Terms : Hide Images
| 227233412 | incumbent | someone who is currently holding a political position, usually reelected | |
| 227233413 | casework | Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals; cutting through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they have a right to get | |
| 227233414 | pork barrel | the mighty list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges, and institutions available in a congressional district | |
| 227233415 | bicameral legislature | A legislature divided into two houses. The U.S. Congress and every American state legislature except Nebraska's are bicameral. | |
| 227233416 | House Rules Committee | An institution unique to the House of Representatives that reviews all bills (except revenue, budget, and appropriations bills) coming from a House committee before they go to the full House. | |
| 227233417 | filibuster | A strategy unique to the Senate whereby opponents of a piece of legislation try to talk it to death, based on the tradition of unlimited debate. Today, 60 members present and voting can halt a filibuster. | |
| 227233418 | Speaker of the House | An office mandated by the Constitution. The Speaker is chosen in practice by the majority party, has both formal and informal powers, and is second in line to succeed to the presidency should that office become vacant. | |
| 227233419 | Majority Leader | The principle partisan ally of the Speaker of the House or the party's wheel horse in the Senate. The majority leader is responsible for scheduling bills, influencing committee assignments, and rounding up votes in behalf of the party's legislative positions. | |
| 227233420 | Whips | Party leaders who work with the majority leader or minority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill favored by the party. | |
| 227233421 | Minority Leader | The principal leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. | |
| 227233422 | standing committees | seperate subject-matter committees in each house of Congress that handle bills in different policy areas. | |
| 227233423 | joint committees | Congressional committees on a few subject-matter areas with membership drawn from both houses | |
| 227233424 | select committees | Congressional committees appointed for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation. | |
| 227233425 | legislative oversight | Congress' monitoring of the bureaucracy and its administration of policy, performed mainly through hearings | |
| 227233426 | committee chairs | The most important influencers of the congressional agenda. They play dominant roles in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house. | |
| 227233427 | seniority system | A simple rule for picking committee chairs, in effect until the 1970s. The member who had served on the committee the longest and whose party controlled Congress became chair, regardless of party loyalty, mental state, or competence. | |
| 227233428 | caucus | an association of congress members created to advance a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest | |
| 227233429 | bill | A proposed law, drafted in precise, legal language. Anyone can draft a bill, but only a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate can formally submit a bill for consideration. | |
| 227233430 | 22ND Amendment | Passed in 1951, the amendment that limits presidents to two terms of office. | |
| 227233431 | impeachment | The political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law, prescribed by the Constitution. The House of Representatives may do this by a majority vote for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." | |
| 227233432 | Watergate | The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment. | |
| 227233433 | 25TH Amendment | Passed in 1951, this amendment permits the vice president to become acting president if both the vice president and the president's cabinet determine that the president is disabled. The amendment also outlines how a recuperated president can reclaim the job. | |
| 227233434 | cabinet | A group of presidential advisors not mentioned in the Constitution, although every president has had one. Today the cabinet is composed of 14 secretaries and the attorney general. | |
| 227233435 | NSC | National Security Council: advise president and help coordinate american military and foreign policy, made up of Vice Pres, Sec of State, and Sec of Defense | |
| 227233436 | CEA | Council of Economic Advisers, advises Pres on eco policy | |
| 227233437 | OMB | Office of Management and Budget; prepares the federal budget and monitors spending, headed by Pres | |
| 227233438 | Veto | The constitutional power of the president to send a bill back to Congress with reasons for rejecting it. A two-thirds vote in each house can override a veto. | |
| 227233439 | Pocket veto | A veto taking place when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president, who simply lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it. | |
| 227233440 | Line item veto | the power of the executive to veto specific provisions (lines) of a bill passed by the legislature, given to 42 governors | |
| 227233441 | presidential coattails | The situation occurring when voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president's party because they support the president. | |
| 227233442 | Wars Powers Resolution | A law passed in 1973 in reaction to American fighting in Vietnam and Cambodia, requiring presidents to consults with Congress whenever possible to using military forces and to withdraw forces after 60 days unless Congress declares War or grants an extension. | |
| 227233443 | legislative veto | The ability of Congress to override a presidential decision. Although the War Powers Resolution asserts this authority, there is reason to believe that, if challenged, the Supreme Court would find the legislative veto in violation of the doctrine of separation of powers. | |
| 227233444 | crisis | A sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event requiring the president to play the role of crisis manager. | |
| 227233445 | budget | A policy document allocating burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures). | |
| 227233446 | deficit | An excess of federal expenditures over federal revenues. | |
| 227233447 | expenditures | Federal spending of revenues. Major areas of such spending are social services and the military. | |
| 227233448 | revenues | The financial resources of the federal government. The individual income tax and Social Security tax are two major sources of these | |
| 227233449 | Federal debt | all the money borrowed by the federal government over the years and still outstanding | |
| 227233450 | incrementalism | the belief that the best predictor of this year's budget is last year's budget, plus a little bit more (an increment) | |
| 227233451 | entitlements | Policies for which Congress has obligated itself to pay X-level of benefits to Y number of recipients. Social Security benefits are an example, expendatures are uncontrollable | |
| 227233452 | Authorization Bill | An act of Congress that establishes, continues, or changes a discretionary government program or an entitlement. It specifies program goals and maximum expenditures for discretionary programs. | |
| 227233453 | Appropriations Bill | An act of Congress that actually funds programs within limits established by authorization bills, usually cover one year. | |
| 227233454 | continuing resolutions | When Congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriations bills, these allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year. | |
| 229602989 | conference committee | committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form. |
