Unit 4 Vocab words Gov.

Constituents

The people of a particular geographic area who are represented by a lawmaking body

Apportionment

The distribution of seats in the House of Representatives among the states

Appropriation

 A congressional act or bill that sets aside funds for a specific purpose

Impeachment

 The process of charging officials in the executive and judicial branches with wrongdoing and bringing them to trial

Oversight

The power of congress to check up on the executive branch and to make sure it is following the laws Congress has passed

Necessary and Proper clause

Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, of the Constitution, which gives the national legislature the power to “make all laws that are necessary and proper” to exercise the powers granted by the Constitution; also known as the “elastic clause”

Indirect tax

a tax levied on one person but passed on to another for payment to the government; tariffs are examples of indirect taxes

Direct tax

a tax an individual pays directly to the government

Deficit

a condition in which government revenues are lower than expenses

Commerce clause

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, of the Constitution that outlines the commerce powers granted to Congress commission system a form of municipal government in which a group of elected commissioners lead city departments and set local policies 

Subpoenas

legal documents that require a person to testify in a certain matter

Writ of Habeas corpus

a court order that forces the police to present a person in court to face charges; habeas corpus is a phrase in Latin meaning “you have the body”

Bill of attainder

a law that punishes a person without trial

Ex post facto laws

laws that criminalizes an action that took place in the past and that was legal at that time; ex post facto is a Latin phrase meaning “from after the fact”

Reapportionment

the redistribution of seats in the House of Representatives among the states based on the results of the census

Gerrymandering

 the drawing of district boundaries for political advantage

Speaker of the house

the presiding officer of the House of Representatives

Bills

Proposed laws

Floor leader

 the representative of each party elected to help manage the actions and strategy of their party in the House of Representatives

Whips

 the representatives of each party whose duty is to encourage fellow party members to vote as the party leadership wants

Party caucus

 a meeting of all the House members from a particular party held to elect party officers

Standing committees

permanent committees of the House of Representatives that address the major areas in which most proposed laws fall, such as agriculture, the budget, and the armed services

Select committees

temporary committees in the House of Representatives formed to carry out specific tasks that are not already covered by existing committees

Joint committtee

special committees formed from members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to address broad issues that affect both chambers

President of the Senate

a position held by the vice president of the United States, who presides over debate in the Senate chamber

President Pro Tempore

-the official who presides over the Senate in the absence of the vice president

Senate Majority Leader

the person elected by the majority party who serves as the spokesperson and main strategist for the majority party in the Senate

Seniority rule

the tradition in the Senate in which the chair of a committee is given to the most senior majority Senator on a committee

Filibuster

 the tactic used when opponents of a measure seek to prevent it coming up for a vote in the Senate by refusing to stop talking in hopes of stalling action long enough that the rest of the Senate will be forced to move on to other business

Cloture

 the vote to end debate of a bill in the Senate

Rider

an addition to a bill that often has little relationship to the bill’s main topic; the goal of a rider may be to add an unpopular provision to a bill that is likely to be passed so that the addition may “ride” along with the bill that is passed, or a rider may be designed to kill a bill by attaching an unpopular provision to that bil

Joint resolution

 a congressional measure used in certain out-of-the-ordinary circumstances and has the force of law if passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president

Concurrent resolutions

measures in which both houses of Congress address matters that affect the operations of both chambers

Discharge petition

 a measure taken in the House of Representatives to force a bill out of committee

Committee of the Whole

 a measure taken in the House of Representatives in which all representatives become members of a single committee, allowing the House to function when many members are absent

Quorum

 the minimum number of members needed to legally conduct business

Roll-call vote

a vote in which each member of Congress is required to publicly state his or her vote; also called a record vote

conference committee

a joint committee formed from both houses to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill

Pocket veto

 a means by which the president can reject a bill, when Congress is not in session, by not signing it