AP Gov Unit 3: Institutions & Interaction of Branches of Government

incumbents

those individuals who already hold office who are running for reelection. they usually win the election

consitutent

being a voting member of a community or organization and having the power to appoint or elect

casework/ constituent services

activities of members of congress that help constituents as individuals, particularly by cutting through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they have a right to get

pork barrel

federal projects, grants, and contracts available to state and local governments, businesses, colleges, and other institutions in a congressional district that are intended to benefit constituents and secure their votes.

Speaker of the House

An office mandated by the Constitution. The majority party chooses the speaker.

The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer and highest-ranking House member. This role involves overseeing House proceedings and also influencing the legislative agenda, appointing committee members, and ensuring that the House operates efficiently.

majority leader

In either the House of Representatives or the Senate they are responsible for setting the legislative agenda/bills, guiding party strategy, influencing committee assignments, and rounding up votes on behalf of the party's legislative positions.

This position plays a critical role in organizing party members, facilitating communication between the party and its constituents, and ensuring that the party's goals are prioritized in the legislative process.

whip

A leadership position in the House of Representatives who works with and assists the Majority Leader in managing the party's legislative agenda and ensuring party discipline among members. This role involves rallying support for bills, tracking votes, and communicating party positions to the other members.

Work with the majority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to the passage of a favored bill.

minority leader

The principal leader of the minority part in the House or Senate.

House Rules Committee

The committee in the House that reviews most bills coming from a House committee before they go to the full house.

standing committees

Permanent committees within a single chamber (either the House or Senate) that handle bills in different policy areas and consider or shape legislation

joint committees

Committees that are made up of members from both chambers are designed to facilitate cooperation and streamline the legislative process. They Debate and report on matters concerning Congress. They often conduct studies, provide administrative coordination, or oversee specific areas. They report findings back to both houses.

Can be can be either permanent, lasting throughout Congress, or temporary, created for specific purposes and expiring upon completion of their task.

conference committees

A specific type of temporary joint committee is formed when the Senate and the House pass a bill in different forms to resolve differences between House and Senate versions of a bill. Party leaders appoint members from each house.

select committees

Temporary congressional committees appointed for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation, and established to investigate them, conduct hearings, and report their findings to the full chamber.

committee chairs

Leader of committees who schedule hearings, hire staff, appoint subcommittees, and manage committee bills when they are brought before the full house; have an important influence on the congressional agenda.

seniority system

A system rule for picking committee chairs by the member who has served on the committee the longest and whose party controls the chamber becoming chair. The seniority system is not mandated by law but has been an established tradition in Congress for many years.

caucus

A group of members of congress sharing some interest or characteristic. Many are composed of members from both parties and houses

bill

A proposed law drafted in legal language. Anyone can draft a bill, but only a member of the house or senate can formally submit a bill for consideration.

Legislative oversight

Congress's monitoring of the executive branch bureaucracy (headed by the President, is responsible for enforcing laws, managing the federal bureaucracy, and conducting foreign policy) and its administration of policy, is performed mainly through committee hearings.

filibuster

a strategy only in the Senate where opponents of a piece of legislation use their right to unlimited debate to prevent the Senate from ever voting on a bill.

cloture

a procedure in the Senate for ending a debate and taking a vote has a two-thirds or majority 60+ Senators to end a filibuster.

president pro tempore

a high-ranking senator of the majority party who presides over the US Senate in the absence of the vice president.

reapportionment

Redistribution of representation in a legislative body, especially the periodic re-allotment of US congressional seats according to changes in the census figures as required by the Constitution

redistricting

divide or organize into new political districts

Census

Every 10 years, national population count

• After the census, Congress tells states: -/+ seats in U.S. House

• States then draw their U.S. Representative or Congressional District boundaries

• Party in power @ state draw boundaries to give electoral advantage

logrolling

legislator supports a proposal favored by another in return for support in his or her

requirements to be a US House representative

25 years old and citizen for 7 years

requirements to be US Senator

30 years old and citizen for 9 years

are incumbents successful in reelection bids?

yes

committees in congress

conference, joint, standing, special/select

are standing committees long term or short term?

long term

are joint committees long term or short term?

both

are conference committees long term or short term?

short term

are special/ select committees long term or short term?

short term

how many representatives in the House?

435

how many senators?

100

where do bills dealing with revenue originate?

the House

how many votes are required for cloture?

60

how is the Speaker of the House elected?

by the majority party

who is president of the senate?

vice president

who is the most powerful leader in the senate?

majority leader

ways and means committee

Committee that deals with taxes for the House, subject to approval of congress.

rules committee

Committee that creates rule for the House

Congressional Budget Office

A nonpartisan agency of Congress that provides objective, information, analysis, and estimates related to federal economic and budgetary decisions, forecasts revenues, and its counterweight to the president’s OMB (Office of Management and Budget) together with its parent committees, the Senate and House, set parameters of the congressional budget process through examining revenues and expenditures and proposing the congress may pass to bind itself within limits.

Budget

A policy document allocating burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures).

Expenditures

Government spending. Major areas of federal spending are social services and national defense.

Revenues

Financial resources for the government.

Deficit

An excess of federal expenditures over federal revenues, spending more money than it receives in revenue over a specific period, leads to a shortfall that must be financed through borrowing which adds to the national debt.

This financial imbalance can impact economic policy decisions, as governments may need to adjust spending or increase taxes to address it.

National Debt

All the money borrowed by the national government over the years and still outstanding. Its an accumulation of all past years deficits.

Debt Ceiling

A limit on how much the federal government may borrow.

Capital Budget

A budget for expenditures on items that will serve long term.

Tax Expendatures

Revenue losses that result from special exemptions, exclusions, or deductions allowed by federal tax law.

Incrementalism

The budget process in which the best predictor of this year’s budget is last year’s budget plus a little more (an increment).

Uncontrollable Expenditures

Expenditures that are determined by how many eligible beneficiaries there are for a program or previous obligations of the government and that congress therefore cannot easily control.

Entitlements

Policies for which congress has obligated itself to pay for X level of benefits to Y number of recipients. Social Security benefits are an examples.

Budget Resolution

A resolution binding Congress to a total expenditure level, supposedly the bottom line of all federal spending for all programs.

It sets overall spending and revenue targets for the federal budget, guiding congressional action on budget-related legislation, but it doesn't directly fund programs or change tax laws.

Reconciliation

A congressional process through which program authorizations are revised to achieve required savings. It usually also includes tax or other revenue adjustments. Enhances Congress's ability to change current law to bring revenue and spending levels into conformity with the policies of the budget resolution.

Authorization bill

An act of Congress that establishes, continues, or changes a discretionary government program (a program where funding levels are decided annually by policymakers and Congress through the appropriations process) or an entitlement. It specifies program goals and maximum expenditures for discretionary programs.are

Appropriations Bill

An act of congress that funds programs within limits established authorization bills. It usually covers a year. It authorizes the expenditure of government funds and it sets money aside for specific spending.

Continuing resolutions

When congress cannot reach an agreement and pass appropriations bills, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year.

Income Tax

A system of taxation imposed by the federal government on the income of individuals, corporations, and other entities. Based on the percent of income currently.