| A | B |
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| Delegate role of a legislator | He/she votes the way his constituents wants him/her to vote. |
| Trustee role of a legislator | He/she votes on what he/she believes is the right way to vote |
| Supermajority | A requirement for a propsal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority (over 50%) |
| War Powers | An extraordinary power exercised (usually by the executive branch) in the prosecution of a war and invloving an extension of the powers that the government normally has in peacetime |
| Budget authority | The power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge, one that is invested with this power, esp. a government |
| Federalist No. 10 | is an essay by James Madison & the tenth of the Federalist papers, an ongoing series for the ratification of the US Constitution. This is important because it implies the founding fathers did not intend on the US to be partisan. |
| Single Interest Group | Speaks for a broad sector of society. Such as labor, farmers, business; dominates a policy. |
| Public Interest Group | Set the pace in terms of fundraising and organization. This is important because interest groups were another method of raising money for campaigns and such. |
| Congress: The Peoples’ Branch | A bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, a formal meeting of representatives to discuss, change or promote a common interest of the people. |
| Article I: The Legislative Article | Article 1 describes the powers of Congress, the legislative branch and the federal government. It provides that Congress exists of The House of Representatives and the Senate and the election process and qualification of the members of each house. |
| Seniority | Precedence of position, especially priority over those of the same rank by reason of longer span of service. |
| Bicameralism | Having 2 legislatives or parliamentary chambers |
| speaker of the house | presiding officer of the US House of Representatives. Current speaker is Nancy Pelosi |
| majority leader | the legislative leader elected by party members holding a majority of seats in the House of Rep. or Senate |
| minority leader | the legislative leader elected by party members holding a minority of seats in the House or Senate |
| whips | a senator or represnetative who helps the party leader stay informed about how party member are voting |
| cabinet | composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch. Officers are nominated by the president to advise and assist him in his duties. The appointments are presented to the Senate for confirmation or rejection by majority rule. Ex) Vice president, secretary of treasury |
| divided government | situation when one party controls the White House and the other controls the Congress. Some think that it is a bad result of the separation of powers in the U.S. |
| Executive privilege | power given to the president that is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. This gives them the power to resist certain interference by the legislative and judicial branches. The Supreme Court ruled it to be part of the separation of powers. |
| Executive order | In order issued by the president, at the state level by the governor, or at the local level by the mayor. President issue these to help officers and agencies manage the operations within the federal government. Orders have full force of the law because they are usually issued when trying to pass an Act. |
| Line-item Veto | The power of the president to nullify or cancel certain provisions of a bill without vetoing the entire bill. Granted this power to control pork-barrel spending. The Line-Item Veto Act of 1996 was declared unconstitutional. |
| Issue networks | are analliance of various interest groups and individuals who unite in order to promote a single issue in government policy |
| Privatization | is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a buisness, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector |
| Logrolling | is the exchange of support or favors, esp. by legislators for mutal political gain as by voting for each other's bill's. |
| Impoundment | The refusal of a President of the United States to spend money that has been appropriated by the U.S. Congress |
| Coalition building | Coalition building is the process by which parties (individuals, organizations, or nations) come together to form a coalition. A coalition is a temporary alliance or partnering of groups in order to achieve a common purpose or to engage in joint activity.An example of a coalition would be the Christian Coalition. |
| Different constituencies | Either the people from whom an individual or organization hopes to attract support, or the people or geographical area that a particular elected official represents. |
| Common law | Common law is the system of deciding cases that is based on precedent (legal principles developed in earlier case law) instead of statutory laws. It is the traditional law of an area or region created by judges when deciding individual disputes or cases. Common law changes over time. |
| Statutory law | A law or group of laws passed by a legislature or other official governing bodies. |
| House Rules Committee | A committee of the House of Representative that determines what bills will appear on the floor. |
| Open Rule | Permits general debate for a specified period of time and allows any member to offer an amendment that complies with the standing rules of the House. |
| Closed Rule | Permits general debate for a specified period of time but generally permits no amendments. |
| Discharge Petition | To bring a bill out of committee and onto the floor for consideration without a report from the committee. |
| President Pro Tempro | The vice President becomes President in the absense of the President. |
| Capitalism | An economic system based on private ownership of capital. Essentially it make everything private based instead of government based. |
| Monopoly | When one company has an enormous control over a market, an example is windows and microsoft office. |
| Antitrust Legilation | A legilation that sets regulations that limit trusts and monopolies. |
| Budget resolution | A congressional plan that sets a maximum spending limit of the government. |
| Entitlement | A claim of government funds that cannot be denied without violating the rights of the claimant. |
| sequester | Automatic spending cuts in all federal programs if the president and congress cannot agree on total spending limits. |
| charitable choice | The direct US government funding of religious organizations to provide social services, such as welfare back to work and community service block grants. |
| means test | an investigation to determine whether or not an individual or family is eligable for government help. |
| Origional Jurisdiction | The right of a court to hear a case for the first time. |
| District Courts | A category of courts that exist in several nations. |
| Appellate Jurisdiction | the power of a court toi review decisions and change outcomes of decisions of lower courts. |
| Appeals Court | empowerd to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. |
| Grand Jury | Decides wether ther is enough evidence tohave a trial. |
| Gerrymandering | Drawing the boundaries of legislative districts in bizarre or unusual shapes to favor one party |
| Majority-Minority District | A congressional district in which the majority of the constituents in the district are racial or ethnic minorities. This information is decided by the United States census. |
| Reapportionment | The process of apportioning Congressional seats among states as they gain and lose population |
| Redistricting | The process of equally drawing district boundaries in a way that gives everyone an equal vote and each candidate an equal chance of winning elections |
| State Delegation | The group of elected officials from a certain state in the House of Representatives and Senate who are chosen to represent the beliefs of those in their state. |
| Devolution Revolution | The act of transferring Federal level operations such as healthcare, over to the states, giving the states more power. Prevalent under Ronald Reagan. |
| Mandate | Terms set by the national government that states must meet whether or not they accept federal grants. |
| Unfunded Mandate | When a new piece of Federal legislation would require another government agency, or the private sector, to perform functions for which it has no funds. When the Federal government prevents another government entity from imposing taxes, it is also considered an unfunded mandate |
| filibuster | A legislator that gives long speaches to delay legislation. |
| cloture | a motion to terminate a debate by calling for a vote. |
| senatorial courtesy | unwritten political custom in which the U.S president consults with the U.S senator of a given state in his/her political party,before nominating anyone for a federal vaccancy. |
| rider | An addictional provision annexed to a bill under the consideration of a legislature. |
| hold | also known as the legal hold, this is a process used when an organization wishes to preserve all forms of relevant information when a lawsuit seems plausible. |
| judicial restraint | is a theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power. It asserts that judges should hesitate to strike down laws unless they are obviously unconstitutional. |
| writ of certiorari | order by a higher court directing a lower court, tribunal, or public authority to send the record in a given case for review. |
| stare decisis | the legal principle by which judges are obliged to obey the set-up precedents established by prior court decisions. This is important as even the judges have certain rules they follow. |
| amicus curiae | “friend of the court” - refers to someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it. |
| majority opinion | judicial opinion agreed to by a majority of the members of a court. |
