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Majority Leader
Schedualing bills in the house.
Rounding up votes on the partys behalf of the partys legislation.
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Speaker of the house.
The House:
- Cheif among leadership positions in the H.R. is Speaker of the house.
-only mandated by the constitution
- 1) Presides over the house when its in session
- 2) Plays a major role in making comittee assignments, which are coveted by all members to ensure their electoral advantage.
- 3) Appoints or plays a key role in appointing the party's legislative leaders and leadership staff.
- 4) Excercise substancial control over which bills get assigned to which commitees.
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House Rules of the commitee
-Both house and senate set their own agenda's
--> Reviews bills coming from a house commitee before they go to a full house.
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Bicameral Legistature
Legislature divided into two houses.
-US congress is bicameral, except Nebraska.
-For each state is garunteed two senators and its number of representatives is determined by the poplation of the state.
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Stability and Change
Provides an opportunity for representatives and senators to gain some expertise in dealing with complex questions of public policy.
-Insulate them from political change
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Open Seats
- When an incumbent is not running for reelection and their seat
- is open =COMPETITION!
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How to defeat a INCUMBENT(S)
-Incumbent tarnished by scandal or corruption = VULNERABLE
-Incumbents may also be redistricted out of their familiar turfs.
-States that gain significantly in a number of population will be given more seats compared to states in which has decreased population will lose seats.
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The role of Party Identification
Most members of congress represent constituencies in which their party is in clear majority, and most people who identify with a party reliability vote for its canidates.
-90% of voters who identify with a party vote.
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Pork Barrel
List of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, busineses, colleges, and institutions.
Advantages: More favorable public image than opponent
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Incumbents
Individuals who already hold office.
-Sometime during each term, the incumbent must decide to run again or retire.
-Incumbents usually win.
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How many members of congress are there?
535 members. Even hundered, two from each state, are members of senate. Other 435 are members of House of Representatives.
-Members of house must be 25yrs and American Citizens for seven years
-Senators must be 30yrs and American citizens for nine years.
-All members of congress must be residents of the states from which they are elected.
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