Chapter 5 Flashcards
Name for the legislative branch of the American government; the Constitution grants it all legislative powers––the powers to make laws.
Congress
Congress is composed of what two houses? Which one is the lower house? Upper house?
Senate (upper house) and House of Representatives (lower house)
Describes the representation that particular population groups receive from House members
Proportional
The proportional distribution of congressional seats among the states.
Apportionment
Because representation in the House is based on population, it is necessary to count the number of people within each state periodically for what?
Reapportionment
A counting of the number of people in a specific area.
Census
A practice in which a state legislature draws its district boundaries so as to purposely favor the party in power, thus giving the party control of as many congressional seats as possible.
Gerrymandering
Representation in the Senate is based on what principle of the states?
Equal representation
Since the adoption of what amendment are senators no longer chosen by state legislatures? How are they now elected?
17th Amendment; at-large (by all the voters of their state)
The Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years.
General Election Day
What are the three qualifications for serving in each house of Congress?
Age, citizenship, and state residency
The Constitution requires at least what three leadership positions in Congress?
Speaker of the House, the president of the Senate, and the president pro tempore
The party with the most members in the House.
Majority party
The great circular hall beneath the Capitol’s dome.
Rotunda
Which part of the Capitol happens to be the largest national parliamentary room in the world?
Congress convenes here for a joint session, addressed by the President, or a joint meeing, addressed by some other notable.
House Chamber
Who leads their party in their house and are responsible to secure their parties’ interests in the legislative process?
Floor leaders
Whom does each floor leader have that assists him in his responsibilities? His task is to “keep the pack together” by urging party members to vote with the party on key issues.
(Party) Whip
A private meeting of political party members to decide on policy or to choose their party leaders.
Caucus
An unwritten custom of Congress which began in the 19th century; requires that committee chair positions be awarded to those members who have served in those committees for the longest time. What does the minority party, employing the same system, make their senior member of the committee?
Seniority system; ranking member
Type of committee Congress has that is often used for investigations.
Select committee
Type of committee Congress has where members from both houses meet in a single committee.
Joint committee
The chief protocol and law enforcement officer that each house chooses for itself.
Sergeant at arms
The role of whom is it to advise house officers on parliamentary rules and house rules?
Parliamentarian
The function of whom is it to minister to the spiritual needs of members, staff, and their families?
Chaplains
An official keeper that each house employs for itself.
Secretary (“clerk” in the House)
Whom does the House employ who helps maintain much of the operational infrastructure in the House in such diverse areas as finance, payroll, child care, and information technology?
Chief administrative officer (CAO)
The two-year period of each Congress which begins on January 3 of each odd-numbered year and ends at noon on January 3 two years later.
Term of Congress
The required once-a-year meeting of Congress; two of these compose a term.
Session of Congress
What amendment changed both the meeting time of Congress and the day on which members assume their duties so that they are the same day, which is noon on January 3 of each year?
20th Amendment
The official written record of what has been said on the Senate and on the House floors, as well as the roll calls, speeches, etc.?
Congressional Record
Amendment that provides that any pay raise that Congress gives itself cannot go into effect until the next congressional election.
27th Amendment
Free postage for a congressman’s official mail.
Franking privilege
The privilege of congressmen to be free from arrest for most causes during a congressional session and to not be held liable for any statements made in speeches on the floor of Congress.
Congressional immunity
To officially condemn an individual for misconduct; a disciplinary procedure involving public rebuke.
Censure
The removal of an individual from Congress; the greatest penalty which either house of Congress may impose upon a member.
Expulsion
Term for lawmaking; the chief responsibility of Congress.
Legislating
A proposed new law.
Bill
A bill which a committee has written by completely revising one or more bills sent before it.
Committee bill
A legislative bill that applies only to individual citizens or groups of people.
Private bill
A legislative bill that applies to the nation at large.
Public bill
A formal statement of opinion or determination adopted by a legislative assembly.
Resolution
A resolution passed by both houses and dealing with matters that need joint action but no formal law.
Concurrent resolution
A resolution passed by both houses and signed by the President; carries the weight of a law.
Joint resolution
A resolution passed by only one house and dealing with matters relating to that house.
Simple resolution
A large box on the side of the House clerk’s desk into which a congressman places a bill that he wants to introduce.
Hopper
Bill sponsored by members from both parties.
Bipartisan bill
A group of people chosen from a larger body to study and report or act on a matter.
Committee
To put a bill aside and purposely forget it.
Pigeonhole
A committee within a committee.
Subcommittee
In Congress, a petition used to get out of a House committee a bill that has been in committee for at least 30 days; requires the signature of a simple majority.
Discharge petition
An attempt to kill a bill by stalling the vote on it: the key weapon is talk.
Filibuster
A procedure that limits each senator to a maximum of one hour to speak on a bill under consideration; the only way to effectively limit a filibuster.
Cloture Rule
The resolution of the House into a large committee of itself so that it can vote on important bills and expedite legislation.
Committee of the Whole
A method of voting in which all of those for or against a bill stand to be counted.
Standing vote
A method of voting which ensures that the public can know how each legislator voted on an issue; usually used to decide on important issues.
Roll-call
A method of voting in which the presiding officer simply calls for “ays” and “nays” and makes a decision based upon what he hears.
Voice vote
A temporary committee composed of members of both houses for the purpose of working out a compromise on a bill; a common type of joint committee.
Conference committee
A legislative maneuver where the President takes no action on a bill for ten days, effectively preventing it from becoming law without formally vetoing it.
“Pocket veto”
A formal communication from a president or governor explaining the reasons for rejecting a proposed law or legislation.
Veto message
How much of each house does it take to override a President’s veto?
Two-thirds majority
The rejection of a bill by a President or other executive; means “I forbid.”
Veto
What is the two-fold purpose of a representative in the legislative process?
- To protect their constituency from harmful legislation
- To promote beneficial legislation.
Name the most important quality for a leader to possess; the essence of the man.
Character
A representative who votes according to his personal judgment rather than the views of his constituency.
Trustee
A person authorized to speak or act for others; a representative who votes according to the desires of his constituency rather than his personal judgment.
Delegate
The congressional monitoring of the bureaucracy to make sure that the laws are being faithfully executed.
Oversight
Laws that give a termination date for a bureaucratic agency or program.
Sunset laws
Congress forbidding the implementation of an agency’s policy without the President’s consent; violates the separation of powers.
Legislative veto
Those powers that are given explicitly to Congress.
Expressed powers
Those legislative powers which are not specifically stated in the Constitution but have been implied in the expressed powers.
Implied powers
The basis for the constitutional doctrine of the expressed and implied powers of Congress; Article I, Section 8, Clause 18.
Elastic clause
A custom whereby the Senate may refuse to confirm a President’s appointee if a senator of the state involved and of the same part as the President objects to the nomination.
Senatorial courtesy
The act of bringing a formal accusation of wrongdoing against an official.
Impeachment
Name the two U.S. Presidents that were impeached.
Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton
Limitations on Congress: Congress cannot create bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, or grant titles of nobility.
Denied powers
A member appointed to represent the House or Senate in specific proceedings, such as impeachment trials or conference committees.
Managers
Presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President; elected by Senate members at the beginning of each term; a member of the Senate’s majority party.
President pro tempore
