Political parties
Senate
House of representatives
Overall congress
100
What is a political party?
A political party is a group of people made up of candidates, voters, and office holders who consider themselves part of a group under a particular label with people who share similar points of view about how the government should be run.
100
Who is the president of the senate?
The Vice President of the United states.
100
Which branch of government is the House of Representatives part of?
Legislative
100
Define an incumbent.
A person already in office.
200
What are 2 functions of a political party?
Political parties work to participate in and influence the government by having their members elected to a government position. They also influence public opinion through social media (etc) to gain support and voters.
200
How many memebers are there in the senate?
100
200
How many members are in the house of representatives?
435
200
What a bicameral legislature?
A legislature split in two
300
What is the role of a linkage institution? Give 2 examples of a linkage institution.
Linkage institutions provide a way for people to get involved in the government and the political process. (Examples: media, political parties, elections, interest groups etc)
300
Which state has more senators? Alaska with a population of less than a million or Kentucky with a population of over 4 million?
They both have the same amount of senators(2). In the senate each state gets equal representation regardless of population.
300
Which state has more representatives: California with a population of over 38 million or Kansas with a population of almost 3 million?
The amount of representatives each state gets is decided by population, so california will get more representatives than kansas.
300
What is a majority leader and how are they connected to the speaker of the house?
the majority leader is the leader of the majority party (if there are more democrats than republicans, the majority leader will be a democrat). The majority leader is traditionally the speaker of the house or allies with the speaker of the house
400
Describe the winner takes all system.
The winner take all system is an electoral system in which the winner of the popular votes in a state receives all of the electoral votes of that state.
400
How long does each senator hold office for?
6 years
400
How long does each representative hold office for?
2 years
400
Name 3 committees of congress and describe 1.
Standing committees- handle bills in different policy areas Joint committees- congressional committee in which both members of congress (house and senate) are members Conference committee- committee formed when senate and house pass different forms of a bill in order to make one bill Select committee- Committee appointed for a specific purpose such as the watergate investigation Committee Chairs: most important influencers of congressional agenda. They schedule hearings, hire staff, appoint sub-committees and manage committee bills.
500
Describe the responsible party model. Provide 1 example of how it works.
The responsible party model is a view favored by some political scientists about how a party should work. ( Ex: The model says that parties should offer clear choices to voters who can then use those choices to make their own preferences of candidates or once in office parties will carry out their campaign promises)
500
Describe 2 powers of the senate.
They can conduct impeachment trials, power to ratify treaties, power to advise and consent to all Executive Branch appointments like when the president wants to declare war, the senate has to approve.
500
Describe two powers of the house of representatives.
impeach government officials, power to elect a president if there is a tie in the electoral college, power to introduce laws and legislation specifically about revenue and taxes
500
Identify 2 advantages incumbents have over their challengers.
Incumbents are more well known, so they are more familiar to voters, they can credit claim (brag about the laws/bills they have passed, the good they’ve done so far), they don’t have to spend much like their opponent might.
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