AP US Government UNIT 2 VOCAB

Advice and Consent

When the president appoints someone, the senate gives advice and consent

Apportionment AKA "reapportionment"

Assigning the amount of representatives/seats per state

Baker v. Carr

Dealt with 1 person 1 vote.
Questions the constitutionality of the way in which states apportioned their legislative districts. The case dealt with the fact that some legislative districts had become highly disproportionate in terms of population, resulting in some citizens having more political influence than others. The court ruled that it was justiciable to have disproportionate districts

Bicameral legislature

2 chambers

Bipartisanship

2 parties

Budget deficit/ surplus

The president can only recommend a budget. We have a lot of budget spending, and it outweighs the deficit. You can get a surplus by taxing more

Caucus (Congressional)

Members of a same block who are realigned together

Cloture rule

Limits the length of time for the debate
Requires 60% of the senate to vote on the limit.

Committee chair

The head of a committee who are appointed or elected to oversee a specific task or area of responsibility

Concurrent resolution

Expresses the opinion or intent of both the house representatives and the senate on a particular matter They must be passed by the full house of the congress in identical form.

Purposes:

-Setting the rules or procedures for how the house and senate will work together
-Providing guidance or recommendations on a particular policy

Conference committee

One type of joint committee to make sure a bill binds together so that they are congruent

Congressional oversight

The responsibility of the united states to oversee and monitor the executive branch of the government
It takes many forms: -hearings
-investigations
-reviews of reports and documents.
-The purpose of is to ensure that the executive branch is carrying out its responsibilities in accordance with the law and the Constitution

Delegate role

A type of representation where elected officials act as the voice of their constituents.
-They are supposed to vote for their constituents even if it goes against their party or personal beliefs

Discharge petition

bringing a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration
-Like, pulling a bill out of drawer

Discretionary spending

the portion of a government's budget that is not fixed by long-term obligations or mandated by law. It can be cut or adjusted as the economy changes
Includes:
-National defense
-education
-environmental protection

Divided Government

different political parties or factions control different branches or levels of government

Earmark

Set aside

Entitlement program

Helps people w/ disadvantages with benefits
Ex:
-Social security
-Obamacare
-Unemployment insurance

Enumerated powers/Expressed powers

Powers given to the federal government(collecting taxes, regulating foreign and interstate commerce)

Filibuster

Someone speaks for so long that you kill a bill and

Franking Privilege

Benefit that allows members of congress to send mail for free to let them communicate easily with their constituents

Germane

On topic- you can't do it in the House of Representatives but in the Senate.

Gerrymandering

Manipulating district boundaries
Two main types:
-Partisan, drawing lines to favor one political party over another
-Racial, diluting the voting power of minority groups

Gridlock

Neither thing can get done because both parties are against each other. A legislative stalemate

Hold

Delaying senate proceedings

House Judiciary Committee

Committee for the House of Representatives
Manages legislation related to:
-civil liberties
-constitutional amendments
-criminal law
-legal reform

Impeach

Does not necessarily result in removal of a president/VP/federal official from office
There's 2 main processes:
1) Impeachment inquiry, conducted by the house to investigate allegations of misconduct
2) Moves onto senate for trial, ⅔ vote required for removal

Implied powers

Powers that aren't written but are implied from the Necessary and Proper Clause aka Elastic Clause from Article I section 8.
Includes:
-Establishing national bank
-Regulate immigration

Incumbency

An elected official holds the office they were elected to. Often compared with the challenger, who challenges the incumbent.

Joint committee

Members of both branches come together

Lame duck period

-Between November and inauguration of newly elected officials in January.
-Elected officials who have been voted out of office, or who are not seeking re-election, remain in their positions until their successors are sworn in.
-It is an uncertain time because there is a transition to a new administration

Logrolling

lawmakers trade support for each other's initiatives in order to gain enough support to pass legislation, even if individual lawmakers do not fully support all of the measures included in the legislation.

Majority Leader

Leadership position in the United States Congress held by the highest ranking

Majority-minority districts

A district where a racial/ethnic minority group makes up the majority of the eligible voters

Malapportionment

The democratic representation is either overrepresented or underrepresented

Mandatory spending

Government spending that is required by law and is not subject to annual appropriations or discretionary spending decisions by Congress
Ex:
-social security
-medicare
-medicaid

Marginal seat/Marginal district

a constituency seat which is/was won by only a small margin. This means that only a small swing of votes can result in the seat being lost to an opposing side.

Mark-Up Session

A meeting where members of the committee make changes, additions, or deletions to a bill before it is reported out of committee and sent to the full chamber for consideration.

Minority leader
-Highest ranking member of the minority party in each chamber
-In the senate they manage the legislative agenda.
-In the house they coordinate opposition to the majority party's legislative agenda and help shape the policy priorities of their party

Multiple referral

the process through which a bill is referred to a second committee after the first is finished acting.

National debt

The debt the United States it is

Omnibus spending bill

A massive spending bill for the government that set

Open vs. Closed Rule

Making sure laws are doing what they are meant to do.

Oversight

a benefit extended to members of Congress that allows them to send official mail, including letters, packages, and other materials, without paying postage

Party Polarization

When political parties are so different no one can agree, and problems can occur.
Problems:
-Partisan gerrymandering
-political media
-polarizing leaders
Ideological purity

Pocket Veto

A person in power like a president puts a bill in their pocket and waits until it dies.

Politico role

A concept that elected officials have a hybrid between a delegate and a trustee.
Balance between the demands of their constituents and their own interests

Pork-barrel legislation

Legislative provisions that allocate funding for specific projects/programs that primarily benefit a lawmaker's constituents or political interests

President of the Senate

- President Pro Tempore
- High-ranking official in the United States Senate, who is responsible for presiding over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President

Quorum

the minimum number of members of a legislative body that must be present in order to conduct business or take a vote.

Redistricting

Drawing district lines

Rider
It's like an incentive. It's trading a vote for attaching a rider onto bills that are most likely to pass.

Rules Committee

Manages flow of legislation, ensuring bills are considered in a fair and transparent manner

Safe seat/Safe district

-The incumbent candidate or candidate from a particular political party is highly likely to win the elections.
-Often characterized by a consistent pattern of voting for a particular party or candidate

Select committee

Not permanent, non legislatives. AKA "special committees". They investigate stuff and force people to give testimonies to know what happened. So, they can fix things so something won't happen again.

Sequential referral

A legislative process in which a bill is referred to one committee for review and action, and then to one or more additional committees for further review and action

Seventeenth Amendment
Senators would be elected by popular vote in each state rather than legislative vote, which was before,

Shaw v. Reno

Dealt with the issue of racial gerrymandering in electoral districts

Verdict

ruled unlawful to gerrymander on the basis of race

Simple resolution

-Used to address matters that affect only one chamber of congress.
-They do not require the approval of both chambers of Congress or the signature of the President, and they are not considered to have the force of law.
-Instead, they are used primarily for internal housekeeping purposes

Speaker of the House

-Typically chosen from the majority party, is in charge of House of Representatives
-Right now, our Speaker of the House is Kevin MCCarthy

Sponsor

The person who pays money to fund

Standing committees

They are permanent. You have more qualifiers and background. Divided into policy areas where the bill pertains to that the most, it will go to that committee

Swing districts

AKA battleground districts. They are districts with a relatively even split of voters between the two major political parties.

Trustee role

Elected officials use their own judgment and experience to make decisions on behalf of their constituents

Unanimous consent agreement

-A formal agreement between all members of the senate to set aside the normal rules and procedures of the chamber to consider a bill.
-It is meant to be more efficient and timely.

Unified Government

-The same political party controls both executive and legislative branches of the government
- they are more likely to be able to pass their legislative