Chapter 10 Part 2 Flashcards
Majority leader
In the house, the majority party leader and second in command to the speaker, in the Senate, the leader of the majority party
Speaker of the house
Presiding officer of the house of representatives
Minority leader
In both the house and the Senate, the leader of the opposition party
Whips
In both the house and Senate, the principal assistants to the party leaders and next in command to those leaders
Standing committee
Permanent committee of the house or Senate that deals with matters within a specified subject area
Subcommittees
Specialized committees within standing committees; subcommittee recommendations must be approved by the full standing committee before submission to the floor
Seniority system
Custom where by the member of Congress who has served the longest on the majority side of a committee becomes its chair and the member who has served the longest on the minority side becomes its ranking member
Drafting a bill
Actual writing of a bill in legal language
Markup
Line by line revision of a bill in committee by editing each phrase and word
Discharge petition
Petition signed by at least 218 house members to force a vote on a bill within a committee that opposes it
Rule/closed/restricted/open
Stipulation attached to a bell and the House of Representatives that governs its consideration on the floor, including one and for how long it can be debated and how many if any amendments maybe appended to it
Forbids adding any amendments to a bill under consideration by the house
Allows only specified amendments to be added to bill under consideration by the house
Permits unlimited amendments to a bill under consideration by the house
Filibuster
Delaying tactic by a senator or a group of senators, using the senates unlimited debate rule to prevent a vote on a bill
Cloture
Vote to end debate that is to end a filibuster which requires a 3/5 vote of the entire membership of the senate
Rider
Amendment to a bill that is not germane to that bills purposes
Conference
Meetings between representatives of the house and Senate to reconcile differences of the provisions of the bill passed by both houses
Bipartisanship
Agreement by members of both the Democratic and the Republican parties
Divided party government
One-party controls the presidency while the other party controls one or both houses of Congress
Constituency
The votes in a legislators home district
Trustees
Legislators who feel obligated to use their own best judgement and decision-making
Delegates
Accredited voting members of a party’s national presidential nominating convention
Logrolling
Bargaining for agreement among legislators to support each other’s favorite bills, especially projects that primarily benefit individual members and their constituents
Gridlock
political stalemate to the executive and legislative branches arising in one branch is controlled by 1 major political party and other brands by the other party
Censure
Public reprimand for wrongdoing, given to a member standing in the chamber before Congress
