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| a legislative assembly composed of two seperate houses, such as the US Congress, which consists of the House and Senate. |
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| an association of members of COngress created to advocate on behalf of a political ideaology, a constituency, or regional or economic interests. Almost a hundred of thses groups exists, and they rival political parties as a source of policy leadership |
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| a bill that has a lot of riders. ie: everyone gets what they want on Christmas! |
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| Limitation imposed by the Rules Committee of the house of reps on the amount of debate time allotted to a bill and on the introduction of amendments from the floor or of any amendments other than those from the sponsoring committee. |
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| A device used in the House to expedite the passage of legislation. The quorum is reduced from 218 members to 100, and the Speaker appoints a member of the majority party as chair. Time allotted for debating the bill in question is split equally between proponents and opponents. The committe itself cannot pass legislation |
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| Rule 22 of the Senate, providing for the end of debate on a bill if 3/5th agree. A cloture motion is brought to the floor if 16 senators sign a petition. The purpose is typically to terminate a filibuster and to force a vote on a bill. |
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| a resolution used to settle housekeeping and procedural matters that affect both houses. Do not have force of law. |
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| a speical type of joint committee appointed to resolve difference in House and Senae versions of a peice of legislation |
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| a meeting place of reps of local consituencies who can initiate, modify, approve, or reject laws. |
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| Congressional Budget Office |
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| 1974- advices congress on the economic effect of spending programs , to provide info on the cost of proposed policies, and to prepare analyses of the presidents budget proposal. |
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| Congressional Research Service |
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| 1914- responds to congressional requests for information. It keeps track of every major bill and produces summaries of legislation for members of congress |
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| a vote in congress in which conservative Deomocrats join with Republicans |
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| Descriptive representation |
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| a term coined by Hanna Petkin to refer to the statistical correspondence of the demographic characteristics of representives with those of their constituents. |
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| procedure for removing legisltation from control of a committe and bringing it to the floor for immediate consideration. House: petition must have 218 names. Senate: any member may move to dischange a bill from committe but the petitionneed majority vote |
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| Standing vote, method of voting used in both houses in which members stand and are counted. |
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| a huge waste of time. delays action in senate |
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| Congress get to mail letters for free |
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| General Accounting Office |
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| 1921: performs routine audits of the money spend by executive departments. Also investiagates agencies and makes recommendations on every aspect of gov't |
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| drawing congressional district lines in a bizarre shap to make it easy for a candidate of one party to win elections in that distict |
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| speaking fees accepted by members of Congress. Forbidden by House, limited by Senate |
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| Committee on which both reps and senators serve |
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| a resolution requiring approval of both houses and the signature of the president an dhaving the same legal status as a law. |
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| legislative leader elected by party members holding the majority of seats in the House or the Senate |
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| Majority-minority districts |
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| Congressional districts designed to make it easier for minority citizens to elect minority reps. These districts are drawn so that the majority of their voters are minorities |
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| the creation of congressional disticts in a state which are unequal size. Supreme Court eliminate practice: all must have about same # of people |
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| a congressional district in which the winner of the general election gets less than 55% of vote. Such districts can easily switch to the other party in next election |
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| revisions and additions to legilsation made by committees and subcommittees |
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| the head of the minority party in each house of congress chosen by the caucus of the minority party. This person formulates the minority parties strategy and program |
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| practice of referring a bill to several committees. After 1995: can only be done sequentialy or by assigning distinct portions of the bill to different committees |
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| rule from the Rules of Committee of the House which permits amendments from the floor on a particular peice of legislation |
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| organizational view of representation |
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| theory of congressional voting behavior which assumes that members make voting decisions to please fellow members and obtain their goodwill. Member vote by following cues provided by colleagues |
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| an assembly of party representatives which choses a governemnt and discusses major national issues. |
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| the extent to which members of a party vote together in the House and Senate. The extent of such voting has fluctuated and is lower now than at the turn of the century. |
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| a bill introduced by a member of congress that gives tangible benefits, like a highway or bridge, to constituents in hopes of winning votes |
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| a position created in the Consitution to serve as a presiding officer of the Senate in the absence of the vice president. |
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legislation that pertains to a particular individual
ex: seeking speical permision to be a citizen |
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| bill that applies to public affairs generally |
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| minimum members of representatives required to be in attendance to conduct offical business |
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| roll call to see if quorum is present |
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| representational view of representation |
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| theory of congressional voting behavior that ssumes that members make voting decisions based on their perception of constituents' wishes to ensure their own reelection |
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| a rule from the rules committee of the house of reps which permits certain amendments to a peice of legislation but not others |
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| a nongermane amendment to an important bill. it is added so the measure will 'ride' through congress |
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in the House, the committee that decides which bills come up for a vote, in what order, and under what restrictions on lenth of debate and on the right to offer amendments.
Senate Rules and Administration Committee: possesses few powers, so majority leader organizes floor debate |
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| a congressional distict in which the winner of the general election carries more than 55% vote. Most house districts are safe and are carried by incumbents with wide margins |
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| congressional committee appointed for a limited time and purpose |
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| tradition observed in the senate in which the president is expected to consult with senator, if they are in the president's party, when a federal officer appointment is to be made in their state |
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| 1913 amendment requiring popular election of US senators. Senators were previously chosen by state legislatures |
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| resolution passed by either house to establish internal chamber rules |
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| an increase in the number of votes candidates recieve between their first time elected and their first time reelected |
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| presiding officer of the House. Chosen in the causus of the majority party and is empowered to recognize members to peak on the floor, to rule whether a motion is germane, to assign bills to committe, to appoint house members to select and join committees and to appoint majority members of the Rules Committee. |
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| permanent committees of each house with the power to report bills |
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| substantive representation |
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| term coined by Hanna Pitkin to refer to correspodence bwteen representatives opinions and those of their constituents |
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| a method of voting used only in the house. Members votes are counted by having them pass between two tellers, first the yeas and than the nays. |
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| method of voting used in both houses in which members vote by shouting yea or nay |
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| members of the party leadership in each house who help the party leader stay informed about what party members are thinking, rounds up members when important votes are to be taken, and attempts to keep a nose count of how the voting conroversial issue is likely to go. |
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| attitudinal view of representation |
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| theory of congressional voting which assuming that members vote on a basis of their own beleifs |
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