American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

291

c) unanimous consent

d) seniority

e) the president pro tempore

S PRACTICE ONLINE

“Critical Thinking ” exercise: Politics Is Everywhere—

Earmarks

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW

E Trace the steps in the legislative process. Pages 280–84

SUMMARY

Most bills become law in a conventional manner, but major

legislation generally deviates considerably from this path.

The process diff ers for the House and Senate, sometimes

making it diffi cult to reconcile diff erences between bills.

KEY TERMS

markup (p. 281)

cloture (p. 282)

fi libuster (p. 282)

pocket veto (p. 283)

omnibus legislation (p. 283)

PRACTICE QUIZ QUESTION

11. Compared to the Senate, the fl oor process in the House
    is very and .
    a) unstructured; majoritarian
    b) structured; majoritarian
    c) unstructured; individualistic
    d) structured; individualistic
    e) individualistic; majoritarian

OVERSIGHT

E Describe how Congress ensures that the bureaucracy implements policies correctly. Pages 284–88

SUMMARY

After passing bills into law, Congress oversees the bureau-

cracy in its implementation of every law to ensure that it

fi ts Congress’s intentions. Although controlling funding is

the most powerful mechanism for this, Congress has other

mechanisms for achieving bureaucratic fi delity. Generally,

Congress does not constantly monitor the bureaucracy,

but waits to act until a crisis occurs.

KEY TERM

legislative veto (p. 287)

CRITICAL THINKING AND DISCUSSION

If you had to choose between having a responsive or respon-

sible member of Congress, which would you choose and why?

PRACTICE QUIZ QUESTION

12. Waiting for a crisis to emerge before taking action is
    called ____.
    a) police patrol oversight
    b) fi re alarm oversight
    c) emergency room oversight
    d) reactionary oversight
    e) bureaucratic oversight

SUGGESTED READING

Bianco, William T. Trust: Representatives and Constituents. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994.
Canon, David T. Race, Redistricting and Representation: The
Unintended Consequences of Black Majority Districts.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
Fenno, Richard F. Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little,
Brown, 1973.
Hall, Richard L. Participation in Congress. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press, 1996.

Jacobson, Gary C. The Politics of Congressional Elections, 5th ed.

New York: Addison-Wesley, 2001.

Mayhew, David R. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New

Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1974.

Theriault, Sean. Party Polarization in Congress. New York:

Cambridge University Press, 2008.

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