Studied by 9 people
Pork barrel spending
When members of Congress spend government money on specific projects intended to benefit their home districts. (aka earmarks)
Majority-minority district
A district in which voters of minority ethnicity constitute an electoral majority within the electoral district.
Speaker of the House
The leader of the house of Reps, chosen by an election of its members.
House majority leader
Second in command to the speaker of the house.
House minority leader
The head of the party with the second highest number of seats in Congress, chosen by the party’s members.
House rules committee
A Committee that determines when a bill will be subject to debate and vote on the House floor, how long the debate will last, and whether amendments will be allowed on the floor.
Entitlement program
A program that provides benefits for those who qualify for them by law.
Trustee role
Members of Congress who make decisions based on their knowledge and judgment.
Politico role
Members of Congress who balance their choices with the interest of their constituents and parties in making decisions.
Delegate role
Members of Congress who carry out constituents’ wishes.
Oversight
Efforts by Congress to ensure that executive branch agencies, bureaus, and cabinet depts, as well as their officials are acting legally and in accordance with congressional goals.
Apportionment
The process of determining the number of representatives for each state.
Incumbency advantage
Institutional advantages held by those already in office who are trying to fend off challengers in an election.
Filibuster
A tactic through which an individual senator may use the right of unlimited debate to delay a motion or postpone action on a piece of legislation.
Hold
A delay placed on legislation by a senator who objects to a bill.
Mandatory spending
Spending required by existing laws that is “locked in” the budget. Ex: entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.
Discretionary spending
Spending for programs and policies at the discretion of Congress and the president.
Logrolling
Trading of votes on legislation by members of Congress to get their earmarks passed into legislation.
Redistricting
States’ redrawing of boundaries of electoral districts following each census.
Cloture vote
A procedure through which senators can end a filibuster and proceed to action, provided 60 senators agree to it.
Divided government
Control of the presidency and one or both chambers of Congress split between the two major parties.
Constituency
A body of voters in a given area who elect a representative or senator.
Gerrymandering
The intentional use of redistricting to benefit a specific interest or group of voters.
Veto
The power of a president to reject a bill passed by Congress, sending it back to the originating branch with objections.
Executive Branch
The branch of government charged with putting the nation's laws into effect
Formal Powers
Powers expressly granted in the constitution.
Informal powers
Powers not laid out in the Constitution but used to carry out presidential duties.
State of the Union Adress
The annual speech from the president to Congress updating that branch on the state national affairs.
Veto
Formal rejection by the president of a bill that has passed both houses of Congress.
Pocket Veto
An informal veto caused when the president chooses not to sign a bill within ten days, during a time when Congress has adjourned at the end of a session.
Pardon power
Presidential authority to release individuals convicted of a crime from legal consequences and set aside punishment for a crime.
Executive privilege
A right claimed by presidents to keep certain conversations, records, and transcripts confidential from outside scrutiny, especially that of Congress.
Executive Order
Policy directives issued by presidents that do not require congressional approval.
Executive agreement
An agreement between the president and another nation that does not have the same durability as a treaty but does not require Senate ratification.
War Powers Resolution
A law passed over President Nixon's veto that restricts the power of the president to maintain troops in combat for more than sixty days without congressional authorization.
Impeachment
The process of removing a president from office, with articles of impeachment issued by a majority vote in the House of Reps, followed by a trial in the Senate, with a 2/3 vote necessary to convict and remove.
Persuasion power
An informal tool used by the President to persuade members of Congress to support their policy initiatives.
Bully pulpit
Presidential appeals to the public to pressure other branches of govt. to support their policies.
Going public
A tactic through which presidents read out directly to the American people with the hope that the people will put pressure on their reps/senators to press for the president's policy goals.
Executive office of the president
A collection of offices within the White House organization designed mainly to provide info to the president.
Federalist No. 70
Argues in favor of the unitary executive. According to Alexander Hamilton, a unitary executive is necessary to ensure accountability in government.
Original jurisdiction
The authority of a court to hear a case first, which includes the finding of facts in the case.
Appellate jurisdiction
The authority of a court to hear review decisions made by lower courts in that system.
Federalist No. 78
Argument by Hamilton that the federal judiciary would be unlikely to infringe upon rights and liberties but would serve as a check on the other two branches.
Marbury v. Madison
The Supreme Court decision that established judicial review over federal laws. (1803)
Criminal law
A category of law covering actions that harm the community.
Civil law
A category of law covering cases involving private rights and relationships between individuals and groups.
Federal district courts
The lowest level of the federal judicial; these courts usually have original jurisdiction in cases that cases that start at the federal level.
Federal circuit courts
The federal court system has three main levels: district courts (the trial court), circuit courts which are the first level of appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Precedent
A judicial decision that guides future courts in handling similar cases.
Stare decisis
The practice of letting a previous legal decision stand.
Majority opinion
A binding Supreme Court opinion, which serves as precedent for future cases.
Dissenting opinion
An opinion that disagrees with the majority opinion and does not serve as precedent.
Concurring opinion
An opinion that agrees with the majority decision, offering different or additional reasoning, that does not serve as precedent.
Judicial restraint
A philosophy of constitutional interpretation that justices should be cautious in overturning laws.
Judicial activism
A philosophy of constitutional interpretation that justices should wield the power of judicial review, sometimes creating bold new policies.
Federal Bureaucracy
The departments and agencies within the executive branch that carry out the laws of the nation.
Bureaucrat
An official employed within a government bureaucracy.
Patronage
Filing of administrative positions as a reward for support, rather than merit.
Pendleton act
An act of Congress that created the first US civil service commissions to draw up and enforce rules on hiring, promoting, and tenure of office within the civil service. (aka Civil Service Reform Act of 1883)
Merit system
A system of hiring and promotion based on competitive testing results, education, and other qualifications rather than politics and personal connections.
Iron triangle
Coordinated and mutually beneficial activities of the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups to achieve shared political goals.
Issue network
Webs of influence between interest groups, policymakers, and policy advocates.
Bureaucratic discretion
The power to decide how a law is implemented and to decide what Congress meant when it passed a law.
Regulation
The process through which the federal bureaucracy makes rules that have the force of law, to carry out the laws passed by Congress.
Implementation
The bureaucracy’s role in putting into action laws that Congress has passed.
Sunset laws
A legal provision that provides for the automatic termination of a government program, agency, or law on a certain date unless the legislature affirmatively acts to renew it.
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