AP gov CH 6

Bicameral legislature

A two house legislature

Apportionment

The process of allotting congressional seats to each state according to its proportion of the population, following the decennial census.

Bill

A proposed law

Impeachment

The power delegated to the House of Representatives in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president, or other “civil officers,” including federal judges, with “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing government officials from office.

Edmund Burke

Conservative British political philosopher of the eighteenth century who articulated the view that elected representatives should act as “trustees” and use their own best judgement when voting.

Trustee

Role played by an elected representative who listens to constituents’ opinions and then uses his or her best judgment to make a final decision.

Delegate

Role played by a representative who votes the way his or her constituents would want, regardless of personal opinions; may refer to an elected representative to Congress or a representative to the party convention.

Politico

An elected representative who acts as a trustee or as a delegate, depending on the issue.

Incumbency

Already holding an office.

Redistricting

The process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within a state.

Gerrymandering

The drawing of congressional districts to produce a particular electoral outcome without regard to the shape of the district.

Majority party

The political party in each house of Congress with the most members.

Minority party

The political party in each house of Congress with the second most members.

Party Caucus (or conference)

A formal gathering of all party members.

Speaker of the house

 The only officer of the House of Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution; the chamber’s most powerful position; traditionally a member of the majority party.

Majority leader

The head of the party controlling the most seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate; is second in authority to the Speaker of the House and in the Senate is regarded as its most powerful member.

Minority leader

The head of the party with the second highest number of elected representatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

Whip

Party leader who keeps close contact with all members of his or her party, takes vote counts on key legislation, prepares summaries of bills, and acts as a communications link within a party.

President pro tempore

The official chair of the Senate; usually the most senior member of the majority party.

Standing committee

Committee to which proposed bills are referred; continues from one Congress to the next.

Joint Committee

Standing committee that includes mem- bers from both houses of Congress set up to conduct investigations or special studies.

Conference Committee

Special joint committee created to reconcile differences in bills passed by the House and Senate.

Select (or special) Committee

Temporary committee appointed for a specific purpose.

Hillary Clinton

First female major party candidate for president of the United States, a Demo- crat, who ran against President Donald J. Trump in 2016. Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013; New York senator from 2001 to 2009; former first lady.

House Committee on Rules

The influential “Rules Committee” determines the scheduling and conditions, such as length of debate and type of allowable amendments, for all bills in the House of Representatives (but not in the Senate, where debate is less regulated).

Discharge petition

Petition that gives a majority of the House of Representatives the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction.

Seniority

Time of continuous service on a committee.

Markup

A session in which committee members offer changes to a bill before it goes to the floor.

Committee of the Whole

A procedure that allows the House of Representatives to deliberate with a lower quorum and to expedite consideration and amendment of a bill.

Hold

A procedure by which a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill or nomination is brought to the floor. This request signals leadership that a member may have objections to the bill (or nomination) and should be consulted before further action is taken.

Filibuster

A formal way of halting Senate action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate.

Cloture

Mechanism requiring the vote of sixty senators to cut off debate.

Veto

The formal, constitutional authority of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of Congress, thus prevent- ing them from becoming law without further congressional action.

Pocket Veto

If Congress adjourns during the ten days the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of Congress, the bill is considered vetoed without the president’s signature.

Richard M. Nixon

The thirty-seventh president, a Repub- lican, who served from 1969 through 1974. Nixon advocated détente during the Cold War and resigned rather than face impeachment and likely removal from office due to the Watergate scandal.

Congressional Budget Act of 1974

Act that established the congressional budgetary process by laying out a plan for congressional action on the annual budget resolution, appropriations, reconciliation, and any other revenue bills.

Reconciliation

A procedure that allows consideration of controversial issues affecting the budget by limiting debate to twenty hours, thereby ending the threat of a filibuster.

Pork

Legislation that allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs.

Programmatic Requests

Federal funds designated for special projects within a state or congressional district. Also referred to as earmarks.

Divided Government

The political condition in which different political parties control the presidency and at least one house of Congress.

War powers Resolution

Passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit with- drawal) unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period.

Congressional Review

A process whereby Congress can nullify agency regulations within a 60-day window by passing a joint resolution of legislative disapproval. The president’s approval of the resolution or a two-thirds majority vote in both houses to overrule a presidential veto is also required.

Senatorial Courtesy

A process by which presidents generally allow senators from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block a nomination by simply registering their objection.

Unified Government

The political condition in which the same political party controls the presidency and Congress.

Logrolling

Vote trading; voting to support a col- league’s bill in return for a promise of future support.

Congressional Research Service (CRS)

Created in 1914, the non-partisan CRS provides information, studies, and research in support of the work of Congress, and prepares summaries and tracks the progress of all bill.

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Established in 1921, the GAO is an independent regulatory agency for the purpose of auditing the financial expen- ditures of the executive branch and federal agencies; until 2004, the GAO was known as the General Accounting Office.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

Created in 1974, the CBO provides Congress with evaluations of the potential economic effects of proposed spending policies and also analyzes the president’s budget and economic projections.