American Government

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Hard Work

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The most prominent characteristic of a congressman's job

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Senate

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One of two houses of Congress, 100 members

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House of Representatives

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One of two houses of Congress, 435 members

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Congressional Elections

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Described as demanding, expensive

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Incumbents

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Individuals who already hold an office in any of the three branches of government

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Casework

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Activities where congressmen try to help out their constituents by getting them what they are entitled to.

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Pork Barrel

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The long list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available nationwide in congressional districts

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Bicameral Legislature

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The U.S. congress is consisting of two houses, which is an example of a certain legislature

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House Rules Committee

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House of Representatives committee that reviews all bills aside from revenue, budget, and appropriations from a House committee before they go to the full House

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Filibuster

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Strategy used in the Senate to talk a piece of legislation to death

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Speaker of the House

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Mandated by the Constitution, able to lead when chosen by the majority party in the House and can be president in the event the president and the vice president are not able to govern

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Majority Leader

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Schedules bills, influences committee assignments, and rounds up votes on behalf of the party's legislative positions

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Whips

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Associates of the majority or minority leader depending on political party

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Minority Leader

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Leader of the political party with less members

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President of the Senate

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The only defined job for the Vice President in the Constitution

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President Pro Tempore

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Leader of Senate if the Vice President cannot preside over Senate

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Committee

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Groups who are involved in policymaking, oversight of the bureaucracy and executive branch, hearings to investigate probable wrongdoing and problems, the congressional agenda, and guiding legislation

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Standing Committee

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Groups who deal with separate subject-matter bills in different policy areas

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Joint Committee

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Congressional groups who consist of members of both houses with the purpose of dealing with single-issue bills

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Conference Committee

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Groups consisting of members of both houses of Congress that are established when a bill is passed by both houses and if found different, is adjusted and brought back in the form of a single bill

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Subcommittee

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One of many groups that deal with the separate issues of part of a bill when a full committee cannot do it themselves

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Select Committee

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Groups appointed to deal with recent or emerging issues in the country

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Legislative Oversight

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Congress's monitoring of the bureaucracy and its administration of policy, performed mainly through hearings

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Committee Chairs

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Able to schedule hearings, hire staff members, appoint subcommittees, and manage committee bills when brought before the full house

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Seniority System

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The member who serves the longest on a committee and part of the domineering political party of Congress selected for a position of committee chair, regardless of loyalty to their party, competence, and mentality

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Caucus

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Group of Congress members sharing interest or characteristic

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Bill

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Piece of legislation that must be approved by the President or a two-thirds vote by all of Congress

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Rules Committee

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Issues rules and guidelines on how the bill is to be governed should it become a law

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Veto

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If such a thing happens, the bill proposed will not become a law unless Congress overrides it with a complete vote and two-thirds of it was in favor of the bill's passing

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President

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Commander in chief of the armed forces and naval forces, leader of the United States

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22nd Amendment

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Limits the terms a president can have in office to two four-year terms, consecutive or separate

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Impeachment

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Same as indictment in criminal law, if found guilty, the president will be removed from office

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The Watergate Scandal

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Controversial series of events that involved the cover-up of President Nixon's involvement in a break-in at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters and his eventual resignation amid the certainty of impeachment

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25th Amendment

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Permits the Vice President to act as President if the former is deceased or unable to govern and permits the President to take back his position upon return to office, if possible

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Constitutional Powers of the President

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The President can serve as commander in chief of the armed forces, make treaties with other nations (with the Senate's approval), nominate ambassadors (with the Senate's approval), receive ambassadors from other countries, present information on the State of the Union to Congress, recommend legislation to Congress, convene both houses of Congress on occasion, adjourn Congress if there is no agreement between both houses to adjourn, veto legislation (Congress can override with a total two-thirds vote), make sure all laws are executed and governed, nominate officials with the consent of Congress, request written opinions of administrative officials, fill vacancies during congressional recesses, grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses expect for impeachment, and nominate federal judges with the approval of the Senate

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Cabinet

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Group of presidential advisers

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Cabinet Departments

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State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security

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National Security Council

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Committee that concerns itself with issues pertaining to foreign and military policy

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Council of Economic Advisers

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A three-member group that advises the President on economic policy

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Office of Management and Budget

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Lengthy group who concerns themselves with preparing the presidential budget

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First Lady

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Wife of the President of the United States, often a media maven and center of attention

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Pocket Veto

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A type of veto that takes place when the President lets a bill die by neither signing or vetoing it when Congress adjourns ten days within submitting the bill to the President

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Presidential Coattails

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Voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates running on the President's party to curry favor from the President

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Public Approval

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Often the most important factor in building trust between the President and not just his people, but also the members of Congress

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Mandate

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When the voters strongly favor a president based on his character and policies

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War Powers Resolution

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Law passed in the 1970s that required presidents to consult with Congress prior to using military force and withdrawing forces after sixty days unless Congress formally declares war or grants an extension

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Legislative Veto

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Ability of Congress to override a presidential decision

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Crisis

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Sudden, unpredicatable, and potential dangerous event requiring the President to take on the role of peacekeeper

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Budget

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A policy document allocating burdens and benefits

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Deficit

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Excess of federal expenditures over revenues

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Expenditures

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Government spending of the financial resources of the government

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Revenues

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The financial resources of the government

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Income Tax

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Shares of individual wages and corporate revenues collected by the government, authorized by the 16th Amendment

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16th Amendment

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Explicitly permitted Congress to levy an income tax

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Federal Debt

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All the money borrowed by the federal government

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Military Defense

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Once considered the most important part of the country's budget

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Social Security

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An uncontrollable expenditure, this is the biggest part of the country's budget

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Tax Loopholes

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Tax break or benefit that contains many legal exemptions, deductions, and special cases

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Tax Expenditures

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Revenue losses that result from special exemptions, exclusions, or deductions on federal tax law

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Military Industrial Complex

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Close relationship between the defense industry and the military hierarchy

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Social Security Act

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Law passed intended to provide a minimal level of sustenance to older Americans and thus save them from poverty

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Medicare

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Program added to the Social Security that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other health expenses

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Entitlements

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Policies for which Congress has obligated itself to pay X level of benefits to Y number of recipients

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House of Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee

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Committees from the House of Representatives and Senate respectively that writes the tax codes pending the approval of Congress as a whole

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Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act

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Designed to reform the congressional budget process with the addition of a fixed budget calendar, a budget committee in both houses, and a congressional budget office

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Congressional Budget Office

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Advises Congress on the probable consequences of its decisions, forecasts revenues, and is the congressional equivalency of the Office of Management and Budget available to the President

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Budget Resolution

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Binds Congress to a total expenditure level, supposedly for all federal spending for all programs

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Reconcilation

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Congressional process through which program authorizations are revised to achieve required savings, also includes tax or other revenue adjustments

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Authorization Bill

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Act of Congress that establishes, continues, or changes a discretionary government program or an entitlement, also specifying program goals and maximum expenditures for discretionary programs

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Appropriations Bill

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Act of Congress that actually funds programs within limits established by authorization bills

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Continuing Resolutions

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Allows agencies to spend at the level of the previous year if Congress cannot reach an agreement to pass appropriations bills

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Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act

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Also known as Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, mandated maximum allowable deficit levels for every year until 1993, the year the budget is supposed to be in balance by, and if the deficit goals failed to be met, sequestrations, or across-the-board spending cuts, were to be ordered by the President

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Bureaucracy

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According to German sociologist Max Weber, a hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality

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Myths About The Bureaucracy

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Americans dislike bureaucrats, bureaucracies grow bigger yearly, most federal bureaucrats work in Washington, D.C., and bureaucracies are inefficient, ineffective, and always mired in red tape

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Patronage

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An inducement by political machines, the ability to acquire a job based on political connections, not merit or competence

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Pendleton Civil Service Act

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An Act of Congress that made sure the hiring and promotion of workers would be based on merit rather than patronage

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Civil Service

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System of hiring and promotion based on merit and the desire to create a nonpartisan government service

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Merit Principle

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Idea that hiring should be based on entrance exams and promotion ratings to produce administration by people with talent and skill

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Hatch Act

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Federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics

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Office Of Personal Management

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In charge of hiring for most agencies of the federal government, using elaborate rules in the process

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General Schedule Rating

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Schedule for federal employees, ranging from GS 1 to GS 18, by which salaries can be keyed to rating and experience

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Senior Executive Service

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Elite group of roughly nine thousand federal government managers who are mostly career officials but include some political appointees who do not require the confirmation of Senate, established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

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Independent Regulatory Commission

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Government agency responsible for some sector of the economy, making and enforcing rules to protect the public interests while judging disputes over these rules, examples include the Federal Reserve Board, National Labor Relations Board, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission

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Government Corporation

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Government organization that provides a service that could be provided by the private sector and does it in exchange for a fee for said services, examples include the Tennessee Valley Authority, Comsat, Amtrak, and the United States Postal Service

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Independent Executive Agency

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Not accounted for by cabinet departments, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations, examples include the General Services Administration, National Science Foundation, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Policy Implementation

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Stage of policymaking between the establishment of a policy and the consequences of the policy for the people whom it affects, also involving the translation of the goals and objectives of a policy into an ongoing, operating program

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Standard Operating Procedures

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Used by bureaucrats to bring uniformity to complex organizations

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Administrative Discretion

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Authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem, appropriate when standard operating procedures are not

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Street-Level Bureaucrats

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Referring to those bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public and have considerable administrative discretion

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Regulation

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The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector, pervading the daily lives of people and institutions

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Deregulation

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Lifting of restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities for which government rules had been established and that bureaucracies had been created to administer

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Command-And-Control Policy

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The typical system of regulation whereby government tells business how to reach certain goals, checks that these commands are followed, and punishes offenders

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Incentive System

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Marketlike strategies are used to manage public policy

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Executive Orders

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Presidents can make regulations and use them to control the bureaucracy, along with altering agency budgets, reorganizing agencies, and appointing the right people to head the agency

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Congress's Means of Controlling The Bureaucracy

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Influencing the appointment of agency heads, altering agency budgets, holding hearings, and adding details to or rewriting the legislation

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Issue Networks

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Groups of federal agents who participate in bureaucratic policymaking drawn by intellectual or emotional commitments rather than materialistic desires and wish to complicate the calculations and decrease the predictability of those involved in the stable and narrow relationships of subgovernments

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Iron Triangles

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Mutually dependent relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees, dominating areas of domestic policymaking