POL 161 Ch. 5
Terms
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- party vote
- a roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party. Rare today, although were fairly common in the 19th century
- distributive tendency
- the tendency of Congress to spread the benefits of a bill over a wide range of members' districts
- appropriations
- the amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend
- oversight
- the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies
- standing committee
- a permament committtee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject such as finance or appropriations
- pocket veto
- a presidential veto of legislation wherein the president takes no formal action on a bill. If Congress adjourns within ten days of passing a bill, and the president does not sign it, the bill is considered to be vetoed
- gerrymandering
- apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one political party
- executive agreement
- agreement between the president and another country, which has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate's "advice and consent"
- veto
- the president's constitutional power to turn down acts of Congress. May be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house in Congress
- constituency
- members of the district from which an official is elected
- party caucus
- a normally closed meeting of a political or legislative group to select candidates, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters
- open rule
- provision by the House Rule Committee that permits floor debate and the addition of amendments to a bill
- roll-call vote
- a vote in which each legislator's yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members alphabetically
- conference committee
- a joint committee created to work out a compromise on House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation
- pork-barrel legislation
- appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed by that are created so that local representatives can win reelection in their home district
- cloture
- rule allowing a majority, two thirds, or three fifths of the members in a legislative body to set a time limit on debate over a given bill
- patronage
- the resources available to higher officials, usually opportunites to make partisan appointments to offices and to confer grants, licenses, or special favors to supporters
- logrolling
- a legislative practice wherein reciprocal agreements are made between legislators, usually in voting for or against a bill. In contrast to bargaining, parties to this have nothing in common but their desire to exchange support
- agency representation
- the type of representation by which representatives are held accountable to their constituents if they fail to represent them properly
- delegate
- a representative who votes according to the preferences of his or her constituency
- filibuster
- a tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a vote of three fifths of the Senate to end it
- whip system
- primarily a communications network in each house of Congress, whips take polls of the membership in order to learn their intentions on specific legislative issues and to assist the majority and minority leaders in various tasks
- seniority
- priority or status ranking given to an individual on the basis of length or continuous service in a committee in Congress
- casework
- an effort by members of Congress to gain the trust and support of constituents by providing them with personal service. One important type consists of helping constituents obtain favorable treatment from the federal bureaucracy
- minority leader
- the elected leader of the party holding less than a majority of seats in the House or Senate
- incumbency
- holding a political office for which one is running
- majority leader
- the elected leader of the party holding a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. In the House, this person is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker
- bicameralism
- division of a legislative body into two houses, chambers, or branches
- trustee
- a representative who votes based on what he or she thinks is best for his or her constituency
- impeachment
- to charge a governmental official (president or otherwise) with "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" and bring him or her before Congress to determine guilt
- closed rule
- provision by the House Rules Committee limiting or prohibiting the introduction of amendments during debate
- speaker of the house
- the chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives. They are elected at the beginning of every Congress on a straight party vote. They are the most important party and House leader, and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of individual pieces of legislation, and members' positions within the House