AP gov 11.3

bicameral legislature

divided into two houses, u.s congress and all state legislatures are bicameral EXCEPT Nebraska (unicameral/ one house)

house rules commitee

reviews bills incoming from a house committee before it reaches the full house, each bill has a rule, gives time for debate, specifies amendments offered, brings legislation to the floor (limiting amendments, minority can propose changes)

filibuster

opponents of a bill/ legislation use their right to unlimited debate to prevent Senate from voting on a bill. sixty members present and voting can halt a filibuster. (used by minority to defeat a majority)

speaker of the house

mandated by Consitution, chosen by majority party, informal and formal power, second in line to succeed to the presidency when office is vacant

majority leader

partisan ally of speaker of the house, partys manager in the Senate, scheduling bills, influences committee assignments, rounds up votes on behalf of the partys legislative position.

whips

party leaders who work with the majority/ minority leader to count votes and leans on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill.

reports views and complaints/complaints of party rank and files to leadership

minority leader

principal of the minority party in the house of representatives or in the Senate

standing committees

separate subject matters in each house of congress which handle bills in different policy areas

representatives: serves on two Committees and four subcommittees 

senators: three Committees and seven joint committees

joint committees

economy and taxation, membership is drawn from Senate and House

conference committees

Senate and House passes different versions of the same bill, appointed by party leadership and gets members of each house to find out the differences between house and Senate and comes up with a compromise bill

select committees

temporary or permanent, HOUSE AND SENATE have a permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

legislative oversight

committees and subcommittees monitor the executive branch bureaucracy and its administration of policies (Congress passes bills)

Hearings: an agency wants a bigger budget, commitee reviews its current budget, cabinet secretaries  bring graphs data and charts  on progress and problems

committee chairs

influences congressional agenda by scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, managing committee bills before brought to full house

seniority system

picked committee chairs UNTIL 1970. member who served the longest and whose party controlled the chamber became chair , regardless of party loyalty, mental state or competence

committee/subcommittee: three consecutive two year terms

committee chairs: lost power to cast proxy votes for committee members not attending

congressional cacucus

group of members in Congress from both parties with some from the House of Represenatatives or Senate

promote interests, tells committees to hold hearings, push legislation, pull votes from bills they favor

(NOT PETITIONERS FOR CONGRESS)

bill

proposed law , Senate and house can submit a bill for consideration

staff agencies

Congressional Research Service: administered by library of congress, composed of researchers, responds to 250,000 congressional requests of information and gives nonpartisan studies, tracks major bills and its summaries and makes it electronic

Congressional Accountability Office: helps congress perform legislative oversight to see if it follows lawsand investigates effectiveness of policies, sets standards for accounting, legal opinions, and claims against government

Congressional Budget Office:analyzes presidents budget, makes predictions on economy, costs of policies, and effects of taxing and spending