AP Government Chapters 11, 12, & 15 Vocab

Need-to-know terms from the textbook about Congress, Presidency, and federal courts

Incumbents

Those already holding office. In congressional elections, they usually win.

Casework

Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals, particularly by cutting through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they have a right to get

Pork Barrel

Federal projects, grants, and contracts available to state and local governments, businesses, colleges, and other institutions in a congressional district.

Bicameral Legislature

A legislature divided into two houses. The U.S. Congress and all state legislatures except Nebraska's are this.

House of Representatives

Must initiate all revenue bills and pass all articles of impeachment. They have 435 members, and each term is 2 years. Constituencies are usually smaller, they're more centralized, have less prestige, more specialized and influential on budget. They have small turnover, and the role of seniority is fairly important.

Senate

They must give advice and consent to presidential nominations, must approve treaties, and they try impeached officials. They have 100 members with a 6 year term. They usually have larger constituencies, and they're less centralized. They have more prestige, and are more influential on foreign affairs; less specialized. The turnover rate is moderate, seniority isn't important, and there's unlimited debates.

House Rules Committee

The committee in the House of Representatives that reviews most bills coming from a House committee before they go to the full house.

Filibuster

A strategy unique to the Senate, where opponents of a piece of legislation use their right to unlimited debate to prevent the Senate from ever voting on a bill. (Sixty members present and voting can halt this.)

Speaker of the House

An office mandated by the Constitution. They're chosen in practice by the majority party, have both formal and informal powers, and is second in line to succeed the presidency should that office become vacant.

Majority Leader

The principal partisan ally of the Speaker of the House, or the party's manager in the Senate. They're responsible for scheduling bills, influencing committee assignments, and rounding up votes on behalf of the party's legislative positions.

Whips

Party leaders who work with the majority leader or minority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill favored by the party

Minority Leader

The principal leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.

Standing Committees

Separate subject-matter committees in each house of Congress that handle bills in different policy areas.

Joint Committees

Congressional committees formed when the Senate and the House pass a particular bill in different forms. Party leadership appoints members from each house to iron out the differences and bring back a single bill.

Select Committees

Congressional committees appointed for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation

Legislative Oversight

Congress's monitoring of the bureaucracy and its administration of policy, performed mainly through hearings.

Committee Chairs

The most important influencers of the congressional agenda. They play dominating roles in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house

Seniority System

A simple rule for picking committee chairs, in effect until the 1970s. The member who had served on the committee the longest and whose party controlled the chamber became chair, regardless of party loyalty, mental state, or competence.

Caucus (Congressional)

A group of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic. Many are composed of members from both parties and from both houses.

Bill

A proposed law, drafted in legal language. Anyone can draft one, but only a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate can formally submit one for consideration.

Twenty-Second Amendment

Ratified in 1951, this amendment limited its presidents to two terms of office.

Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Ratified in 1967, this amendment permits the vice president to become acting president if the vice president and the president's cabinet determine that the president is disabled, and it outlines how a recuperated president can reclaim the job.

Impeachment

The political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law, prescribed by the Constitution, The House of Representatives may impeach the president by a majority vote for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors".

Watergate

The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under threat of impeachment.

Executive Orders

Regulations originating with the executive branch. Executive orders are one method presidents can use to control the bureaucracy.

Cabinet

A group of presidential advisers not mentioned in the Constitution, although every president has had one. Today this is composed of 14 secretaries, the attorney general, and others designated by the president.

National Security Council

The committee that links the president's foreign and military policy advisers. Its formal members are the president, vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of defense. It's managed by the president's national security assistant.

Council of Economic Advisers

A three-member body appointed by the president to advise the president on economic policy

Office of Management and Budget

An office that prepares the president's budget and also advises presidents on proposals from departments and agencies and helps review their proposed regulations.

Veto

The constitutional power of the president to send a bill back to Congress with reasons for rejecting it. A two-thirds vote in each house can override a veto.

Pocket Veto

A type of veto occurring when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president and the president simply lets the bill die by neither signing nor vetoing it.

Presidential Coattails

These occur when voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president's party because they support the president (Recent studies show that few races are won this way).

War Powers Resolution

A law passed in 1973, in reaction to America fighting in Vietnam and Cambodia, that requires presidents to consult with Congress whenever possible prior to using military force and to withdraw forces after 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants an extension. However, presidents have viewed the resolution as unconstitutional.

Legislative Veto

A vote in Congress to override a presidential decision. Although the World Powers Resolution asserts this authority, there is reason to believe that if challenged, the Supreme Court would find the legislative veto in violation of the doctrine of separation of powers.

Crisis

A sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event requiring the president to play the role of crisis manager.

Standing to Sue

The requirement that plaintiffs have a serious interest in a case, which depends on whether they have sustained or are likely to sustain a direct and substantial injury from another party or from an action of government.

Class Action Suits

Lawsuits in which a small number of people sue on behalf of all people in similar circumstances

Justiciable Disputes

Issues capable of being settled as a matter of law.

Amicus Curiae Briefs

Legal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of influencing a court's decision by raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties.

Original Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. These are the courts that determine the facts about a case

Appellate Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of courts that hear cases brought to them on appeal from lower courts. These courts do not review the factual record, only the legal issues involved.

District Courts

The 91 federal courts of original jurisdiction. They are the only federal courts in which trials are held and in which juries may be impaneled.

Court of Appeals

Appellate courts empowered to review all final decisions of district courts, except in rare cases. In addition, they also hear appeals to orders of many federal regulatory agencies

Supreme Court

The pinnacle of the American judicial system. This court ensures uniformity in interpreting national laws, resolves conflicts among states, and maintains national supremacy in law. It has both original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction.

Senatorial Courtesy

An unwritten tradition whereby nominations for state-level federal judicial posts are usually not confirmed if they are opposed by a senator of the president's party from the state in which the nominee will serve. The tradition also applies to courts of appeals when there is opposition from a senator of the president's party who is from the nominee's state.

Solicitor General

A presidential appointee and the third-ranking office in the Department of Justice. The solicitor general is in charge of the appellate court litigation of the federal government.

Opinion

A statement of legal reasoning behind a judicial decision. The content of an opinion may be as important as the decision itself.

Stare Decisis

A Latin phase meaning "let the decision stand". Most cases reaching appellate courts are settled on this principle

Precedent

How similar cases have been decided in the past.

Originalism

A view that the Constitution should be interpreted according to the original intentions or original meaning of the Framers. Many conservatives support this view.

Judicial Implementation

How and whether court decisions are translated into actual policy, thereby affecting the behavior of others. The courts rely on other units of government to enforce their decisions

Marbury v. Madison

The 1803 case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. The decision established the Court's power of judicial review over acts of Congress in this case the Judiciary Act of 1789

Judicial Review

The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress and, by implication, the executive are in accord with the U.S. Constitution. This was established by John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison

Judicial Restraint

An approach to decision making in which judges play minimal policy-making roles and defer to legislatures whenever possible

Judicial Activism

An approach to decision making in which judges sometimes make bold policy decisions, even charting new constitutional ground.

Political Questions

A doctrine developed by the federal courts and used as a means to avoid deciding some cases, principally those involving conflicts between the president and congress

Statutory Construction

The judicial interpretation of an act of Congress. In some cases where statutory construction is an issue, Congress passes new legislation to clarify existing laws.