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75 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
constituency
the residents in the area from which and official is elected
bicameral
having a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or houses; opposite of unicameral
sociological representation
representatives that have the same racial, gender, ethnic and religious backgrounds as their constituents
agency representation
representatives is held accountable to a constituency if he or she fails to represent that constituency properly
incumbency
holding a political office for which one is running
term limits
legally prescribed limits on the number of terms an elected official can serve
apportionment
the process, occurring after every decennial census, that allocates congressional seats among the fifty states
redistricting
the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives
gerrymandering
apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party
patronage
the resources available to higher officials, usually opportunities to make partisan appointments to offices and to confer grants, licenses or special favors to supporters
pork barrel
appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created so that local reps can win re-election in their home districts
private bill
a proposal in congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief, such as a special exemption from immigration quotas
conference
a gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their house leaders, democrats call theirs a caucus
caucus (political)
a normally closed meeting of a political or legislative group to select candidates, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters
speaker of the house
presiding office of the house of reps, most important party and house leader
majority leader
the elected leader of house or senate, subordinate to speaker of house if in same party
minority leader
the elected leader of the minority party in House or Senate
whip
a party member in the House or senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes
standing committee
a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject. such as finance or agriculture
select committee
a (usually) temporary legislative committee set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address and issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committees
staff agency
a legislative support agency responsible for party analysis
caucus (congressional)
an association of members of congress based on party, interest, or social group, such as gender or race
bill
a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of congress and submitted to the clerk of the house or senate
committee markup
session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during the hearing on the bill
closed rule
a provision by the House rules committee limiting or prohibiting the introduction of amendments during debate
open rule
a provision by the House rules committee that permits floor debate and the addition of new amendments to a bill
filibuster
a tactic used by member of senate to prevent action legislation they opposed by holding the floor and speaking until majority backs down
cloture
a rule allowing a majority of two thirds or three fifths of the members of a legislative body to set a time limit on debate over a given bill
veto
the presidents constitutional power to turn down acts of congress. can be overridden by a 2/3 vote of each house of congress
pocket veto
a presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a piece of legislature in the last 10 days of a session
party unity vote
a roll call vote in the house or senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party
roll call vote
a vote in which each legislator's yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members of the alphabet
logrolling
a legislative practice whereby agreements are made between legislators in voting or against a bill; vote trading
oversight
the efforts by congress through hearings and investigations to exercise control over the activities of exec agencies
appropriations
the amounts of money approved by congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of govt can spend
executive agreement
an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of a treaty but does not require the senate's advice or consent
impeachment
the formal charge by the house of reps that a govt official has committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes
delegate
a representative who votes according to the preference of his or her constituents
trustee
a representative who votes based on what he or she thinks is best for his or her constituency
bicameral
having a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or houses
regular session
the 140-day period during which the Texas legislature meets to consider and pass bills; occurs only in odd numbered years
biennial
occurring every two years
special session
a legislative session called by the governor that addresses an agenda set by him or her and that lasts no longer than thirty days
bill
a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of the legislature and submitted to the clerk of the house or senate
local bill
a bill affecting only units of local govt, such as a city, county or special district
special bill
a bill that gives an individual or corporation a special exemption from state law
general bill
a bill that applies to all people and/ or property in the state
resolution
a proposal that deals with the internal workings of the government
concurrent resolution
a resolution of interests to both chambers or the legislature and which must pass both the house and senate and generally signed by governor
joint resolution
a resolution, commonly a proposed amendment to the Texas constitution or ratification of an amendment to the US constitution that must pass both the house and senate but does not need the governors signature
simple resolution
a resolution that concerns only the Texas house or senate such as the adoption of a rule or the appointment of an employee and which does not require the governors signature
constituent powers
efforts made by members of a legislature on behalf of his or her constituency
constituent
a person living in the district from which an official is elected
electoral powers
the legislature's mandated role in counting returns in the elections for governor and lieutenant governor
investigative powers
the power, exercised by the house, the senate or both chambers jointly to investigate problems facing the state
direct and supervisory powers
the legislatures power over the executive branch; for example, the legislature determines the size of the appropriations for state agencies
judicial powers
the power of the house to impeach and of the senate to convict members of the executive and judicial branches of state government
impeachment (TEXAS)
according to the Texas constitution the formal charge by the house of reps that leads to a trial in the senate and possible removal of state official
introduction
the first step in the legislative process during which a member of the legislature gets an idea for a bill and files a copy of it with the clerk of the house or secretary of the senate
referral
the second step in the legislative process during which a bill is assigned to the appropriate standing committee by the speaker (house bills) or the lieutenant governor (for senate bills)
consideration by standing committee
the third step in the legislative process, during which a bill is killed, amended, or heard by a standing committee
floor action
the fourth step in the legislative process, during which a bill referred by a standing committee is scheduled for floor debate by the calenders committee
conference committee
a joint committee created to work out a compromise on house and senate versions of a piece of legislation
action by governor
the final step in the legislative process, during which the governor either signs, vetoes, or refuses to a bill
standing committee (TEXAS)
a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture
pigeonholing
a step in the legislative process during which a bill is killed by the chair of the standing committee to which it was referred, as a result of his or her setting the bill aside and not bringing it before the committee
filibuster (TEXAS)
a tactic used by members of the senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down. Once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a vote of three-fifths of the senate to end a filibuster
veto (TEXAS)
according to the Texas constitution, the governor's power to turn down legislation; can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both the house and senate
post-adjournment veto
a veto of a bill that occurs after the legislature adjourns, thus preventing the legislature from overriding it
line-item veto
the power of the executive to veto specific provisions (lines) of an appropriations bill passed by the legislature
speaker
the chief presiding officer of the house of reps
recognition
the speaker of the house's power to control floor debate by recognizing who can speak before the house
single-member district
an electorate that is allowed to select only one representative from each district
redistricting
the process of redrawing the election districts and redistributing legislative reps, happens every 10 years
one person, one vote principle
the principle that all districts should have roughly equal populations