Name___________________________

Worksheet on Congress and Interest Groups

I. Indicate if the following statements are true or false. If the statement is false, correct it so it is true.

1. Congress has the right to create a new coin that is worth 75 cents.

2. The president has the right to declare war.

3. The case, Marbury v. Madison¸ established that Congress had implied powers under the elastic clause.

4. The House has the power of impeachment and the Senate has the power for trying cases of impeachment.

5. Every ten years the Congress redesigns the districts for the all the Representatives.

6. A court case from North Carolina established the principle that race couldn’t be the main reason to create a congressional district with a strange shape.

7. Congress is relatively evenly divided between men and women.

8. The committees that deal with legislation in each house of Congress are called conference committees.

9. If the House and Senate decided to create one committee to investigate what went wrong on September 11, it would be called a joint committee.

10. If there are differences between a bill that the House wrote and one that the Senate wrote, a special committee would be formed to resolve the differences and draft a compromise bill.

II. Answer the following questions using your own words. Make sure you understand what you write down. Don’t just copy word for word without stopping to think about and learn what you’re writing down.

1.	How many people total serve in Congress?
2.	How is it decided how many representatives each state will have.
3.	Explain in your own word what gerrymandering is.
4.	What is an incumbent?
5.	What is ‘pork barrel legislation?” Use your own words.
6.	Give three reasons why most incumbents are reelected.
7.	Give three reasons why incumbent senators are less likely to be reelected than incumbent representatives.
8.	Define the jobs of the following people. a. President of the Senate b. President pro tempore c. Speaker of the House d. Party whips e. Majority and minority leaders in the House f. Senate majority leader
9.	Define caucuses in your own words.
10.	What happens in subcommittees?
11.	Why do you think that the Rules Committee would issue an open rule for debate? What would be the purpose in issuing a closed rule?
12.	Number the following steps of a bill becoming a law in the correct order for a bill that is proposed in the Senate. ____Committee votes and approves the bill ____2/3’s of Congress overrides the President’s veto ____Bill goes from Committee to the full Senate ____President vetoes the bill ____The bill is now a law ____Debate in the full Senate ____Introduction of bill in the Senate ____Vote in the Senate on their version of the bill ____Conference Committee with House members ____Approval of Conference Bill in both houses Assigned to a Senate Committee ____Committee studies the issue ____Bill returns from Conference to both houses for approval
13.	Define the following terms in your own words. a. filibuster b. cloture c. Christmas tree bill d. riders e. veto f. pocket veto
14.	Identify six different types of interest groups. Give an example of each. a. b. c. d. e. f.
15.	Define the following terms. a. lobbying b. PACs c. the revolving door
16.	What is the difference between “inside” and “outside” lobbying? What is grassroots lobbying?
17.	Explain four ways that interest groups try to influence policy.