Terms : Hide Images
| 3358589377 | bicameral legislature: definition | a legislature that has two chambers (the House and the Senate in the case of the United States) | 0 | |
| 3358591882 | bicameral legislature: significance | largely organized by party lines | 1 | |
| 3358591883 | bill: definition | a proposed law (legislative act) within Congress or another legislature | 2 | |
| 3358591885 | bill: significance | prepared by executive agencies, interest groups, outside parties, members of Congress | 3 | |
| 3358593860 | cloture: definition | a parliamentary maneuver that, if a three-fifths majority votes for it | 4 | |
| 3358593862 | cloture: significance | limits Senate debate to thirty hours and has the effect of defeating a filibuster | 5 | |
| 3358595580 | conference committees: definition | a temporary committee that is formed to bargain over the differences in the House and Senate versions of a bill; members are usually appointed from the House and Senate standing committees that originally worked on the bill | 6 | |
| 3358595582 | conference committees: significance | formed for the sole purpose of handling a particular bill and creating a compromise | 7 | |
| 3358597368 | constituency: definition | the people residing within the geographical area represented be an elected official | 8 | |
| 3358597369 | constituency: example | work hard to get their share of federal spending projects | 9 | |
| 3358597370 | constituency: significance | pay attention to opinions when choosing positions on legislation | 10 | |
| 3358597371 | filibuster: definition | a procedural tactic in the US Senate whereby a minority of legislators prevents a bill from coming to a vote by holding the floor and talking until the majority gives in and the bill is withdrawn from consideration | 11 | |
| 3358598725 | gerrymandering: definition | the process by which the party in power draws election district boundaries in a way that enhances the reelection prospects of its candidates | 12 | |
| 3358600983 | incumbent: definition | the current holder of a particular public office | 13 | |
| 3358600984 | incumbent: example | Nancy Pelosi | 14 | |
| 3358600985 | incumbent: significance | have a roughly 90% chance of winning reelection | 15 | |
| 3358603047 | jurisdiction (of a congressional committee): definition | the policy area in which a particular congressional committee is authorized to act | 16 | |
| 3358603049 | jurisdiction (of a congressional committee): significance | can provoke a war between committees. forces party leaders to respond | 17 | |
| 3358605251 | law (as enacted by Congress): definition | a legislative proposal or bill that is passed by both the House and the Senate and is not vetoed by the president | 18 | |
| 3358606912 | lawmaking function: definition | the authority (of a legislature) to make the laws necessary to carry out the government's powers | 19 | |
| 3358606913 | lawmaking function: example | power to tax, to spend, to regulate commerce, to declare war | 20 | |
| 3358606915 | midterm election: definition | the congressional election that occurs midway through the president's term of office | 21 | |
| 3358608897 | midterm election: example | 2014 midterm election | 22 | |
| 3358608898 | midterm election: significance | President's party usually looses House seats; smaller turnout | 23 | |
| 3358610713 | open-seat election: definition | an election in which here is no incumbent in the race | 24 | |
| 3358610715 | open-seat election: significance | brings out a strong candidate from each party and involves heavy spending especially when the parties are rather evenly matched | 25 | |
| 3358610716 | oversight function: definition | a supervisory activity of Congress that center on its constitutional responsibility to see that the executive carries our the laws faithfully | 26 | |
| 3358612138 | oversight function: significance | carried out through the committee system | 27 | |
| 3358612139 | party caucus: definition | a group that consists of a party's members in the House or Senate and that serves to elect the party's leadership, set policy goals, and plan party strategy | 28 | |
| 3358614520 | party leaders: definition | members of the House and Senate who are chosen by the Democratic or Republican caucus in each chamber to represent the party's interests in that chamber and who give some central direction to the chamber's work | 29 | |
| 3358614521 | party leaders: example | Speaker of the House, president pro tempore | 30 | |
| 3358614522 | party leaders: significance | must gain trust from the party in order to influence votes of party members | 31 | |
| 3358616565 | party unity: definition | the degree to which a party's House or Senate members act as a unified group to exert collective control over legislative action | 32 | |
| 3358616566 | party unity: example | 2013 budget, very partisan | 33 | |
| 3358616567 | party unity: significance | roll-call votes - divide along party lines | 34 | |
| 3358619368 | pork (pork-barrel spending): definition | spending whose tangible benefits are targeted at a particular legislator's constituency | 35 | |
| 3358619369 | pork (pork-barrel spending): example | hospital, research center, highway | 36 | |
| 3358619370 | pork (pork-barrel spending): significance | embraced by those in the state or district | 37 | |
| 3358621212 | reapportionment: definition | the reallocation of House seats among states after each census as a result of population changes | 38 | |
| 3358621213 | reapportionment: example | 2010: Texas and Florida gained seats while New York and Ohio lost seats | 39 | |
| 3358622590 | redistricting: definition | the process of altering election districts in order to make them as nearly equal in population as possible; redistricting takes place every ten years after each population census | 40 | |
| 3358624172 | redistricting: example | (ex.) Gerrymandering | 41 | |
| 3360090677 | redistricting: significance | can be a threat to reelection if the state looses seats; leads to incumbents running against eachother | 42 | |
| 3358625692 | representation function: definition | the responsibility of a legislature to represent various interests in society | 43 | |
| 3358625693 | representation function: example | free trade in steel (abroad v. domestic) | 44 | |
| 3358625694 | representation function: significance | respond to interests of their constituency or the nation as a whole? | 45 | |
| 3358625695 | seniority: definition | a member of Congress's consecutive years of service on a particular committee | 46 | |
| 3358625697 | seniority: significance | time on committee, not in Congress; reduces number of power struggles | 47 | |
| 3358627379 | service strategy: definition | use of personal staff by members of Congress to perform services for constituents in order to gain their supports in future elections | 48 | |
| 3358627380 | service strategy: example | bridge in Alaska after Hurricane Katrina | 49 | |
| 3358628891 | service strategy: significance | representative's staff is ready to assist the constituency | 50 | |
| 3358637858 | standing committees: definition | permanent congressional committees with responsibility for a particular area of public policy; an example is the Senate Foreign Relations Committee | 51 | |
| 3358637859 | standing committees: example | foreign policy issues, agriculture, commerce, the interior, defense, government spending | 52 | |
| 3358637860 | standing committees: significance | draft and rewrite proposed legislation | 53 | |
| 3358637861 | veto: definition | the president's rejection of a bill thereby keeping it from becoming law unless Congress overrides the veto | 54 | |
| 3358640066 | veto: significance | can force compromise | 55 |
