Govt 2305 Exam 2

Front 1

Bicameral Legislature

Back 1

A legislature with two houses

Front 2

Gerrymandering

Back 2

the drawing of congressional districts to favor a party or candidate

Front 3

Apportionment

Back 3

process of allocating congressional seats to each state according to it's proportion of the population, following a census occurring every ten years

Front 4

Majority/Minority Whip

Back 4

People who "whip" their parties to vote

Front 5

Incumbent

Back 5

the current person in office

Front 6

Redistricting

Back 6

process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within the state

Front 7

Speaker of the House

Back 7

Leader of the house

Front 8

Majority Party

Back 8

Party who holds a majority of people in the House

Front 9

Minority Party

Back 9

Party who holds a minority in the House

Front 10

Standing Committee

Back 10

permanent committees that specialize in a particular area of legislation

Front 11

Joint Committee

Back 11

permanent committees comprised of members from both chambers

Front 12

Special Committee

Back 12

committees charged with conducting a specific study of investigation under a fixed time frame

Front 13

Filibuster

Back 13

formal way of halting Senate action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate

Front 14

Cloture

Back 14

the only way to end a filibuster

Front 15

Impeachment

Back 15

a way to remove elected officials from office

Front 16

Pocket Veto

Back 16

when the president ignores the bill to veto it

Front 17

Party Unity

Back 17

this is measured by the percentage of Democrats and Republicans who stick by their party when voting on bills

Front 18

Divided Government

Back 18

when one party controls the presidency and another party controls House or the Senate

Front 19

Unified Government

Back 19

the same political party controls the presidency and Congress

Front 20

22nd Amendment

Back 20

Limits the President to two four-year terms

Front 21

25th Amendment

Back 21

Gives the president power to appoint a new VP

Front 22

Cabinet

Back 22

the body of the presidential advisers who head the fifteen executive departments

Front 23

Line-item veto

Back 23

power to disapprove of individual items within a spending bill rather than vetoing an entire bill

Front 24

War Powers Resolution

Back 24

limits the president's authority to introduce American troops into hostile lands without congressional approval

Front 25

Pardon

Back 25

an executive grant releasing an individual from punishment or legal consequences of a crime before or after conviction

Front 26

Executive Privilege

Back 26

allows the president and other high officials of the executive branch to keep certain communications private

Front 27

Posse Comitatus Act

Back 27

prohibits the use of the military in the role of domestic law enforcement outside of the cases listed here

helps prevent the president from encroaching on state police powers

Front 28

"Going public"

Back 28

have to reach out to the public to gain support

Front 29

Executive Order

Back 29

make laws by sidestepping Congress

Front 30

Office of Management and Budget

Back 30

prepares the president's annual budget proposal

Front 31

White House Staff

Back 31

personal assistants to the president

Front 32

Veto

Back 32

authority to reject bills passed by both houses of Congress

Front 33

Executive Office of the President

Back 33

staff that helps the president oversee programs

Front 34

Federal bureaucracy

Back 34

federal government agencies and institutions that implement and administer federal laws and programs

Front 35

Spoils System

Back 35

selecting employees on the basis of party loyalty

Front 36

Pendleton Act

Back 36

established merit system of federal employment based on competence, neutrality, and protection from partisanship

Front 37

Merit System

Back 37

employment system based on qualifications, test scores and ability, rather than loyalty

Front 38

Government corporations

Back 38

performs functions in a business-like manner

Front 39

Independent agencies

Back 39

deal with a narrow, specific set of issues

Front 40

Independent regulatory commissions

Back 40

agencies outside of the cabinet departments that make and enforces rules and regulations

Front 41

Hatch Act

Back 41

prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity, including running for public office, soliciting campaign funds, or campaigning for or against a party or candidate

Front 42

Implementation

Back 42

process by which policies legislated by Congress are put into operation

Front 43

Regulation

Back 43

involves the development of formal rules for implementing legislation

Front 44

Administrative discretion

Back 44

discretion is greatest when cases do not exactly fit established rules or when more than one rule might be applied to the same case, resulting in different outcomes

Front 45

Whistleblower

Back 45

federal employees who report government waste, mismanagement, or fraud

Front 46

Original jurisdiction

Back 46

the jurisdiction of courts that hear the case first, usually in a trial.

Front 47

Appellate jurisdiction

Back 47

the power vested in particular courts to review and/or revise the decision of a lower court

Front 48

U.S. district court

Back 48

"trial" courts; have authority to try cases

Front 49

U.S. courts of appeal (circuit courts)

Back 49

intermediate federal courts of appeal

Front 50

Judicial review

Back 50

the power to invalidate laws of Congress, the executive, or of the states, that conflict with the U.S. Constitution

Front 51

Writ of Certiorari

Back 51

a request for the Supreme Court to order up the records from a lower court to review the case

Front 52

Rule of four

Back 52

at least four judges must vote to hear the case

Front 53

Amicus Curiae

Back 53

friend of the court

Front 54

Precedent

Back 54

decisions of higher courts generally establish a binding precedent that lower courts are compelled to follow

Front 55

Marbury v Madison

Back 55

the U.S. Supreme Court claimed the power of judicial review for itself

Front 56

Majority Opinion

Back 56

sets out the legal reasoning justify the decision

Front 57

Dissenting opinion

Back 57

something justices write when they disagree with the majority

Front 58

Concurring opinion

Back 58

something justices submit when they agree with the vote but not the reasoning

Front 59

Judicial activism

Back 59

court should use their power broadly to further justice

Front 60

Judicial restraint

Back 60

courts should allow decisions of other branches to stand

Front 61

Strict constructionist

Back 61

an approach to constitutional interpretation that emphasizes interpreting the Constitution as it was originally written and intended by the Framers

Front 62

Legal Requirements for Congress

Back 62

25 for House; 30 for Senate

Citizenship for 7yrs; 9yrs

inhabitant in the state