Ch 11-13 Definitions Flashcards
Reapportionment
Redistribution of representatives among the states, based on population change. The house is reapportioned after each census
Impeachment
The formal charging of a government official with treason, bribery, or other crimes
Casework
Solving problems for constituents, especially problems involving government agencies
Descriptive Representation
A belief that constituents are most effectively represented by legislators who are similar to them in key demographic characteristics such as race, ethnic city, religion or gender
Racial Gerrymandering
The drawing of legislative districts to maximize the chance that a minority candidate will win the election.
Congressional Committees
- Standing-A permanent congressional committee that specializes in a particular policy area
- Joint-A committee it made up of members of both the House and the Senate
- Select-A temporary congressional committee created for a specific purpose and disbanded after the purpose is fulfilled
- Conference-A temporary committee created to work out differences between House and Senate versions of a specific piece of legislation
Seniority
Years of consecutive service on a particular congressional committee
Oversight
The process of reviewing the operations of an agency to determine whether it is caring out policies as Congress intended
Speaker of the House
The presiding officer of the House of Representatives
Majority Leader
The head of the majority party in the Senate: second highest ranking member of the majority party in the House
Filibuster
A delaying tactic, used in the Senate, that involves speechmaking to prevent action on a piece of legislation
Cloture
The mechanism by which a filibuster is cut off in the Senate. Takes a vote of 62 invoke.
Hold
A letter requesting that a bill be held from floor debate
Bipartisanship
Agreement or cooperation between two political parties that usually oppose each other’s policies
Constituents
People who live and vote in a government officials district or state
Trustees
A representative who is obligated to consider the views of constituents but is not obligated to vote according to those views if he or she believes they are misguided
Delegates
A legislator whose primary responsibility is to represent the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of his or her own view
Parliamentary System
The chief executive is the leader who’s party holds the most seats in the legislature after an election or who’s party forms a major part of the ruling collation
Earmarks
Federal funds appropriated by Congress for the use on the local projects (banned)
Congress
The Legislative Branch (makes laws), and is federal, and bicameral (2 Chambers) which are the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Partisanship
A supporter of a person, group, party, or cause, especially person who shows a biased, emotional allegiance
Homogeneous
Of the same kind: alike
Formal powers granted to the president in article 2 of the US Constitution
Serve as an administrative head of the nation. Act as commander-in-chief of the military. Veto legislation. Appoint various officials. Make treaties.
Inherent Powers
Authority claimed by the president that is not clearly specified in the Constitution. Typically, these powers are inferred from the Constitution. I.e. executive order
Executive Orders
Presidential directives that create or modify laws and public policy without the direct approval of Congress, to take action or stop an activity
Unitary Executive
A belief that the presidents inherent powers allow him to overrule congressional grants of independence authority to agencies
Delegation of Powers
Congress gives the executive branch the additional authority needed to address new problems
Executive Office of the President (EOP)
The presidents executive aids and their staffs: the extended White House executive establishment. Consists of the Cabinet and immediate staff of the president, as well as multiple levels of support staff, all headed by the White House Chief of Staff
The Cabinet
A group of presidential advisers: the heads of the executive departments and other key officials. Includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments (defense, education, energy, treasury, transportation, etc.…)
Divided Government
The situation in which one party controls the White House and the other controls at least one house of Congress
Gridlock
A situation in which government is incapable of acting on important issues
Electoral Mandate
An endorsement by voters. Presidents sometimes argue they have been given a mandate to carry out policy proposals
Legislative Liaison Staff
Those people who act as a communication link between the White House and Congress, advising the president or cabinet secretaries on pending legislation status
Statutory Authority
Authority that comes from congressional statutes
Congressional Statute
A congressional bill that has become law
War Powers Resolution
Allows the president to go to war for 60 days without congressional approval
Bureaucracy
A large, complex organization in which employees have specific job responsibilities and work within a hierarchy of authority. Provide enforcement, administration, and implementation of all federal laws and rights
Bureaucrats
Employees of a bureaucracy, usually meaning a government bureaucracy.
Departments
The largest units of the executive branch, covering broad areas of government responsibility. Heads of the departments, or secretaries, from the presidents cabinet.
-State, Treasury, Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Justice, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Home and Security
Independent Agencies
Executive agencies that are not part of a cabinet departments (i.e. the CIA)
Regulatory Commissions
Agencies of the executive branch of government that control/direct some aspect of the economy, such as the Federal Communications Commission
Government Corporations
Government agencies that perform what might be provided by the private sector that involve insufficient financial incentive or are better provided when they are somehow linked with government, such as the Postal Service
Civil Service
The system by which most appointments to the federal bureaucracy are made, to ensure that government jobs are filled on the basis of merit and employees aren’t fired for political reasons
Pendleton Act 1883
Established the Civil Service Commission, now the Office of Personal Management, to remove the practice of filling government positions with the presidents political allies
Administrative Discretion
The latitude that Congress gives agencies to make policy in the spirit of their legislative mandate
Rule Making
The administrative process that results in the issuance of regulations by government agencies
Regulations
Administrative rules that guide of the operation of a government program
Incrementalism
Policymaking characterized by a series of decisions, each instituting modest change
Norms
And organizations informal, unwritten rules that guide individual behavior
Implementation
The process of putting specific policies into operation
Regulation
Government intervention in a business market to promote some socially desirable
Deregulation
Bureaucratic reform by which the government reduces its role as a regulator of business
Competition and Outsourcing
Procedures that allow private contractors to bid for jobs previously held exclusively by government employees
Government Performance and Results Act
A law requiring each government agency to implement quantifiable standards to measure its performance in meeting stated program goals
Administrative Procedures Act
Structures the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations:
-published notice in the Federal Register with time for citizen comment
