APGov Chapter 9 Vocab

Advise and consent

Constitutional power of the senate to approve/reject presidential nominations and international treaties

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Allowed federal courts to decide whether state voting districts are unfairly drawn

Bicameral

Congress split into separate chambers (house and senate)

Caucuses

A local meeting where party members gather to discuss candidates and select delegates to represent them at higher-level party conventions

Cloture rule

Formal senate procedure used to end a debate and force a vote on a bill or nomination

Committee chairmen

Appointed/elected leaders of congress who has served long and continuously and holds a lot of power over legislative plans

Committee of the Whole

All members of the House act as a single committee to debate, amend, and fast-track major legislation under relaxed rules

Conference chairman

Senior member who leads temporary conference committee

Conference committees

Temporary joint committee that consists of both the House and the Senate that is formed to resolve differences between 2 versions of same bill

Congressional oversight

Congress’s power to review, monitor, and supervise executive branch agencies to ensure laws are implemented as intended.

Constituent services

Elected officials perform nonlegislative tasks to help citizens solve problems and interact with their government agencies

Continuous body

Legislative body (senate) where all seats are never up for election at the same time

Discharge petition

Used in House to force a bill out of a committee onto the floor for a full vote without the cooperation of committee chairs or House leadership

Earmarks

Funds set aside for specific project and bypass grant process

Expressed powers

Powers explicitly granted to federal government by Constitution

Filibuster

Political tactic used to delay or block a vote on a law by extending debate indefinitely

Floor leaders

Party officers in the House and Senate who direct debates and manage party strategy

Franking privilege

The right of Congress to send official mail without paying postage

Gerrymandering

Intentional unfairness in political boundary drawings to give one party an unfair election

House Judiciary Committee

Permanent committee of House of Representatives responsible for overseeing administration of justice and law enforcement in the fed gov

House Ways and Means Committee

Oldest committee of the United States Congress, and is the chief tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives

Implied powers

Powers that aren’t specifically listed in the Constitution but inferred as necessary to carry out enumerated powers (Necessary and Proper)

Incumbency

Those who already hold office and they usually are reelected

Joint committees

Congressional committee that includes members of both the house and the senate

Marginal seats

A political district where the winner gets less than 55 percent of the vote (close/competitive)

Markup session

To determine whether a bill or draft bill should be recommended to the full House and, if so, in what form

Multiple referral

Congressional process of sending a single bill to more than one committee at the simultaneously  because the proposed law touches on the jurisdiction of multiple committee

Non-germane amendments

Addition/change to a bill that is completely unrelated to the original subject matter of that legislation

Omnibus bill

Massive single piece of legislation that combines multiple, often unrelated topics or individual spending bills into one package for a single up-or-down vote

Policy and Steering Committee (Democrats)

Internal party committee in the Congress responsible for assigning Democratic members to standing committees/advising party leadership on policy priorities

Pork barrel spending

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

President pro tempore

The constitutional officer who presides over senate when VP is absent

Quorum

Minimum number of members who must be present for a legislative body (house, senate) to vote

Reapportionment

Reallocating 435 seats in house among 50 states based on population changes

Redistricting

Process by which states redraw boundaries of electoral districts (every 10 years)

Representative (delegate) model

Representative who votes strictly according to preferences/wishes of constituents rather than using personal judgement

Riders

Additional provision added to a bill that usually is big and must be passed, but the “rider” is a completely unrelated to the original bill so it basically must get passed

Rules Committee

Committee in the House of Reps that determines rules of debate for each bill / if it will be amended

Safe seats

Congressional district that reliably votes for one political party making election outcome guaranteed/predictable

Select committees

Temporary congressional committee formed for a specific and limited purpose, usually to conduct a special investigation

Sequential referral

Process where Speaker of House sends a proposed bill to second committee only after first committee finished acting on it

Seventeenth Amendment

Established direct popular election of senators by voters of each state – direct

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Ruled congressional districts drawn predominantly along racial lines violate the Equal Protection Clause of 14th amendment

Sponsor

Member of Congress who officially introduces and champions a bill/resolution for consideration (guide)

Standing committees

Permanent committee in HoR or Senate that handles bills/legislative oversight in specific policy area

Term limits

Legal/constitutional restrictions on number of terms/length of time elected official can serve in office

Trustee model

Theory of representation where elected officials vote using own personal judgements rather than what constituents want

Twenty-seventh Amendment

Any law changing salary for members of Congress cannot take effect until after the next election of HoR has occurred

Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)

Established “one person, one vote” principle for US Congressional districts

Whip (in terms of politics)

Responsible for counting prospective votes, persuading members to support party’s position, maintaining party discipline