AP Government Ch. 11 Flashcards

5132245190	incumbents	those already holding office; usually win reelections	0
5132245191	case work	activities to help constituents as individuals, particularly cutting through red tape to get people what they think they have a right to	1
5132245192	pork barrel	fed projects, grants, and contracts available to local and state govts, businesses, colleges, and other institutions in a congressional district	2
5132245193	bicameral legislature	legislature divided into two houses	3
5132245194	House Rules Committee	committee in the House that reviews most bills coming from a House committee before they go to the full house	4
5132245195	filibuster	opponents of a piece of legislation can use their right to unlimited debate to prevent the Senate from ever voting on a bill; can be stopped by 60 members present and a vote	5
5132245196	Speaker of the House	mandated by Constitution; chosen by majority party; formal and informal powers; second in presidential line of succession	6
5132245197	majority leader	principal partisan ally of the Speaker; party's manager in the Senate	7
5132245198	whips	party leaders who work with majority leaders to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers who votes are crucial to the passing of the bill	8
5132245199	minority leader	principal leader of the minority party in the House or Senate	9
5132245200	standing committees	separate subject-matter committees that handle bills in different policy areas	10
5132245201	joint committees	subject-matter committees with membership from both houses	11
5132245202	conference committees	formed when Senate and House pass a particular bill in different forms; party leadership chooses members from each house to iron out the differences	12
5132245203	select committees	appointed for a specific purpose	13
5132245204	legislative oversight	monitoring of the bureaucracy and its administration of policy; performed mainly through hearings	14
5132245205	committee chairs	most important influencers of agenda	15
5132245206	seniority system	in effect until the late 1970s; whoever served on committee longest and whose party was in power became committee chair	16
5132245207	caucus	informal group of members of Congress who share some interest or characteristic	17
5132245208	bill	proposed law; can be drafted by anyone, but only a member of Congress can formally submit one for consideration	18