Studied by 5 people
16th Amendment
passed in 1913, permits Congress to levy an income tax.
17th Amendment
direct election of senators
22nd Amendment
passed in 1951, limits presidents to two terms.
25th Amendment
passed in 1967, permits the vice president to become acting president in the event that the president is temporarily disabled.
Administrative discretion:
authority of administrative actors (bureaucrats) to select among various responses to a given problem, especially when rules do not fit or more than one rule applies.
Amicus Curiae Brief
A "friend of the court" brief filed by an interest group or interested party to influence a Supreme Court decision.
Appellate Jurisdiction
The authority of a court to hear an appeal from a lower court.
Appropriations bill
bill passed annually to fund an authorized program.
Attorney General
Head of the Department of Justice - cabinet head appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to enforce federal laws of the United States (criminal, civil rights, etc.).
Authorization bill
an act of Congress that establishes a discretionary government program or an entitlement, or that continues or changes such programs.
Bicameral legislature
a legislature that is divided into two chambers.
Bill
a proposed law, drafted in precise, legal language.
Budget
a policy document that allocates burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures).
Budget resolution
a bill setting limits on expenditures based on revenue projections, agreed to by both houses of Congress in April each year.
Bully Pulpit
The president's use of his prestige and visibility to guide or enthuse the American public.
Bureaucracy
A large, complex organization of appointed officials who implement policies of Executive and Legislative branches.
Bureaucrat
appointed government officials who implement policies of Executive and Legislative branches.
Cabinet
the group of presidential advisors who head the executive departments.
Casework
helping constituents as individuals cut through bureaucratic red tape to receive their rightful benefits.
Caucus
a meeting to determine which candidate delegates from a state party will support.
Civil Service
promotes hiring on the basis of merit and establishes a nonpartisan government service.
Class Action Lawsuits
a technique used by interest groups which allows groups of people with similar complaints to combine their grievances into a single suit.
Closed rule
Under a Closed Rule no amendments may be offered other than amendments recommended by the committee reporting the bill. So no amendments may be offered in debate on the floor.
Cloture
A senate motion to end a filibuster requiring 3/5ths vote.
Committee chairs
the most important influences on the congressional agenda; they schedule hearings, hire staff, appoint subcommittees, and manage committee bills.
Conference Committees
Temporary Committees that are formed to resolve differences in the House and Senate version of a bill. Involves compromises.
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
research agency of Congress, responsible to it for providing analyses of budget proposals, revenue forecasts, and related information.
Continuing resolutions
laws that allow agencies to spend at the previous year's level.
Courts of Appeal
courts which have the power to review all final decisions of district courts, except in instances requiring direct review by the Supreme Court.
Deficit
occurs when government spends more money than it receives in taxes in the fiscal year.
Delegate role of Representation
When members of Congress cast their votes based on the wishes of their constituents.
Deregulation
the withdrawal of the use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector.
Discharge Petition
a device by which any member of the House, after a committee has had the bill for thirty days, may petition to have it brought to the floor - it requires 218 votes (a majority of the 435 House members) to get the bill out of committee by a discharge petition. It defeats the actions of a committee chair who tries to kill a bill by not placing on the agenda.
District courts
the entry point for most federal litigation. This is the trial court where there are juries, witnesses, and where evidence is introduced.
Divided Government
A government in which one party controls the presidency while another party controls one or both houses of Congress, as opposed to a United Government, when one party controls the White House and both houses of Congress.
Ex Post Facto law
A law applied to an act committed before the law was enacted.
Exclusionary Rule
Supreme Court guideline that prohibits evidence obtained by illegal searches or seizures from being admitted in court.
Executive Agreement
A pact and therefore not part of US law, that does not have to be approved, between the president and the head of a foreign state.
Executive Order
A directive, order or regulation issued by the President but have the Constitutional force of law. (Disadvantage of this is that the next president can revoke it).
Executive Privilege
The President's power to refuse to disclose confidential information. In US vs Nixon it was ruled that this power is not guaranteed (it must really be a matter of national security to apply).
Expenditures
money spent by the government in any one year.
Express Powers
Powers specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution.
Federal debt
all of the money borrowed by the government over the years that is still outstanding.
Federal Reserve System
created by Congress in 1913 to regulate the lending practices of banks and thus the money supply.
Filibuster
A way of delaying or preventing action on a bill by using long speeches and unlimited debate to "talk a bill to death."
Franking Privilege
The right of members of Congress to mail newsletters to their constituents at the government's expense.
Governmental corporations
provide services that could be handled by the private sector and generally charge cheaper rates than a private sector producer.
Gridlock
The inability of the government to act because rival parties control different parts of the government.
Hatch Act
passed in 1940, prohibits government workers from active participation in partisan politics.
House Rules Committee
a committee unique to the House, which is appointed by the Speaker of the House, reviews most bills coming from a House committee for a floor vote, and which gives each bill a rule, places it on the calendar, limits debate time and determine its amendments.
House Ways and Means Committee
Committee that is responsible for originating all revenue bills (tax bills).
Impeachment
the political equivalent of an indictment for removing a discredited president.
Income tax
the portion of money individuals are required to pay to the government from the money they earned.
Incrementalism
the best predictor of this year's budget is last year's budget plus a little bit more.
Incumbent
An officeholder who is seeking reelection. Usually this is the most important factor in determining the outcome of the election.
Independent executive agencies
executive agencies that are not cabinet departments, not regulatory commissions, and not government corporations (i.e. CIA, EPA, FEC, FEMA, Rederal Reserve Board, FTC, NSA, Peace Corps, SEC, SSA, US Postal Service)
Independent regulatory agency
Independent agencies that have the responsibility for a sector of the economy to protect the public interest. (i.e. EEOC, FCC, FDIC, FEC, Federal Reserve, FTC, OSHA, SEC).
Iron Triangles
Alliances among administrative agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees where each member provides key services, information, or policy for the others.
Joint committees
special committees composed of members from each chamber (Senate and House).
Judicial Activism
Philosophy that judges must make bold decisions to correct injustices when other branches of government or the states refuse to do so.
Judicial implementation
how and whether court decisions are translated into actual policy (i.e. the Court's decision in Brown v. Bd. Of Ed. Took years to implement due to brush back by state governors and others refusing to implement it)
Judicial Restraint
Philosophy that judges should use precedents and the framer's original intent to decide cases, and leave policy-making to the legislative branch.
Judicial Review
the courts have the power to decide whether the actions of the legislative and executive branches of state and national governments are in accordance with the Constitution.
Justiciable disputes
cases that can be settled by legal methods.
Lame-Duck Period
The period of time in which the President's term is about to come to an end and they have less influence.
Legislative oversight
the process of monitoring the bureaucracy and its administration of policy.
Legislative veto
a clause which allows Congress to override the action of the executive.
Line-Item Veto
An executive's power (the president or a governor) to veto specific dollar amounts or line items from major congressional spending bills. This power was struck down as an unconstitutional expansion of the President's power in the federal gov't, but many governor's have this power in state gov't.
Logrolling
Tactic of mutual aid and vote trading among legislators.
Majority leader
The Speaker's principal partisan ally who is responsible for soliciting support for the party's position on legislation.
Marbury v. Madison
1803 Supreme Court case that established the concept of judicial review.
Merit system
Government workers hired on the basis of qualifications, using entrance exams and promotion ratings for hiring workers, as opposed to the "patronage" or "spoils system", where government employees/officials are hired on the basis of a reward for who they know.
Minority leader
is the minority party's counterpart to the majority party's leadership.
National Security Council (NSC):
a committee that links the president's key foreign and military advisors.
Nuclear option
A parliamentary procedure that allows the U.S. Senate to override a rule or precedent by a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of by a supermajority of 60 votes. Allows the Senate to decide any issue by majority vote, even though the rules of the Senate specify that ending a filibuster requires the consent of 60 senators (out of 100) for legislation, 67 for amending a Senate rule. In November 2013, Senate Democrats used the nuclear option to eliminate filibusters on executive branch nominations and federal judicial appointments other than those to the Supreme Court, due to frustration with Republicans holding up President Obama's nominees from being confirmed. Before November 2013, Senate rules required a three-fifths vote (usually 60 votes) to end debate on a bill, nomination or other proposal. After Nov. 2013, a filibuster on a nominee can be ended by a simple majority of senators. This backfired on democrats because it would later help Republicans in 2016 affirm Trump nominees.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Office responsible for preparing the budget that the president submits to Congress.
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
responsible for hiring for most agencies.
Original intent
the theory that judges should determine the intent of the framers and decide in line with their intent.
Original jurisdiction
given to a court where a case is first heard.
Oversight
Congressional review of the activities of an executive agency, department or office.
Pendleton Civil Service Act
passed in 1883, it created the federal Civil Service. It carries out the "merit system" of government hiring rather than the patronage /spoils system.
Pocket veto
this occurs when Congress adjourns within 10 days after submitting a bill and the president takes no action to sign it or veto it.
Policy implementation
Policy implementation: the stage of policymaking between the establishment of a policy and the results of the policy for individuals.
Political Questions
conflicts between the president and Congress.
Pork barrel
list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges, and institutions.
Precedent
the way similar cases have been handled in the past is used as a guide to current decisions. Enables the system of "stari decisis" (let the decision stand).
Presidential coattails
where voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president's party because those candidates support the president.
Regulation
the use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector.
Revenues
money received by the government in any given year.
Rule of Four
The Supreme Court will hear a case if four justices agree to do so.
Select committees
appointed for a specific purpose.
Senate Finance Committee
responsible for writing the tax code.
Senatorial Courtesy
An unwritten tradition whereby the Senate will not confirm nominations for lower court positions that are opposed by a senator of the president's own party from the state in which the nominee is to serve.
Seniority system
Unwritten rule in both houses reserving the committee chairs to members of the committee with the longest records of continuous service (Newt Gingrich did away with this system in the house with Republicans in the 1990's)
Social Security Act of 1935
passed to provide a minimal level of sustenance to older Americans. A mandatory retirement system. Today in danger of collapse because Baby Boomers are retiring and living longer than system was set up to provide for.
Solicitor General
the solicitor general is responsible for handling all appeals on behalf of the US government to the Supreme Court.
Speaker of the House
is mandated by the Constitution, is next in line after the vice president to succeed a president who is unable to fulfill his/her term and who presides over the House.
Spoils System
Government workers hired on the basis of a reward for who they know, as opposed to the "merit system", where they are hired on the basis of qualifications, using entrance exams and promotion ratings for hiring workers. Spoils system also known as "patronage".
Standard operating procedures
detailed rules written to cover as many particular situations as officials can anticipate to help bureaucrats implement policies uniformly.
Standing Committees
Permanent subject-matter congressional committees that handle legislation and oversee the bureaucracy.
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