Chapter 9 - Congress

Question 1

constituency

Answer 1

the people in the district from which an official is elected

Question 2

incumbency

Answer 2

holding a political office for which one is running election after election

Question 3

challenger

Answer 3

a candidate running against the incumbent

Question 4

open seats

Answer 4

a congress seat that is open due to retirement, death or impeachment

Question 5

reapportionment

Answer 5

census data every ten years to reapportion house members by population density

Question 6

redistricting

Answer 6

when districts have to be redrawn due to reapportionmetn to ensure that everyone has representation

Question 7

gerrymandering

Answer 7

the process of redrawing legislative district boundary liens to provide political advantage or disadvantage

Question 8

logrolling

Answer 8

a legislative practice wherein agrements are made between legislators in voting for or against a bill, vote trading

Question 9

retrospective voting

Answer 9

basing voting decisions on reactions to past performance; approving the status quo or signaling a desire for change.

Question 10

agency representation

Answer 10

the type of representation by which representatives are held accountable to their constituency if they fail to represent that constituency properly. This is the incentive for good representation when the personal backgrounds, views, and interests of the representative differ from those of his or her constituency

Question 11

appropriations

Answer 11

the amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend

Question 12

bicameral

Answer 12

a two-chambered legislature; opposite of unicameral

Question 13

bill

Answer 13

a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate

Question 14

cloture

Answer 14

a rule allowing three-fifths of the members in the U.S. Senate to set a time limit on debate over a given bill

Question 15

conference

Answer 15

a gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their House leaders. Democrats call their gathering the caucus

Question 16

conference committee

Answer 16

a joint committee created to work out a compromise on House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation

Question 17

constituency

Answer 17

the people in the district from which an official is elected

Question 18

filibuster

Answer 18

a tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a vote of three-fifths of the Senate to end a filibuster

Question 19

gerrymandering

Answer 19

the process of redrawing legislative district boundary lines to provide political advantage or disadvantage

Question 20

impeachment

Answer 20

the formal charge by the House of Representatives that a government official has committed “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”

Question 21

incumbency

Answer 21

holding a political office for which one is running election after election

Question 22

joint committee

Answer 22

a legislative committee formed of members of both the House and the Senate

Question 23

logrolling

Answer 23

a legislative practice wherein agreements are made between legislators in voting for or against a bill; vote trading

Question 24

majority leader

Answer 24

the elected leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. In the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker of the House

Question 25

minority leader

Answer 25

the elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate

Question 26

oversight

Answer 26

the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies by overseeing or supervising how legislation is carried out by the executive branch

Question 27

party unity vote

Answer 27

a roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party. Party votes are rare today, although they were fairly common in the nineteenth century

Question 28

patronage

Answer 28

the resources available to higher officials, including making partisan appointments to offices and conferring grants, licenses, or special favors to supporters

Question 29

pocket veto

Answer 29

a veto that occurs when the president does not sign a passed bill within ten days of receiving it, and Congress adjourned

Question 30

pork barrel

Answer 30

appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created to help local representatives win re-election in their home districts

Question 31

private bill

Answer 31

a proposal in Congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief, such as a special exemption from immigration quotas

Question 32

redistricting

Answer 32

the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives. This happen every ten years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges to existing districts

Question 33

roll-call vote

Answer 33

a vote in which each legislator’s yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members alphabetically

Question 34

select committee

Answer 34

a (usually) temporary legislative committee set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committees

Question 35

senority

Answer 35

priority or status ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee in Congress

Question 36

sociological representation

Answer 36

a type of representation in which representatives have the same racial, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents. It is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one could represent the other’s views

Question 37

speaker of the house

Answer 37

the chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected at the beginning of every Congress on a straight party vote. The Speaker is the most important party and House leader and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of individual pieces of legislation, and members’ positions within the House

Question 38

standing committee

Answer 38

a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or appropriations

Question 39

term limits

Answer 39

legally set limits on the number of terms an elected official can serve

Question 40

veto

Answer 40

the president’s constitutional power to turn down law. A presidential veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress

Question 41

Presiding officer over the senate

Answer 41

the vice president

Question 42

Presiding officer over the house

Answer 42

Speaker of the house - i.e. BOEHNER

Question 43

speaker

Answer 43

The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer (chair) of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker’s official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the house. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial and some other situations.

Question 44

majority leader

Answer 44

In the United States Senate, the majority leader is the chief spokesperson for the majority party[1], as the president of the Senate is ex officio the Vice-President of the United States, and the President pro tempore is a largely ceremonial position.

Question 45

minority leader

Answer 45

In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body.[1] Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with the counterpart being a member of the opposite party. The position is essentially that of the Leader of the Opposition.

Question 46

President Pro Tempore

Answer 46

During the Vice President’s absence, the president pro tempore is empowered to preside over Senate sessions. In practice, neither the Vice President nor the President pro tempore usually presides; instead, the duty of presiding officer is rotated among junior senators of the majority party to give them experience in parliamentary procedure.[2]

Question 47

Whips

Answer 47

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party’s “enforcers”, who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy. A whip’s role is also to ensure that the elected representatives of their party are in attendance when important votes are taken. The usage comes from the hunting term “whipping in”, i.e. preventing hounds from wandering away from the pack.

Question 48

Commitee system

Answer 48

Due to the high volume and complexity of its work, the Senate divides its tasks among 20 committees, 68 subcommittees, and 4 joint committees. Although the Senate committee system is similar to that of the House of Representatives, it has its own guidelines, within which each committee adopts its own rules. This creates considerable variation among the panels.

Question 49

jurisdiction

Answer 49

Jurisdiction (from the Latin ius, iuris meaning “law” and dicere meaning “to speak”) is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. The term is also used to denote the geographical area or subject-matter to which such authority applies.