government institutions: congress

Question 1

bicameral legislature

Answer 1

type of government that has 2 separate legislative houses or chambers

Question 2

parliament.

Answer 2

the legislature within a parliamentary system of government. 3 functions: representation, legislation, and oversight. Duties: making laws and scrutinizing the government

Question 3

descriptive representation

Answer 3

elected representatives will represent their interests of race, socioeconomic group, and etc.

Question 4

substantive representation

Answer 4

elected officials support an agenda based on their personal and political party’s views

Question 5

trustee

Answer 5

an individual or organization which holds or manages and invests assets for the benefit of another

Question 6

delegate

Answer 6

a ​person ​chosen or ​elected by a ​group to ​speak, ​vote, etc. for them, ​especially at a ​meeting

Question 7

majority-minority district

Answer 7

congressional districts designed to make it easier for citizens of a racial or ethnic minority to elect representatives.

Question 8

malapportionment

Answer 8

an inappropriate or unfair proportional distribution of representatives to a legislative body

Question 9

marginal district

Answer 9

political districts where candidates win elections with less than 55% of the vote

Question 10

gerrymandering

Answer 10

pushing political boundaries of voting districts for one party’s advantage.

Question 11

safe districts

Answer 11

political districts where incumbents win with 55% or more of the vote

Question 12

wesbury vs. sanders

Answer 12

James P. Wesberry, Jr. filed a suit against the Governor of Georgia, Carl E. Sanders, protesting the state’s apportionment scheme.

connection: represents an act against apportionment

Question 13

baker vs. carr

Answer 13

A case in which the Court found that redistricting issues present justiciable questions, and in which the Court reframed its political question doctrine

Question 14

shaw vs. reno

Answer 14

the court believed that north carolina was evidence of an attempt to separate voters based on race and ethnicity

Question 15

miller vs. johnson

Answer 15

was a United States Supreme Court case concerning “affirmative gerrymandering/racial gerrymandering”, where racial minority-majority electoral districts are created

Question 16

congressional caucus

Answer 16

an organization or members of Congress based on party, interest, or social group such as gender or race.

Question 17

committee

Answer 17

a group of people appointed for a specific function, typically consisting of members of a larger group.

Question 18

committee of the whole

Answer 18

all representatives serve and meet in the house chamber for ideas on the union calendar

Question 19

house rules committee

Answer 19

reviews all bills (except revenue, budget, and appropriations bills) coming from a House committee before they go to the full House.

Question 20

conference committees

Answer 20

committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to resolve disagreements on a particular bill passed

Question 21

filibuster

Answer 21

trying to defeat a bill in the senate by preventing the senate from taking action on the bill

Question 22

cloture

Answer 22

a rule used by the Senate to end or limit debate, also used by a filibuster

Question 23

party caucus

Answer 23

when all party members in the house have a conference or meeting.

connection: Participants set legislative agendas, select committee members and chairs, and hold elections to choose various Floor leaders.

Question 24

party whip

Answer 24

appointed person who assists each floor leader and keeps track of how party members vote and persuades member’s votes.

Question 25

majority leader

Answer 25

legislative leader elected by the party members holding the majority of seats in the house of representatives. connection: hold more power

Question 26

minority leader

Answer 26

legislative leader elected by the party members with a less amount of seats held in the house of representatives connection: goes against majority leader

Question 27

franking privilege

Answer 27

allows members of congress to mail letters and other objects by using their facsimile signature for postage. connection: benefits for congressional memebers.

Question 28

spohomore surge

Answer 28

an increase in the votes congressional candidates usually get when they first run for reelection.

Question 29

constituency service

Answer 29

what parliamentarians do to serve and represent the interests of their constituents. connection : helps represent the peoples interest

Question 30

incumbency

Answer 30

the holding of an office or the period during which one is held by someone. connection: incumbents have more power than other runner ups

Question 31

speaker of the house

Answer 31

presiding officer of the house. also takes over as president in the case that the president and vp die. Duties: appoints rules committee, assigns bills to committees, may recommend leaders but cannot appoint.

Question 32

president pro tempore

Answer 32

officer of the senate selected by the majority to act as chair in the absence of the vice president-president of the senate

Question 33

ways and means committee

Answer 33

writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as a whole.

Question 34

reapportionment

Answer 34

divides # of state representatives among the states population to determine that the districts have equal size. connection: each district must have an equal size

Question 35

congressional oversight

Answer 35

congress watching over the executive branch. for example: monitoring federal agencies connection: influences the executive branch.

Question 36

redistricting

Answer 36

redraws united states electoral boundaries. connection: creates fair vote

Question 37

hold

Answer 37

when a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill is brought to the floor. connection: stops the bill from coming to the floor until the hold is removed.

Question 38

senatorial courtesy

Answer 38

when the US Senate refuses to confirm a presidential appointment to office opposed by both senators from the state of the appointee

Question 39

impeachment

Answer 39

when someone in office is guilty of something and may be removed. connection: takes an official out of office

Question 40

discharge petition

Answer 40

a petition signed by the members of the House of Representatives to bring a bill from committee to the floor for consideration. connection: finds a resolution for a bill

Question 41

logrolling

Answer 41

"you have my back, i have your back" Vote trading, voting yea to support a colleague's bill in return for a promise of future support

Question 42

standing committee

Answer 42

committee formed to do its assigned work on an ongoing basis. connection: proposed bills are sent there

Question 43

select committee

Answer 43

a committee that is formed to examine and report on a specific bill or issue

Question 44

joint committee

Answer 44

a committee made up of members of both chambers of a bicameral legislature. connection: work together to to reach a compromise on their differences concerning a particular issue.

Question 45

private bill

Answer 45

provides benefits to a specified group of individuals connection : usually used by organisations to give themselves powers beyond, or in conflict with, the general law

Question 46

public bill

Answer 46

apply to everyone within their jurisdiction connection: may become a public law or public act.

Question 47

simple resolution

Answer 47

an espression of opinion, without the force of law, either in the House or the Senate ## Footnote connection: settles housekeeping or procedural matters in either body

Question 48

concurrent resolution

Answer 48

an espression of opinion without the force of law that reuires the approval of both the House and the Senate, but not the President

Question 49

joint resolution

Answer 49

a formal expression of congressional opinion that must be approved by both houses of Congress and by the president; ## Footnote connection: joint resolutions usually propose a constitutional amendment that needs to be approved by the president

Question 50

appropriation

Answer 50

the act of setting aside money for a specific purpose. ## Footnote for example: a company or a government appropriates funds in order to delegate cash for the necessities of its business operations.

Question 51

authorization

Answer 51

permission or power granted by an authority; sanction. ## Footnote a legislative act that allows money to be spent on governmental programs and etc.

Question 52

sequential referral

Answer 52

## Footnote a congressional process by which a speaker may send a bill to a second committee after the first is finished acting connection: resents the process of a bill

Question 53

multiple referral

Answer 53

when a bill may be referred to several committees that consider it simultaneously in whole or in part ## Footnote connection: resent process of a bill

Question 54

markup discharge petition

Answer 54

bringing a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from the committee ## Footnote connection: determines whether a committee supports a bill without anything negative.

Question 55

calendar (congressional)

Answer 55

congressional calendar is an agenda or list of business awaiting possible action by the House or Senate

Question 56

open rule

Answer 56

## Footnote an order from the House Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor

Question 57

closed rule

Answer 57

an order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate and forbids a particular bill from being amended on the floor

Question 58

restrictive rule

Answer 58

an order from the House Rules Committee that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made to a bill on the floor ## Footnote connection: may reject a bill

Question 59

germane vs. non-germane

Answer 59

a non germane amendment is an amendment to a bill that is not related to the purpose of the bill ## Footnote germane amendments must be strictly relevant to the bill on focus. Germane amendments must be strictly relevant to the bill on focus.

Question 60

amendments

Answer 60

proposed by Congress to ratify the Constitution. for example : amendment 13, abolition of slavery.

Question 61

pork barrel legislation

Answer 61

legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hopes of winning their votes in return ## Footnote connection: money spent during elections and etc

Question 62

riders

Answer 62

a provision attached to a bill ## Footnote connection: determines whether a bill will havepassage or defeat

Question 63

christmas tree bill

Answer 63

when a bill has lots of riders connection: a bill that attracts many floor amendments.

Question 64

quorum call

Answer 64

the minimum number of members required to be in attendance for Congress to conduct official business

Question 65

roll call vote

Answer 65

a congressional procedure that consists of members answering yea or nay when their names are called ## Footnote connection: type of way to call for votes

Question 66

teller vote

Answer 66

A congressional voting procedure in which members pass between two tellers, first the yeas, then the nays. Since 1971, teller votes are recorded at the request of twenty members.

Question 67

voice vote

Answer 67

A congressional voting procedure used in both houses in which members vote by shouting yea or nay connection: way of determining votes.

Question 68

abstention

Answer 68

a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot.