Midterm Exam Study Guide

The Congress
Fall 2019

The midterm exam will be held in class on October 16. You will have from 2:00 to 3:15 PM to
complete the exam. Exams will be taken without the aid of notes or books or electronic devices.
The exam will consist of THREE parts: 1) multiple choice, 2) fill-in-the-blank, and 3) short-
answer questions.

The following list of topics to be covered on the exam is NOT EXHAUSTIVE. Students are
responsible for all of the material presented in both the lectures and the readings. The topics
below, however, are particularly salient areas from the class thus far:

Impeachment FEC, Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform

Dual nature of Congress Act,
Polarization in Congress Campaign techniques: air war, ground war,
Primary goal of representatives the parallel campaigns
Congress in the Constitution: powers of “Two campaigns”
congress, limits on legislative power, GOTV
separate branches, shared powers, judicial Incumbents and campaign spending
review (Marbury v. Madison), bicameralism Legal barrier to voting
Electoral college How voters decide, the midterm law and its
Institutional evolution of Congress explanations, incumbency advantage
Evolution of the legislator’s job: Who vote
professionalization Regional patterns of voting
Apportionment Election outcomes
The census Hill style
Districting & districting principles Richard Fenno Jr. and member incentives
Malapportionment Congressional roles
Gerrymandering Home style
Majority-minority districts Concepts of constituencies
Paradox of representation Constituency casework
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Mail
Shaw v. Reno The Speaker
Shelby County v. Holder House floor leaders
The primary system House Whips
Omnibus bill Presiding officers in the Senate
Concepts of representation Floor leaders in the Senate
Formal and informal rules of the House and Institution and party tasks of leaders
the Senate The conditional party government theory
Modern Congress and lawmaking The pivotal voter theory
Campaign resources Proportional representation
Campaign finance regulations: Federal Majoritarian system
Election Campaign Act, Buckley v. Valeo, Voting rules and barrier to voting
Citizens United v. FEC, McCutcheon v.