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79 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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A legislature that is divided into two chambers. Example: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
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Bicameral legislature
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A proposed law, drafted in precise, legal language.
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Bill
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Grouping of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic.
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Caucus
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Heads of Congressional committees. They schedule hearings, hire staff, appoint subcommittees, manage bills in committee, etc.
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Committee chairs
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A special committee formed when each chamber passes a bill in different forms, composed of members of each chamber who were appointed by each chamber’s leaders to work out a compromise bill.
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Conference committee
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Lengthy, rambling speech unique to the Senate intended to forestall or prevent the passage of certain legislation. Can only be ended by if 60 Senators vote for cloture.
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Filibuster
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A committee unique to the House, which is appointed by the Speaker of the House, reviews most bills coming from a House committee for a floor vote, and which gives each bill a rule.
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House Rules Committee
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Those who are already in office.
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Incumbents
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Special committees composed of members from each chamber of Congress that resolve differences in drafted versions of bills.
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Joint committees
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Congress's constitutionally-ordained right to monitor the bureaucracy and how it administers policy.
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Legislative oversight
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The Speaker’s principal partisan ally. Responsible for soliciting support for the party’s position on legislation.
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Majority leader
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The minority party’s counterpart to the majority party’s leadership.
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Minority leader
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List of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges, and institutions. Tacked on to the end of legislation to win supporters.
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Pork barrel
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Temporary committee that serves a specific purpose. |
Select committees
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System of appointing heads of committees solely based off of the amount of time one serves in office; the longest-serving person is appointed. |
Seniority system
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Presides over floor of the House of Representatives. As mandated by the Constitution, is third in the line of presidential succession.
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Speaker of the House
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Permanent committees formed in each chamber to handle bills in different policy areas.
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Standing committees
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The majority or minority leader’s principle tool for securing support for legislation and who lobby partisans for support. The Whip ensures that party members vote in accordance with the majority/minority leader's wishes.
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Minority/Majority Whip
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The group of presidential advisers who head the executive departments.
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Cabinet
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Members of the executive branch who advise the President on economic matters. |
Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)
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The political equivalent of an indictment for removing a potentially unscrupulous President.
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Impeachment
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A clause which allows the Senate to override the President's veto of a certain piece of legislation with a two-thirds vote.
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Legislative veto
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A committee composed of the President’s key foreign and military advisers.
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National Security Council (NSC)
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Part of the Executive branch. Responsible for aiding in the preparation of the President’s
budget, as well as assessing the budgetary implications of legislative proposals. |
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
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Veto by Presidential inaction. Can only occur if ten days pass following the adjournment of the current session of Congress. |
Pocket veto
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Phenomenon in which voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates who support, or are in the same party as, the President.
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Presidential coattails
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Permits the Vice President to become acting President in the event that the current President is incapacitated.
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Twenty-fifth Amendment
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Prohibits Presidents from serving for more than two terms. Passed in 1951, after FDR served for an unprecedented twelve years (three terms) in office.
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Twenty-second Amendment
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President's power to not sign legislation passed by Congress. Can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in the Senate. |
Veto
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Requires presidents to consult with Congress
prior to using military force. Also mandates the withdrawal of forces after sixty days unless Congress formally declares war or grants an extension. Passed in 1973. |
War Powers Resolution
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Authority of administrative actors, i.e. bureaucrats, to select among various responses to a given problem, especially when rules do not fit or when more than one rule applies.
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Administrative discretion
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Those who implement policy.
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Bureaucracy
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Economic regulatory strategy where the federal government sets and monitors individual and corporate economic requirements.
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Command-and-control policy
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Special type of regulation that originates in the Executive branch.
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Executive orders
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Federally-owned company providing services that could be handled by private sector corporations. Governmental corporations generally charge cheaper rates than private sector producers.
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Governmental corporations
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Scale from 0-18 which helps to determine the salary associated with each position in government. Example: the President has a GS rating of 18.
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GS (General Service) rating
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Legislation that prohibits government workers from active participation in partisan politics. Passed in 1940.
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Hatch Act
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Regulatory strategy that rewards individuals or corporations for desired types of behavior, usually through the tax code.
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Incentive system
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Miscellaneous executive agencies that cannot be classified as cabinet departments, regulatory commissions, or government corporations.
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Independent executive agencies
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Executive agency that protects consumer interests by monitoring entities in the public sector. |
Independent regulatory commission
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Term coined to describe the strong ties between government agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees and/or subcommittees.
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Iron triangles
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Idea that an applicant's skill alone should be used when considering who to hire for government jobs. Exhibited mainly through entrance exams for prospective employees and promotion ratings for current workers.
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Merit principle
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Manages and monitors the process of hiring in most Executive agencies.
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Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
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A hiring and promotion system based on "knowing the right people"; nepotism.
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Patronage
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Legislative act that created the Civil Service. Passed in 1883.
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Pendleton Civil Service Act
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The stage of policy-making between the establishment of a policy and the results of the policy for individuals.
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Policy implementation
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Detailed rules written to cover as many particular situations as officials can anticipate in order to help bureaucrats implement policies
uniformly. |
Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
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Bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public.
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Street-level bureaucrats
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In Latin, “friend of the court” briefs. Submitted by third parties who wish to influence the Court’s decision by raising additional points of view and information not contained in briefs prepared by litigators.
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Amicus curiae briefs
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The right to rule on a case whose verdict has been appealed.
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Appellate jurisdiction
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Cases that permit a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people similarly affected.
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Class action suits
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Courts that have the power to review all final decisions of district courts, except in instances requiring direct review by the Supreme Court.
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Courts of appeal
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The entry point for most federal litigation.
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District courts
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Theory that judges should make bolder policy decisions to alleviate pressing needs of society that might not have necessarily been foreseen by the Founding Fathers.
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Judicial activism
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how and whether court decisions are translated into actual
policy. |
Judicial implementation
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theory that judges should play minimal role in policymaking and leave
policy decisions to the legislature. |
Judicial restraint
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The power of the courts to rule whether or not acts of Congress, and by implication, those of the Executive, in violation of the Constitution.
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Judicial review
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Disputes that can be settled by legal methods
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Justiciable disputes
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1803 Supreme Court case, presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall, that established the notion of judicial review.
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Marbury v. Madison
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Judicial theory that judges should determine the intent of the framers and decide in line with their intent.
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Original intent
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The ability of a court to hear a case. Given to the court where a case is first heard.
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Original jurisdiction
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The verdicts of similar cases in the past. Used to influence decisions made with regard to current case law.
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Precedent
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An unwritten but long-adhered-to tradition in which nominations for federal judicial positions are not confirmed when opposed by a Senator of the President’s party from the state in which the nominee is to serve, or from the state of the nominee’s residence.
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Senatorial courtesy
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An attorney, appointed by the President, who is in charge of presiding over litigation that takes place in appellate courts.
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Solicitor General
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Judicial concept stating that verdicts serving as precedent should hold for the case in question.
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Stare decisis
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The highest court in the land. Resolves disputes between and among states, maintains the national supremacy of law, and ensures uniformity in the interpretation of national laws. Composed of eight Associate Justices and one Chief Justice.
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Supreme Court
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A policy document that allocates burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures).
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Budget
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Occurs when more money is spent than received in a fiscal year.
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Deficit
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Expenditures for which the total amount spent is not determined by Congressional appropriation; rather, it is based on how many are eligible to receive benefits. Example: Social Security.
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Entitlements
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The amount of money spent by the government in a fiscal year.
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Expenditures
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The amount of the money borrowed by a federal governing body over the years that is still
outstanding. |
Federal debt
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The amount of money that U.S. citizens are required to pay to the government from the money they earned (income).
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Income tax
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System that purportedly is the best predictor of a suitable budget. Represents last year’s budget, plus a little bit more.
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Incrementalism
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Program added to Social Security by the Johnson administration in 1965, to provide hospital and physician coverage for the elderly.
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Medicare
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Money received by a governing body from all sources of income. |
Revenues
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Gives Congress the power to levy income taxes.
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Sixteenth Amendment
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Entitlement program that gives money to senior and/or retired citizens in the form of monthly pensions. |
Social Security Act
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Revenue losses stemming from tax credits, i.e. special exemptions, exclusions, and deductions.
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Tax expenditures
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Expenditures that result from entitlement programs (programs that automatically award benefits to eligible demographics).
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Uncontrollable expenditures
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