Chapter 11 Terms
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Minority leader
- The legislative leader selected by the minority party as spokesperson for the opposition.
- Hold
- A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator temporarily blocks the consideration of a bill or nomination.
- Party caucus
- A meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and to develop party policy.
- Reapportionment
- the assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts.
- Cloture
- A procedure for terminating debate, especially filibusters, in the Senate.
- President pro tempore
- Officer of the senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president.
- Trustee
- An official who is expected to vote independently, based on his or her judgment for the circumstances;
- Pocket veto
- Exercised by the president after Congress has adjourned; if the president takes no action for ten days, the bill does not become law and is not returned to Congress for a possible override.
- Override
- An action taken by Congress to reverse a presidential veto, requiring a two thirds majority in each chamber.
- Special or select committee
- Special panels appointed to study major policy issues.
- Incumbents
- The current holders of elected office.
- Logrolling
- Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators.
- Safe seat
- An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other, so the success of that party's candidate is almost take for granted.
- Attentive public
- A secret ballot printed by the state
- Filibuster
- A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue.
- Senatorial courtesy
- Presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.
- Speaker
- The presiding office in the Hour of Representatives, formally elected by the House buy actually selected by the majority party.
- Seniority rule
- A legislative practice that assigns the chair of a committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee.
- Delegate
- An official who is expected to represent the views of his or her constituents even when personally holding different views; one interpretation of the role of the legislator.
- Whip
- Party leader who is the liaison between the leadership and the rank and file in the legislature.
- Majority leader
- The legislative leader selected by the majority party who helps plan party strategy, confers with other party leaders, and tries to keep members of the party in line
- Standing committee
- A permanent committee established in a legislature, usually focusing on a policy area.
- Bicameralism
- The principle of two house legislature
- Conference committee
- Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.
- Joint committee
- A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigation.
- Enumerated powers
- The powers explicitly given to Congress in the Constitution.
- Open rule
- A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill
- Discharge petition
- Petition that, if signed by a majority of the members of the House of Representatives, will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration.
- Closed rule
- A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments.
- Gerrymandering
- The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent.
- Rider
- A provision attached to a bill, to which it may or may not be related, in order to secure its passage
- Redistricting
- The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.