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GOPO Congress Terms
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Apportionment | changing the number of HOR seats b/c of census |
| Baker v. Carr | case that made sure that the system of drawing districts was fair (one man one vote) |
| Bicameral | legislature w/ two houses |
| Bills | proposed laws |
| Congressional Caucuses | informal groups in the HOR and Senate with members with common interests |
| Censure | behavior warning from government to a person (disapproval of pres or member of congress) |
| Christmas Tree Bill | a bill with a lot of riders on it. (lots of ornaments on the tree) |
| Closed rule | A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments. |
| Cloture | A procedure for terminating debate, especially filibusters, in the Senate. |
| Concurrent resolution | a joint resolution that is not a law (weaker than a joint resolution) |
| Conference committee | Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form. |
| Congressional Budget Office | office that advises Congress on the effects and prices of budget spending |
| Delegate Model | An official who is expected to represent the views of his or her constituents even when personally holding different views; one interpretation of the role of legislator. |
| Discharge petition | Petition that, if signed by majority of the House of Representatives’ members, will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration. |
| Earmarks | Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents. |
| Enumerated powers | The powers expressly given to Congress in the Constitution. |
| Filibuster | A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue. |
| Franking Privilege | the ability of members of congress to mail letters to their constituents for free |
| Gerrymandering | The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent. |
| Government Accountability Office | audits many other agencies of the federal government and other organizations that do business with the federal government and reports it's findings to Congress. |
| House Rules Committee | only in the HOR, not in the Senate. A committee that decides rules for debating each bill and whether or not it can be amended. |
| Impeachment | The power delegated to the HOR to charge the president, vice president, or other civil officers, with treason, bribery, "high crimes and misdemeanors" first step in the constitutional process of removing such government officials from office. |
| Incumbent | The current holder of the elected office. |
| Joint committee | A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations. |
| Joint resolution | opinion of both houses not signed by the president (includes Cons amendments) |
| Line Item Veto | the president can take some parts out of a spending bill without vetoing the bill completely. (declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court) |
| Logrolling | Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators. Attentive public |
| Majority leader | The legislative leader selected by the majority party who helps plan party strategy, confers with other party leaders, and tries to keep members of the party in line. |
| Markup | when committee members offer changes to a bill before it goes to the floor in either house for a vote. (they mark the bill up) |
| Minority leader | the legislative leader selected by the minority party as spokesperson for the opposition. |
| Override | An action taken by Congress to reverse the presidential veto, requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber. |
| Oversight | the act of Congress monitoring the activities of an agency, department or office (usually in the Executive Branch) |
| Party caucus | A meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and to develop party policy. Called a conference by the Republicans. |
| Pigeonhole | when a bill is set aside in committee w/o even considering it |
| Pocket veto | A veto exercised by the president after Congress has adjourned; if the president takes no action for 10 days, the bill does not become law and does not return to Congress for possible override. |
| Pork Barrel | a project by a legislator that benefits his constituents and will get him more votes. (originated from slaves competing for barrels of pork from their owners) |
| President pro tempore | Officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president. |
| Quorum | the minimum number of members needed for a vote to take place. (must be at least a majority of members for each house (51 and 218) |
| Reapportionment | The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts. |
| Redistricting | The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population. |
| Restricted rule | an order from the House Rules Committee that limits what kind of amendments can be made to the bill on the floor (somewhere between open and closed rules) |
| Riders | an addition to a bill that has nothing to do with the original bill. Example: A bill about farms that has a part that about war in Iraq. |
| Safe seat | An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other, so the success of that party’s candidate is almost taken for granted. |
| Select committee | temporary committee for a special purpose |
| Senatory Courtesy | pres appoints district (state) judges. He lets Senators from that state do it. (usually only when same party) |
| Seniority rule | A legislative practice that assigns the chair of the committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee. |
| Shaw v. Reno | case that said a state can redistrict while considering race to help a minority, but can’t make race the only reason for the redistricting |
| Speaker of the House | the leader of the majority party who serves as the presiding officer of the House of Representatives |
| Special or select committee | A congressional committee created for a specific purpose, sometimes to conduct an investigation. |
| Standing committee | group of legislators who hear proposed bills. (standing=always there) |
| Trustee Model | elected representatives who listen to constituents' opinions and then use their best judgment to make final decisions. |
| War Powers Act | A piece of legislature requiring notification of Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops, and approval of Congress to have military force remain longer than 90 days; designed to lessen the President's power. |
| Westburry v. Sanders | case that said all congressional districts must have the same population |
| Whip | makes sure every congressman in the party votes on bills |
Created by:
rockcastle
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