Appropriation
Law of Congress that provides agency with budget authority
germane
relevant to the bill being considered
no germane
not related to the bill being considered
incumbent
current officeholder seeking re-election
hilstyle
House or Senate member that makes decisions with the entire country in mind
homestyle
House and Senate member that makes decisions with the constituents in mind
logrolling
“vote for my bill, ill vote for yours in the future”
bill exchange
casework
usual form taken by this function of providing service to constituents
delegate congressman
Congressperson who makes decisions based on constituents
trustee congressperson
makes decisions based on country or personal knowledge of the situation
Partisan congressperson
decisions based on the party
Politico Congressperson
combination of
reapportion
assigning reps. to each state based on population
gerrymandering
redrawing district lines to benefit a party or group or people
packing
concentrating a group or party into one district
cracking
splitting minorities/ parties to diminish their political power in a district
Shaw v. Reno
North Carolina created 2 districts that were majority black, but one of them was so small so it was argued that equal protection clause was violated because of racial gerrymandering. Court says districts drawn based on race is unconstitutional
Hastert’s Rule
Speaker of the house will not allow any bill to reach the floor unless it has support from the majority within their party
Standing Committee
permanent committees in the house and Senate that cover general topics
Select Committee
temporary committee in the house or Senate that is created to handle a specific topic
EX: special committee made for 9/11
Subcommittee
smaller more specific, based on the full committee
Rules Committee
only in the house, decides on the bill will be debated, where, and how, even if the bill will be debated
Steering Committee
only in the Senate And put the debate on a calendar
Conference (Compromise) Committee
only happens when a bill is needed to pass, but there is no compromise, a joint committee is created from the House and Senate to compromise for a bill
Committee of the Whole
only in the house, house can suspend rules and functions as one committee in order to speed up lawmaking
Seniority Rule
The longest serving House And Senate workers will get the better committees
Whip
trying to get fellow party members to vote on how the party wants
Divided Government
harder to pass a bill when the president, house, or the Senate are of a different party
gridlock
nothing gets done in the government
Omnibus
A bill composed of hundreds of different topics
“a lot of us”
Rider
A bill attached to another bill because it won’t pass on its own merits
Discharge Bill
Forcing a bill out of committee for an immediate floor vote
Pigeon Hole
killing a bill when it’s in the committee
Filbuster
unlimited debate in the Senate in order to kill a bill
open rule
Allows change in a bill
close rule
no change in a bill, usually because of non-germane, or amendments that have nothing to do with the bills topic
Porkbarrell/ Earmarks
Legislation bringing money from the government for pet projects
Party Caucus
meeting with each party, can be subgroups or the entire party in the House and Senate
EX: gun right group in the Republican Party
Safe Seat
House or Senate member that doesn’t have to worry about reelection
Franking
House and Senate can send mail to people for free
Prospective voters
Voting on what someone is going to do in the future
Retrospective voters
voting in what someone has done in the past
Rational Choice
voting for whoever will be best for them
Wesberry v. Sanders
court case says that districts must be equal in population size, violated that equal protection clause
Baker v. Carr
court decided that issue of Reapportionment was justiciable
districts must be drawn in order to evenly distribute power, “one person one vote”
supreme Court did have authority to rule on questions of legislative reapportionment
Justiciable
court has no business is ruling on things
what percent of bills introduced typically become a law?
less than 10%
where is most the work done on a bill?
in the committees
How many times can a bill go through a process before going to the president?
1 million times, as many as it can
how many committees are there roughly?
40
How many subcommunities are there roughly?
160
cloture rule
Ability to stop a filibuster if majority of the members agreed
continuous body
1/3 of the Senate gets put up for election every 2 years
Open Primary
anyone can vote in the state but can only vote in one party
Closed Primary
only open to registered party officials
(delclared democrats or republicans)
Rank-choiced Voting
disrupts 2 party system, rank a list of candidates. If 1 candidate gets majority, they win automatically. If not, then elimination process