AM gov exam 3

constituency

The citizens who reside in the district from which an official is elected.

delegates

Legislators who vote according to the preferences of their constituents

Trustees

Legislators who vote according to what they think is best for their constituents

Bicameral legislature

A legislative body composed of two chambers, or houses.

Money bill

A bill concerned solely with taxation or government spending

Casework

Efforts by members of congress to gain the trust and support of constituents by providing personal services. One important type of casework is helping constituents to obtain favorable treatment from the federal bureaucracy.

Patronage

Direct services benefits from members of congress provide to their constituents, especially making partisan appointments to offices and conferring grants, licenses, or special favors to supporters.

Pork-barrel legislation

Appropriations that members of congress use to provide government funds for projects benefiting their home district or state.

Gerrymandering

the drawing of electoral districts in such way as to give advantage to one political party.

Party caucus or party conference

A nominally closed party meeting to select candidates or leaders, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters.

Party Caucus

Termed for the democratic party

Party conference

Termed for the republican party

Speaker of the house

The chief presiding officer of the House of representatives. The speaker is elected at the beginning of every congress on a straight perty vote and is the most important party and house leader

Majority Leader

The elected leader of the party holding majority of the seats in the house of representatives or in the senate. In the house, the subordinate in the party hierarchy to the speaker.

Minority leader

The eletced leader of the party holding les sthan majority of the seats in the house of representatives or in senate.

Standing comittee

A permanent legislative committee that considers legislation within a designated subject area.

Seniority

The priority or status ranking given on the basis of how long an individual has served on a congressional committee.

Closed Rule

The provision by the house rules committee that restricts the introduction of amendments during debate

open rule

The provision by the house rules committee that permits floor debate and the addition of amendments to a bill

cloture

A procedure by which three-fifths of the members of the senate can set a time limit on debate over a given bill.

Fillibuster

A tactic in which members of the senate prevent action on legislation they oppose by speaking continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority abandons the legislation. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and a cloture vote by three-fifths of the senate is required to end a filibuster

Conference committee

A joint committee created to work out a compromise between house and senate

Veto

The presidents constitutional power ti reject acts of congress.

pocket veto

A veto that occurs automatically when congress adjourns during the 10 days a presidnt has to approve a bill and the president has taken no action on it.

Party vote

A roll-call in the House or Senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party

roll-call vote

Voting in which each legislators yes or no vote is recorded

Polarization

Strong ideological divisions between groups that make compromise and progress difficult

Gridlock

A situation in which legislation cannot move forward, typically resulting from storng poalrization between groups

Whip system

A party communications network in each house of congress. Whips poll their party members intentions on specific bills and also convey the leaderships views and plans to members.

Logrolling

Agreements among members of congress to vote for one another’s bills.

Oversight

The effort by congress through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the executive agencies.

Executive agreement

An agreement between the president and another country that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senates “advice and consent”

impeachment

The process of charging a government official (president or other) with “treason, bribery, or other hignc rimes and misdemeanors” and bringing that official before congress to determine guilt.

Expressed powers

Powers that the constitution explicitly grants to the government federal government

Delegated powers

Constitutional powers that are assigned to one branch of the government but exercised by another branch with the permission of the first

Inherent powers

Powers claimed by a president that are not expressed in the constitution but are said to stem from “the rights, duties and obligations of the presidency”

Commander in chief

The presidents role as commander of the national military and of state National Guard Units (when they are called into service).

Executive privilege

The claim that confidential communications between a president and close advisers should not be revealed with-out the presidents consent.

Line-item veto

The power of the president to veto specific provisions(lines) of a bill passed by the legislature (declared unconstitutional by the supreme court in 1998)

Legislative initiative

The presidents inherent power to bring a policy agenda before congress

Executive order

A rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect of law

Cabinet

The heads of the major departments of the federal government.

National security Council (NSC)

A presidential foreign policy advisory council made up of the president, the vice president, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, and other officials invited by the president.

Regulatory review

the office of management and budget function of reviewing all agency regulations and other rule making before they become official policy

Signing statement

An announcement made by the president when signing a bill into law, sometimes presenting the presidents interpretation of the law, as well as remarks predicting the benefits it will bring to the nation.

Bureaucracy

The complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, and principles of organization that large institutions use to coordinate the work of their personnel.

Implementation

The development of rules, regulations, and bureaucratic procedures to translate laws into action.

clientele agency

A department or bureau of government whose mission is to promote, serve, or represent a particular interest

Regulatory Agency

A department, bureau, or independent agency whose primary mission is to make a rules governing a particular type of activity.

Administrative legislation

Rules made by regulatory agencies that have the force of law

Federal reserve system

The system of 12 federal reserve banks yhat facilitates exchanges of cash, checks, and credit: regulates member banks; and uses monetary policy to fight inflation and deflation in the united states.

Bureaucratic drift

The tendency of bureaucracies to implement laws in ways that tilt towards the bureaucrats policy preferences and possible away from the intentions of the elected officials who created the laws.

Deregulation

The policy of reducing the number of rules issued by federal regulatory agencies

Devolution

The policy of delegating a program or passing it down from one level of government to a lower level, such as from the national government to state and local government.

Privatization

The act of moving all or part of a program from the public sectior to the private sector.

Criminal law

Cases arising out of actions that allegedly violate laws protecting the health, safety, and morals of the community

Civil law

Cases involving disputes among individuals or between the government and individuals that do not involve criminal penalties

Precedents

Past cases whose principles are used by judges as the bases for their decisions in present cases

Public law

Cases involving the powers of government or rights of citizens

Trial court

The firts court to hear a criminal or civil case

Court of appeals

A court that heads the appeals of lower court decisions. Also called appellate court

Supreme court

The highest court in a particular state or in the country

Due process

The requirement that citizens be treated according to the law and be provided adequate protection for individual rights.

Writ of Habeas corpus

A court order demanding that individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention. Habeas corpus is guarenteed by the constitution and can be suspended only in cases of rebellion or invasion

Chief justice

The justice on the supreme court who presides over the courts public sessions

senatorial courtesy

The practice whereby the president before formally nominating a person for a federal district judgeship, finds out whether the senators from the candidates state support the nomination

Judicial review

The power of the courts to determine whether the actions of the president, congress and the state legislatures

Supremecy clause

A clause of article VI of the constitution stating that all laws and treaties approved by the national government are supreme laws of the united states and superior to all laws adopted by any state or local government

Ripeness

The requirement that a case must involve an actual controversy between two parties, not a hypothetical one.

Standing

The requirement that anyone initiating a court case must show a substantial stake in the outcome.

Class-action suit

A lawsuit in which a large number of persons with common interest join together under a representative party to bring or defend a lawsuit

Moot

No longer requiring resolution by the courts, typically because the facts of the case have changed or the problem has been resolved by other means

writ of certiotari

A formal request to have the supreme court review a decision of a lower court

Amicus curiae

“Friend of a court”; an individual or group that is not a party ro a lawsuit but has a strong interest on influencing the outcome

Brief

A written document in which an attorney explains—using case precedents— why a court should rule in favor of a client.

Oral argument

The stage in supreme court proceedings in which attorneys for both sides appear before the court to present their positions and answer questions posed by the justices.

Opinion

The written explanation of the supreme court decision in a particular case

Concurrence

An opinion agreeing with the decision of the majority in a supreme court case but with rationale different from the one provided in the majority opinion.

Dissenting opinion

A decision written by a justice who voted with the minority opinion in a particular case, in which the justice fully explains the reasoning behind his or her opinion.

Judicial restraint

The judicial philosophy that the supreme court should refuse to go beyond the text of the constitution in interpreting its meaning

Judicial activism

The judicial philosophy that the supreme court should see beyond the text of the constitution or a statute to consider the broader societal implications of its decisions.

What do delegates consider?

They consider their constituents diverse views and demands.

What do trustee’s do?

They do what they think is right.

Members of congress not only represent others, they may be representative __________

OF others

What do constituents expect of their representatives?

They expect their representatives to strive to constantly discover their interests to then speak for those interests in congress

What are politicians?

They are AMBITIOUS

What type of legislative set up did the framers have?

Two chambers, also known as bicameral legislative

How were the senators chosen before the 17th amendment?

Chosen by state legislators with interest in elite groups and property owners rather than the people

How did the 17th amendment of 1913 change the way senators are chosen?

Senators after this amendment are chosen directly by the people.

How are House representatives chosen?

They are elected directly by the people.

How many members are in the house if representatives?

435

How many members of the senate are there?

100

The senate is more of a…

deliberate body. A place where all ideas and recieve a proper public airing

The house is more…

Centralized and organized body. It’s better equipped to play a role in routine government process

Who is head of the senate?

The vice president

Who is head of the house?

Speaker of the house

Who is the speaker of the house?

The person who is elected by the majority party and is currently Mike Johnson.

How many justices are there currently in the Supreme Court?

There are 9 justices

How can a committee within congress be used as leverage?

Often given to party members from the majority leader and CNA be used as a punishment or a reward to a seat in a committee

What role does the vice president have in the senate?

A tie breaker. Other than a tie breaker the vice president has little to no role in senate