Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Polls 1100: Ch. 4-6
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| congress | the US legislature the part of the government that makes the laws |
| bicameral legislature | a lawmaking body with two chambers |
| constituencies | groupings of individual constituents or people whom an official is obligated to represent |
| majority party | the political party that wins the most sears in a given chamber |
| speaker of the House | the head of the majority party in the House |
| Senate majority leader | the head of the majority party in the Senate |
| minority leader | the head of the minority party in either the Senate or the House |
| committees | small groups oriented around policy or procedural issues where the real work of Congress gets done |
| standing committees | permanent committees responsible for legislation in particular policy areas |
| House Rules committee | the committee that determines how and when debate on a bill will take place |
| select committees | committees appointed to deal with an issue or a problem not suited to standing committees |
| joint committees | combined House-Senate committees formed to coordinate activities and expedite legislation in a certain area |
| conference committee | temporary committees formed to reconcile differences in House and Senate versions of a bill |
| congressional oversight | efforts by Congress especially through committees to monitor agency rule making enforcement and implementation of congressional policies |
| impeachment | a formal charge by the House that the president (or another member of the executive branch) has committed acts of "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors," which may or may not result in removal from office |
| advice and consent | the Senate's constitutional obligation to approve certain executive appointments |
| legislative agenda | the slate of proposals and issues that representatives think it worthwhile to consider and act on |
| filibuster | a practice of unlimited debate in the Senate in order to prevent or delay a vote on a bill |
| cloture | a vote to end a Senate filibuster requires a three-fifths majority or sixty votes |
| nuclear option | a controversial Senate maneuver by which a simple majority could decide to allow a majority to bypass the filibuster for certain kinds of votes |
| veto | the presidential power to reject a piece of legislation by not signing it into law |
| pocket veto | the presidential authority to kill a bill submitted within ten days of the end of a legislative session by not signing it |
| unorthodox law making | lawmaking tactics such as omnibus legislation or reconciliation that bypass usual committee processes to ease the passage of laws |
| reconciliation | a legislative process that allows certain budgetary laws to pass with a simple majority in the Senate and with limited debate |
| omnibus legislation | large bills stuffed with often unrelated pieces of legislation that are voted on all at once |
| representation | the efforts of elected officials to look out for the interest of those who elect them |
| congressional district | a geographical region into which state legislators divide their state for purposes of representation |
| policy representation | congressional work to advance the issues and ideological preferences of constituents |
| allocative representation | congressional work to secure projects, services and funds for the represented district |
| pork barrel | public works projects and grants for specific districts paid for by general revenues |
| earmarks | a type of legislative representation in which general taxpayer funds are used to pay for some special benefit for a member's district |
| casework | representation that involves taking care of one's constituents' needs and problems |
| symbolic representation | the public role of showcasing the values of public service and patriotism |
| national law making | the creation of policy to address the problems and needs of the entire nation |
| incumbency advantage | the electoral edge afforded to those already in office |
| partisanship | one's allegiance to one's party |
| polarization | the ideological distance between the parties and the ideological homogeneity within them |
| hypo partisanship | a commitment to party so strong that it can transcend other commitments including that to the nation interest |
| bipartisanship | an effort that incorporates work from both sides of the aisle and produces a solution to a problem both sides can live with |
| executive | one who has the power to carry out plans, strategies, or laws |
| president | the chief executive in a presidential system |
| federal bureaucracy | the network of departments, agencies, and boards and commissions that make up the executive branch at the federal level; characterized by hierarchical structure, explicit rules, worker specialization, and advancement by merit |
| cabinet | an advisory group to the president composed primarily of the heads of the major departments of the federal bureaucracy |
| head of state | the president's largely ceremonial, apolitical role in rallying the country together |
| head of government | the president's partisan role as head of his own party, twister of arms, maker of deals, and pusher of the party's agenda |
| chief administrator | the president's role as head bureaucrat, in charge of making sure that the departments, agencies, and boards and commissions charged with enforcing the laws do their jobs |
| appointment power | the president's power to select the heads of the departments (the cabinet) as well as more than 3,500 federal employees |
| commander in chief | the president's power to act as the civilian head of the armed forces of the United States |
| chief foreign policy maker | the president's power to formulate foreign policy and negotiate treaties |
| treaties | formal agreements with other countries; negotiated by the president and requiring approval by two thirds of the Senate |
| executive agreements | presidential arrangements with other countries that create foreign policy without the need for Senate approval |
| State of the Union address | the president's constitutional obligation to regularly inform Congress of the state of the union and to recommend measures considered useful or necessary |
| presidential veto | a president's authority to reject a bill passed by Congress may be overridden only by a two-thirds majority in each house |
| executive orders | clarifications of congressional policy issued by the president and having the full force of law |
| solicitor general | the legal officer who argues cases before the Supreme Court when the United States is a party to the case |
| pardoning power | a president's authority to release or excuse a person from the legal penalties of a crime |
| traditional presidency | the founders' vision of limited executive power |
| inherent powers | presidential powers implied but not stated explicitly in the Constitution |
| New Deal | under Franklin Roosevelt, a series of programs that encouraged people to turn to the government for the solution to social and economic problems; made the government larger and more unwieldy and reignited a debate about the role of government |
| modern presidency | the trend toward a higher degree of executive power since the 1930s in response to more complex social problems |
| power to persuade | the president's ability to convince Congress to support his plans |
| going public | a president's strategy of drumming up support with the public on an issue, with the hope of using public pressure as leverage with Congress |
| weak presidents | presidents who have difficulty getting priorities through even a friendly Congress |
| executive privilege | the president's ability to claim that some materials relevant to his job must be kept confidential to enable him to perform his duties of for national security reasons; a right with limits, according to the Supreme Court |
| unitary executive | the theory that the executive, not the legislature, is at the core of American power |
| cycle effect | the predictable rise and fall of a president's popularity at different stages of a term in office |
| honeymoon period | the first 100 days following an election when a president's popularity is high and congressional relations are likely to be productive |
| divided government | the situation that exists when political rule is split between two parties, in which one controls the White House and the other controls one or both houses of Congress |
| legislative liaisons | executive personnel who work with members of Congress to secure their support in getting a president's legislation passed |
| bureaucracy | a hierarchical decisions making structure in which unelected officials answer to the layer of people above them, who in turn answer to the people above them, and so on |
| patronage | a system in which people in power reward friends, contributors, and party loyalists for their support with jobs, contracts, and favors |
| spoils system | the practice of creating a bureaucracy that serves the president's interest |
| civil service reform | efforts begun in the 1880s to ensure that the federal bureaucracy serves the interests of the public rather than the powerful |
| neutral competence | an ideal bureaucratic structure where power is hierarchical and rule based and where people are appointed because of their expertise and promoted on the basis of merit |
| White House Office | an in-house group of advisers that includes the office of the chief of staff, the Communications Office, and various political advisers |
| clientele groups | groups of citizens whose interests are affected by an agency or a department and who work to influence its policies |
| regulations | limitations or restrictions on the activities of a business or an individual |
| rule making | filling in all the technical details in the laws Congress passes so that they can be enforced |
| bureaucratic discretion | when the bureaucracy exercises legislative power delegated to it by congressional law |
| departments | one of the major subdivisions of the federal government, represented in the president's cabinet |
| independent agencies | organizations within the executive branch that execute the law and that are separate from the departments |
| independent regulatory boards and commissions | government organizations that regulate various businesses, industries, or economic sectors |
| government corporations | organizations that fill some commercial functions that are important but not profitable enough for private industry to supply |
| bureaucratic culture | the accepted values and procedures of an organization |
| agency capture | when a government agency begins to identify the interests of the groups they regulate as their own |
| iron triangle | close policy making relationships among legislators, regulators, and the groups being regulated that tend to exclude the public |
| issue networks | complex systems of relationships among groups that influence policy, including elected leaders, interest groups, specialists, consultants, and research institutes |
| judiciary | the law interpreting component of the federal government |
| appeal | rehearing a case because the losing party in the original trial argues that a point of law was not applied properly |
| Marbury v. Madison | the 1803 Supreme Court ruling holding that the Court had the power of judicial review |
| rule of law | a system in which laws are known in advance, the apply the same way to everyone, and if we feel they have been unjustly applied we can appeal to a higher authority |
| substantive laws | laws that define what people can or cannot do |
| procedural laws | laws that define how the laws are used, applied, and enforced |
| criminal laws | a form of substantive law that prohibits behavior that makes collective living difficult of impossible (for example theft, murder, rape, disrupting the peace) |
| crime | a broken criminal law, a violation against the state |
| civil laws | laws that regulate interactions between individuals |
| tort | a broken civil law, a violation against an individual |
| constitutional laws | laws that establish the legal infrastructure in the United States-how the branches relate to each other and determine how the game of politics is played |
| precedent | a previous decision or ruling that is binding on subsequent decisions |
| statutory laws | laws made by legislatures |
| administrative laws | laws created by the bureaucracy after legislation has been passed stating a general intent |
| executive orders | clarifications of congressional policy issued by the president and having the full force of law |
| common law tradition | a legal system in which the decisions of judges become part of the legal tradition and those precedents have the standing of law |
| adversarial system | a legal system concerned primarily with fairness (that is , whether a trial will be fair), trusting that a just judgement will result from a just trial |
| inquisitorial system | a legal system concerned primarily with finding the truth |
| litigious system | a legal system in which parties typically settle their differences in court |
| adjudication | the process of resolving disputes in court |
| racial profilling | when law enforcement officers base their decision to investigate a person's activities on the individual's apparent race or ethnicity |
| jurisdiction | a court's authority to hear certain cases |
| judicial interpretivists | supporters of a judicial approach holding that the Constitution is a living document and that judges should interpret it according to changing times and values |
| strict constructionists | supporters of a judicial approach holding that the Constitution should be read literally, with the framer's intention uppermost in mind |
| writs of certiorari | formal requests by the US Supreme Court to call up the lower court cases it decides to hear on appeal |
| amicus curiae briefs | "friend of the court" documents filed by interested parties to encourage the Court to grant or deny ceriotati or to urge it to decide a case in a particular way |
| solicitor general | the legal officer who argues cases before the Supreme Court when the United States is a party to that case |
| majority opinion | the written decision of the Court that states the judgement of the majority |
| concurring opinions | documents written by justices expressing agreement with the majority ruling but describing different or additional reasons for the ruling |
| dissenting opinions | documents written by justices expressing disagreement with the majority ruling |
Created by:
hallla
Popular American Government sets