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AP Gov unit2 Legis
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Advice and consent | a constitutional power of the U.S. Senate to approve or reject presidential appointments and to ratify treaties |
| Baker v. Carr (1962) | the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts have the authority to hear lawsuits challenging unequal, malapportioned legislative districts |
| Bicameral | a two-house legislature |
| Caucuses | a local meeting where registered political party members physically gather, discuss candidates, and select delegates pledged to support a presidential nominee, or a meeting of lawmakers within Congress to set policy and choose legislative leaders |
| Cloture rule | the only formal Senate procedure used to end a filibuster and force an immediate vote on a bill or nomination |
| Committee chairmen | leader of a congressional committee who has authority over the committee’s agenda |
| Committee of the Whole | consists of all members of the House and meets in the House chamber but is governed by different rules, making it easier to consider complex and controversial legislation |
| Committee on Committees (Republican) | an internal party group in the U.S. Congress responsible for recommending party members for assignment to specific standing committees |
| Conference chairman | the senior member who leads a temporary joint committee tasked with reconciling differences between House and Senate versions of a bill |
| Conference committees | a temporary, joint committee of the House and Senate formed to resolve differences between the two chambers' versions of a bill |
| Congressional oversight | the power of Congress to review, monitor, and supervise the executive branch and federal bureaucratic agencies to ensure they execute laws as Congress intended |
| Constituent services (case work) | the hands-on work that members of Congress and their staff do to help individual people in their district or state solve problems with the federal government |
| Deficit | a government spends more money than it collects in revenue over a specific period, usually a fiscal year |
| Delegate model | a theory of congressional representation where members of Congress vote based on the direct preferences and wishes of their constituents, rather than using their own personal judgment |
| Discharge petition | a motion filed by a member of Congress to move a bill out of committee and onto the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote |
| Discretionary spending | spending for programs and policies at the discretion of Congress and the president |
| Earmarks | provisions added to federal legislation by members of Congress to allocate money for specific local projects or organizations, bypassing the usual competitive bidding process |
| Enumerated powers | powers explicitly granted to the national government through the Constitution; also called express powers |
| Estate taxes | a federal levy placed on the net value of a deceased person's money and property before it is handed down to heirs |
| Expressed powers | specific authorities explicitly granted to the federal government and written directly into the U.S. Constitution |
| Filibuster | a tactic through which an individual senator may use the right of unlimited debate to delay a motion or postpone action on a piece of legislation |
| Floor leaders | party members chosen by the House and Senate caucuses to steer legislative action, manage debate on the floor, and carry out party goals |
| Germane | an amendment or provision that is strictly relevant, appropriate, and directly related to the central subject matter of the bill under consideration |
| Gerrymandering | the intentional use of redistricting to benefit a specific interest or group of voters. |
| Gridlock | a situation in which no congressional action or legislation can be passed due to a lack of consensus among political actors |
| Hold | an informal practice where a U.S. senator asks party leadership to delay or block a bill, motion, or presidential nomination from coming to the Senate floor |
| House Judiciary | a standing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives responsible for overseeing the administration of justice in federal courts, law enforcement, and constitutional matters |
| House Ways and Means Committee | the primary standing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives responsible for writing tax, tariff, and revenue-raising legislation |
| Impeach | the constitutional process where the House of Representatives formally charges a federal official with wrongdoing, and the Senate holds a trial to decide whether to convict and remove them from office |
| Implied powers | authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers; powers not granted specifically to the national government but considered necessary to carry out the enumerated powers. |
| Incumbency | the current holder of a political office, and the incumbency advantage is the severe electoral edge that current officeholders hold over their challengers |
| Interest | voluntary association of people who come together with the goal of getting the policies that they favor enacted |
| Joint committees | a congressional committee made up of members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate |
| Logrolling | a legislative practice where members of Congress trade votes, agreeing to support each other's bills or favored projects |
| Mandatory spending | spending required by existing laws that is “locked in” the budget. |
| Marginal seats | an electoral district or constituency won by a small majority or narrow margin in a previous election, marginal seat (or marginal district) in AP US Government is an electoral district where the winning candidate receives less than 55% of the popular vote |
| Markup session | a meeting held by a congressional committee or subcommittee to debate, amend, and rewrite a proposed bill before it is voted on and sent to the full chamber |
| Multiple referral | a congressional process where a bill is sent to multiple committees at the same time or in sequence because it touches several areas of their jurisdictions |
| Non-germane amendments | an addition or change to a bill that has no direct relation to the subject matter of the original legislation |
| Omnibus bill | a massive single piece of legislation that combines multiple, often unrelated or diverse measures into one large package requiring just a single up-or-down vote |
| Politico model | a theory of congressional representation where members of Congress blend the trustee model and delegate model, switching their voting behavior depending on the specific political circumstance |
| Pork barrel spending | the practice of members of Congress adding federal funding for localized projects—like roads, bridges, or research centers—into larger bills to benefit their home districts and boost their reelection chances |
| President of the Senate | he constitutional role held by the Vice President of the United States, who acts as the presiding officer of the Senate and can only vote to break a tie |
| President pro tempore | the official constitutional officer who presides over the U.S. Senate in the absence of the Vice President |
| Reapportionment | the process of reallocating the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states based on population changes recorded by the decennial census |
| Redistricting | states’ redrawing of boundaries of electoral districts following each census |
| Riders | a non-germane (unrelated) amendment added to a popular or must-pass bill so that it can "ride" through Congress and become law |
| Rules Committee | a powerful committee that determines when a bill will be subject to debate and vote on the House floor, how long the debate will last, and whether amendments will be allowed on the floor |
| Safe seats | an elected legislative district predictably won by a single political party or incumbent, meaning victory is virtually guaranteed |
| Senate majority leader | the chief spokesperson and most influential member of the majority party in the U.S. Senate, responsible for managing the legislative agenda and floor action |
| Sequential referral | a congressional procedure where the Speaker of the House (or presiding officers in the Senate) sends a proposed bill to a second committee only after the first committee has finished acting on it |
| Seventeenth Amendment | established the direct election of U.S. Senators by popular vote instead of selection by state legislatures |
| Shaw v. Reno (1993) | Supreme Court case that ruled electoral voting districts cannot be drawn purely based on race |
| Speaker of the House | the constitutional presiding officer and de facto leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, chosen by a vote of its members |
| Sponsor | the member of Congress (House Representative or Senator) who officially introduces a bill, resolution, or amendment and whose name appears first on the proposal |
| Standing committees | a permanent committee in the House of Representatives or the Senate that evaluates bills, marks them up, and handles ongoing policy oversight in a specific subject area |
| Swing districts | a congressional or legislative district where voter support is split evenly between the major parties, meaning either Democrats or Republicans can realistically win the general election |
| Trustee model | a theory of representation in AP Government where elected officials use their own personal judgment and conscience to make policy decisions, rather than following the direct demands of their constituents |
| Unanimous consent | a Senate procedure where the presiding officer asks if any member objects to a proposed action, and if no one objects, the measure passes or the rule is set aside |
| War Powers Act (1973) | a federal law designed to limit the president's ability to wage unapproved military conflict and protect Congress's constitutional power to declare war |
| Whip | a party leadership member in the House of Representatives or the Senate who counts votes, encourages party discipline, and manages communication between party leaders and lawmakers |
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