Political scienceLesson 1 of 2 in the course Legislatures

Legislative Roles, Organization, Representation, and Oversight

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 4 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Legislatures do much more than vote on proposed laws. They help identify public problems, represent constituents, organize collective decision-making, and monitor how government carries out policy. This lesson introduces the range of legislative roles and explains why legislatures vary in power.

A legislator’s job includes creating laws to address emerging policy problems and reviewing existing arrangements to see whether they still work. Legislators also communicate with constituents: they inform people about legislative work and learn what constituents think about issues. Another important responsibility is oversight—monitoring parts of government to check whether policy is being carried out as intended.

All flashcards

Legislative oversight
Regular monitoring and review of agencies or other political actors.
Committee specialization
Developing policy-area expertise by focusing on a particular topic.
Single-member district
An electoral district represented by one legislator.
Substantive representation
Representing people by advancing policy or ideological views they support.
Power of the purse
Legislative influence over government through decisions about funding.

Quiz questions

  1. What is the role of a sponsor in the legislative process?Answer: The legislator who introduces a bill.
  2. What makes a party the majority party in a legislative chamber?Answer: It holds more than half of the chamber’s seats.
  3. Which approach describes a legislator who gives substantial weight to constituents’ expressed preferences?Answer: The delegate model.
  4. What is descriptive representation?Answer: Representatives share important demographic characteristics or life experiences with those represented.
  5. What is one advantage of parliamentary questions for an individual legislator?Answer: They can be submitted without organizing a committee hearing.

Based on Introduction to Political Science by Mark Carl Rom, Masaki Hidaka, Rachel Bzostek Walker (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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