Study Guide for Unit 4:

Institutions (Congress, Presidency, Judiciary, Bureaucracy, Federal Courts)

 

Chapter 12: Congress

 

Questions you should be able to answer:

1.       What is the effect of incumbency in congressional elections? What other factors are associated with congressional electoral success?

2.    What is the role of money in congressional campaigns? Assess the influence of interest groups and political action committees (PACs) on members of Congress.

3.    How do the House of Representatives and the Senate differ? How does the structure of leadership differ between the two?

4.     Describe the committee system in Congress. What are the different roles of committees in the legislative process?

5.    How does a bill become a law? What factors influence the legislative process and how does their influence differ?

6.    Is Congress representative in its membership and its policy-making role? What structures and reforms have affected its representation function?

 

Terms you should be able to identify & describe:

incumbents                         casework

pork barrel                         quorum

House Rules Committee           filibuster

Speaker of the House              rider (nongermane amendment)

hold                                sunset laws

standing committees               joint committees

conference committees             select committees

legislative oversight                 committee chairs

seniority system                    caucus

appropriation                       Appropriations Committee

cloture                             discharge petition

Finance Committee                franking privilege

gerrymandering                     logrolling                    

open rule                           closed rule

reapportionment                    redistricting

Ways and Means Committee       constituents

Chapter 13: The Presidency

 

Questions you should be able to answer:

1.       How do presidents and vice presidents get into office?

2.    What are the formal constitutional powers of the presidency and how have these powers expanded over the years?

3.    How is the presidency organized? On whom does the president depend for advice about governmental and policy matters?

4.     Explain the factors that affect presidential leadership of Congress. Why are some presidents more effective leaders than others?

5.    What roles does the president play as leader of national security policy? How do these roles conflict with the role of Congress in the area of national security?

6.    What factors affect presidential popularity and approval? How is popularity related to power and to policy-making?

7.     Why is the press so important to the president? Give examples of the relationship between the press and the presidency.

8.    How does the contemporary presidency differ from that envisioned by the Founders? Be able to take a position on whether or not the president has become too powerful, and how this might affect democracy and the scope of government.

 

Terms you should be able to identify & describe:

22nd Amendment                  impeachment

impoundment                      25th Amendment

cabinet                             National Security Council

Council of Economic Advisers      Office of Management & Budget

veto                                pocket veto

presidential cottails                 War Powers Resolution

legislative veto                     line item veto

executive agreement               executive privilege

 

 

Chapter 15: The Federal Bureaucracy

 

Questions you should be able to answer:

1.       How does one become a bureaucrat? What myths surround the bureaucracy in the U.S.?

2.    How is the United States bureaucracy organized? What policymaking roles do the different federal agencies play?

3.    What is policy implementation and what are its main features? What factors facilitate and what factors hinder successful implementation of a public policy? Use specific examples of implementation to illustrate your points.

4.     What is needed for an agency to perform its regulatory role? What are the pros and cons of deregulation?

5.    How does politics permeate bureaucracies? What factors make it difficult to control bureaucracies? What methods are available to the president and Congress to control bureaucracies?

6.    What is the role of the bureaucracies in the federal system? Is the federal bureaucracy too big? What are the pros and cons of a large bureaucracy?

 

Terms you should be able to identify & describe:

bureaucracy                              patronage (spoils system)

civil service                         merit system

independent regulatory agency     governmental corporations

independent executive agencies    policy implementation

regulation                          deregulation

executive orders                    iron triangle

political appointments              red tape

whistleblower

 

Chapter 16: The Federal Courts

 

Questions you should be able to answer:

1.       Who are the key participants in the American judicial system and what do they do?

2.    Explain the structure of the American judicial system. What are the differences between the federal district courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court?

3.    What is the process by which members of the Supreme Court are chosen? How does the appointment process for other federal courts differ?

4.     What are the typical characteristics of American judges and justices? How do their background’s and personal characteristics affect their judicial behavior?

5.    How do courts shape public policy in their decisions and in the opinions by judges used to justify decisions? What effect have the courts had on the policy agenda? Use historical examples in your answer.

6.    How do court decisions become public policy? What is involved in judicial implementation? Use examples to illustrate the potential problems of implementing court decisions.

7.     What is the role of courts in a democracy? What are the major criticisms of the court system in the U.S. today? In what ways might the courts be considered too strong or weak?

 

Terms you should be able to identify & describe:

class action suits                   amicus curiae briefs

original jurisdiction                 appellate jurisdiction

senatorial courtesy                 stare decisis

precedent                          original intent

judicial review                      Marbury v. Madison

judicial restraint                    judicial activism

majority opinion                    dissenting opinion

injunction                          remand

Rule of four                        writ of certiorari

writ of habeas corpus              writ of mandamus