Chapter 6 Flashcards
bicameral legislature
A two-house legislature
The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature.
apportionment
The process of allotting congressional seats to each state according to its proportion of the population, following the decennial census.
Apportionment shifts the seats to fit the members of Congress.
bill
A proposed law.
The U.S Senate has approved an anti-BDS bill.
impeachment
The power delegated to the House of Representatives in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president, or other “civil officers” including federal judges, with “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing government officials from office.
Two presidents that went through the impeachment process was, Andrew Jackson and Bill Clinton
Edmund Burke
Conservative British political philosopher of the eighteenth century who articulated the view that elected representatives should act as “trustees” and use their own best judgement when voting.
Edmund Burke advanced people’s beliefs in American politics.
trustee
Role played by an elected representative who listens to constituents’ opinions and then uses his or her best judgment to make a final decision.
Trustee was developed form Edmund Burke.
delegate
Role played by a representative who votes the way his or her constituents would want, regardless of personal opinions; may refer to an elected representative to Congress or a representative to the party convention.
A delegate vote for what the majority want.
politico
An elected representative who acts as a trustee or as a delegate, depending on the issue.
A politico is flexible depending on what the situation is.
incumbency
Already holding an office.
Incumbency is the familiarity of a person in an office and it is an advantage.
redistricting
The process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within a state.
In the U.S House of Representatives they use redistricting for their districts.
gerrymandering
The drawing of congressional districts to produce a particular electoral outcome without regard to the shape of the district.
Gerrymandering has to do more with manipulating outcomes then it has to do with population.
majority party
The political in each house of Congress with the most members.
A majority party is the Republicans.
minority party
The political party in each house of Congress with the second most members.
A minority party is Democrats.
party caucus (or conference)
A formal gathering of all party members.
Each party caucus has different roles for different departments.
Speaker of the House
The only officer of the House of Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution; the chamber’s most powerful position; traditionally a member of the majority party.
The Speaker of the House speaks to the President to get their views out. The Democratic Speaker of the House is Nancy Pelosi.
majority leader
The head of the party controlling the most seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate; is a second in authority to the Speaker of the House and in the Senate is regarding as its most powerful member.
The Democrat House majority leader is Steny Hoyer.
minority leader
The head of the party with the second highest number of elected representatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate.
The Republican House minority leader is Kevin McCarthy.
whip
Party leader who keeps close contact with all members of his or her party, takes vote counts on key legislation, prepares summaries of bills, and acts as a communications link within a party.
The Republic whip is Steve Scalise.
president pro tempore
The official chair of the Senate; usually the most senior member of the majority.
The president pro tempore is Charles Grassley.
standing committee
Committee to which proposed bills are referred; continues from one Congress to the next.
The standing committee consider the bills they receive and these bills range from different topics.
joint committee
Standing committee that includes members from both houses of Congress set up to conduct investigations or special studies.
The joint committee main focus is on major topics.
conference committee
Special joint committee created to reconcile differences in bills passed by the House and Senate.
Conference committees usually have members that have been there for their awhile.
select (or special) committee
Temporary committee appointed for a specific purpose.
Select committees investigate major issues or suspicious activities.
Hillary Clinton
First female major party candidate for president of the United States, a Democrat, who ran against President Donald J. Trump in 2016. Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013; New York senator from 2001 to 2009; former first lady.
Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 elections against Donald Trump.
House Committee on Rules
The influential “Rules Committee” determines the scheduling and conditions, such as length of debate and type of allowable amendments, for all bills in the House of Representatives ( but not in the Senate, where debate is less regulated).
The House Committee on Rules provides the planning for bills.
discharge petition
Petition that gives a majority of the House of Representatives the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction.
The discharge petition allows the House of Representatives to push bills when they feel necessary.
seniority
Time of continuous service on a committee.
An example of seniority is John Conyers.
markup
A session in which committee members offer changes to a bill before it goes to the floor.
In a markup the members may debate about the bill.
Committee of the Whole
A procedure that allows the House of Representatives to deliberate with a lower quorum and to expedite consideration and amendment of a bill.
The Committee of the Whole can recommend things for the bill.
hold
A procedure by which a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill or nomination is brought to the floor. This request signals leadership that a member may have objection to the bill (or nomination) and should be consulted before further action is taken.
They can put a hold on a bill if there are concerns for about it.
filibuster
A formal way of halting Senate action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate.
In 1957, Strom Thurmond did a filibuster for the Civil Rights Act of 1957 not to be passed. Though the bill Civil Rights Act of 1967 was passed he still holds the record for longest filibuster.
cloture
Mechanism requiring the vote of sixty senators to cut off debate.
Cloture is the only way to end a filibuster.
veto
The formal, constitutional authority of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of Congress, thus preventing them from becoming law without further congressional action.
George Washington has vetoed two bills.
pocket veto
If Congress adjourns during the ten days the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of Congress, the bill is considered vetoed without the president’s signature.
The first president to use the pocket veto was James Madison.
Richard M. Nixon
The thirty-seventh president, a Republican, who served from 1969 through 1974. Nixon advocated detente during the Cold War and resigned rather than face impeachment and likely removal from office due to the Watergate scandal.
Before Richard M. Nixon became president he was a U.S Representative and a Senator.
Congressional Budget Act of 1974
Act that established the congressional budgetary process by laying out a plan for congressional action on the annual budget resolution, appropriations, reconciliation, and any other revenue bills.
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 created budget committees.
reconciliation
A procedure that allows consideration of controversial issues affecting the budget by limited debate to twenty hours, thereby ending threat of a filibuster.
Reconciliation helps limit speeches about topics.
pork
Legislation that allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs.
Pork allows different forms to bring money.
programmatic requests
Federal funds designated for special projects within a state or congressional district. Also referred to as earmarks.
One example of programmatic requests is the Air Force Minority Leaders Program.
divided government
The political condition in which different political parties control the presidency and at least one house of Congress.
A divided government is the presidency being controlled by the Democrats and the Congress being controlled by Republicans.
War Powers Resolution
Passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit withdrawal) unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period.
With the War Powers Resolution the only way the president can keep troops overseas is when war is declared.
congressional review
A process whereby Congress can nullify agency regulations within a 60-day window by passing a joint resolution of legislative disapproval. The president’s approval of the resolution or a two-thirds majority vote in both houses to overrule a presidential veto is also required.
The congressional review can help Congress when a president veto.
senatorial courtesy
A process by which presidents generally allow senators from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block a nomination by simply registering their objection.
The senatorial courtesy allows senators to have more say in nominations.
unified government
The political condition in which the same political party controls the presidency and Congress.
A unified government is when the Democrats control presidency and Congress or when Republican control presidency and Congress.
logrolling
Vote trading; voting to support a colleague’s bill in return for a promise of future support.
Logrolling is an agreement between two colleague’s.
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Created in 1914, the non-partisan CRS provides information, studies, and research in support of the work of Congress, and prepares summaries and tracks and progress of all bill.
The Congressional Research Service gathers information on bills.
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Established in 1921, the GAO is an independent regulatory agency for the purpose of auditing the financial expenditures of the executive branch and federal agencies; until 2004, the GAO was known as the General Accounting Office.
The Government Accountability Office is fact-based and nonpartisan.
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Created in 1974, the CBO provides Congress with evaluations of the potential economic effects of proposed spending policies and also analyzes the president’s budget and economic projections.
The Congressional Budget Office covers some projects such as health care plans.
