congress

• what is the house of representatives

  the 'lower house'

  435 members

  represents a district

  serves a 2 year term

  must be at least 25 years old and a US citizen for 7 years

  must be a resident of the state that they represent
• what is the senate

  the 'upper house'

  100 members (2 per state)

  represents a 'state'

  serves a 4 year term

  must be at least 30 years old

  must have been a US citizen for 9 years
• what proportion of congress is female

  21% of the senate and 19% of the HOR
• how many non white congressmen are there

  116
• what is the religious composition of congress

  88% christian - there are 34 jews and 2 muslims
• what are the most popular professions for congressmen to come from

  business and law
• what type of bills does the house of representatives have a monopoly on

  money bills
• what is the oversight function of congress found in the constitution

  in article 1 section 8, where it says that a legislative body is allowed to investigate any institution encompassed by the scope of its legislation
• what is the need for congress to override the presidential veto

  a 2/3 majority in both houses
• examples of presidential vetoes that have been overridden

  • George W. Bush's veto of the 2007 Water Resources Development billIn President Obama's term, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which Obama had vetoed to protect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from lawsuits, was overridden too.
• what are the powers of congress

   Law MakingOverseeing the Executive BranchOverriding the President's vetoConfirming AppointmentsRatifying TreatiesInitiating Constitutional AmendmentsImpeaching Public OfficialsConfirming an appointed Vice PresidentDeclaring WarElecting the President and Vice President if the Electoral College is deadlocked
• how many officers of governments have been impeached in US history and how many have been ousted

  20 officers have been impeached

  8 have been ousted
• how many times has the US congress declared war

  5 times, with the last time being in 1941
• what are the different types of committees found in the US congress

   Standing CommitteesHouse Rules CommitteeConference CommitteeSelect Committee
• what are the standing committees 


  Standing committees are permanent panels in Congress which work in a specific areaUsually have around 18 people in the Senate, and up to 30 - 40 in the HouseThe balance of party members on a standing committee reflects the composition of Congress
• what are the three main functions of standing committees

  1. Holding hearings on legislative bills2) Conducting investigations3) Confirming Presidential appointments (in the Senate)
• what is the house rules committee

  The committee that determines how and when debate on a bill will take place; they set the rules for the bill
• what are the three basic types of rules on a bill

   Open rules that allow for unlimited amendmentsModified rules that state which sections can be amended and who can propose themClosed rules that forbid any amendments
• how many people sit in the house rules committee

  13
• what are conference committees

  Bills in Congress are passed concurrently, so there is sometimes a difference between the 'Senate Bill' and the 'House Bill'If these differences are not easily reconciled, Conference Committees are formedThey include members from both Houses
• what are select committees

  Temporary committees formed to investigate a particular issue which is outside the range of Standing Committees
• what are the 4 permanent select committees found in the senate

  aging

  ethics

  indian affairs

  intelligence
• what is the only permanent select committee found in the house of representatives

  intelligence
• what are the committee chairs

  Always drawn from the majority party of the HouseThey control the agenda, decide when the Committee will meet and control the budgetThey also serve as spokesman for the Committee in media and elsewhere
• gerrymandering 


  process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power
• malapportionment 


  An unequal proportional distribution of representatives to a legislative body (one state having more representatives than their population entitles them to), unfair proportional distribution of representatives to a legislative body
• reapportionment 


  the process of reallocating seats in the house of representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census
• packing 


  Concentrating partisan voters in a single district, "wasting" their majority vote and allowing the opposition to win by modest majorities in other districts
• cracking 


  Spreading voters of one party over many districts where they will comprise minorities that are unable to influence elections
• wesberry v sanders 


  Invalidated unequal congressional districts, saying that all congressional districts within a state must contain about equal numbers of people. The ruling is popularly known as the principle of one person, one vote.
• partisan


  favouring one political party at the expense of another