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Government II Chap. 9 Congress

Terms

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Legislative authorizations to spend money for particular purposes
Appropriation Bills
Is the division of the legislative branch of government into two chambers. The United States’ bicameral system is composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
Bicameralism
A two-house legislature
Bicameral
A proposed law
Bill
A series of campaign promises offered by Republican candidates during the 1994 congressional elections.
Contract with America
To acuse an executive or judicial officeholder of improper behavior serious enough to merit removal from office
Impeach
A voting margin that is greater than a simple majority
Supermajority
Free mailing privilages granted to members of Congress
Franklin Privilege
An arrangement in which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other's favored legislation
Logrolling
The movement to restrict the number of terms public officials may serve.
Term Limitation
The full House or full Senate taking official action
Floor
The presiding officer in the Senate in the vice president's absence
Senate President Pro Tempore
Tenure or length of service
Seniority
The head of the majority party in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader
The first assistant to the Majority Leader in the House or Senate.
Majortity Whip
The leader of the minority party in the Senate
Minority Leader
The first assistant to the Minority Leader in the House or Senate
Minority Whip
Assistant floor leaders in Congress
Whips
The presiding officer in the House of Representatives and the leader of the majority party in that chamber.
Speaker of the House
The second ranking majority party leader in the House
House Majority Leader
A permanant legislative committee with authority to draft legislation in a particular policy area or areas.
Standing Committee
A committee established for a limited time only
Select committee
A committe that includes members from both houses of Congress
Joint Committee
The leader of the minority party on a committee or subcommittee
Ranking Member
All the party members of a chamber meeting as a group
Party Caucus
the refusal of the president to spend funds already appropriated by Congress
Impoundment
A law limiting the president's ablity to commit American armed forces to combat abroad without consultation with Congress and congressional approval.
War Powers Act
Complex, highly detailed legislative proposal covering one or more subjects or programs
Omnimous Bills
A legislative statement of opinion on a certain matter
Resolution
A member of Congress who introduces a peice of legislation
Sponsor
The practice of allowing more than one committee to consider legislation
Multiple Referral of Legislation
The process in which legislators go over a measure line-by-line, revising, amending, or rewriting it
Legislative markup
Postpone action in the legislative process
Table
A procedure whereby a majority of the members of the House of Representatives can force a committee to report a bill to the floor of the House
Discharge Petition
A campaign finance reform law designed to limit the political influence of big money campaign contributions
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)
A standing committee that determines the rules under which a specific bill can be debated, amended, and considered on the House floor
House Rules Committess
A rule that opens a measure to amendememt without restriction
Open Rule
A rule that prohibts floor consideration of amendments on the House Floor
Closed Rule
A formal understanding on procedures for conducting busines in the Senate that requires the acceptance of every member of the chamber
Unanimous Consent Agreement
Amendments that are unrelated to the subject matter of the original measure
Non-Germane Amendemnts
An amendment designed to make a measure so unattractive that it will lack enough support to pass
Killer Amendment
An attempt to defeat the measure through prolonged debate
Filibuster
The procedure for ending a filibuster
Cloture
A special, joint congressional committee created to negotiate differences on similar peices of legislation passed by the House and Senate.
or
A temporary joint committee.
Conference Committee
The members of a conference committee
Conferees
Compromised legislation produced by a conference committee
Conference Report
The action of a president allowing a measure to die without signature after Congress has adjouned
Pocket Veto
The action of the chief executive refusing to approve a measure passed by legislation
Veto
A provision, unlikely to become law on its own merits, which is attached to an important measure so that it will ride through the legislative process.
Rider
An informal allicance in Congress between conservative Democrats, mostly from the South, and Republicans
Conservative Coalition
Votes in Congress in which a majority of the members of each party in a chamber vote on opposite sides of an issue
Party-Line Votes
The action of members of Congress and their staffs attending to the individual, particular needs of constituents
Constituency Service
Expenditures to fund local projects that are not critically important from a national perspective
Pork Belly Spending
A political system in which citizens elect representatives to make policy decisions on their behalf
Representative Democracy
An official whose influence is diminished because the official either cannot or will not seek reelection
Lame Duck
A formal accusation against an executive or judicial officeholder
Impeachment
A document listing the impeachable offenses that the House beleives the president committed
Articles of Impeachment
The process whereby the states that had seceded during the Civil War were reorganized and re-established in the Union.
Reconstruction
An international accord among the United States, Mexico, and Canada to lower trade barriers among the three nations.
North American Free Trade Agremment NAFTA
International understanding between the president and foreign nations that does not require Senate ratification
Executive Agreeement
The concept that the armed forces should be under the direct control of civiilan authorities
Civillian Supremacy of the Armed Forces
An undemocratic governement with power concentrated in the hands of one person or a small group
Authoriarianism
An executive action that frees an accused or convicted person from all penalties for an offense
Pardon
An executive action that delays punishment for a crime
Repreive
The head of the Executive branch of government
Chief Executive
A directive issued by the president to an administrative agency or executive department
Executive order
The concept that the President enjoys more influence over foreign policy that domestic policy
Two Presidencies Thesis
The acquisition from France of a vast expense of land stretching from New Orleans north to the Dakotas
Louisiana Purchase
A legislative package of reform measures proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt
New Deal
An international agreement to prohibit any nuclear weapons test explosion or any other nuclear explosion anywhere in the world.
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The phenomenon of one political party controlling the legislative branch of government while the other holds the executive branch
Divided government
The group of White House offices and agencies that develop and implement the policies and programs of the president
Executive office of the President
An agency in the Executive office of the President that advises the president on matters involving national security
National Security Council (NSC)
An agency that assists the president in preparing the budget
Office of Managment and Budget (OMB)
The legislative program of President Lyndon Johnson
Great Society
An approach to news reporting in which journalists take an adversial attitude toward candidates and elected officials
Attack Journalism
The tendency of a president to enjoy a high level of public support during the early months of an administration
Honeymoon Effect
The tendency of the general public to express support for the incumbent president during a time of international threat
Rally Effect
The process through which Congress evaluates the implementation of public policy by executive branch agencies
Legislative Oversight
An independent agency that audits national government expenditures and programs for Congress.
General Accounting Office (GAO)
The major administrative units of the federal government that have responsibility for the conduct of a wide range of government operations
Cabinet Departments
An advisory group created by the President that includes the department heads and other officials choosen by the President, such as the nations ambassador to the United Nations.
President's cabinet
The Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense,
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney General
Inner cabinet
Executive branch agencies that are not part of any of the 15 cabinet-level departments
Independent Executive Agencies
An agency that administers an American foreign aid program under which volunteers travel to developing nations to teach skills and help improve living standards
Peace Corps
The federal agency in charge of the space program
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
The federal agency that gathers and evaluates foreign intelligence information in the interest of the national security
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
The federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation's environmental laws.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
A federal agency that operates the Social Security System
Social Security Administration (SSA)
A federal agency established to make loans to small businesses and assist them in obtaining government contracts
Small Business Administration (SBA)
The agency that enforces federal campaign finance laws
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
A government corporation responsible for mail service
Postal Service
A federal agency that operates inner city passenger railway traffic
National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)
A federal agency established to insure depositor's accounts in banks and savings and loan institutions.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
A federal agency established to promote the development of the Tennessee River and its tributaries
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
A federal agency established to encourage scientific advances and improvements in science education
National Science Foundation (NSF)
A federal agency created to nuture cultural expression and promote appreciation of the arts
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
An agency outside the major executive departments that is charged with the regulation of important aspects of the economy. Examples include the FTC, the FCC, the SEC, and the EEOC.
Independent Regulatory Commission
A federal agency that regualtes business competition, including enforcement of laws against monopolies and the protection of consumers from deceptive trade practices
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
A federal agency that regulates interstate and international radio, television, telephone, telegraph, and satellite communications, as well as licensing radio and television stations
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
A federal agency that regulates the sale of stocks and bonds as well as investment and holding companies
Securites and Exchange Commission (SEC)
An agency that investigates and rules on charges of employment discrimination
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Law that is written by the legislature
Statutory Law
The method of hiring government employees from among the friends, relatives, and supporters of elected officeholders
Spoils System
A measure designed to restrict the political activities of federal employees to voting and the private expression of views
Hatch Act
The system that awarded extra points in civil service exams to armed forces veteran's
Veteran's Preference
Workers who report wrongdoing or mismanagment
Whistleblowers
A legally binding regulation
Rule
The regulatory process used by governnment agencies to enact legally binding regulations
Rulemaking
A structured process by which representatives of the interests that would be substantially affected by a rule, including representatives of the regulatory agency, negotiate agreement on the terms of the rule
Regulatory Negotiation
the actions of members of Congress and their staffs attending to the individual, particular needs of constituents
Constituency Service
An indirect system of congressional surveillance of bureaucratic administration characterized by rules, procedures, and informal practices that enable individual citizens and organized interest groups to examine administrative decisions, charge agencies
Fire-Alarm Oversight
Agencies that work to benefit the economic interests they regulate rather than serving the public interest
Captured Agencies
A cozy, three sided relationship among government agencies, interest groups, and key members of Congress in which all parties benefit
Subgovernment or Iron Triange
A group of political actors that is actively involved with policymaking in a particular issue area
Issue Network
An official in the Public Health Service who advises the president in health matters
Surgeon General
A millitary advisory body that is composed of the chiefs of staff of the U.S. Army and Air Force, the Chief of Naval Operations, and sometimes the Commandant of the Marine Corps
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Is the allocation of House seats to the states each ten year census
Apportionment
is the drawing of the legislative district boundary lines following each ten year census.
Redistricting
The U.S. Constitution requires that the government conduct an actual enumeration of the population every ten years
Enumeration
Unequal numbers of people in legislature seats or districts.
Mal-apportionment
is the drawing of legislative district lines for political advantage.
Gerrymandering
The period of international tension between the United States and the Soviet Union lasting from the laste 1940's through the laste 1980's.
Cold War
The personal views of members of Congress have a major impact on legislative policymaking
Political Ideology
Has its greatest influence on close votes, procedural votes, and matters that party leaders identify as key.
Political party
Most members of Congress believe that they have a responsibility to “vote their district.”
Constinuency
Having few formal powers, congressional leaders must resort to bargaining and persuasion
Leadership
Groups hope to gain access to gather information so they can determine the impact of propose policy
Interest Groups
The president is a key player in congressional policymaking. Presidents use their influence to round up votes on the floor.
The White House
A line item veto is the ability to veto some provisions of a bill while accepting other provisions.
Line Item Veto
The right to keep confidential communications from other branch’s of government
Executive Privilege
Is the ability to veto some provisions of a bill while accepting other provisions.
Line Item Veto
The idea of “going public”suggests that modern presidents must adopt a media oriented strategy if they are to achieve their goals.
Going Public

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