.
Register bills to be introduced on the floor and schedule debate
Handle proposed legislation that deals with more than one area of policy
Work out compromises between House and Senate versions of bills
Combine members of both the House and Senate to consider overlapping policy areas
Educate the public about the activities of Congress
Incumbents spend more money than do challengers
Incumbents can brag about federal spending projects in their districts
Incumbents can increase visibility among their constituents by using the franking privilege
Incumbents provide casework for their constituents
Challengers have a clean political record, and incumbents do not
In extreme cases, Congress can cut agency budgets in order to secure compliance with Congressional wishes.
Congress keeps tabs on more routine activities of the executive branch through its committee staff members.
There are few political payoffs for carefully watching a government agency if it is implementing policy properly.
Since the 1970s, Congress has substantially decreased its oversight activities.
It serves as a Congressional check on the executive branch.
III only
I and III only
II and III only
I, II, and IV only
I, III, and V only
Conducting oversight
Filibustering
Introducing another bill
Holding hearings
Logrolling
Along party lines
According to their personal ideology
In a presidential coalition
In keeping with the needs of their constituency
According to the pressures of lobbyists
Senate
House appropriate subcommittee
President
House floor for debate
House Rules Committee
Power is more decentralized in the Senate
The filibuster is more common in the House than in the Senate
The Senate allows twice as much time for debate on a bill than does the House
Members of the House have large constituencies
The legislative process starts in the House, the Senate can only debate bills once the House has passed them
The majority party controls all of the seats on a majority of the committees
Both political parties became more extreme and more homogenous
Both political parties moderated, taking policy positions closer to the median voter
The House operates on a nonpartisan basis while the Senate is heavily partisan
Political parties are much weaker and disjointed than they were 30 years ago
Extremely important, and increasingly so
Moderately important, even though party identification is not as strong as it used to be
Slightly important in a few districts, not important in most others
Not important at all, and never really has been
Much less significant than in presidential campaigns
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