Chapter 11
Terms
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- Agenda Setting
- Determining which public-policy questions will be debated or considered.
- Franking
- A policy that enables members of Congress to send material through the mail by substituting their facsimile signature (frank) for postage.
- Gerrymandering
- The drawing of legislative district boundary lines for the purpose of obtaining partisan or factional advantage. A district is said to be gerrymandered when its shape is manipulated by the dominant party in the state legislature to maximize electoral strength at the expense of the minority party.
- Appropriation
- The passage, by Congress, of a spending bill specifying the amount of authorized funds that actually will be allocated for an agency's use.
- Direct Primary
- An intraparty election in which the voters select the candidates who will run on a party's ticket in the subsequent general election.
- Continuing Resolution
- A temporary funding law that Congress passes when an appropriations bill has not been decided by the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1.
- Select Committee
- A temporary legislative committee established for a limited time period and for a special purpose.
- Oversight
- The process by which Congress follows up on laws it has enacted to ensure that they are being enforced and administered in the way Congress intended.
- Senate Minority Leader
- The party officer in the Senate who commands the minority party's opposition to the policies of the majority party and directs the legislative program and strategy of his or her party.
- Standing Committee
- A permanent committee in the House or Senate that considers bills within a certain subject area.
- Discharge Petition
- A procedure by which a bill in the House of Representatives may be forced (discharged) out of a committee that has refused to report it for consideration by the House. The petition must be signed by an absolute majority (218) of representatives and is used only on rare occasions.
- Party Identifier
- A person who indentifies with a political party.
- Fiscal Year (FY)
- A twelve-month period that is used for bookkeeping, or accounting, purposes. Usually, the fiscal year does not coincide with the caledar year. For example, the federal government's fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30.
- Justiciable Question
- A question that may be raised and reviewed in court.
- Whip
- A member of Congress who aids the majority or minority leader of the House or the Senate.
- Bicameralism
- The division of a a legislature into two separate assmblies
- First Budget Resolution
- A resoluntion passed by Congress in May that sets overall revenue and spending goals for the following fiscal year.
- Minority Leader of the House
- The party leader elected by the minority party in the House.
- Representation
- The function of members of Congress as elected officials representing the views of their constituents.
- Redistricting
- The redrawing of the boundaries of the congressional districts within each state.
- Rules Committe
- A standing committee of the House of Representatives that provides special rules under which specific bills can be debated, amended, and considered by the House.
- Ombudsperson
- A person who hears and investigates complaints by private individuals against public officials or agencies
- Spring Review
- The annual process in which the Office of Management and Budget, after receiving formal federal agency requests for funding for the next fiscal year, reviews the requests, makes changes, and submits its recommendations to the president.
- Senate Majority Leader
- The chief spokesperson of the majority party in the Senate, who directs the legislative program and party strategy.
- Safe Seat
- A district that returns a legislator with 55% of the vote or more.
- Reapportionment
- The allocation of seats in the House of Representatives to each state after each census.
- Enumerated Power
- A power specifically granted to the national government by the Constitution. the firest seventeen clauses Article 1, Section 8, specify most of the enumerated powers of Congress.
- Executive Budget
- The budget prepared and submitted by the president to Congress
- Speaker of the House
- The presiding officer in the House of Representatives. The Speaker is always a member of the majority party and is the most powerful and influential member of the House.
- Trustee
- A legislator who acts according to her or his conscience and the broad interests of the entire society.
- Constituent
- One of the persons reporesented by a legislator or other elected or appointed official.
- Majority Leader of the House
- A legislative position held by an important party member in the House of Representatives. The majority leader is selected by the majority party in caucus or conference to foster cohesion among party members and to act as spokesperson for the majority party in the House.
- Second Budget Resolution
- A resolution passed by Congress in September that sets "binding" limits on taxes and spending for the following fiscal year.
- Conservative Coalition
- An alliance of Republicans and southern Democrats that can form in the House or the Senate to oppose liberal legislation and support conservative legislation.
- President Pro Tempore
- The temporary presiding officer of the Senate in the absence of the vice president.
- Authorization
- A formal declaraion by a legislative committee that a certain amount of funding may be available to an agency. Some authorizations teminate in a year; others are renewable automatically without further congressional action.
- Filibuster
- the use of the Senate's tradition of unlimited debate as a delaying tactic to block a bill.
- Logrolling
- An arrangement in which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other's bills
- Instructed Delegate
- A legislator who is an agent of the voters who elected him or her and who votes according to the views of constituents regardless of personal beliefs.
- Lawmaking
- The process of establishing the legal rules that govern society