key concepts

Question 1

Base voters

Answer 1

ch 9 party members who tend to vote loyally for their party’s candidates in most elections

Question 2

Divided government

Answer 2

ch 9 periods during which at least one house of Congress is controlled by a party different from the one occupying the white house

Question 3

Lobbyist

Answer 3

ch 9 A person who contacts government officials on behalf of a cause

Question 4

Party identification

Answer 4

ch 9 strong attachment to one political party, often established at an early age

Question 5

Revolving door

Answer 5

ch 9 the tendency of washington’s most seasoned lobbyists to move from government work to lobbying and back again

Question 6

Conference committee

Answer 6

ch 10 a temporary collection of house and senate members appointed to work out a compromise version of legislation that’s passed both chambers in different forms

Question 7

Committee markup session

Answer 7

ch 10 a gathering of a full Senate to draft the final version of a bill before the committee votes on it

Question 8

Filibuster

Answer 8

ch 10 as the rule that allows any senator to hold the floor indefinitely and thereby delay a vote on a bill. Ended only when sixty senators vote to stop debate, known as cloture

Question 9

speaker of the house

Answer 9

ch 10 the chief administrative officer in the house of representatives

Question 10

Veto

Answer 10

ch 10 the consitutional procedure by which a president can prevent enactment of congress passed legislation

Question 11

Central clearance

Answer 11

ch 11

Question 12

Executive order

Answer 12

ch 11 A presidential declaration, with the force of law, that issues instructions to the executive branch without any requirement for congressional action or approval

Question 13

Executive privilege

Answer 13

ch 11 power claimed by the president to resist request for authority by Congress., the courts or the public. Mot mentioned in the constitution but based on the separation of powers

Question 14

Going public

Answer 14

ch 11 directly addressing the public to win support for oneself or one’s ideas

Question 15

Override

Answer 15

ch 11 the process by which congress can overcome a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers

Question 16

Circuit courts

Answer 16

ch 13 the second stage of federal courts, which review the trial record of cases decided in district courts to ensure they were settled properly

Question 17

District courts

Answer 17

ch 13 the first level of federal courts, which actually try the cases. each decision is based not on a statute but on previous judicial decisions

Question 18

Judicial activism

Answer 18

ch 13 a vigorous or active approach to reviewing the other branches of government

Question 19

Judicial restraint

Answer 19

ch 13 reluctance to interfere with elected branches, only doing so as a last resort

Question 20

Rule of four

Answer 20

ch 13 the requirement that at least four supreme court judges must agree to hear a case before it comes before the court