Chapter 13 Flashcards
A lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts.
Bicameral Legislature
An attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action on the bill.
Filibuster
A vote in which a majority of Democratic legislators oppose a majority of Republican legislators.
Partisan Polarization
Political districts in which candidates elected to the House of Representatives win in close elections, typically by less than 55 percent of the vote.
Marginal Districts
Districts in which incumbents win by margins of 55 percent or more.
Safe Districts
An alliance between Republican and conservative Democrats.
Conservative Coalition
The legislative leader elected by party members holding the majority of seats in the House or the Senate.
Majority Leader
The legislative leader elected by party members holding a minority of seats in the House or the Senate.
Minority Leader
A senator or representative who helps the party leader stay informed about what party members are thinking.
Whip
The presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the leader of his or her party in the House.
Speaker
An association of congressional members created to advance a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest.
Caucus
Permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area.
Standing Committees
Congressional committees appointed for a limited time and purpose.
Select Committees
Committees on which both senators and representatives serve.
Joint Committees
Joint committees appointed to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same bill.
Conference Committee
A device by which any member of the House, after a committee has had the bill for 30 days, may petition to have it brought to the floor.
Discharge Petition
An order from the House Rules Committee that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made into a bill on the floor.
Restrictive
An order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate; forbids a bill from being amended on the floor.
Closed Rule
An order from the House Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor.
Open Rule
The minimum number of members who must be present for business to be conducted in Congress.
Quorum
Amendments on matters unrelated to a bill that are added to an important bill so that they will “ride” to passage through the Congress. When a bill has many riders, it is called a Christmas-tree bill.
Riders
A rule used by the Senate to end or limit debate.
Cloture Rule
A procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster in which the disputed bill is shelved temporarily so that the Senate can get on with other business.
Double Tracking
A congressional voting procedure in which members shout “yea” in approval or “nay” in disapproval, permitting members to vote quickly or anonymously on bills.
Voice Vote
A congressional voting procedure in which members stand and are counted.
Division Vote
A congressional voting procedure that consists of members answering “yea” or “nay” to their names.
Roll-call Vote
A congressional voting procedure in which members pass between two tellers, the”yeas” first and the “nays” second.
Teller Vote
Literally, “I forbid”: it refers to the power of a president to disapprove a bill; it may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress.
Veto
One party controls the White House and another party controls one or both houses of Congress.
Divided Government
The same party controls the White House and both houses of Congress.
Unified Government
“Hidden” congressional provisions that direct the federal government to fund specific projects or that exempt specific persons or groups from paying specific federal taxes or fees.
Earmarks
Legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hope of winning their votes in return.
Pork-barrel Legislation
The ability of members to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature for postage.
Franking Privilege
There are two measures of such voting. By the stricter measure, a party vote occurs when 90% or more of the Democrats in either house of Congress vote together against 90% or more of the Republicans. A looser measure counts as a party vote any case where at least 50% of the Democrats vote together against at least 50% of the Republicans.
Party Vote
