PSC Unit 3

Necessary and Proper Clause

Also called the “elastic clause,” Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, is the source of “implied powers” for the national government, as explained in McCulloch v. Maryland [17 U.S. (4 Wheaton) 316 (1819)]

Bills of Attainder

A law, prohibited by the Constitution, that punishes an individual and bypasses the procedural safeguards of the legal process

Ex Post Facto Law

A law that makes an act a crime after it was committed or increases the punishment for a crime already committed, both of which are prohibited by the Constitution

Checks and Balances

The system of separate institutions sharing some powers that the Constitution mandates for the national government, the purpose of which is to keep power divided among the three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial

Seventeenth Amendment

Ratified in 1913, provides for the direct popular election of United States senators

trustee role

The concept that legislators should vote on the basis of their consciences and the broad interests of the nation, not simply on the views of their constituents

delegate role

A concept of legislative work as simply voting the desires of one’s constituents, regardless of one’s own personal views

politico style

A manner of representation in which members of Congress attempt to strike a balance between the interests of their constituents and the dictates of their own judgment and conscience

Franking Privilege

A congressional benefit that permits members to send out official mail using their signature rather than postage

Pork Barrel Politics

The effort to enact legislation favoring a legislator’s home district, often in the form of costly government spending that may not be advantageous to the country as a whole

Ombudsman

A person who intervenes with the bureaucracy on behalf of individual citizens

Casework

The congressional task of handling requests by constituents for information or assistance with the federal bureaucracy