Government 11-15

Front 1

a legislature that is divided into two chambers.

Back 1

Bicameral legislature

Front 2

a proposed law, drafted in precise, legal language.

Back 2

Bill

Front 3

helping constituents as individuals cut through bureaucratic red tape to receive
their rightful benefits.

Back 3

Casework

Front 4

grouping of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic.

Back 4

Caucus

Front 5

the most important influences on the congressional agenda; they
schedule hearings, hire staff, appoint subcommittees, and manage committee bills.

Back 5

Committee chairs

Front 6

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.

Back 6

Conference committee

Front 7

is unlimited debate, is unique to the Senate, and can only be ended by a vote
for cloture by 60 members

Back 7

Filibuster

Front 8

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.

Back 8

House Rules Committee

Front 9

people who already hold office.

Back 9

Incumbents

Front 10

special committees composed of members from each chamber.

Back 10

Joint committees

Front 11

the process of monitoring the bureaucracy and its administration of
policy.

Back 11

Legislative oversight

Front 12

the Speaker’s principal partisan ally who is responsible for soliciting
support for the party’s position on legislation

Back 12

Majority leader

Front 13

the minority party’s counterpart to the majority party’s leadership.

Back 13

Minority leader

Front 14

list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses,
colleges, and institutions.

Back 14

Pork barrel

Front 15

appointed for a specific purpose.

Back 15

Select committees

Front 16

a system used until the 1970s where majority party members who had
served on their committees the longest, regardless of party loyalty, mental state, or
competence, were automatically appointed chair of the committee.

Back 16

Seniority system

Front 17

as mandated by the Constitution, is next in line after the vice
president to succeed a president who is unable to fulfill his/her term and who presides
over the House.

Back 17

Speaker of the House

Front 18

committees formed in each chamber to handle bills in different
policy areas.

Back 18

Standing committees

Front 19

The majority or minority leader’s principle tool for securing support for legislation
and who lobby partisans for support.

Back 19

Whip

Front 20

the group of presidential advisors who head the executive departments.

Back 20

Cabinet

Front 21

members advise the president on economic policy
and prepare the Annual Report of the CEA.

Back 21

Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)

Front 22

a sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event.

Back 22

Crisis

Front 23

the political equivalent of an indictment for removing a discredited president.

Back 23

Impeachment

Front 24

a clause which allows Congress to override the action of the executive.

Back 24

Legislative veto

Front 25

a committee that links the president’s key foreign
and military advisors.

Back 25

National Security Council (NSC)

Front 26

responsible for preparing the president’s
budget and assessing the budgetary implications of legislative proposals.

Back 26

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Front 27

this occurs when Congress adjourns within 10 days after submitting a bill and
the president takes no action to sign it or veto it.

Back 27

Pocket veto

Front 28

where voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the
president’s party because those candidates support the president.

Back 28

Presidential coattails

Front 29

passed in 1967, permits the vice president to become acting
president in the event that the president is temporarily disabled.

Back 29

Twenty-fifth Amendment

Front 30

passed in 1951, limits presidents to two terms.

Back 30

Twenty-second Amendment

Front 31

sending the legislation back to Congress with reasons for rejecting it.

Back 31

Veto

Front 32

passed in 1973, requires presidents to consult with Congress
prior to using military force and mandates the withdrawal of forces after sixty days
unless Congress declares war or grants an extension.

Back 32

War Powers Resolution

Front 33

a political scandal involving President Nixon’s abuse of his powers.

Back 33

Watergate

Front 34

authority of administrative actors to select among various
responses to a given problem, especially when rules do not fit or more than one rule
applies.

Back 34

Administrative discretion

Front 35

implementers of policy.

Back 35

Bureaucracy

Front 36

promotes hiring on the basis of merit and establishes a nonpartisan
government service.

Back 36

Civil service

Front 37

regulatory strategy where government sets a requirement
and then enforces individual and corporate actions to be consistent with meeting the
requirement.

Back 37

Command-and-control policy

Front 38

the withdrawal of the use of governmental authority to control or change
some practice in the private sector

Back 38

Deregulation

Front 39

regulations originating in the executive branch.

Back 39

Executive orders

Front 40

provide services that could be handled by the private sector
but that generally charge cheaper rates than a private sector producer.

Back 40

Governmental corporations

Front 41

assigned to each job in federal agencies, this rating helps to
determine the salary associated with the position.

Back 41

GS (General Service) rating

Front 42

passed in 1940, prohibits government workers from active participation in
partisan politics.

Back 42

Hatch Act

Front 43

regulatory strategy that rewards individuals or corporations for desired
types of behavior, usually through the tax code.

Back 43

Incentive system

Front 44

executive agencies that are not cabinet departments, not
regulatory commissions, and not government corporations

Back 44

Independent executive agencies

Front 45

has responsibility for a sector of the economy to
protect the public interest.

Back 45

Independent regulatory commission

Front 46

to the strong ties among government agencies, interest groups, and
congressional committees and subcommittees.

Back 46

Iron triangles

Front 47

using entrance exams and promotion ratings for hiring workers.

Back 47

Merit principle

Front 48

responsible for hiring for most agencies.

Back 48

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Front 49

a hiring and promotion system based on knowing the right people.

Back 49

Patronage

Front 50

passed in 1883, it created the federal Civil Service.

Back 50

Pendleton Civil Service Act

Front 51

the stage of policymaking between the establishment of a policy
and the results of the policy for individuals.

Back 51

Policy implementation

Front 52

the use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the
private sector.

Back 52

Regulation

Front 53

the very top level of the bureaucracy.

Back 53

Senior Executive Service

Front 54

detailed rules written to cover as many particular
situations as officials can anticipate in order to help bureaucrats implement policies
uniformly.

Back 54

Standard operating procedures

Front 55

bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public.

Back 55

Street-level bureaucrats

Front 56

“friend of the court” briefs by nonlitigants who wish to influence
the Court’s decision by raising additional points of view and information not contained
by briefs prepared by litigants’ attorneys.

Back 56

Amicus curiae briefs

Front 57

given to a court where cases are heard on appeal from a lower
court.

Back 57

Appellate jurisdiction

Front 58

cases which permit a small number of people to sue on behalf of all
other people similarly affected.

Back 58

Class action suits

Front 59

courts which have the power to review all final decisions of district
courts, except in instances requiring direct review by the Supreme Court.

Back 59

Courts of appeal

Front 60

the entry point for most federal litigation

Back 60

District courts

Front 61

theory that judges should make bolder policy decisions to alleviate
pressing needs, especially for those who are weak politically.

Back 61

Judicial activism

Front 62

how and whether court decisions are translated into actual
policy.

Back 62

Judicial implementation

Front 63

theory that judges should play minimal role in policymaking and leave
policy decisions to the legislature.

Back 63

Judicial restraint

Front 64

the power of the courts to hold acts of Congress, and by implication the
executive, in violation of the Constitution

Back 64

Judicial review

Front 65

cases that can be settled by legal methods

Back 65

Justiciable disputes

Front 66

the 1803 Supreme Court case that originated the notion of judicial
review.

Back 66

Marbury v. Madison

Front 67

a statement of the legal reasoning behind the decision

Back 67

Opinion

Front 68

the theory that judges should determine the intent of the framers and
decide in line with their intent.

Back 68

Original intent

Front 69

given to a court where a case is first heard.

Back 69

Original jurisdiction

Front 70

conflicts between the president and Congress.

Back 70

Political questions

Front 71

the way similar cases have been handled in the past is used as a guide to
current decisions.

Back 71

Precedent

Front 72

a 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.

Back 72

Senatorial courtesy

Front 73

a presidential appointee who is in charge of the appellate court
litigation of the federal government.

Back 73

Solicitor general

Front 74

litigants must have serious interest (sustained direct and substantial
injury) from a party in a case

Back 74

Standing to sue

Front 75

earlier decision should hold for the case being considered.

Back 75

Stare decisis

Front 76

a procedure in which the legislature passes legislation that
clarifies existing laws so that the clarification has the effect of overturning the court’s
decision.

Back 76

Statutory construction

Front 77

resolves disputes between and among states, maintains the national
supremacy of law, ensures uniformity in the interpretation of national laws.

Back 77

Supreme Court

Front 78

1974 Supreme Court decision that required President Nixon to
turn White House tapes over to the Courts

Back 78

United States v. Nixon

Front 79

a policy document that allocates burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures).

Back 79

Budget

Front 80

occurs when government spends more money than it receives in taxes in the fiscal year.

Back 80

Deficit

Front 81

expenditures for which the total amount spent is not by congressional
appropriation, but rather by rules of eligibility established by Congress.

Back 81

Entitlements

Front 82

money spent by the government in any one year.

Back 82

Expenditures

Front 83

all of the money borrowed by the government over the years that is still
outstanding.

Back 83

Federal debt

Front 84

the portion of money individuals are required to pay to the government from
the money they earned.

Back 84

Income tax

Front 85

the best predictor of this year’s budget is last year’s budget plus a little
bit more.

Back 85

Incrementalism

Front 86

in 1965, this program was added to Social Security to provide hospital and
physician coverage to the elderly.

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Medicare

Front 87

money received by the government in any given year.

Back 87

Revenues

Front 88

passed in 1913, permits Congress to levy an income tax.

Back 88

Sixteenth Amendment

Front 89

passed to provide a minimal level of sustenance to older Americans.

Back 89

Social Security Act

Front 90

revenue losses due to special exemptions, exclusions, and deductions.

Back 90

Tax expenditures

Front 91

result from policies that make some group automatically
eligible for benefits.

Back 91

Uncontrollable expenditures