Download Congress: Structure, Functions, and Legislative Process and more Exams Political Science in PDF only on Docsity!
TJC GOVT 2305- Chapter 12 Congress Latest
Exam 100% Verified
bicameral - ANSWER having a legislative assembly composed of two house chambers or houses, distinguished from unicameral
ndelegate - ANSWER representative who votes according to the preference of his or her constituency
Constituency - ANSWER the residents in the area from which an official is elected
trustee - ANSWER representative who votes based on what he/she thinks is best for his/her constituency
sociological representation - ANSWER type of representation in which a representatives have the same racial, gender, ethics, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents
agency representation - ANSWER type of representation in which a representative is held accountable to a constituency if he or she fails to represent that constituency properly
incumbency - ANSWER holding the political office for which one is running
cloture - ANSWER rule or process in legislative body aimed at ending debate on given bill; in the U.S. senate, 60 senators (3/5ths) must agree in order to impose a time limit and end debate.
veto - ANSWER president's constitutional power to turn down acts of congress; a presidential veto may be overridden by a 2/3rds vote of each house of congress
pocket veto - ANSWER presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of legislative sessions.
What factors influence which laws congress passes? - ANSWER -Constituents are most important
-interest groups also play a role
- party leadership might care if it is a partisan vote ["Part Discipline"]
party unity vote A roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party.
roll-call vote A vote in which each legislator's yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members alphabetically
logrolling - ANSWER a legislative practice whereby agreements are made between legislators in voting for or against a bill; vote trading
how does congress influence other branches of the government? - ANSWER -Oversight
-advice and consent (appointments: ambassadors and federal judges and approves treates)
-impeachment
oversight - ANSWER the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies
appropriation - ANSWER The amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend
executive agreement - ANSWER an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate's "advice and consent"
re-election in their home district
private bill - ANSWER proposal in congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief, such as special exemption from immigration quotas
conference - ANSWER gathering of the House of Republicans every 2 years to elect their house leaders; Democrats call their gathering Caucus
Caucus (political) - ANSWER typically closed meeting of a political or legislative group to select candidates, plan strategy, or decide on legislative members.
Speaker of the House ANSWER Chief presiding officers of the house of representative the speaker is the most important party and leader, and can influence the legislative agenda, fate of individual pieces of legislative, and members positions within the house.
majority leader - ANSWER elected leader or the majority party in the house if representatives or in the senate; in the house the leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to speaker of the house
minority leader - ANSWER elected leader of the minority party
whip - ANSWER party member in the House or the Senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy building support for key issues, and counting votes
standing committee - ANSWER a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture
Standing Committee continued - ANSWER house ways and means committee and the senate finance committees are powerful because of their jurisdiction over taxes, trade, and expensive entitlement programs such as social security and medicare
select committee - ANSWER usually temporary legislative committee set up to high light or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committtees
joint committee - ANSWER legislative committees formed of members of both the house and the senate
Conference committee - ANSWER joint committees created to work out a compromise on house and senate's versions of a piece of legislation
seniority - ANSWER the ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee in congress
staff agencies - ANSWER legislative support agencies responsible for policy analysis
caucus (congressional) - ANSWER associations of members of congress based in party, interest, or social groups, such as gender, or race
What are the steps in the process of passing a law? - ANSWER *introduced into the house or senate (Only house can introduce "money bills")
*referred to committee for deliberation
*floor debate
*Vote
*conference committee
*Return to house/senate floor for approval
*president signs veto
bill - ANSWER proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of congress and submitted to the clerk of the house or senate
