Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Vocab Topic 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government

Terms in this set (15)

Grants given to local or state governments from the U.S. federal government. Block grants typically have some strings attached, but the local or state government also has the freedom to allocate the grant funds for a wide range of services to the state or locality
Block Grants
Efforts by state representatives and senators to help individual constituents receive things that those constituents believe they deserve. Casework by members of Congress is a form of stepping around bureaucracy in order to get things done
Casework
All government officials who work in government occupations that are neither judicial nor political are in civil service, and they're referred to as "civil servants." In the U.S., civil servants are non-elected and non-military public sector employees of U.S. federal government departments and agencies
Civil Service
Part of Article 1 of the Constitution that allows Congress to regulate the buying and selling of goods across state lines (also known as interstate commerce)
Commerce Clause
Powers given by the U.S. Constitution to both national and state governments. An example of concurrent power is the power to levy taxes
Concurrent Powers
Authority held by Congress to review, monitor, and supervise federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation. This authority is implied in the Constitution, public laws, and House and Senate rules
Congressional Oversight
A petition used in the House that begins the process of forcing a bill out of a committee (or "discharging" it from committee) and onto the House floor for a vote. A successful discharge petition needs the signatures of 218 members or a majority of the House
Discharge Petition
An instance in which one political party controls the executive branch, and another political party controls one or both houses of Congress
Divided Government
A power enacted by the U.S. president allowing that office to pass a rule or regulation as law
Executive Order
A situation when there is difficulty in passing laws that satisfy the needs of the people, often due to a divided government. A government is considered gridlocked when the ratio between bills passed and the agenda of the legislature decreases. This is sometimes also referred to as a "deadlock" or "stalemate"
Gridlock
A tripartite relationship among Congress (particularly sub-committees of Congress), government agencies, and interest groups that helps create U.S. policy. Participants in an iron triangle are also involved in policymaking in order to protect their own self-interests
Iron Triangle
A right held by the federal courts to make rulings on the constitutionality of laws and executive actions. Judicial review is one of the judicial branch's key checks and balances on the other two branches of government
Judicial Review
A practice used by members of Congress in which two or more members of Congress agree to vote on each other's bills. Members of Congress typically use logrolling in order to pass bills that a personally important to them
Logrolling
Powers given exclusively to the states or the people by the 10th amendment of the Constitution. These powers are not shared with the federal government. The purpose of reserved powers is to protect the rights of the states and the people
Reserved Powers
A legal doctrine that requires judges to follow the precedents established in prior court decisions and historical court cases. Stare decisis intends to ensure fairness and consistency in court decisions by requiring judges to approach cases with similar scenarios and facts in the same way
Stare decisis
Sets found in the same folder