Weeks v. U.S.
established the exclusionary rule ( illegally obtained evidence is not permissible to court ) for federal courts
Mapp v. Ohio
Incorporated and applied the exclusionary rule to the states.
missed:used the 14th amendment. Need to state definition of the exclusionary rule again when describing Mapp
Gideon v. Wainwright
Incorporated and applied the 6th amendments right to a lawyer/attorney/counsel to the states using the 14th amendments due process clause.
Miranda v. Arizona
Ruled that suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights ( right to remain silent right to a lawyer right to a speedy trial..) before being questioned.
established the Miranda rights that police must read to arrested suspects before questioning.
missed: they are called miranda rules not rights
Griswold v. Connecticut
Established the constitutional right to privacy that is implied in the bill of rights. Government can't interfere with birth control.
set important precedent for Roe.
missed: ruled that a connecticut law criminalizing the use of contraceptives violated the rght to martial privacy.
Roe v. Wade
declared that abortion is constitutionally protected ( which it isn't ) by the implied right to privacy in the bill of rights.
Wesberry v. Sanders
Extended the principle of "one person one vote" too congressional districts.
Ruled that districts had to be equally populated. Increases urban representaion in disticts a lot more.
missed: triggered wide spread re-distrcting that gave cities and urban areas more representaion in congress
Korematsu v. U.S.
Upheld the right of the U.S. government to massivley relocate Japanese-Americans. Seen by present day scholars as a flagrant vioilation of civil rights
missed: as a wartime necessity... civil liberites not rights
U.S. v. Nixon
Ruled that there is no constitutional right to unqualified executive privilege. Ordered Nixon to hand over tapes that had to do with the watergate scandal
Buckley v. Valeo
Struck down restrictions on how much a candidate could spend on his or her own campaign (in the Federal Election Campagin Act) declaring this to be free speech.
Upheld other parts of the law like limits on how much an individual can spend on a candidate.
Citizens United v. FEC
Ruled that corporations have a constitutional right to support and spend money on candidates. Removed restirction of campaign spending for groups that fund
political action but do not endcorse or coordinate with specific candidates , declaring this to be protected free speech by the 1st amendment.
This increased the number of Super-PACs( PACS that fund political action but do not endorse or coordinate with specific candidates )and
increased the amount of soft money spent.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
banned racial segregation and discrimination in public accomadations based on race color ethnicity and gender
Banned job discrimination based on Race color ethnicity and gender
Stopped federal funding for programs that went againts this law
missed:Enforced the 14th amendment...created the Equal Oppurtunity commission to enforce protections againts Job discrimination.
Upheld by the SCOTUS on the grounds that it had to do with interstate commerce.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
outlawed literacy test and other discriminatory practices used to disfranchise African Americans and other minorities.
Allowed and provided for the federal government to enforce this law in polling places with a history of discrimination
Increased minority voter turnout.
The Clean Air Act
Established air quality standards and allowed and provided for enforcement of the air quality standards.
missed: Increased the power of the federal government relative to the state governments...required states to administer the new standards and pay for their implementation
( unfunded Mandate). Private citizens can sue individuals and corporations that violated the act
The War Powers Resolution
Made to regain some of congresses power over deployment of troops into hostile areas overseas lost to the President. Requires that the Presisent notify
congress within 48 hours of deploying troops, that he should start bringing the troops home by 60 days and to have all of them home by 90 days unless congress
extends the time or declares war.
The Budget and Impoundment control act of 1974
Made to help congress to regain powers previously lost to the president.Reformed the budget process. Established budget committees in both houses of congress, established the CBO (Congressional Budget Office). Severely restricted the presidents power to impound , or to not spend, funds appropriated congress.
missed: CBO evaluates the presidents budget...established a budget process that includes setting overall levels of revenue and spending.
The Federal Election campaign act
Established limits on the amount individuals and PACs can spend on federal campaigns and candidates
Established the FEC to regulates federal election campaign finance
set rules for campaign contribution discloses
Limited how much a candidate can spend on his of her campaign ( this part was struck down by Buckley v. Valeo Supreme court case)
missed: Provided public funds for major party candidates in the general election. tightened reporting requirements
Americans with Disabilities Act
Increased the power of the federal government relative to the state governments. Extended the protections in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to physically and/or mentally disabled people. Mandated that public accommodations ( that meet specific requirements) provide accommodations for disabled people without giving the money to do this , hence it is an unfunded mandate.
missed: prohibits discrimination against disabled people in employment.
Welfare Reform Act
Increased the power of the state governments relative to the federal government. Disbanded the aid to families with dependent children and replaced it with federal Block grants to the states which allowed the states to conduct the federal goal of getting people off welfare and into the workforce by their own discretion. Allowed for experimentation and innovation.
missed: illustrates devolution.
No Child Left Behind Act
Increased the power of the Federal Government relative to the States by issuing standards all states must follow for public schools.
missed: requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades.
Represents a dramatic expansion of federal role in education.
HAS BEEN REPEALED
USA Patriot Act
Expanded the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism. Strenghtened US airport security. Allowed for searches of peoples property without the owner knowing.
missed :Increased the ability of law enforcement agencies to search telephone, e-mail, medical, financial and other records.
Top 20 Topics
The Incumbency Advantage
Incumbency is the single most important factor in determining the outcome of congressional elections
Incumbent members of the House win re-election more often than Incumbent Senators
Incumbents usually raise and spend more money than challengers and they usually are better known than their challengers. Incumbents can use a reputation for constituent service ( through casework and pork barrel politics ( when incumbents bring money , jobs and money for specific projects in their home districts home) ) to greatly increase their chance of being re-elected and House incumbent usually represent gerrymandered districts that favor his of her party. Some consequences of the Incumbency advantage are: Congress has many experienced members and it retains a continuity of policy, But Change is discouraged.
Missed:Incumbents can use the franking privilege which lets them send mail to their constituents at the governments expense to their advantage.
Federalism
Federalism is a system of Government where power is divided and shared between central and regional governments by a written constitution. Hence one geographic region has more than one government with authority over it. In the US power is divided and shared between the Federal government and state and local governments. Federalism can lead to policy fragmentation and instances where minority interests can delay or stop majority interests. Federalism also can lead to innovation and checks and balances. When state and federal interests conflict, the Federal government is Supreme. States are supposed to respect the licenses contracts etc of other states through the full faith and credit clause. States are supposed to give basic privileges like police protection and access to state courts to every U.S. Citizen through the Privileges and immunites clause
missed: Federalism decentralizes conflict, provides interest groups multiple points of access & creates opportunities for experimentation and diversity of public policy. The process of amending the U.S. constitution illustrates the federal structure of the U.S. Government. Federal Mandates and categorical grants have increased the federal governments power over the states.
Selection of Supreme Court Justices
The President appoints the nominee and the Senate has the power to confirm or reject the nominee. This is an example of checks and balances in the U.S. Government. The President usually appoints nominees with similar political beliefs and Judaical philosophy ( Judicial restraint or Judicial Activism)as the president. People with a Judicial philosophy of Judicial restraint believe that the court should use precedent and the framers original intent , they also believe that the SCOTUS should defer to the elected institutions for policy making. People with a Judicial philosophy of Judicial Activism believe that the court should right wrongs that the other branches of government don't. They point to the SCOTUS decision in Brown where the SCOTUS banned segregation in public schools. The POTUS also usually chooses nominees with impressive credentials and former judicial experience. Another factor the President takes into consideration when nominating a justice is race or gender. The nominee's name goes too the ABA for a professional rating and too the FBI for a thorough background check. The nominee's name also goes to the Senate Judiciary committee who debate, and give a recommendation to the full senate. The processes of confirming Nominees is more dramatic and intense when there is divided government.
The Electoral College
The Electoral college is an institution of 535 electors whose sole purpose is to elect the president based on the plurality vote in the states they are electors for. The Electoral college is a winner take all system which means that the winner in each state gets all of that states electoral votes ( there are 2 exceptions, Maine and Nebraska). This allows for the person who wins the popular vote to lose the electoral vote, like what happened in the 2000 election ( Bush v. Gore ) and this limits Majority rule. The Framers set up the electoral college to protect the presidency from the will of the uneducated public. The Electoral college is seen by many to be outdated, but to reform/abolish it a constitutional amendment would be needed and there is no consensus on how it should be reformed. The Number of electors each state gets is equal to the number of senators each state has plus the number of representatives each state has ( guaranteeing every state at least 3 electoral votes), For example California has 53 Representatives and like every other state 2 senators, so it has 55 electoral votes.
missed:It Benefits small states... POTUS & VP not directly elected...Plurality winner wins all of that states...Makes it hard for third parties to succeed. Encourages Presidential Candidates to focus campaigning on sing states. to win a Candidate has to get the majority of the electoral college ( 270 ) and if no-one receives a majority the House of representatives chooses the president.
African American Voting Patterns
African Americans used to be overwhelming part of the Republican Party , the Anti-slavery party, but during and after the election of FDR and the New Deal they have become overwhelmingly Democrats. They tend to vote for the more liberal candidate of their party. When the effects of Income and Education are erased, African Americans vote at a higher percentage than whites. But since those effects are not erased, African Americans vote at a lower rate than whites.
missed these are generalizations.
Voter Turnout
Voter turnout in the U.S. is lower than in most western democracies. The Majority of the U.S. electorate does not vote in non-presidental elections
More Likely to Vote | Less likely to Vote Key
Education More Education | Less Education More likely Republican
Income More Income Richer | Less Income Poorer More likely Democrat
Age Older | Younger
Gender Women | Men
Race Whites | Blacks and other racial minorities.
Religion Jews & Catholics | Protestants
Cross-pressures, a low level of political efficacy and voter registration are all factors that reduce voter turnout
Divided Government
Happens when the President is of one party and the majority of congress is another party, or when the majority party in the two houses of congress are different. It Heightens partisanship ( making it difficult for compromise, slows the legislative processes creating gridlock, slows and complicates the confirmation of Federal Officials and contributes to the decline in public trust of the Government. Presidents attempt to overcome the problems of divided government by:
- Using the Media to gather public support ( Bully Pulpit)
- Threatening to veto legislation
- Building coalitions with key interest groups
- Barganing with wavering Legislators ( Pork for vote )
- Lobbying congress with the White Hose Staff and
- working with Majority and minority Leaders in congress
PACs
A PAC is a committee formed by an interest group to raise money and make contributions to the campaigns of political candidates whom they support. Buisiness PACs have dramatically increased in number since the 1970s. PACs play an important role in supporting incumbent members of the HOuse. The amount of money PACs can spend on candidates is limited by law ( 5000 per candidate per election )
The Veto Power
The President has the power to veto bills passed by congress ( which stops the bill from becoming Law). He can do a direct veto or a pocket veto where he does nothing and congress adjourns within 10 days of his receiving the bill from congress. Congress can override a presidential veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses. Congress rarely overrides a presidential veto.The President can use the veto or threat of a veto to influence congress to write more favorable legislation. The President can only veto a whole bill not parts of the bill, the power to veto parts of a bill is called the line-item veto power and is held by many state governors. Congress once gave the president the power to veto parts of appropriations bills ( line-item veto power for appropriations bills ) in the line item veto act, to help decrease wasteful spending on earmarks and pork. The Supreme court struck down this act as going against the constitutional principle of the separation of powers.
missed:in Clinton v. New York is the case where the SCOTUS stuck down the line item veto power for the president.
The President and the Cabinet
The Cabinet is a group of the heads of the 15 executive departments who advise the president. The President appoints members of the Cabinet and the Senate has the power to confirm or reject them. Cabinet members often have divided loyalties, when the institutional goals of the departments goals conflict with the presidents priorities, also Cabinet members and their departments often develop close ties with interest groups and congressional committees.
missed:The President can remove cabinet members without senate approval... the the fact that many of them have served under multiple presidents. Relationship with interest groups and congressional committees are called intrest groups.
Presidential Primaries
Originally the presidential nominees were chosen by the party elite and party leaders in congress. During the Andrew Jackson era the nominating process came to be done by party conventions, but these came to be dominated by the party elite still. In the 1900's progressive reformers called for the nomination process to be made with presidential primaries, which give regular people the power to decide who their parties nominee is going to be, and states began holding primaries around this time. Today the majority of the states hold primaries to decide the nominee. Primaries can be open or closed, in open primaries voters can decide on election day which parties primary they wan't to vote in ( allowing registered democrats to vote in the republican primary. Also this allows independents to vote)( but they still can only vote in one parties primary) , while in closed primaries the voter has to be a registered member of that party to vote in that parties primary. All party primaries used to be decided on a winner take all basis, but now the democratic party has eliminated winner take all primaries and uses a proportional system. National party conventions rarely decide the nominee because the nominee is usually decided by the primary voters before the convention. Conventions now serve to formally announce the parties candidate, unite the party, generate good media coverage, and decide on the parties platform.
missed: the proportional system is where they give delegates based on the percent of the vote the candidate receives in each state. Primary voters then to be party activists ( who are more extreme in their ideologies than general election voters )who are older and more affluent than the general electorate. Front-loading is the pattern where states hold primaries early to maximize media attention and influence in the election.
Standing Committees and the Seniority system
Standing committees are permanent subject matter committees in both houses of congress. All introduced bills are refereed to standing committed where they are debated, can be amended ( Markup ) and voted on. Standing committees also hold hearings where experts testify about bills and answer questions from committee members , these hearings are open to the public. Each Standing committee has a chair ( or the head of the committee), he or she has a lot of power ( the chair can assign bills to subcommittees, he or she can recommend members for conference committees etc.), and he or she is always a member of the Majority party in the chamber of the standing committee. Standing Committees form close relationships with interest groups ( who can have their members testify in hearings, and also lobby individual congresspeople) and bureaucratic departments, agencies and bureaus. This relationship is called an iron triangle and each member part of it gives information and services to the other ones. Standing committees oversee bureaucratic agencies that deal with the subject the committee is on. Committees allow members to develop expertise and allow them to use their service on their committee when running for re-election as an example of constituent service ( A Kansas senator on the senate agricultural committee can use his service to get farmers votes). Standing committees do most of the legislative work , and most bills die in committee. The committee system is more important in the house than the senate because in the house less work is done on the floor on bills (because of strict rules about time limit on debate and if amendments are allowed) than in the senate , so more work is done in committees in the house than in the senate. Standing committee chairs used to automatically be the most senior member ( the member who has served the longest on the committee) of the committee of the majority party. But committee chairs are now elected, but seniority still plays an important role when committee members vote. The House Ways and Means Committee is a Standing committee in the House where are revenue raising bills originate ( taxes and tariffs etc.).
missed:All bills are referred too standing committees where they can be amended passed,or killed ( by burying them or pigeonholing them). Standing committees are divided into subcommittees where the details of legislation are refined... longest continuous service on the committee... The House Rules committee plays a pivotal role by placing a bill on the calendar determining what type if any amendments are allowed and SETTING THE TIME LIMIT FOR DEBATE.
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist papers are a set of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay that are written to support the constitution and to help it get ratified. Federalist No.10 written by James Madison argues that factions are undesirable, but inevitable. But a large Republic with a written constitution that outlines the system of government to be federalism ( where power is divided and shared between a central government and regional ones) would help diminish the bad effects of factions. Federalist No. 10 also dispelled the myth that a republic would only work for a small country and not a large one.
Missed:85 essays written...
The Fourteenth Amendment and Selective Incorporation
The 14th amendment was made to stop people from discriminating against recently freed slaves ( it overturned Dred Scott v. Sanford). Originally the bill of rights ( the first 10 amendments of the constitution ) was not applicable to the states, but the 14th Amendments due process clause ( no state shall deprive any person of their life liberty and property without the due process of the law)and equal protection clause ( nor shall any state deprive any person the equal protection of the law ) have been used ( by the SCOTUS ) to apply the bill of rights to the states on a case by case basis, this is the process of selective incorporation. The first SCOTUS case to Incorporated a civil liberty in the bill of rights was Gitlow v. New York which incorporated the freedom of speech and the press. Now most of the bill of rights is also applicable to the states.
Political Socialization
Political socialization is the procces by which political values are formed and passed from one generation to antoher. The Family is the most important factor of political socialization ( if a childs parents both identify strongly with the same political party then the child will most likely also identify with that same political party), but there are other factors and agents of political socialization including: Religion ( church, mousqe etc ), education, and social groups ( sports teams, book clubs etc ).
Critical Election
A Critical election is when the majority party in government is replaced by the minority party, hence the minority party becomes the majority party and the majority party becomes the minority party. Critical elections usher in a new party era, and usually happen because of party realignment ( where critical groups of voters switch party affiliation. One example of a critical election was FDR v. Alf Landon, where FDR and the democratic new deal coalition replaced the republican party as the majority party ( in this election urban voters and African Americans switched party affiliation).
Missed:Critical election definition is definition of party realignment and party realignment definition is definition of critical election ( or maybe not ). FDR v. Alf Landon was in 1932. Critical election triggers party realignment.
The Selection of Supreme court Cases
The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction ( hear the case first ) in these cases: State v. State, U.S. v State, cases involving foreign people or diplomats, cases involving treaties. Most of the Cases the SCOTUS hears come from the courts appellate jurisdiction ( they have authority to hear a case from a lower court), a Writ of Certiorari is an order from the SCOTUS that orders a lower court to send up the records on a case, the Certiorari process enables the SCOTUS to control its own caseload. SCOTUS clerks scan many petitions to the SCOTUS , and prepare the important ones for the court to look over on weekly meeting. In the Meetings the Justices discuss the case and then vote on if they should hear it. Only if 4 or more Justices agree to hear the case will the court issue a writ of certiorari, this is called the rule of 4. Most of the cases appealed to the SCOTUS are not heard by it, they usually have to do with a constitutional question and or a federal law/treaty.
missed:nearly all appellate cases now reach the SCOTUS by a writ of certiorari.
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first document that established a government of the U.S., but it had many weaknesses ( including that the federal government was to weak to keep the US prosperous , here are and the states united) some of them: The Federal Government did not have the power to tax , it had to ask for money from the states, it could not regulate interstate trade, there was no established national currency, there was no executive authority, there was no judicial system and to amend the articles more than a simple majority of the states had to agree. The government under the Articles did establish the northwest ordinance ( which established a way that new states become part of the union) and negotiated the treaty that ended the revolutionary war ( favorably for the U.S. ). Shays rebellion happened in Massachusetts with angry farmers angry about the bad economy and the framers and many other people got scared from this and had a constitutional convention to ( originally ) amend the articles.
Missed:the articles of confederation established a decentralized system of government with a weak central government that had limited power over the states. The Articles established a unicameral congress that lacked the power to ... the articles were replaced with the U.S. constitution.
The Mass Media
The Mass Media is a lot of media that can reach widely dispersed audiences, it has TV, the Internet, Radio, Newspapers etc. It is a linkage institution ( by conducting interviews with citizens and government officials and reporting polls and reporting on government programs ) and it plays an important role in setting the public policy agenda ( the political issues that the public perceives as important ), by deciding which issues to cover more and which to cover less and which to cover not at all. The President has better access to the Mass Media because he is one person and represents the whole country , unlike congress which has multiple people and each person in congress represents only part of the country ( state or district).
missed:Horse Race Journalism refers to the media's tendency to focus on polls , personalities and sound bites rather than on in depth analysis of key issues.
The Role of State Legislatures
Originally U.S. Senators were chosen by the State Legislatures , but with the passage of the 17th amendment they are now chosen directly by the people. Every ten years a Census is taken to determine the population and the movement of it so that the reallocation of House seats could happen. To reallocate House seats redistricting must be done, and the state legislatures role is to redraw congressional districts. State legislatures will gerrymander or redraw congressional districts to ensure the maximum number of seats for the majority party's(in the state legislature ) party in the House of Representatives and strengthen to benefit the majority party in the state legislature. State Legislatures can gerrymander by packing or cracking, packing is when they pack most of the opposing parties supporters in one district ensuring all the other ones for their party, and cracking is when they disperse the opposing parties supporters through out all the districts ensuring that they don't have that majority in any of them. The SCOTUS has set limits on redistricting. Here are some of them: the districts must be equal in population, they must be compact and continuous, and strictly racial gerrymandering ( redrawing congressional districts based solely on race ) is unconstitutional.
missed:State Legislatures can ratify constitutional amendments by a vote of 3/4 of the states.
Executive Privilege and Executive Orders
Executive privilege is the right of the president to not disclose highly important information , usually for military and/or national security purposes. Executive privilege is not part of the constitution, and in U.S. v. Nixon the SCOTUS ruled that there is no constitutional guarantee of unqualified executive privilege and ordered Nixon to release tapes that had to do with the Watergate scandal. An executive order is an order ,regulation or rule issued by the president usually to some part of the federal executive bureaucracy, and they are also usually in accordance with or based on the constitution and/or a Statutory law. Executive orders have the force of law and are not part of the constitution.
missed:Congress is supposed to agree with executive orders... executive orders are used to circumvent or skip the long legislative process when something needs to be done quickly for the common good of the nation.
Pluralist theory & Hyperpluralist theory
The pluralist theory is a theory that believes that many different interest groups compete for power and not any one gets to much because there are many of them and the checks and balances and the federal structure of the U.S. government. They believe that public policy is formed through comprise and there are many points of access for interest groups. The Hyperpluraist Theory s a theory that believes there are too many interest groups and that when policymakers try to appease all of them they make confusing and contradictory policy decisions and avoid making large hard decisions that are needed for the good of the country.
Missed:compete for power in a large number of policy areas. Both of these theories try to explain who has power in the U.S. government.
Polling & the Bandwagon effect
There are multiple ways that organizations try to poll the public and gauge public opinion, some of them are random sample polls ( where every person has an equal chance of being polled, these are the most accurate) , straw polls ( these are very unreliable , the Literary Digest Fiasco of 1932 is example of how straw polling is unreliable ) and exit polls ( where people leaving the polling/voting place get randomly polled ). Polls can try to measure many things, like distribution ( what percentage of voters support a candidate ), salience ( how important/relevant is the issue to voter?), Intensity (How strongly are the feelings of voters about this issue? ), and Latency ( what are the underlying views and attitudes about the candidate/issue(s)). The Media engages in horse race journalism when they mostly cover where candidates stand in the polls than what their in depth stances on issues are. The bandwagon effect occurs when voters support and vote for candidates that seem to be popular ( and are winning in the polls ) and this is happening and has happened recently with the republican presidential primaries and Trump.
missed:Random sampling polls poll a representative cross section of the public...Gallup poll is the best known poll and most polls have an error between 3-6%
Policy Agenda & 527 groups
A Policy Agenda is a set of issues and problems that a policymaker considers important, and they will try to fix. A 527 groups is a tax-exempt organization ( that gets its name from the section of the tax code ) that funds political action without endorsing or coordinating with specific candidates. Because they don't endorse or coordinate with specific candidates they are not regulated by the federal election commission and can spend unlimited amounts of soft money.
missed:The Mass media plays an important role in influencing the public policy agenda....organization created to influence the political process...do advertisements promote stances on issues but not specific candidates.
Bicameral Congress & the differences between the House & Senate
The Framers established a bicameral ( two houses ) congress because of :
- Historical experience: the British Government had a bicameral ( to houses) parliament ( and the Framers were very familiar with the British government ) and most of the colonial and state legislatures were bicameral
- Fulfilling the Connecticut compromise: During the Constitutional convention the large states ( led by Virginia in the Virginia plan ) wanted a bicameral congress with representation based on population, while the small states ( led by New Jersey and the New Jersey Plan ) wanted a unicameral congress with equal representation for every state. This divisive issue threatened to end the convention, but a compromise was made called the Great or Connecticut compromise which called for a bicameral congress with one house ( the House of Representatives ) having representation based on population and another house ( the Senate ) with equal representation for every state ( 2 senators )
- Implementing Federalism: Originally the two houses of congress represented different interests ( the house represented the interests of the people and the senate represented the interests of the states , because originally senators were chosen by the state legislatures), the bicameral congress slows the legislative process encouraging compromise and negotiation
House Of Representatives | Senate
Size: 435 members | 100 members ( 2 for each state)
Terms: 2 yr terms | 6 yr terms
Qualifications: 7 years as U.S Citizen and resident of state serving| 9 years as U.S. Citizen and resident of state
Election: Always elected directly by the people |originally elected by the state legislatures
Special Powers: All revenue bills Originate here. Sole power to | Confirms Presidential appointments &
bring charges of impeachment. Chooses Pres. when EC deadlocked | treaties & judges Impeachment cases
Speed: Faster, time limit on debate | Slower, unlimited debate, filibuster
Strictness of Rules: Stricter rules debate time limit , limit on what| Looser rules, unlimited debate time, all
types if any amendments are allowed, rules are set by the House| amendments allowed, filibuster is possible
Rules committee and it also set bill on legislative calendar | where unlimited debate and long speeches can delay or kill a bill. Cloture ( 60 Sen.s)
needed to end filibuster. Protects minority
interest. Gives more power to individual Senators , senators can asked to be informed of a bill before it comes to floor . This is known as a Hold and the bill does not go to the floor until the hold is removed
missed:fragmented power encouraged deliberation. Senators have to be at least 30 yrs old and Representatives have to be at least 25 years old.
