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57 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Bicameral Legislature |
A lawmaking body made up of two parts |
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Bill |
A formally passed law in the House or Senate |
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Congress |
Refers to both the Senate and House of Rep. or just the House |
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Constituents |
Voters represented by a particular representative or senator |
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House of Representatives |
1/2 of legislative branch of the U.S. Government comprising proportional representation per state based on population |
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Impeachment |
Power reserves to the House of rep for purpose of drawing up charges against a political figure |
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Iron Triangle |
Close relationship between a gov. agency, congressional committee, and an interest group |
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Joint resolution |
Formal expression of congressional opinion that must be approved by by both houses of congress and by president |
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Override |
When the House and/or Senate votes to pass a bill over a presidents veto (2/3 vote) |
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Private Bill |
A legislative bill that deals with specific, private; personal, or local matter, like a bill pertaining to and individual becoming a citizen |
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Public bill |
Legislative bill that deals with matters of general concern, like defense expenditures |
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Resolution |
Formal motion that may or may not have legal binding adopted by the House or Senate |
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Revenue bill |
A bill concerning the raising or spending of money; all such bills must originate in the house |
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Senate |
1/2 of legislative branch of U.S. Government comprising equal representation per state |
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Amendment |
A formal addition or change to a bill under consideration |
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Caucus |
Meeting or organization of particular members of a political party in the house or senate |
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Closed rule |
A rule set by the Rules Committee before a bill comes to the House of Rep that states that no additional amendments or substitutes to the bill may be offered from the floor |
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Committee chair |
Head of a committee appointed by the speaker of the house |
If majority agree, the bill is discharged for the committee |
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Committee of the whole |
Parliamentary device in which the house of rep. is considered one large congressional committee but only requires 100 members to be present |
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Discharge petition |
A device by which any member of the house, after a committee has had a bill for 30 days, may petition to have it brought to the floor |
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Earmarks |
A legislative provision that directs approved funds to be spend on certain projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees |
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Hopper |
A box in which a bill to be considered by the legislation is dropped |
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House resolution |
Formal motion or bill adopted by the house of rep. |
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House ways and means committee |
Considered to be the most powerful standing committee of the house of rep.; makes recommendations to the house on all bills that would raise revenue |
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Germane amendments |
Changes to bills on the floor of the House that must relate directly to the bill being considered. |
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Majority leader |
Legislative leader elected by party members holding a majority of the seats in House or senate |
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Marginal seat |
A seat in the house of rep. That is not considered to be safe for the incumbent in next election |
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Minority leader |
Legislative leader elected by party members holding a minority of seats in the house or rep or senate |
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Multiple referral |
Congressional process in which a bill may be referred to several committees that consider it simultaneously in whole or in part |
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Open rule |
An order from the House Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor |
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Oversight |
Review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implantation by congress |
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Cloture |
Procedure in which debate is ended and immediate vote is taken on the matter (needs 3/5 majority) |
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Filibuster |
An attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by taking indefinitely, preventing the Senate from takin action on the bill |
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Hold |
An informal practice by which a senator informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration |
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Gridlock |
Refers to the difficulty of passing laws due to a split or evenly divided congress |
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Line-item veto |
When the chief executive can veto only certain provisions, or lines, of a bill before it becomes a law. |
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Logrolling |
Legislator supports a proposal favored by another in return for their support |
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Party polarization |
A vote in which a majority of democratic legislators oppose a majority of republican legislators |
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Pigeonholing |
Method of killing a bill by a committee chair by simply refusing to assign or hold hearing or debate on a bill |
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Term limits |
Legal limits of how many total terms of office can be held by one individual |
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Speaker of the house |
Presiding office of the house of rep that runs the proceedings of house debate and voting, appoints committee members, refers bills to committees for research and development, and has influential voice in all stages of a bill |
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Subcommittee |
A subdivision of a House or Senate committee that considers specified matters and reports back to the full committee |
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Voice vote |
A voting method used by legislature in which a vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding "aye" or "no" |
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Whip |
An official in a political party whose job is to make sure that other members go to a particular debate and that they vote in the correct way |
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Conference committee |
A joint committee of a bicameral legislature which is appointed by and consists of members of both chambers to resolve disagreements on a particular bill |
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President of senate |
Official constitutional role of the vice-president of the US. |
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17th amendment |
Amendment to constitution ratified in 1913 that allows for direct election or senators by the people of their states |
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Party caucus |
A closed meeting of the members of one party in a legislative chamber to coordinate policy, choose candidates |
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Quorum |
The minimum number of members required to be in attendance for congress to conduct official business |
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Quorum call |
Procedure used to summon absent members of a legislative body if a quorum is not present |
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Ranking member |
Most senior member of a committee from the minority party |
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Rider |
Additional provision annexed to a bill under the consideration of a legislature, having little to do with the subject matter of the bill |
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Roll call vote |
Congressional voting procedure that where members answer with "yea" or "nay" to their names |
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Safe seat |
Districts in which incumbents win by a margin of 55% or more |
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Select committe |
Committee of the legislative body that is formed to examine and report on a specific bill or issue |
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Seniority |
Precedence of position, especially over others of the same rank, by having a longer span of service |
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Standing committee |
Committee that has continued to exist and is not related to the accomplishment of a specific, once-only task |
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