legislator with 55% of the vote or more.