Vocab
Congress
Pork barrel spending - legislation that directs specific funds to projects within districts or states.
Logrolling - trading of votes on legislation by members of Congress to get their earmarks passed into legislation.
Incumbent - a political official who is currently in office.
Discretionary spending - spending for programs and policies at the discretion of Congress and the president.
Entitlement spending - a program that provides benefits for those who qualify under the law, regardless of income. (?)
Gerrymandering - the intentional use of redistricting to benefit a specific interest or group of voters.
Divided government - control of the presidency and one or both chambers of Congress split between the two major parties.
Trustee model -the idea that members of Congress should act as trustees, making decisions based on their knowledge and judgment.
Delegate Model -the idea that the main duty of a member of Congress is to carry out constituent wishes.
Political model -representation where members of Congress balance their choices with the interests of their constituents and parties in making decisions.
Reapportionment - congressional districts are redrawn and seats are redistributed amongst states in the house (based on census)
Redistricting - the process of redrawing the boundaries of electoral districts to reflect changes in population and ensure fair representation.
Safe seat - electoral districts that are highly likely to be won by a particular political party, making it nearly impossible for the opposing party to gain a majority in those areas.
Bicameralism - type of legislative body that consists of two separate chambers or houses, typically known as the upper and lower houses
Speaker - the leader of the House of Representatives, chosen by an election of its members.
Party caucus - ppl meet to openly debate and vote on party leaders/nominees
Majority leader - the person who has the most power in the Senate and is the head of the party with the most seats. (Senate) /
the person who is the second in command of the House of Representatives. (House)
Minority leader - the head of the party with the second-highest number of seats in Congress, chosen by the party’s members. (House) / acts as the leader of the opposition in the senate (Senate)
Whip - a member of Congress, chosen by his or her party members, whose job is to ensure party unity and discipline.
Closed rule - a procedural guideline used in the House of Representatives that limits debate on a bill and prohibits amendments from being made during the floor consideration.
Open rule - a procedural guideline in Congress that allows for unlimited debate and the possibility of amendments to a bill during its consideration on the floor.
President pro tempore - a high-ranking senator in the United States Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President.
Hold - a delay placed on legislation by a senator who objects to a bill.
Filibuster - a tactic through which an individual senator may use the right of unlimited debate to delay a motion or postpone action on a piece of legislation.
Cloture - a procedure through which senators can end debate on a bill and proceed to action, provided three-fifths of senators agree to it.
Senatorial courtesy - an agreement among senators to not vote for a nominee opposed by senator's from the nominee's home state.
Standing committee - a permanent legislative committee established under the rules of each house of Congress that handles bills and issues in specific policy areas.
Special or select committee - meant to investigate specific issues (temp and no leg authority)
Joint committee - a legislative committee made up of members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, designed to streamline the legislative process and facilitate cooperation between the two chambers.
Earmarks - the allocation of money to specific projects in states or congressional districts
Seniority rule - A legislative practice that assigns the chair of the committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee
Conference committee - achieves agreement of bill between chambers since dif versions
Congressional Oversight - efforts by Congress to ensure that executive branch agencies, bureaus, and cabinet departments, as well as their officials, are acting legally and in accordance with congressional goals.
Rider - provision included in the bill on a different subject than the bill to kill the bill
Pocket veto - an informal veto caused when the president chooses not to sign a bill within ten days, during a time when Congress has adjourned at the end of a session.
Override - congress reverses veto with ⅔ vote
Interest groups
Movement -
Single-Issue Group - association focusing on one specific area of public policy, often a moral issue about which they are unwilling to compromise.
Open shop - A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment.
Closed shop - A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment.
Free rider - individual who enjoys collective goods and benefits from the actions of an interest group without joining.
Nongovernmental organization (NGO) - independent groups outside of the government that work toward a public cause.
Collective action - political action that occurs when individuals contribute their energy, time, or money to a larger group goal.
Federal Register -
amicus curiae brief - a brief filed by someone who is not a party to a case in an attempt to persuade the court to agree with the arguments set forth in the brief.
Lobbyist - interacting with government officials in order to advance a group’s public policy goals.
Lobbying - interacting with government officials in order to advance a group’s public policy goals.
Revolving door - the movement of individuals between government and lobbying positions.
Iron Triangle - coordinated and mutually beneficial activities of the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups to achieve shared policy goals.
Issue network - webs of influence between interest groups, policymakers, and policy advocates.
Political action committee (PAC) - an organization that raises money for candidates and campaigns.
SuperPAC - an organization that may spend an unlimited amount of money on a political campaign, as long as the spending is not coordinated with the campaign.
Leadership PAC - A PAC formed by an officeholder that collects contributions from individuals and other PAC's and then makes contributions to other candidates and political parties
Soft money - political contributions that are made to political parties for purposes other than supporting a specific candidate, often used for party-building activities.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act - a federal law enacted in 2002 that aimed to regulate the financing of political campaigns in the United States. It sought to eliminate soft money contributions to national political parties and impose stricter limits on individual contributions, thereby promoting transparency and accountability in campaign finance.
Quid pro quo - Something given with the expectation of receiving something in return.
Issue advocacy - Promoting a particular position or an issue paid for by interest groups or individuals but not candidates. Much issue advocacy is often electioneering for or against a candidate, and until 2004 had not been subject to any regulation.
527 organization - Organizations that, under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, raise and spend money to advance political causes