Unit 4 Vocab (Legislative Branch)

Question 1

Descriptive representation

Answer 1

The idea that a group elects an individual to represent them who in their own characteristics mirror some of the more frequent experiences and outward manifestations of the group

Question 2

Substantive representation

Answer 2

The tendency of elected legislators to advocate on behalf of certain groups

Question 3

Bicameral legislature

Answer 3

Any lawmaking body of government that consists of two separate houses or chambers, such as the House of Representatives and the Senate that make up the United States Congress

Question 4

Speaker of the House

Answer 4

The presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives

Question 5

Majority leader

Answer 5

The head of the majority party in a legislative body, especially the US Senate or House of Representatives

Question 6

Whips

Answer 6

Assistants to the floor leaders who are also elected by their party conferences

Question 7

Minority leader

Answer 7

The head of the minority party in a legislative body, especially the US Senate or House of Representatives

Question 8

Standing committee

Answer 8

Permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules

Question 9

Subcommittee

Answer 9

A committee composed of some members of a larger committee, board, or other body and reporting to it

Question 10

Joint committee

Answer 10

A committee made up of members of the two chambers of a bicameral legislature

Question 11

Conference committee

Answer 11

A joint committee of the United States Congress appointed by the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill

Question 12

Select committee

Answer 12

A small legislative committee appointed for a special purpose

Question 13

Committee chairs

Answer 13

The parliamentary heads of a committee

Question 14

Seniority system

Answer 14

The status given senators according to their length of service, which entitles a senator with greater seniority to preferential treatment in matters such as committee assignments

Question 15

Caucus (congressional)

Answer 15

An informal organization of members of the House or the Senate, or both, that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members

Question 16

Incumbents

Answer 16

The current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election

Question 17

National Debt

Answer 17

the total amount of money that a country’s government has borrowed, by various means.

Question 18

Social insurance taxes

Answer 18

taxes collected to pay for Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment compensation programs; regressive taxes

Question 19

Capital budget

Answer 19

. A budget for items that will serve for the long-term. In the federal government, these purchases are counted as current expenditures and run up the deficit

Question 20

Tax expenditures

Answer 20

represent the difference between what the government actually collects in taxes and what it would have collected without special exemptions

Question 21

Social security act

Answer 21

The law that provided for Social Security and is the basis of modern American social welfare.

Question 22

Medicare

Answer 22

A program added to the Social Security system in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other health expenses.

Question 23

Incrementalism

Answer 23

A description of the budget process where the best predictor of this year’s budget is last year’s budget, plus a little bit more (an increment).

Question 24

Uncontrollable expenditures/ mandatory spending

Answer 24

Expenditures that are determined not by a fixed amount of money appropriated by Congress but by how many eligible beneficiaries there are for a program or by previous obligations of the government

Question 25

Entitlements

Answer 25

those benefits guaranteed by law paid to individuals by the federal government, such. as Social Security.

Question 26

House ways and means committee

Answer 26

The House of Representatives committee that, along with the Senate Finance Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as a whole

Question 27

Senate finance committee

Answer 27

. The Senate committee that, along with the House Ways and Means Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of congress as a whole

Question 28

Congressional budget office

Answer 28

Advises congress on the probable consequences of its decisions, forecasts revenues, and is a counterweight to the president’s OMB

Question 29

Budget resolution

Answer 29

A resolution binding Congress to a total expenditure level, supposedly the bottom line of all federal spending for all programs

Question 30

Reconciliation

Answer 30

A congressional process through which program authorizations are revised to achieve required savings

Question 31

Authorization bill

Answer 31

an act of Congress that establishes a discretionary government program or an entitlement, or that continues or changes such programs.

Question 32

Appropriations bill

Answer 32

An act of Congress that actually funds programs within limits established by authorization bills

Question 33

Continuing resolutions

Answer 33

when Congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriations bills, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year.