Chapter 10: Congress

Question 1

constituency

Answer 1

the residents in the area from which an official is elected

Question 2

delegate

Answer 2

*interpretation of a congressional official’s job
*a rep who votes according to the preferences of their constituency

Question 3

trustee

Answer 3

*interpretation of a congressional official’s job
*a representative who votes according to what they believe is best for their constituency

Question 4

descriptive representation

Answer 4

*principle postulating that a representative with the same ethnic, religious, educational, occupational, etc. background as their constituency can accurately represent their interests

Question 5

substantive representation

Answer 5

*form of representation in which reps are held accountable to their constituency when failing to represent their interests correctly
*incentive for reps to provide good representation when having a different bakcground to that of thier constituents

Question 6

pork barrel

Answer 6

*appropriations made by legislative bodies/legislators for local projects; often not needed but provide credibility for reps running for re-election in home districts

Question 7

apportionment

Answer 7

*process occuring after every decennial census, that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states

Question 8

redistricting

Answer 8

*process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives
*happens every 10 years to reflect population shifts

Question 9

gerrymandering

Answer 9

*redistricting done to give an unfair advantage to a political party of racial/ethnic group

Question 10

conference

Answer 10

*gathering of house republicans every 2 years to elect house leaders
*democratic referred to as “caucus”

Question 11

caucus

Answer 11

normally closed political party business meeting of citizens or lawmakers to select candidates, elect officers, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters

Question 12

speaker of the house

Answer 12

*chief presiding officer of the House
*most important house/party leader
*can influence legislative agenda, fate of individual and members’ positions within the house

Question 13

majority leader

Answer 13

elected leader of the majority party in the house/senate
*in the house, subordinate to the speaker

Question 14

minority leader

Answer 14

elected leader of the minority party in the house/senate

Question 15

whip

Answer 15

party member in the house/senate responsible for coordinating the party’s legislative strategy, building support for key issue, and counting votes

Question 16

standing committee

Answer 16

permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject (finance, agriculture, etc.)

Question 17

select committee

Answer 17

(usually) temporary legislative committees set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committees

Question 18

joint commitees

Answer 18

legislative committees formed of members of both house/senate

Question 19

conference committees

Answer 19

joint committees created to work out a compromise on house/senate versions of a piece of legislation
*usually bypassed in favor of a bill being sent back and forth until compromise is reached

Question 20

markup

Answer 20

session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearing on a bill

Question 21

staff agencies

Answer 21

legislative support agencies responsible for policy analysis
*provide resources/expertise independent of executive branch (congressional research service, government accountability office, congressional budget office, etc.)

Question 22

bill

Answer 22

a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of congress and submitted to the clerk of the House/Senate

Question 23

open rules

Answer 23

allows any member to offer an amendment that complies with the standing parliamentary rules of the House (as well as Budget Act)

Question 24

Modified Open Rules

Answer 24

*allows only amendments that have been preprinted in the congressional record
*may put a time limit on consideration of amendments

Question 25

structured rules

Answer 25

limits amendments offered to a bill to only those designated in a special rule

Question 26

closed rules

Answer 26

prohibits amendments being offered other than those recommended by the committee reporting out the bill

Question 27

filibuster

Answer 27

*prevents action on legislation through prolonged speaking once a senator is given the floor
*3/5 vote of senate required to end filibuster

Question 28

cloture

Answer 28

rule/process in legislative body aimed at ending debate on a given bill
*requires 3/5 of senate to agree on imposing a time limit

Question 29

roll-call vote

Answer 29

vote in which legislators yes/no votes are recorded as the clerk calls member names alphabetically

Question 30

pocket veto

Answer 30

*bill dies when pres decides not to sign and congress adjourns
*if congress remains in session, the bill becomes law after 10 days

Question 31

unorthodox lawmaking

Answer 31

set of legislative procedures that deviate from regular order
*reflects greater level of control on part of party leaders
*trades deliberation for speed

Question 32

multiple referral

Answer 32

practice of referring a bill to multiple committees for consideration

Question 33

ping-ponging

Answer 33

sending amendments between relevant house/senate committees to reconcile differences between bills without convening a conference committee at all

Question 34

appropriations

Answer 34

amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit/agency of fed gov’t can spend

Question 35

omnibus apporpriations bill

Answer 35

bill combining all or many of smaller appropriation bill into a single package
*can be passed with a single vote in each chamber
*minority party usually excluded from omnibus process

Question 36

party unity vote

Answer 36

roll-call vote in house or senate where at least 50% of members of one party take a position opposed to at least 50% of members of other party

Question 37

polarization

Answer 37

deep ideological distance between parties

Question 38

oversight

Answer 38

*power of congress to excercise control over executive agencies through hearings, investigations, etc.

Question 39

impeachment

Answer 39

*formal charge by house that gov’t official has committed “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”
*House acts as grand jury, indicting gov’t official
*Senate acts as trial jury, convicting gov’t official