Black Book Study Guide: Understanding the Legislative Process - Chapters 5-9 - Prof. Charl, Study notes of Political Science

Download Black Book Study Guide: Understanding the Legislative Process - Chapters 5-9 - Prof. Charl and more Study notes Political Science in PDF only on Docsity! Black Book Study Guide Chap. 5-9 Ch. 5 1. Laboratories of Democracy a. Metaphor coined by Former SC Justice Louis Brandeis b. Describes the phenomenon when states serve as testing sites for measuring the effectiveness of a particular law c. Congress can compare impact and assess benefits and drawbacks 2. Authorization (of appropriations) a. Necessary for all legislation that calls for public spending b. The legislation had to include a final section that authorized federal spending since the Safe-Havens bill created grant programs 3. Appropriation (money granted) a. Congress must pass annual appropriations bills that detail the amount of money given to each authorized program b. There’s no guarantee that a program passed into law will receive its complete funding in the appropriations process 4. RSC (Republican Study Committee) a. A caucus that Congresswoman Hart met with to discuss the first version of the bill b. Most of the 90 members are fiscal conservatives and several refused to have any part of a legislation that added federal spending Ch. 6 1. Divided Government a. Split power shifting b/w Republicans and Democrats b. Neither party’s been able to dominate political power in DC. (Was changed in 2008 with Supermajority of Democrats. Now back to “normal” due to Nov 2010 election) 2. Party Unity Votes a. A common measure of partnership b. When a minority party votes for the opposition of the majority party c. Over time, people in Congress sometimes don’t vote with their parties i. “Voting along party lines” 3. Marginal Seat – defined as one in which the winner of an electoral district receives less than 33-60% of the vote in the last election a. Compared to a safe seat when an election is won with more than 60% of the vote 4. CMO's (Congressional Membership Organizations) a. Groups of legislators that meet together, share ideas, and plan legislative strategy in the basis of their common interests b. Rep. Hart found assistance from CMOs in the early stages of writing the Safe Havens Support Act Ch. 7 1. Beats – assignments by news organizations to focus journalists’ work a. Location or subject matter that a journalist follows and reports b. To attract national media coverage, Rep. Hart tried to cultivate working relationships with reporters who cover Congress 2. "Media Entrepreneurs" – politicians that actively cultivate media opportunities to promote policy goals, seeking the attention of media outlets that are most likely to influence elite opinion 3. Straight News – when media outlets aspire to the norm of objectivity, reporting news events w/o discernible bias or spin 4. Editorials – when journalists openly express their opinions 5. Press Conference (especially the one Hart tried to stage) a. Definition: a targeted event designed to provide journalists an easy news story and allow them to ask questions b. Hart’s legislation planned 2 press conferences: one in the district and one in DC i. Press secretary Brendan Benner assembled a staff team to prepare everything the office would need to publicize the event ii. She tried getting Oprah to speak, however Oprah would be on vacation iii. Her primary democratic sponsor, Tubbs-Jones, wasn’t able to attend Ch. 8 1. Staff Director – runs a committee office and reports to the chair or ranking member 2. Professional Staff – a team of policy experts on a committee staff a. Serves as a bridge b/w members and legislative programs, offering advice to leaders and individual legislators alike 3. Counsel – lawyers a. Sits in chairs and with the ranking member during meetings to provide advice on parliamentary procedure b. Assists with writing and amending legislation and provides legal advice 4. Public Hearing – an open session for discussion of a proposal and its possible implications a. Committee staff invite experts to testify b. Common witnesses include: i. a bill’s sponsor ii. Federal officials with jurisdiction over proposed programs