Divided Government

1. Government powers divided between parties

   1. House of Representatives

   2. Senate

   3. Judicial Branch

   4. Executive Branch

Filibuster

1. Yap until you drop then people can’t pass the bill

2. Formal way of halting Senate action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate

Hold

1. Senator asks to be informed before a particular bill or nomination is brought to the floor

2. Signals leadership that a member may have objections to the bill and should be consulted before proceeding

Cloture

1. Requiring the vote of 60 senators to cut off a debate/filibuster

Unanimous Consent

1. Everyone agrees and consents to the minutes of any given meeting

Germaneness Requirement

1. Limited debate on a proposal 

Discharge Petition

1. A bill is brought to a committee floor for consideration without a report for the committee 

Standing Committee

1. Committees that stay 

2. People stay in the committees experiments with new laws and managing the legislative institutions 

Rules Committee

1. Creates rules that bills will be presented under

2. Debate topics and length

3. Specific area of policy

Closed Rule

1. Eliminates the opportunity to consider amendments

2. Other than the amendments reported by the committee reporting the bill

Open Rule

1. Can offer amendments to the bill

Committee of the Whole

1. Allows House of Representatives to deliberate with a lower quorum and expedite consideration of an amendment and bill 

2. Make a bill go faster to approval 

Appropriations Committee

1. Committee to appropriate funds 

Omnibus bills

1. Like packing a bunch of different things into one big box

2. it combines lots of different topics or laws into one big proposal, so it gets voted on all at once instead of piece by piece

Ways and Means

1. Chief tax writing committee 

2. Has control over social welfare problems like social security, medicare, etc.

Conference committee

1. like a group of people coming together to settle an argument

2. is made up of members from both the house and the senate, nd their job is to work out the differences in a bill and agree on one version to send back to approval

Seniority Rule

1. is like giving the oldest or most experience person the most power

2. means that the longer someone has been in office, the more influence and leadership positions the ger, like being in charge of committees or making important decisions

Mark-up

1. Session in which a committee members offer changes to a bill before it goes on the floor 

Partisanship

1. like picking a team and sticking with them no matter what

2. when leaders strongly support their political party's ideas and decisions, even if it means ignoring their viewpoints

Polarization

1. when people of groups become so divided that they only stick to their side and won't meet in the middle

2. polarization happens when people on opposite sides (like different parties) strongly disagree and stop working together

Gridlock

1. When nothing moves or gets passed because of filibustering, vetoes

Pocket veto

1. President doesn’t decide on a bill but doesn’t veto it → stuck in the President’s “pocket”

Pork barrel legislation

1. Legislation allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their districts informed of public works, programs, military bases, etc.

2. Giving funds from a budget to local projects (usually to a representative’s district) → “circumventing” the budget

Riders/Earmarks

1. when senators amend a bill to include little more spending

   1. positive impact to their own constituents 

   2. more likely to get reelected

Logrolling

1. when people trade favors to help each other get what they want

Roles of Congresspersons:

1. Trustee - it's like being chosen to make decisions for a group based on what's best, not just what the people want

2. Delegate - a leader who acts based on what the people who elected them want, even if it's not their personal choice

3. Politico - it's like being a mix of both the trustee and the delegate. They switch between following the people's wishes and using their own judgment, depending on the situation.

Pigeon-holed 

1. when someone ignores or delays something on purpose, like pretending it doesn't exist