gov key terms 4

Appropriation:  money that Congress has allocated to be spent.

Appropriations Committee:  congressional committee that deals with federal spending.

Appellate jurisdiction:  authority of a court to hear an appeal from a lower court.

Bureaucracy:  departments, agencies, bureaus, and commissions in the executive branch of government.

Casework:  personal work done by a member of Congress for his constituents.

Civil law:  concerns noncriminal disputes between private parties.

Class action lawsuit:  lawsuit brought on behalf of a class of people against a defendant, e.g., lawsuits brought by those who have suffered from smoking against tobacco companies.

Closed rule:  Rules Committee rule that bans amendments to a bill.

Cloture:  Senate motion to end a filibuster that requires a 3/5 vote.

Concurring opinion:  written by a Supreme Court Justice who voted with the majority, but for different reasons.

Conference committee:  works out a compromise between differing House-Senate versions of a bill.

Constituents:  the people who are represented by elected officials.

Discharge petition:  a motion to force a bill to the House floor that has been bottled up in committee.

Dissenting opinion:  written by a Supreme Court Justice (or Justices) who express a minority viewpoint in a case.

Executive agreement:  an agreement between the President and another head of state that, unlike a treaty, does not require Senate consent.

Executive order:  presidential rule or regulation that has the force of law.

Executive privilege:  the privilege of a President and his staff to withhold their “privileged” conversations from Congress or the courts. 

Filibuster:  nonstop Senate debate that prevents a bill from coming to a vote.

Finance Committee:  Senate committee that handles tax bills.

Franking privilege:  allows members of Congress to send mail postage free.

Gerrymandering:  redrawing district lines to favor one party at the expense of the other.

Hold:  Senate maneuver that allows a Senator to stop or delay consideration of a bill or presidential appointment.

Impeachment:  House action that formally charges an official with wrongdoing.  Conviction requires 2/3 vote from the Senate.

Impoundment:  refusal of a President to spend money that has been appropriated by Congress.

Injunction:  court order that forbids a party from performing a certain action.

Judicial activism:  philosophy that the courts should take an active role in solving problems.

Judicial restraint:  philosophy that the courts should defer to elected lawmakers in setting policy, and should instead focus on interpreting law rather than making law.

Judicial review:  power of the courts to review the constitutionality of laws or government actions.

Legislative oversight:  ongoing process of congressional monitoring of the executive branch to ensure that the latter complies with the law.

Legislative veto:  process in which Congress overturned rules and regulations proposed by executive branch agencies.  Struck down in 1983.

Line item veto:  power of most governors (and President Clinton for only a few years) to delete or reduce funding in a bill on a line by line basis.

Logrolling:  when two members of Congress agree to vote for each other’s bill.

Majority opinion:  written to express the majority viewpoint in a Supreme Court case.

Mark up:  committee action to amend a proposed bill.

Merit system:  system of hiring federal workers based upon competitive exams.

Open rule:  House Rules Committee rule that allows amendments to a bill.

Original jurisdiction:  authority of a court to first hear a case.

Patronage:  power to appoint loyal party members to federal positions.

Pocket veto:  presidential killing of a bill by inaction after Congress adjourns.

Political appointees:  those who have received presidential appointments to office.  Contrast with Civil Service employees, who receive federal jobs by competitive exams.

Pork barrel:  wasteful congressional spending, e.g. funding for a Lawrence Welk museum in North Dakota.

Quorum:  minimum number of members needed for the House or Senate to meet.

Reapportionment:  reallocation of House seats to the states on the basis of changes in state populations, as determined by the census.

Redistricting:  redrawing of congressional district boundaries by the party in power of the state legislature.

Red tape:  complex rules and procedures required by bureaucratic agencies.

Remand:  the Supreme Court’s sending of a case back to the original court in which it was heard.

Rider:  amendment to a bill that has little to do with that bill.  Also known as a nongermane amendment.

Rule of four:  the Supreme Court will hear a case if four Justices agree to do so.

Rules Committee:  the “traffic cop” of the House that sets the legislative calendar and issues rules for debate on a bill.

Senatorial courtesy:  tradition in which the President consults with the senators within a state in which an appointment is to be made.

Seniority system:  tradition in which the Senator from the majority party with the most years of service on a committee becomes the chairman of that committee.

Spoils system:  see patronage above.

Standing committees:  the permanent congressional committees that handle legislation.

Stare decisis:  Latin for “let the decision stand.”  Supreme Court policy of following precedent in deciding cases.

Sunset laws:  laws that automatically expire after a given time.

Ways and Means Committee:  House committee that handles tax bills.

Whistleblower:  an employee who exposes unethical or illegal conduct within the federal government or one of its contractors.

Writ of certiorari:  issued by the Supreme Court to a lower court to send up the records of a case so that it can be reviewed by the high court.

Writ of habeas corpus:  court order that the authorities show cause for why they are holding a prisoner in custody.  Deters unlawful imprisonment.

Writ of mandamus:  court order directing a party to perform a certain action.