| Question |
Answer |
| Seven perks of Congressmen | $168,000 salary
generous retirement benefits
office in DC and in constituency
substantial congressional staff
(junkets) travel allowances
Faranking Priveleges (free mail) |
| Descriptive representation | representing contituents by mirroring personal and political characteristics |
| Substantive representation | representing interests of groups |
| Is a politician descriptive or substantive | substantive |
| Five advantages of incumbency | advertising visibility
credit claiming; giving them better public image
position taking; favorable to constituents
Weak opposition
campaign spending |
| Casework | activities of congressmen that help constituents as individuals |
| Pork barrel | list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges and institutions available in a congressional district |
| Political Action Committees | give money to incumbents (winners) to buy votes |
| Incumbent defeated by: | scandal, redistricted out of familiear turf, major political tidal wave |
| Term Limitations (criticism) | loss of experienced legislators
loss of voter choice
already plenty of new people in congress |
| House Rules Committee | reviews all bills (not revenue, budget, appropriations) coming from a House committee before it goes to full house |
| Formal powers of Speaker of the House | presides over House, appoint committee member, make committee assignments, assign bills to committees |
| Four types of congressional committees | standing, joint, conference, select |
| Standing Committee | separate subject matter committees in each house of Congress that handle bills in different policy areas |
| Joint Committees | congressional committees on a few subjec matter areas with membership drawn from both houses |
| Conference Committees | Congressional comm formed when the Senate and the House pass a particular bill in different forms. Party leaderships appoints members from each house to iron out the difference and bring back a single bill |
| Select Committees | congresional comm appointed for a specific purpose. Temporary |
| Legislative oversight | Congress monitoring Beaurocracy and its policy |
| Seniority System | Old Incumbent party leaders get better committees and get committee chairs |
| Personal Staff | Work with constituents |
| Committee Staff | draft bill and do DC stuff |
| Congressional staff agencies | Congressional Research Service, Gov't Accountability Office, Congressional Budget office |
| Trustee | best judgement to make policies in interest of people |
| Instructed Delegate | mirror preferences of constituents |
| Politicos | Congress men are this: strive to be both representatives and policy makers. (trustee + Instructed delegate = politico) |
| Congress frustrates lobbyists | regulating, ignoring, embarassing |
