Question 1
There are four major types of committees in the United States Congress. Each of these committees have different roles and functions. The first is the standing committee. This one has fixed jurisdiction and has stable memberships. This committee deals with most of the issues of legislative concerns that are permanent. The conference committee is made if members of the Senate and the house and issue single bills for the two house to vote on. Select commits are usually created for limited periods, and they serve a particular purpose. Joint committees are also similar and are created and comprised of members from the two house and such a committee also deals with a specific issue (Kernell et al., 269).
Question 2
The seniority rule refers to a rule that is present in both houses of the Congress whereby the top committee chairmanships as well leadership post are usually awarded to the members who have been serving in the Congress chambers for the longest time (Kernell et al., 272). This rule is not official; it is an unwritten rule, but it’s in most occasions observed by both the parties in the congress. Therefore, in terms of impact, seniority affects the difference in responsibilities and perks. Members who have been in the Congress for longer may be seen to have more power and influence than their counterparts who have just acquired office. It also reduces the time and energy that members would normally put into competing for these positions that are highly valued.
Question 3
Continuing Resolution generally refers to the law made by Congress that avails temporary funding to the parts or components of the national government for which the yearly or annual appropriation laws are yet to be enacted. A continuing resolution is only for short term purposes. It can for instance fund the given component of the national government for a few days, weeks or months but is not for long term use. When the appropriation bills or laws are enacted, the continuing resolution is immediately dismissed.
Question 4
Constituent services are those that the members of the congress offer directly to their constituents. This includes processing and soliciting case works as well as requests from their constituents for information (Kernell et al., 248). The members of congress also help their constituents in dealing with various government agencies (Kernell et al., 248). These services are important as they enable members of the Congress to directly assist their sometimes fickle electorate and at the same maintaining their appeal to the electorate so that they will take this into consideration come the election.
Question 5
The United States President can only serve for two terms. This is articulated and defined in the United States Institution in Amendment XXII that was ratified on February 27, 1951. This section makes it clear about the terms that President is allowed to serve. Only two terms are allowed. In addition, an individual who has held the office of the president or who has been the acting president for a period of more than two years of a term to which another individual had been elected cannot be voted into office more than once (Kernell et al., 713).
Question 6
The President essentially has limited or partial role in the creation and stabilization of the economy. Most of the role of creating and stabilizing the economy all to the Federal reserve System. The President however has a lot of influence over the Federal Reserve System. The President may complain about some of the decisions made by the Federal Reserve System. However, many Presidents do not desire to have greater control of the Federal Reserve as this means that the president would be responsible for some of the body’s functions. This is the same with the congress that also does very little since it doesn’t desire to be responsible for the action of FRS (Kernell et al., 732).
Question 7
An executive order refers to a directive given by the president about the implementation of a law without seeking the approval of Congress first. An executive order passed by the President functions as a law unless the President or a successor later retracts it, the Congress nullifies it, if a court of law rules that the executive order violates the constitution of the United States or a given federal law.
The huge majority of executive orders arise from the responsibility and the authority that has been explicitly delegated to the president by the law (Kernell et al., 317). Executive orders are not limited to any one political issue, and the President can, therefore, give executive orders on quite a variety of issues. There have been many executive orders made presidents throughout the years.in his tenure, President Obama has already made a several of these One of the most recent happened last year in January whereby an executive order was given for the improvement of incentives for states to share data and information with gun back checks for gun purchases. President also gave an executive order some few weeks ago regarding immigration and the process of eventually acquiring citizenship.
Question 8
The 11 Court Circuit is whereby the court of appeal system in the nation becomes divided into 11 distinct judicial circuits’ in all the 50 states across the nation. The ninth was first established in the year 1869. It is, in fact, one of the largest circuits of all the circuits that make up the 11 Circuit court system in the United States. The member stat of this circuit include Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Guam, Washington and the islands of Northern Mariama.
Question 9
The Federal Courts system has three main or primary levels. The first is the United States District court. The next is the United States Circuit Court of Appeal. At the top of the pyramid is the United States Supreme Court. The United States District Court is where the majority of the cases commence. This is where the majority of the plaintiffs take their defendants to court and decision is then made in these courts. An appeal to the decision of the case is then made to the United States Circuit Court of Appeal. The final appeal can then be taken to the supreme Court which the ultimate decision. The decision made by the Supreme Court cannot be appealed (Kernell et al., 408).
Question 10
The Supreme Court has made several key decisions throughout its existence. One of the cases, for instance, is the Brown vs. Board of Education. This was a case whereby the Supreme Court ordered the school in the country to desegregate. This was a crucial moment as it was the first time that black and white students would be mixed and study in the same classes (411). The other important case is the Griswold vs. Connecticut that established the implicit right of privacy (Kernell et al., 416).
Works Cited
Kernell, Samuel, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, Lynn Vavreck, The Logic Of American Politics, 6th Edition, (CQ Press, Sage, 2014)
