AP Gov Unit 2 Vocab

Advice and Consent

A constitutional of the U.S Senate to review, approve, or reject presidential appointments and international treaties.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Supreme Court decision holding that federal courts have the authority to hear lawsuits challenging legislative districting and malapportionment under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.

Bicameral

lawmaking body divided into two separate chambers or houses.

Caucuses

local meeting where registered political party members gather to discuss candidates, debate issues, and select delegates to send to higher-level conventions.

Cloture Rule

formal Senate procedure used to end unlimited debate and cut off a filibuster so a bill can move to a final vote.

Committee of the Whole

Parliamentary procedure where an entire legislative body or organization sits as a single, large committee to debate and shape measures informally before holding a final, formal vote.

Committee on Commitees

A specialized governing or legislative body responsible for appointing members and leadership to other committees.

Conference Chair

Party Leadership role responsible for managing internal party matters and organizing party-centered groups within house of Congress.

Conference committees

Temporary, joint committee of the House and Senate formed to resolve differences between the two chambers’ versions of a bill.

Congressional Oversight

Congress’s power to review, monitor, and supervise the executive branch and federal bureaucratic agencies to ensure they implement laws as intended.

Deficit

The annual shortfall that occurs when the federal government’s expenditures exceed its tax revenues in a single fiscal year.

Delegate model

A theory of congressional representation where members of Congress vote based strictly on the direct preferences and wishes of their constituents, acting as a clear voice for their district rather than their own personal judgment.

Discharge Petition

A procedural device used in the U.S House of Representatives to force a bill out of committee and onto the floor for a full vote without the cooperation of committee chairs or House leadership.

Discretionary Spending

the part of the federal budget that Congress debates and approves through annual appropriation bills.

Earmark

a provision in a spending bill that sets aside federal money for a specific local project or organization, bypassing the typical competitive or merit-based allocation process.

Enumerated Powers

the specific authorities expressly granted to the federal government—primarily congress— by the U.S Consitution.

Estate Taxes

a federal tax charged on the met value of a deceased person’s property and assets before those assets are distributed to heirs.

Expressed Powers

powers explicitly granted to the federal government by the U.S Constitution.

Filibuster

A parliamentary procedure used exclusively in the U.S Senate where a senator or a group of senators delay or prevent a vote on a bill by extending debate indefinitely.

Floor Leaders

members of the House and Senate chosen by their political parties to steer legislative action, carry out party decisions, and meet party goals on the congressional floor.

Germane

a proposed amendment that is directly relevant, appropriate, and related to the main subject of the bill being debated.

Gerrymandering

The intentional drawing of electoral district boundaries to give an unfair political advantage to a specific political party or group.

Gridlock

a situation where no congressional action or new legislation can be passed due to a lack f consensus among political groups.

Hold

an informal practice where a senator asks for party leadership to delay or stall a bill or presidential nomination from reaching the Senate floor for a vote.

House Judiciary Committee

a standing committee in the U.S House of Representatives responsible for overseeing the administration of justice in federal courts and law enforcement.

Impeach

Formal charging or accusing of a federal official with misconduct.

Implied Powers

powers exercised by the federal government that are not explicitly written in the constitution but are reasonably deduced and inferred from the Necessary and Proper Clause.

Interest Group

An organized association of people who share common goas and try to influence public policy.

Joint Committees

A congressional committee that includes members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Logrolling

A reciprocal agreement where members of Congress trade votes to support each other’s preferred legislation or local projects.

Mandatory Spending

federal spending required by existing law that continues automatically each year without needing annual approval or a new vote by congress.

Marginal Seats

legislative districts where the election outcome is close and competitive with the winning candidate receiving less than 55% and 56% of the vote.

Markup Session

meeting where a U.S congressional committee or subcommittee debates, amends, and rewrites a proposed bill line by line before deciding whether to send it to the full chamber.

Multiple Referral

A congressional process where a bill is sent to multiple committees at the same time to review it, either as a whole or in separate parts, because the topic covers more than one area of expertise.

Non-germane Amendments

An addition or change to a bill that has no direct connection or relevance to the original subject matter of that legislation.

Omnibus Bill

A single massive piece of legislation in the U.S Congress that combines many separate, often unrelated topics or individual bills into one single package for a single-up or down-vote.

Politico Model

A theory of congressional representation where members of Congress blend the delegate and trustee models, switching their voting behavior based on how visible or important an issue is to their constituents.

Pork Barrel Spending

When members of Congress add funding for local projects to larger federal bill to benefit their own home districts and help their reelection chances.

President of the Senate

Role held by the Vice-President of the United States.

President Pro Tempore

the official constitutional officer who presides over the U.S Senate when the vice-president is absent.

Reapportionment

the process of reallocating the 435 seats in the House of Representatives among the 50 states based on population changes.

Redistricting

the process by which states redraw boundaries of electoral districts, occurring every 10 years following the national census.

Riders

non-germane amendment added to a popular or must-pass bill so that I can “ride” through Congress and become law.

Rules Committee

A powerful House of Representatives Committee on rules that acts as the “traffic cop” of the House by deciding when and under what conditions a bill reaches the floor for debate and a vote.

Safe Seats

An electoral district where one political party wins consistently so the outcome the general election is nearly guaranteed.

Select Committees

A temporary congressional committee formed for a specific, limited purpose— usually to conduct a special investigation or study— and is dissolved after completing its task.

Senate Majority Leader

the elected head of the majority party in the U.S Senate who manages the legislative calendar and directs party strategy.

Sequential Referral

A congressional process where the Speaker of the House (or Senate leaders) sends a proposed bill to a second committee only after the first committee has finished acting on it.

Seventeenth Amendment

established the direct election of U.S senators by the popular vote instead of state legislators.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Ruled congressional districts predominantly drawn along racial laws violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Speaker of the House

The presiding officer and the most powerful member of the U.S HOR, chosen by a vote of its membership.

Sponsor

a member of Congress who officially introduces and champions a bill or resolution.

Standing Committees

a permanent committee in the House of Representatives or the Senate that evaluates bills and oversees specific policy areas.

Steering and Policy Committee (Democratic)

internal party committee in Congress that assigns fellow party members to standing committees and helps shape party legislative strategy.

Swing Districts

A congressional or legislative district where voter support for the Democratic and Republican parties are closely divided.

Trustee Model

theory of representation where elected officials vote during their own personal judgment and conscience rather that following the direct wishes or polls of their constituents.

Unanimous Consent

a senate procedure where the presiding officer asks if any member objects to a proposed action, and if no one objects, the legislation or rule change passes immediately.

War Powers Act

A federal law designed to limit the president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad without congressional approval.

Ways and Means Committee

the powerful, standing committee in the U.S HOR responsible for writing all federal tax, tariff, and revenue-raising legislation.

Whip

A party leadership member in the HOR or the Senate who maintains party discipline, counts votes, and persuades members to vote with their party.

Appropriations

A legislative act that legally allows the federal government to spend specific amounts of money from the US treasury.

Authorization of Spending

A legislative step where congress gives a federal agency legal permission to run a program and sets the maximum amount of money that can be spent on it.

Civil Service Commission

A government agency created to ensure that federal jobs are filled based on merit and qualifications rather than political loyalty.

Civil Service Reform Act (1978)

A federal law that reorganized federal bureaucracy to replace the old patronage system with a system focused on merit, performance, and managerial accountability.

Competitive Service

a subset of government jobs where applicants are hired based on merit and competitive testing rather than political connections.

Compliance Monitoring

the process of making sure that bureaucratic agencies, programs, and regulated industries follow established rules, spend appropriated funds properly, and carry out public policies as required.

Discretionary Authority

an agency’s power to decide how to implement, interpret, and enforce broad laws passed by Congress.

Excepted Service

Federal civil service positions in the executive branch that are explicitly exempted from traditional competitive service hiring rules and examinations.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

the principal federal law enforcement agency and domestic intelligence service in the United States, operating as an investigative arm under the U.S Department of Justice.

Freedom of Information Act (1966)

is a federal law that gives any person the right to request access to federal agency records and information.

Hatch Act (1939)

a federal law that prohibits executive branch civil service employees from engaging in partisan political activities while on duty, in federal facilities, or using government resources.

Iron Triangle

a tight, mutually beneficial relationship formed among three groups: congressional committees, bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups.

Issue Networks

A temporary open, and fluid coalition of individuals and organizations that form around a specific policy issue to debate or promote a common agenda, and then dissolve or shift one the issue changes.

Legislative Veto

an authority that allows Congress to block or overturn an executive branch or bureaucratic action by a vote of one of both houses without needed to pass a new law or get the president’s signature.

Merit System

a process for hiring and promoting federal civil service employees based on professional qualifications, test scores, and specialized expertise rather than political loyalties or connections.

National Performance Review

a 1993 federal initiative led by vice president Al Gore during the Clinton administration designed to reform the federal bureaucracy by making it less expensive, more efficient, and more results-oriented.

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

a specialized sub-agency within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that reviews major federal regulations before they take effect.

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

an independent federal agency that manages civil service and enforces merit-based hiring for U.S government.

Patronage

the practice of awarding government jobs, contracts, or benefits based on political loyalty and support rather than personal qualifications or merit.

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

a federal law that ended the spoils system by requiring government jobs to be awarded based on merit and competitive exams.

Red Tape

the complex, excessive, and sometimes unnecessary bureaucratic rules, procedures, and forms that must be followed to get something done.

Senior Executive Service

a group of high-level career civil servants in the federal government who work just below top presidential appointees to manage agency operations and carry out public policy.

Spoils System

the practice of a winning political party rewarding its campaign donors, loyal supporters, and friends with government jobs instead of hiring based on qualifications.

Sunshine Act (1976)

a federal transparency law requiring multi-member federal agency meetings to be open to public observation.

Whistleblower Protection Act (1989)

federal law that protects government civil servants from employer retaliation when they report waste, fraud, abuse, or illegal activity inside their own agencies.

amicus curiae brief

a written legal argument filed by a person or group who is not a direct party to a case, but wants to influence the court’s decision.

appellate jurisdiction

the legal authority of a higher court to review, modify, or reverse decisions made by lower courts.

attorney general

the head of the United States Department of Justice and the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government.

binding precedent

a prior court decision that higher courts establish and lower courts in the same judicial hierarchy are required to follow when dealing with similar facts or legal questions.

certiorari

a formal order from a higher court directing a lower court to send up the case records for review.

class action suit

a lawsuit where a small group of people sues on behalf of all people in similar circumstances.

common law

A legal framework where court decisions and past judicial rulings serve as a primary source of law alongside written statutes.

concurring opinion

A separate written statement by a Supreme Court justice who agrees with the winning side’s final decision but uses different or additional legal reasoning to get there.

defendant

the person or party accused of criminal offense or the entity being sued in a civil lawsuit.

dissenting opinion

a written statement by one or more Supreme Court justices who voted against the winning side, explaining why they disagree with the majority’s decision and outlining their own alternative legal reasoning.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

a landmark U.S Supreme Court case in which Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that African Americans were not U.S citizens and that congress had no constitutional power to ban slavery in federal territories.

Injunction

court order that directs a person, official, or government entity to stop doing a specific action or to do something to prevent irreparable harm.

judicial activism

a judicial philosophy holding that the courts should use the power of judicial review to broadly shape public policy, overturn existing precedent (stare decisis), and invalidate laws or executive actions passed by elected branches.

judicial review

the power of federal courts to declare legislative laws, executive actions, and state actions unconstitutional.

judicial self-restraint

a judicial philosophy holding that courts should limit the power of judicial review, strictly adhere to constitutional and case precedent, and defer to the policy of choices of elected, democratic branches of government.