We The People Chapter 12

Front 1

Impeachment

Back 1

the formal charge by the House of Representatives that a government official has committed “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”

Front 2

Executive Agreement

Back 2

an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate’s “advice and consent”

Front 3

Appropriations

Back 3

the amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend

Front 4

Oversight

Back 4

the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies

Front 5

Logrolling

Back 5

a legislative practice whereby agreements are made between legislators in voting for or against a bill; vote trading

Front 6

Roll-Call Vote

Back 6

a vote in which each legislator’s yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members alphabetically

Front 7

Party Unity Vote

Back 7

a roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50% of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50% of the members of the other party

Front 8

Pocket Veto

Back 8

a presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session

Front 9

Veto

Back 9

the president’s constitutional power to turn down acts of Congress; a presidential veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote by each house of Congress

Front 10

Cloture

Back 10

a rule or process in a legislative body aimed at ending debate on a given bill; in the U.S. Senate, 60 senators (3/5) must agree in order to impose time limit and end debate

Front 11

Filibuster

Back 11

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

Front 12

Open Rule

Back 12

a provision by the House Rules Committee that permits floor debate and the addition of new amendments to a bill

Front 13

Closed Rule

Back 13

a provision by the House Rules Committee limiting or prohibiting the introduction of amendments during debate

Front 14

Committee Markup

Back 14

the session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearings on a bill

Front 15

Bill

Back 15

a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate

Front 16

Caucuses (congressional)

Back 16

associations of members of Congress based on party, interest, or social group, such as gender or race

Front 17

Staff Agencies

Back 17

legislative support agencies responsible for policy analysis

Front 18

Seniority

Back 18

the ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee in Congress

Front 19

Conference Committees

Back 19

joint committees created to work out a compromise of House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation

Front 20

Joint Committees

Back 20

legislative committees formed of members of both the House and Senate

Front 21

Select Committees

Back 21

(USUALLY) temporary legislative committees set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committees

Front 22

Standing Committee

Back 22

a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture

Front 23

Whip

Back 23

the party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party’s legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes

Front 24

Minority Leader

Back 24

the elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate

Front 25

Majority Leader

Back 25

the elected leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate; in the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker of the House

Front 26

Speaker of the House

Back 26

the chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives; the Speaker is the most important party and House leader, and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of individual pieces of legislation, and members’ positions within the House

Front 27

Caucus (political)

Back 27

a normally closed meeting of a political or legislative group to select candidates, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters

Front 28

Conference

Back 28

a gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their House leaders; Democrats call their gathering the caucus

Front 29

Private Bill

Back 29

a proposal in Congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief, such as a special exemption from immigration quotas

Front 30

Pork Barrel (or pork)

Back 30

appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created so that local representatives can win reelection in their home districts

Front 31

Patronage

Back 31

the resources available to higher officials, usually opportunities to make partisan appointments to offices and to confer grants, licenses, to special favors to supporters

Front 32

Gerrymandering

Back 32

the apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party

Front 33

Redistricting

Back 33

the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives; this happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges to existing districts

Front 34

Apportionment

Back 34

the process, occurring after every decennial census that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states

Front 35

Term Limits

Back 35

legally prescribed limits on the number of terms an elected official can serve

Front 36

Incumbency

Back 36

holding the political office for which one is running

Front 37

Agency Representation

Back 37

a type of representation in which a representative is held accountable to a constituency if he or she fails to represent that constituency properly; this is incentive for good representation when the personal backgrounds, views, and interests of the representative differ from those of his or her constituency

Front 38

Sociological Representation

Back 38

a type of representation in which representatives have the same racial, gender, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents; it is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in the background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one can correctly represent the other’s views

Front 39

Delegate

Back 39

a representative who votes according to the preferences of his or her constituency

Front 40

Trustee

Back 40

a representative who votes based on what he or she thinks is best for his or her constituency

Front 41

Bicameral

Back 41

having a legislation assembly compound of two chambers or houses, distinguished from unicameral

Front 42

Constituency

Back 42

the residents in the area from which an official is elected