Government Chapter 7 key vocabulary
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Created by:
lumpia on February 2, 2010
Subjects:
Classes:
Was's History, RiahZ, OSHS IB, Chuckleslavakia
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30 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Inherent powers | Powers of the president that can be derived or inferred from specific powers in the Constitution |
| Redistricting | The redrawing of congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within a state |
| Bill | a proposed law |
| Whip | One of several representatives who keep close contact with all members and take "nose counts" on key votes, prepare summaries of bills, and in general act as communications links within the party |
| Discharge petition | Petition that gives a majority of the House of Represntatives the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction |
| Party caucus | A formal gathering of all pary members |
| Term limits | Legislation designating that state or federal elected legislators can serve only a specified number of years |
| Majority leader | The elected leader of the party controlling the most seats in the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate; is second in authority to the Speaker of the House and in the Senate is regarded as its most powerful member |
| Standing committee | Committee to which proposed bills are referred |
| Legislative veto | A procedure by which one or both houses of Congress can disallow an act of the president or executive agency by a simple majority vote; ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court |
| Cloture | Motion requiring 60 senators to cut off debate. |
| Minority party | Party with the second most members in either house of Congress |
| Pork barrel | Legislation that allows representativs to "bring home the bacon" to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs designed to benefit thier districts directly |
| Oversight | Congressional review of the activities of an agency, department, or office |
| hold | Tatic by which a senator askes to be informed before a particular bill is brought to the floor. in effect, this stops the bill from coming to the floor until the "hold is removed. |
| Conference Committee | Joint committee created to iron out differnces between Senate and house versions of a specific piece of legislation |
| Senatorial courtesty | A process by which presidents, when selecting distric court judges, defer to teh senator in whose state the vacancy occurs |
| Congressional review | The process by which Congress can nullify an executive branch regulation by a resolution jointly passed in both houses within sixty days of announcementy of the regulation and accepted by the president |
| Trustee | Role played by elected represntatives who listen to constituents' opinions and then use their best judgment to make final decisions |
| Polotico | Role played by elected representatives who act as trustees or as delegates, depending on the issue |
| Pocket veto | If Congress adjourns during the ten days the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of Congress, without the president's signature, gthe bill is considered void |
| Delegate | Role played by elected representatives who wothe the way their constituents would want them to, regardless of their own opinions |
| Speaker of the House | The only officer of the House of Representatives specificall mentioned in the Constitution; elected at the beginning of each new Congress by the entire House; traditionally a member of the majority party |
| War Powers Act | A law passed near the end of the Vietnam War to limit the powers of the president to engage U.S. military forces in combat abroad without congressional consent |
| Impeachment | Actual bringing of charges against a public official; not the gearing or trial on those charges. The power delegated to the House of Representatives in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president, or oter" civil officers," including federal judges, with "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing such government officials from office |
| Minority Leader | The leceted leader of the pary with the second highest Numbr of elected representatives in either the House or the Senate. |
| Filibuster | A formal way of halting action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate in the Senate |
| Bicameral legislature | A legislature divided into two houses; the U.S.Congress and every state legislature are bicameral (except Nebraska, which is unicameral) |
| Casework | The process of solving constituents' problems dealing with the bureaucracy |
| Minorty party | The political pary in each haouse of Congress with the most members |
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