Chapter 7
Order by
37 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Bicameral Legislature | A legislature divided into two houses; the U.S Congress and the state legislatures are bicameral except Nebraska, which is unicameral. |
| Apportionment | The process of allotting congressional seats to each state following the decennial census according to their proportion of the population. |
| 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. |
| Impeachment | The power delegated to the House of Representative in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president, or other "civil officers," including federal judges, w/ "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing such government officials from office. |
| Majority | The Political party in each house of Congress w/ the most members. |
| Minority Party | The political party in each house of Congress w/ the second most members. |
| Speaker of the house | The only officer of the house of Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution; elected at the beginning of each new Congress by the entire House; traditionally a member of majority party. |
| Party caucus or conference | A formal gathering of all party members. |
| Majority Leader | The elected leader of the party controlling the most seats in the 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. |
| Minority Leader | The elected leader of the party w/ the second highest number of elected representatives in the House of Representatives or Senate. |
| Whip | Key member who kept close contact w/ all members of his or her party and takes nose counts on key votes, prepares summaries of bills, and general acts as communication link a party. |
| President pro Tempore | The official chair of the Senate; usually the most senior member of the majority party. |
| Standing Committee | Committee to which proposed bills are referred; continues from one congress to the next. |
| Joint Committee | Committee that includes members from both houses of Congress to conduct investigations or special studies. |
| Conference Committee | Special joint committee created to iron out difference between Senate and House versions of a specific piece of legislature. |
| Select (or special) committee | Temporary committee appointed for specific purpose, such as conducting a special investigation or study. |
| Discharge Petition | Petition that gives a majority of the House of Representatives the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction. |
| Pork | Legislature tat allows representatives to bring home the bacon to their districts in the form of public works programs' military bases' or other programs designated to benefit their districts directly. |
| Earmark | Funds in appropriations bill that provide dollars for particular purposes within a state or congressional distinct. |
| Seniority | Time of continuous service on a committee. |
| Trustee | Role played by elected representatives who listen to constituents' opinions and then use their best judgment to make final decisions. |
| Delegated | Role played by elected representatives who vote the way their constituents would want them to, regardless of their own opinion. |
| Politico | Role played by elected representatives who act as trustees or as delegates' depending on the issue. |
| Divided government | The political condition in which different political parties control the White House and Congress. |
| Logrolling | Vote trading; voting to support a colleague's bill in return for a promise of the future support. |
| Markup | A process in which committee members offer changes to a bill before it goes to the floor in either house for a vote. |
| Hold | A tactic by which a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill is brought to the floor. This allows the senator to stop the bill from coming to the floor until the hold is removed. |
| Filibuster | A formal way of halting action no a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate in the Senate. |
| Cloture | Mechanisms requiring sixty senators to vote to cut of debate. |
| Veto | Formal constitutional authority of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of the legislative body' thus preventing the bill from becoming law w/o further congressional activity. |
| Pocket veto | If congress adjourns during the 10 days the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of congress' the bill is considered vetoed w/o the president's signature. |
| Oversight | Congressional review of the activities of agency' department' or office. |
| Congressional review | A process whereby Congress can nullify agency regulations by a joint resolution of legislature disapproval. |
| War Powers Act | Passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra 30 days to permit withdrawal) unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period. |
| Senatorial courtesy | A process by which presidents' when selecting districts court judges, defer to the senator in whose state the vacancy occurs. |
| Incumbency | The fact that being in office helps a person stay in office b/c of a variety of benefits that go with the position. |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.