unit 11 vocabulary words. attitudinal view of representation
TRANSCRIPT
Unit 11 vocabulary words
Attitudinal view of representation
The view which states that a congressmen vote in alignment with their
ideologies
Bicameral legislature
A legislature that comprises of two
chambers
Caucus (congressional)
A meeting held by the House or Senate or both to discuss and
possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for
its members
Christmas tree bill
A bill on the Senate floor that attracts many, often unrelated,
floor amendments
Closed rule
A rule granted by the House Rules Committee
that prohibits amendments to a
particular bill during House floor action. Under a "closed rule" the House
must either accept or reject the bill as
recommended by the sponsoring committee.
Committee of the whole
A committee of all members of a legislature that meets to discuss a
certain issue or bill
Concurrent resolution
Legislation adopted by both Chambers to express the position of Congress. As such a resolution does not have the signature of the President; it does not
have the force of law.
Conference committee
A temporary panel of House and Senate negotiators. A conference committee is created to resolve differences between versions of similar House and Senate bills.
Congress
The legislature of the United States government, comprised of the House of Representatives and the
Senate.
Congressional budget office
Provides Congress with objective, timely, non-
partisan analysis needed for economic and budget decisions and to provide
the information and estimates required for the
Congressional budget process.
Congressional research service
A term for the Library of Congress’s response to
requests for general information and issue
analysis from Members, Committees, or staff.
Conservative coalition
A coalition in American politics bringing together Republicans
(most of whom were conservatives) and the minority of conservative Democrats, most of them from the
South. The coalition largely controlled Congress from 1937 to 1964 and continued as a potent force until the mid-1980s, when
reforms designed at strengthening the Democratic
party leadership in the United States House of Representatives
came to fruition.
Descriptive representation
Descriptive representation, sometimes
called passive representation or symbolic representation, is the idea
that candidates in democratic elections should be elected to represent
ethnic and gender constituencies, as well as other minority interest groups, rather than the population at large. According to this
idea, an elected body should resemble a
representative sample of the voters they are meant to
represent concerning outward characteristics - a constituency of 50% women
and 20% blacks, for example, should have 50% female and 20%
black legislators.
Discharge petition
A petition to force a bill out of committee.
Requires a majority vote.
Division vote
Requires members of the House or Senate to stand or raise their hand to be
counted, the chair counts the ayes then the nays,
names are not recorded. A division vote is used when the results of a voice vote
are in doubt.
Double-tracking
A method to keep the Senate going during a filibuster, whereby a
disputed bill is temporarily shelved so that the Senate
can go on with other business.
Filibuster
An extended debate in the Senate which has the effect of preventing a
vote.
Franking privileges
A privilege allowing members to send official
mail using his/her signature instead of a
stamp.
General accounting office
The GAO audits federal agencies and programs for
Congress
Gerrymandering
A process in which a voting district is broken up or the physical boundaries
of a voting district are changed in order to make it easier for one political
party to win future elections. The term
gerrymander was coined in 1812 when a county in
Massachusetts was redistricted into a
salamander-like shape by Gov. Elbridge Gerry for
political purposes. His last name was combined with the word salamander to
get "gerrymander."
Honoraria
Payments to an individual in recognition of a special service or distinguished achievement for which
custom or propriety forbids any fixed price to
be set.
Joint committee
A committee comprised of both members of the
House and Senate. There are joint committees on
the library, on printing, on taxation, and the joint economic committee
Joint resolution
JOINT RESOLUTIONS are used to pose constitutional
amendments, to fix technical errors, or to
appropriate. They become public law if adopted by
both the House and Senate and, where
relevant, approved by the president. In terms of
Constitutional amendments, they must
be approved by 3/4 of the states.
Majority leader
An official elected by the majority party members in
the House or Senate to lead them, to promote passage of the party's issue priorities, and to coordinate legislative
efforts with the Minority Leader, the other
chamber, and the White House. The Majority
Leader also seeks unity among Members on the policy positions taken by the party, and works to
put together coalitions to create voting majorities.
Majority-minority districts
Districts with a majority of residents who are part of
an ethnic minority.
Malapportionment
The creation of congressional districts in a state which are of unequal size. The Supreme Court in
1964 eliminated the practice by requiring that
all districts in a state contain about the same
number of people.
Marginal districts
A congressional district in which the winner of the
general election gets less than 55 percent of the
vote. Such districts could easily switch to the other party in the next election.
Mark-up
A meeting of a Committee held to review the text of a bill before reporting it
out. Committee members offer and vote on
proposed changes to the bill's language, known as amendments. Most mark-
ups end with a vote to send the new version of
the bill to the floor for final approval.
Minority leader
An official elected by the minority party members in
the House or Senate to lead them, to promote passage of the party's issue priorities, and to coordinate legislative
efforts with the Minority Leader, the other
chamber, and the White House. The Majority
Leader also seeks unity among Members on the policy positions taken by the party, and works to
put together coalitions to create voting majorities.
Multiple referral
The process of sending legislation to be
considered by more than one committee.
Open rule
A rule allowing all relevant amendments to be offered
to a bill, without any restrictions.
Organizational view of representation
The theory of congressional voting
behavior which assumes that members make
voting decisions to please fellow members and
obtain their goodwill. Such behavior is possible since constituents seldom know how their representatives
vote. Members vote by following cues provided by
colleagues.
Parliament
A legislative assembly.
Party unity vote
A vote that pits a majority of one party against a
majority of the opposite party.
Pork-barrel legislation
It comes from the plantation practice of
distributing rations of salt pork to slaves from
wooden barrels. When used to describe a bill, it implies the legislation is
loaded with special projects for Members of Congress to distribute to their constituents back
home as an act of largesse, courtesy of the
federal taxpayer.
President pro temporeb
The senator who presides over the Senate in the
absence of the Vice Preisdent. The position is usually given to the most
senior senator of the majority party.
Private billA bill introduced on behalf of an individual citizen for a limited and unique purpose. If enacted
by both the House & Senate and approved by the president, they become private, not public, law
Public bill
A Bill dealing with public general interests. Most
legislation passed by the House are public Bills.
Quorum
The number of members who must be present
before business may be conducted. A quorum in the House requires the presence of 218, while
100 are needed in Committee of the Whole. A quorum in the Senate
requires the prescence of 51 senators. Unless
challenged by a point of order, the Senate
conducts daily business without a quorum present.
Quorum call
A Quorum Call seeks to bring a majority of
members to the floor to record their presence.
Representational view of representation
Representation based on population. States with more citizens receive
more votes.
Restrictive rule
Consent from the Rules Committee of the House of
Representatives which permits certain
amendments to a piece of legislation but not others.
Rider
A Rider is an amendment attached to a bill, usually
unrelated to the subject of the underlying bill. Its
sponsor tries to "ride" it to passage on the strength of the original bill. Riders are
permitted in the Senate and are routine. House
rules ban riders unless an exception is made.
Roll-call vote
A vote on the record, noting the name of each member and his voting
position
Rules committee
The Committee on Rules, or (more commonly) Rules
Committee, is a committee of the United
States House of Representatives. Rather
than being responsible for a specific area of policy,
as most other committees are, it is in charge of
determining under what rule other bills will come to the floor. As such, it is one of the most powerful committees, and often described as "an arm of
the leadership".
Safe district
A congressional district in which the winner of the general election gets a
majority of the vote, increasing the chance of
reelection.
Select committee
A Select Committee is formed for a specific
purpose and usually for a limited period of time.
Senatorial courtesy
The practice of consulting home-state senators on a
nomination.The Senate rarely confirms presidential appointments
if the nominee's own senators disapprove.
Sequential referral
The practice of sending a bill to more than one
congressional committee for consideration and doing so in an ordered
sequence. Sometimes a date is attached to a
sequential referral. This obligates the first
committee designated to finish its consideration by that date or the bill will be automatically discharged and sent to the second,
and subsequent committees, if named in
the original referral.
Seventeenth amendment
Clause 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for
six years; and each Senator shall have one
vote. The electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of the State legislatures.
Clause 2. When vacancies happen in the
representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of each State shall issue
writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided That
the legislature of any State may empower the
executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the
vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.Clause 3. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any Senator chosen before it becomes
valid as part of the Constitution.
Simple resolution
Used to take action on behalf of only one
chamber or to give its non-binding opinion. It does not become law.
Uses include modifying or proposing an internal rule,
or creating a new committee.
Sophomore surge
An increase in the number of votes candidates
receive between the first time elected and their first
time reelected.
Speaker of the house
The presiding officer in the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party in the
House.
Standing committees
A permanent commit in either the House or
Senate, otherwise a select committee is temporary depending on the case.
Teller vote
A vote in which members turn in signed index cards: green for yea and red for
nay.
Voice vote
A vote that requires only an oral "aye" or "no"
Whip
A legislator appointed by the party to enforce
discipline