Vocabulary Unit 2

Seventeenth Amendment

Bicameral

Two-house

Reapportionment

distribution of US congressional seats according to changes in the census

Enumerated Powers

Limited number of specific powers assigned Congress

Implied Powers

Powers not directly stated but required to fulfill the obligations of the enumerated powers

War Powers Act of 1973

Gives the president 48 hours in which to engage in urgent combat without informing Congress

Impeach

Charging a person with offenses so serious that they are determined to be “treason, bribery, and high crimes and misdemeanors”

Advice and Consent

Allows Senators to recommend or reject major presidential appointments

Speaker of the House

Top of the power pyramid in the House of Representatives

Floor Leaders

Lead debate among their party and guide discussion from their side of the aisle

Whip

Keeps tally of votes among his or her party members

Conference Chair

Takes care of party matters, such as heading the organization of party-centered groups in each house

President of the Senate

Rules on Senate procedure, organizes Senate, and votes in place of a tie, usually the Vice-President

President Pro Tempore

Temporary president of the Senate when vice-President is not their, usually most senior member of the majority party

Senate Majority Leader

sets the legislative calendar for Senate, determines which bills reach floor for debate

Standing Committees

Permanent committees focused on a particular subject and authorized under the rules of each house

House Judiciary Committee

Drafts crime bills that define illegal behavior and outline appropriate punishments

Steering and Policy Committee

Democrats committee to determine which of their members are assigned to the standing committees

Committee on Committees

Republicans committee to determine which of their members are assigned to the standing committees

Joint Committees

Permanent committees that unite members from the House and Senate

Select Committees

Committees formed for some particular, typically short-lived purpose

Conference Committee

created temporarily to iron out differences on bills that passed each house but in slightly different forms

Markup Session

Process by which the bill is altered in a conference committee

Congressional Oversight

when Congress ensures that executive branch agencies are carrying out the policy or program as defined by Congress

Caucuses

Groups of Congressman that unite around a particular belief

Ways and Means Committee

House committee that determines tax policy by outlining details for tax proposals

Rules Committee

House committee assigns bills to appropriate standing committees, schedule bills for debate and decides when a vote will take class

Committee of the Whole

State of operation in the House in which rules are relaxed and allows longer debate among fewer people

Discharge Petition

Filibuster

To stall or even kill a bill by speaking for an extremely long time

Unanimous Consent

The approval of all Senators

Hold

Measure to stall a bill

Cloture Rule

Requires three-fifths of Senators to close up or stop debate on a bill and call for a bill

Sponser

The member who introduces a bill and assumes authorship

Germane Amendments

When amendments are directly related to the topic of the bill (House)

Riders

Additional bills that ride onto an often unrelated bill (Senate)

Omnibus Bill

When a bill grows to a mammoth size and addresses multiple programs

Pork Barrel Spending

When members of Congress try to send federal dollars back to their district

Earmark

Funds directed to a very specific purpose

Multiple Referral

Allowing both committees to address a bill simultaneously

Sequential Referral

Giving one committee priority to review a bill before others

Logrolling

Trading votes to gain support for a bill

Delegate Model

When members of Congress try to reflect the will of their constituency when voting

Trustee Model

When members of Congress try to use their best judgement, regardless of how constituents may view an issue, when voting

Politico Model

When members of Congress attempt to blend delegate and trustee model, calculating what makes the most sense to them at the time

Interest

Source of revenue for government on government holdings and investments

Estate Tax

Paid by people to inherit a very large amount of money

Mandatory Spending

Expenditures required by law for certain programs

Deficit

Difference between spending and revenue

Discretionary Spending

Funds that congressional committees debate and decide how to divide up

Gridlock

So much congestion of opposing forces that nothing can move forward

Redistricting

When state legislatures alter congressional district maps to reflect population

Baker V. Carr (1962)

Established “one person-one vote” principles that greatly expanded democratic participation and the voting rights of minorities

Gerrymandering

Illogical district lines drawn to give the advantage to one party

Safe Seats

Districts in which a party consistently wins by more than 55 percent of the vote

Swing Districts

Districts with closer elections

Shaw V. Reno (1993)

Congressional districts designed for the purposes of assuring a majority one race population violates Fourteenth Amendment