e-Congress

**Study Guide ** 1) Congress is the law-making, or legislative branch of government.
 * Phase I: Introduction to e-Congress 2011 **
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2) The U.S. Congress has two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Another word for a two house legislature is bicameral legistature.

3) The House of Representatives has 435 members. There are 10 representatives from my state.
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4) This is the 112th session of Congress.

5) The Speaker of the House of Representatives is elected by the political party.
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6) The Majority Party has the most seats in the House of Representatives.

7) The donkey in the political cartoon on this page represents the Democratic Party.

8) What is the cartoonist’s point about political parties in this session of Congress? There is a constant stuggle between Democrats and Republicans, the two major American political parties.

9) Permanent committees in Congress are also called standing committees.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">10) The people that an elected official represents are called constituents.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">11) Your personal beliefs about government are known as your political ideology.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">12) Representatives have many responsibilities. Two examples are: <span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;"> a) Be present for votes and hearings
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<span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;"> b) Attend meetings and events in Washington

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">13) Members of Congress are less diverse, more likely to be male, richer, older and better educated than the rest of the United States. Should this concern us? Why or why not? It’s a bit concerning because they may be “buying” the elections and may not accurately represent their consituents but it is, ultimately, the people’s votes.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">14) A bill is a proposed law.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">15) Most bills never make it out of comittee.
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">16) A change to a bill is also called an ammendment.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 15px;">17) To become law, a bill must be approved by the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President.
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