Chapter 6- The Congress | POLS 1101 - American Government, Quizzes of Local Government Studies

Download Chapter 6- The Congress | POLS 1101 - American Government and more Quizzes Local Government Studies in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 Ad hoc committee DEFINITION 1 A congressional committee appointed for a limited time to design and report a specific piece of legislation. TERM 2 Casework DEFINITION 2 The activity undertaken by members of Congress and their staffs to solve constituents problems with government agencies. TERM 3 Closed rule DEFINITION 3 An order from the House Rules Committee limiting floor debate on a particular bill and disallowing or limiting amendment. TERM 4 Cloture DEFINITION 4 A parliamentary procedure used to close debate. It is used in the Senate to cut off filibusters. Under the current Senate rules, three-fifths of senators must vote for it to halt a filibuster. TERM 5 Conditional party government DEFINITION 5 The degree of authority delegated to and exercised by congressional leaders; varies withis conditioned bythe extent of election-driven ideological consensus among members. TERM 6 Conference committee DEFINITION 6 A temporary joint committee of the House and Senate appointed to reconcile the differences between the two chambers on a particular piece of legislation. TERM 7 Discharge petition DEFINITION 7 A petition that removes a measure from a committee to which it has been referred in order to make it available for floor consideration. In the House it must be signed by a majority of House members (218). TERM 8 Entitlement DEFINITION 8 A benefit that every eligible person has a legal right to receive and that cannot be taken away without a change in legislation or due process in court. TERM 9 Filibuster DEFINITION 9 A tactic used in the Senate to halt action on a bill. It involves making long speeches until the majority retreats. Senators, once holding the floor, have unlimited time to speak unless a cloture vote is passed by three-fifths of the members. TERM 10 Gerrymandering DEFINITION 10 Drawing legislative districts in such a way as to give one political party a disproportionately large share of seats for the share of votes its candidates win. TERM 21 Presidential coattails DEFINITION 21 Common metaphor for the capacity of a successful presidential candidate to generate votes for other candidates further down the ticket and pull fellow partisans into office. TERM 22 Proportional representation DEFINITION 22 An electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded to candidates or parties in proportion to the percentage of votes received. TERM 23 Quorum DEFINITION 23 The minimum number of congressional members who must be present for the transaction of business. Under the Constitution, the number in each house is a majority of its members: 218 in the House and 51 in the Senate when there are no vacancies. TERM 24 Restricted rule DEFINITION 24 A provision that governs consideration of a bill and that specifies and limits the kinds of amendments that may be made on the floor of the House of Representatives. TERM 25 Rider DEFINITION 25 An amendment to a bill that is not germane to the legislation. TERM 26 Roll-Call vote DEFINITION 26 Vote taken by a call of the roll to determine whether a quorum is present, to establish a quorum, or to vote on a question. Usually the House uses its electronic voting system, but when the system is malfunctioning the Speaker directs the clerk to read the names. The Senate does not have an electronic voting system; its roll is always called by a clerk. TERM 27 Rule DEFINITION 27 A provision that governs consideration of a bill by the House of Representatives by specifying how the bill is to be debated and amended. TERM 28 Select committee DEFINITION 28 A temporary legislative committee created for a specific purpose and dissolved after its tasks are completed. TERM 29 Seniority rule DEFINITION 29 The congressional practice of appointing as committee or subcommittee chairs the members of the majority with the most years of committee service. TERM 30 Speaker of the House DEFINITION 30 The presiding officer of the House of Representatives. They are elected at the beginning of each congressional session on a party-line vote. As head of the majority party they have substantial control over the legislative agenda of the House. TERM 31 Committee DEFINITION 31 A temporary legislative committee, usually lacking legislative authority. TERM 32 Standing committee DEFINITION 32 A permanent legislative committee specializing in a particular legislative area. They have stable memberships and stable jurisdictions. TERM 33 Unanimous consent agreement DEFINITION 33 A unanimous resolution in the Senate restricting debate and limiting amendments to bills on the floor. TERM 34 Whip DEFINITION 34 A member of a legislative party who acts as the communicator between the party leadership and the rank and file. They poll members on their voting intentions, prepares bill summaries, and assists the leadership in various other tasks.