Fed Gov Exam 2

Conference committee 

A special House-Senate committee that must reconcile the differences between the two chambers’ versions of the same bill.

Filibuster

Rule unique to the U.S. Senate that allows any senator to hold the floor indefinitely and thereby delay a vote on a bill to which he or she objects. Ended only when sixty senators vote for cloture

Legislative hold

An informal way for a senator to object to a bill or other measure reaching the Senate floor. The action effectively halts Senate proceedings on that issue, sometimes for weeks or longer

Congressional caucus

A group of House or Senate members who convene regularly to discuss common interests; they may share political outlook, race, gender, or geography.

Floor (Congress)

The full chamber, either in the House of Representatives or the Senate. A bill “goes to the floor” for the final debate and vote, usually after approval by one or more committees.

House of Representatives 

The House is designed to be more connected to the people, members serving two-year terms and elected from smaller districts. Responsible for making federal laws with senate

Senate

reviews and revises legislation passed by a lower house. 

Reapportionment  

Reorganization of the boundaries of House districts, a process that follows the results of the U.S. census, taken every ten years. District lines are redrawn to ensure rough equality in the number of constituents represented by each House member.

President pro tempore:

Majority party senator with the longest Senate service.

Speaker of the House

The chief administrative officer in the House of Representatives.

Earmark

A legislative item, (“appropriations”) bills, that tells Congress to fund a particular item in one House member’s district or a senator’s state.

Standing committee      

1. a permanent committee that meets regularly.

Committee hearing 

A way for committees to gather information and gauge members’ support as legislative policymaking gets underway. Hearings usually feature witnesses who submit testimony, make an oral presentation, and answer questions from members of Congress.

Committee markup session

A gathering of a full committee to draft the final version of a bill before the committee votes on it.

Cloture vote

The Senate’s only approved method for halting a filibuster or lifting a legislative hold. If sixty senators—three-fifths of the body, changed in 1975 from the original two-thirds—vote for cloture, the measure can proceed to a vote.

Voice vote 

A congressional vote in which the presiding officer asks those for and against to say “yea” or “nay,” respectively, and announces the result. No record is kept of House or Senate members voting on each side.

Roll-call vote   

A congressional vote in which each member’s vote is recorded, either by roll call (Senate) or electronically (House)

President’s expressed powers

explicitly written in Article II of the Constitution and include the power to sign or veto legislation, act as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, make treaties (with Senate approval), appoint ambassadors and judges, and grant reprieves and pardons. 

Executive agreements

An international agreement made by the president that does not require the approval of the Senate.

Executive privilege   

Power claimed by the president to resist requests for authority by Congress, the courts, or the public. Not mentioned in the Constitution but based on the separation of powers.

Unitary executive theory

The idea that the Constitution puts the president in charge of executing the laws and that therefore no other branch may limit presidential discretion over executive matters.

Signing statement  

a written comment issued by a President at the time of signing legislation

 Political appointees

Top officials in the executive agencies, appointed by the president.

 EOP   

Executive Office of the President : The agencies that help the president manage daily activities.

 Chief of staff       

The individual responsible for managing the president’s office.

 Universalistic politics  

A government run according to transparent rules, impartially applied.

Pendleton Civil Service Act  

The law that shifted American government toward a merit-based public service.

 The Final Rule

The rule that specifies how a program will actually operate.

 Secretary of Homeland Security 

leading the department's efforts to protect the nation from various threats, including terrorism, natural disasters, and cyberattacks. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet and is responsible for overseeing the department's vast operations and budget. 

Bureaucratic Pathologies   

The problems that tend to develop in bureaucratic systems.

 Proposed rule

A draft of administrative regulations published in the Federal Register for the purpose of gathering comments from interested parties.

 Street-level bureaucrats

Public officials who deal directly with the public.

  Civil servants

Members of the permanent executive branch bureaucracy who are employed on the basis of competitive exams and keep their positions regardless of the presidential administration.

  Regulatory capture

The theory that industries dominate the agencies that regulate them

  Principal-agent theory

Details how policymakers (principals) control the actors who work for them (agents)—but who have far more information than they do.

Whistle-blower

A federal worker who reports corruption or fraud.

Overhead democracy

A system by which the people elect the president, who, through their appointees, controls the bureaucracy from the top.

 Major questions doctrine

administrative agencies need explicit authorization from Congress before deciding issues of major importance.

 Chevron doctrine

Principle of judicial review that requires courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretation of ambiguous congressional statutes.

FOIA

Freedom of Information Act : A 1966 law that facilitates full or partial disclosure of government information and documents.

Litigation

A person who contacts government officials on behalf of a particular cause or issue

   Mediation

A way of resolving disputes without going to court, in which a third party (the mediator) helps two or more sides negotiate a settlement.

 District courts

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

 Circuit courts

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

Judicial activism 

A vigorous or active approach to reviewing the other branches of government.

 Judicial restrain

Reluctance to interfere with elected branches, only doing so as a last resort.

 Textualism

A mode of legal interpretation that focuses on the plain meaning of the Constitution or the legal document.

  Common law

A system of law developed by judges in deciding cases over the centuries.

Civil law

Cases that involve disputes between two parties.

  Plaintiff

he party who brings the action in a lawsuit.

 Defendant

The party who is sued in a court case.

  The rule of four

The requirement that at least four Supreme Court judges must agree to hear a case before it comes before the Court.

 Concurrent opinion

A statement that agrees with the majority opinion.

   Amicus curiae brief.

A brief submitted by a person or group who is not a direct party to the case.