Unit 2 Legislative Terms

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 delegate, trustee and partisan

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

rhymes with “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

percent of bills introduced that typically become a law

less than 10%

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