U.S. Government

Ebert

Exam III – Review

Chapter 10, Section 1

  1. What does “bicameral” mean?
  1. How long is a term of Congress? How many sessions are there in each term? How long is each session?
  1. What is a special session? Who can call congress into a special session?

Chapter 10, Section 2

  1. How many members are there in the House of Representatives? How was this number determined?
  1. What is reapportionment?
  1. What is the minimum number of representatives a state can have?
  1. How many congresspersons currently represent Indiana?
  1. What are the qualifications for a member of the House of Representatives?
  1. How long is the term of office for a member of the House of Representatives?
  1. Who is responsible for drawing congressional district boundaries? What characteristics must congressional districts have?
  1. What is gerrymandering?
  1. What was the significance of Wesberry v. Sanders? What impact did “one person, one vote” have on how House districts were drawn?
  1. What is an incumbent?

Chapter 10, Section 3

  1. How long is the term of office for a member of the U.S. Senate?
  1. How many senators represent each state?
  1. How is the election of senators different from that of congresspersons? What does it mean to be elected “at-large”?
  1. How did the Seventeenth Amendment change how senators are elected?
  1. What are the qualifications for a member of the U.S. Senate?

Chapter 10, Section 4

  1. What is the oversight function?

Chapter 11, Section 1

  1. What is another term for “expressed” powers? In what part of the Constitution are these powers described?
  1. What are some of the more important expressed powers?

Chapter 11, Section 3

  1. What are implied powers? On what part of the constitution are implied powers based? What is the purpose of the “necessary and proper” clause?
  1. What power does the Commerce Clause give to the Congress?

Chapter 11, Section 4

  1. What does the word “impeachment” mean? What are the steps in the impeachment process?
  1. What are some powers that the House possesses that the Senate does not? What are some powers that the Senate possesses that the House does not (answered throughout Chapter 12)?
  1. Which house of Congress ratifies treaties? How many votes does it take to ratify a treaty?


Chapter 12, Section 1

  1. Who is the presiding officer in the House of Representatives?
  1. How is the Speaker of the House selected?
  1. Who is the most powerful person in the House of Representatives?
  1. Who is the president of the U.S. Senate?
  1. What are the responsibilities of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate?
  1. What do the majority and minority leaders do? What do the majority and minority whips do?
  1. How are committee chairpersons selected?

Chapter 12, Section 2

  1. What are the different types of committees? What does each do?
  1. What is the main purpose of standing committees?
  1. Who controls the membership and chairmanship on standing committees?
  1. What is the purpose of a conference committee?

Chapter 12, Section 3

  1. What is a public bill? What is a private bill?
  1. What is a quorum? How many members constitute a quorum in congress?
  1. At what stage of the legislative process do most bills die?
  1. Why is the House Rules Committee so powerful?


Chapter 12, Section 4

  1. What is a filibuster? What is cloture?
  1. What actions may a president take with a bill passed by Congress?
  1. What is a pocket-veto? How does a pocket-veto happen?
  1. How many votes does it take to override a presidential veto?
  1. Why are conference committees sometimes called the “third house of Congress”?

Chapter 24, Section 2

  1. By what name is the Indiana legislature known?
  1. What is the title of the presiding officer in the lower house of 49 of the state legislatures?

Chapter 24, Section 3

  1. What is the title of the chief executive of a state?

Notes / Discussion

  1. What is a constituent?
  1. Know who the following people are:
  2. Avon’s (4th District) congressman
  1. Indiana’s Senior Senator
  1. Indiana’s Junior Senator
  1. Indiana’s Governor
  1. Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
  1. President of the U.S. Senate
  1. Which political party is in the majority in the House of Representatives?
  1. Which political party is in the majority in the U.S. Senate?