Chapter 4 Flashcards
Pork barrel spending
Legislation that directly funds projects in states/distircts
Logrolling
trading votes with other members to get thier own earmarks passed though
Oversight
a way for congress to make sure officals are not doing any wrong through their actions and congressional goals
Constituency
a body of voters in a certain place that elect a rep. or a senator
apportionment
the process of figuring out how many represenatives for each state with the
results of a census
redistricting
redrawing the boudaries of an electoral district,
also using a cencus
Gerrymandering
using redistricting to
benifit voters or speatic groups of people
Partisan gerrymandering
drawing boundaries in a cool way to win over citizens to a political party
Majority-minority district
voters of a minority ethnicity have an electoral majority in the electoral district
incumbency
being in office already, also can be going for re-election
malapportionment
population in a legslative district that is uneveny divided
Incumbency Advantage
advantages for those already in office have trying to fend off opponents
Speaker of the House
Leader of the house that is chosen buy a vote of the members
Political action commitee
PAC
A committee that raises money for campaigns and that of the members candidates can use
Whip
A member from congress that is chosen to help party unity& disipline in the political party
Minority leader
Head of the political party chosen by their party members
Senate Majority Leader
Most powerful in the senate & head of party with the most seats
Commitee chair
Leader of congressional committee who has authority over the agenda
Hold
Pausing a debate of bill to object it
Discharge petition
Taking a bill off the hands of an unkind commitee, straight to the floor for voting
Commitee of the whole
When all members of the House meet at the house floor with different rules to consider legislation
House Rules Committee
Commitee that controls the basic rules of the bill when it comes to the House floor
Filibuster
A tactic a senator can use to talk on & on to delay time or why the object the bill
Unanimous consent agreement
An agreement to consider a bill in the Senate
Veto
A president refusing to sign a bill into law
Cloture
A group vote that needs 60 senator votes to end the debate of a bill
Office management & budget
An office in the executive branch that assists the president with setting the federal budget
Entitlement program
A program with benefits for those who qualify the requirements no mater the income
Mandatory spending
spending that must be done because it’s “Locked in” its budget
discretionary spending
Spending done for programs & policies with permission from Congress & President
Budget deficit
When the government takes less money than what they use (they short fall)
Budget surplus
When government takes more money than they use
National debt
Certain amount of money that the federal government owns
Delegate role
The concept that Congress’ main goal is to carry out the people’s wants
Trustee
Concept that members of Congress make decisions using their knowledge and judgment
Politicol role
Members of Congress being able to balance the interests of constituents and their political party
Bipartisan ship
The corporation for both parties to work together in Congress
Gridlock
The slow down or inability for Congress to overcome disagreements
Lame duck period
During the last term of the Pres. where Congress may also block the opposing party, president initiatives, and nominees
Divided government
Under presidents control and 1 or both houses of Congress splitting into separate parties
