Quiz 4 Flashcards
Apportionment
The process by which seats in the House of Representatives are distributed among the fifty states.
Cloture
A parliamentary process to end a debate in the Senate, as a measure against the filibuster; invoked when three-fifths of senators vote for the motion.
Constituency
The body of voters, or constituents, represented by a particular politician.
Enumerated Powers
The powers given explicitly to the federal government by the Constitution to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, raise and support armies, declare war, coin money, and conduct foreign affairs,
Filibuster
A parliamentary maneuver used in the Senate to extend debate on a piece of legislation as long as possible, typically with the intended purpose of obstructing or killing it.
Politico Model of Representation
A model of representation in which members of Congress act as either trustee or delegate, based on rational political calculations about who is best served, the constituency or the nation.
President Pro Tempore
The senator who acts in the absence of the actual president of the Senate, who is also the vice president of the United States; the president pro temper is usually the most senior senator of the majority party.
Speaker of the House
The presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the leader of the majority party; the Speaker is second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president.
Bully Pulpit
Theodore Roosevelt’s notion of the presidency as a platform from which the president could push an agenda.
Cabinet
A group of advisors to the president, consisting of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch who head the fifteen executive departments.
Executive Order
A rule or order issues by the president without the cooperation of Congress and having the force of law.
Executive Privilege
The president’s right to withhold information from Congress, the judiciary, or the public.
Impeachment
The act of charging a government official with serious wrongdoing, which in some cases may lead to the removal of that official from office.
Line-item veto
A power created through law in 1996 and overturned by the Supreme Court in 1998 that allowed the president to veto specific aspects of bills passed by Congress while signing into law what remained.
Office of Management and Budget
An office within the Executive Office of the President charged with producing the president’s budget, overseeing its implementation, and overseeing the executive bureacracy.
Rally Around the Flag Effect
A spike in presidential popularity during international crises.
Signing Statement
A statement a president issues with the intent to influence the way a specific bill the president signs should be enforced.
Amicus Curiae
Literally a “friend of the court” and used for a brief filed by someone who is interest in but not party to a case.
Appellate Court
A court that reviews cases already decided by a lower or trial court and that may change the lower court’s decision.
Brief
A written legal argument presented to a court by one of the parties in a case.
Circuit Courts
The appeals (appellate) courts of the federal court system that review decisions of the lower (district) courts; also called courts of appeals.
Civil Law
The highest-ranking justice on the Supreme Court
Oral Arugment
Words spoke before the Supreme Court (usually by lawyers) explaining the legal reasons behind their position in a case and why it should prevail.
