US Government
Terms
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- Constituent
- one of the persons represented by a legislator or other elected or appointed official
- bicameralism
- the division of a legislature into two separate assemblies
- Lawmaking
- the process of establishing the legal rules that govern society
- Logrolling
- an arrangement in which two or more members of congress agree in advance to support each other's bill
- representation
- the function of members of Congress as eleted officials representing the views of their constituents
- Trustee
- a legislator who acts according to her or his conscience and the broad interests of the entire society
- Instructed Delegate
- a legislator who is an agent of the voters who elected him or her and who votes according to the views of constituents regardless of personal beliefs
- Casework
- personal work for constituents by members of Congress
- ombudsperson
- A person who hears and investigates complaints by private individuals against public official or agencies
- Oversight
- the process by which congress follows up on laws it has enacted to ensure that they are being enforced and administered in the way Congress intended
- Agenda Setting
- Determining which public-policy question will be debated or considered
- enumerated (expressed) powers
- a power specifically granted to the national government by the Constitution.
- Rules Committee
- A standing committe of the House of Representatives that provides special rules under which specific bills can be debated amended, and considered by the house
- Filibuster
- the use of the Senate's tradition of unlimited debate as a delaying tactic to block a bill
- Direct primary
- An intraparty election in which the voters select the condidates who will run on a party's ticket in the subsequent general election
- pary identifier
- a person who identifies witha a political party
- reapportionment
- the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives to each state after the census
- Redistricting
- redrawing of the boundaries of the congressional districts within each state
- Justiciable question
- A question that may be raised and reviewed in court
- gerrymandering
- the drawing of legislative district boundary lines for the purpose of obtaining partisan or factional advantage. A district is said to be gerrymandered when its shape is manipulated by the dominant party in the stat legislature to maximize electoral strenght at the expense of the minority party
- Franking
- a policy that enables members of Congress to send material throught the mail y substituting their facsimile signature (frank) for postage
- discharge petition
- a procedure by which a bill in the House of Representatives may be forced (discharged) out of a committee that has refused to report it for consideration by the House. The petition must be signed by an absolute majority (218) of representatives and is used only on rare occasions
- Standing committee
- a permanent committee in the the house or senate that considers bills within a certain subject area
- Select Committe
- a temporary legislative committee established for a limited time period and for a special purpose
- Joint Committees
- A legislative committee composed of members from both chambers of Congress
- Conference Committee
- A special joint committee appointed to reconcile differences when bills pass the two chambers of Congress in different forms
- Seniority System
- a custom followed in both chambers of Congress specifying that the member of the majority party with the longest term of continuous service will be given preference when a committee chairperson (or a holder of some other significant post) is selected
- Safe Seat
- A district that returns a legislator with 55 percent of the vote or more
- Speaker of the House
- the presiding officer in the House of Representatives. The Speaker is always a member of the majority party and is the most powerful and influential member of the house
- Majority Leader of the House
- a legislative position held by an important party member in the House of Representatives. The majority leader is selected by the majority party in caucus or conference to foster cohesion amon party members and to act as spokesperson for the majority in the House.
- Minority Leader of the House
- The party leader elected by the minority party of the House.
- Whips
- A member of Congress who aids the majority or minority leader of the House or the Senate
- President Pro Tempore
- The temporary presiding officer of the Senate in the absence of the vice president
- Senate Majority Leader
- the chief spokesperson of the majority party in the Senate, who directs the legislative program and party strategy
- Senate Minority leader
- the party officer in the Senate who commands the minority party's opposition to the policies of the majority party and directs the legislative program and strategy of his or her party
- Conservative coalition
- an alliance of Republicans and southern democrats that can form in the House or the Senate to oppose liberal legislation and support conservative legislation
- Executive budget
- the budget prepared and submitted by the president to Congress
- Fiscal Year
- a twelve month period that is used for bookkeeping or accounting purposes. usually, the fiscal year does not coincide with the calendr year.
- Spring Review
- The annual process in which the Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to review their programs, activities, and goals and submit their requests for funding for the next fiscal year
- Fall Review
- The annual process in which the OMB after recieving formal federal agency requests for funding for the next fiscal year, reviews the requests, makes changes, and submits it recommendation to the president
- Authorization
- a formal decleration by a legislative committee that a certain amount of funding may be available to an agency. some authorizations terminate in a year; other are renewable automatically withouth further congressional action
- Appropriation
- the passage by congress of a spending bill specifying the amount of authorized funds that actually will be allocated for agency's use
- 1st budget resolution
- a resolution passed by congress in may that sets overall revenue and spending goals for the following fy
- 2nd budget resolution
- a resolution passed by congress in spt. that sets "binding" limits on taxes and spending for the following fy
- Continuing resolution
- a temporary funding law that congress passes when an appropriation bill has not been decided by the beg. of the new fy on oct. 1