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| Determining which public-policy questions will be debated or considered. |
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| The passage, by Congress, of a spending bill specifying the amount of authorized funds that actually will be allocated for an agency’s use. |
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| A formal declaration by a legislative committee that a certain amount of funding may be available to an agency. Some authorizations terminate in a year; others are renewable automatically without further congressional action. |
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| The division of a legislature into two separate assemblies. |
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| Personal work for constituents by members of Congress. |
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| A special joint committee appointed to reconcile differences when bills pass the two chambers of Congress in different forms. |
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| An alliance of Republicans and southern Democrats that historically formed in the House or the Senate to oppose liberal legislation and support conservative legislation. |
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| One of the persons represented by a legislator or other elected or appointed official. |
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| A temporary funding law that Congress passes when an appropriations bill has not been decided by the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1st. |
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| A procedure by which a bill in the House of Representatives can be forced (discharged) out of committee that has refused to report it for consideration by the House. The petition must be signed by an absolute majority (218) of representatives and is used only on rare occasions. |
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| Special provisions in legislation to set aside funds for projects that have not passed an impartial evaluation by agencies of the executive branch. Also known as “pork”. |
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| Powers specifically granted to the national government by the Constitution. The first seventeen clauses of Article 1, section 8, specify most of the enumerated powers of Congress. |
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| The budget prepared and submitted by the president to Congress. |
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| The annual process in which the Office of Management and Budget, after receiving formal federal agency requests for funding for the next fiscal year, reviews the requests, makes changes, and submits its recommendations to the president. |
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| The use of the Senate’s tradition of unlimited debate as a delaying tactic to block a bill. |
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| A resolution passed by Congress in May that sets overall revenue and spending goals for the following fiscal year. |
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| A twelve-month period that is used for book-keeping, or accounting, purposes. Usually, the fiscal year does not coincide with the calendar year. For example, the federal government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30. |
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| A policy that enables members of Congress to send material through the mail by substituting their facsimile signature (frank) postage. |
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| The drawing of legislative district boundary lines for the purpose of obtaining partisan or factional advantage. A district is said to be gerrymandered when its shape is manipulated by the dominant party to maximize electoral strength at the expense of the minority party. |
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| A legislator who is an agent of the voters who elected him or her and who votes according to the views of constituents regardless of personal beliefs. |
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| – A legislative committee composed of member from both chambers of Congress. |
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| A controversy that is real and substantial, as opposed to hypothetical or academic. |
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| The process of establishing the legal rules that govern society. |
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| An arrangement in which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other’s bills. |
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| Majority leader of the House |
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| A legislative position held by an important party member in the House of Representatives. The majority leader is selected by the majority party in caucus or conference to foster cohesion among party member and to act as spokesperson for the majority party in the House. |
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| Minority leader of the House |
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| The party leader elected by the minority party in the House. |
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| A person who hears and investigates complaints by private individuals against public officials or agencies |
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| The process by which Congress follows up on laws it has enacted to ensure that they are being enforced and administered in the way Congress intended. |
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| A person who identifies with a political party. |
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| The temporary presiding officer of the Senate in the absence of the vice president. |
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| The allocation of seats in the House of Representatives to each state after each census. |
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| The redrawing of the boundaries of the congressional districts within each state. |
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| – The function of members of Congress as elected officials representing the views of the constituents. |
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| A standing committee of the House of Representatives that provides special rules under which specific bills can be debated, amended, and considered by the House. |
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| A district that returns a legislator with 55 percent of the vote or more. |
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| A resolution passed by Congress in September that sets “binding” limits on taxes and spending for the following fiscal year. |
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| A temporary legislative committee established for a limited time period and for a special purpose. |
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| The chief spokesperson of the majority party in the Senate, who directs the legislative program and party strategy. |
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| The party officer in the Senate who commands the minority party’s opposition to the policies of the majority party and directs the legislative program and strategy of his or her party |
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| A custom followed in both chambers of Congress specifying that the member of the majority party with the longest term of continuous service will be given preference when a committee chairperson (or a holder of some other significant post) is selected. |
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| The presiding officer in the House of Representatives. The Speaker is always a member of the majority party and is the most powerful and influential member of the House |
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| The annual process in which the Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to review their program, activities, and goals and submit their requests for funding for the next fiscal year. |
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| A permanent committee in the House or Senate that considers bills within a certain subject area. |
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| A legislator who acts according to her or his conscience and the broad interests of the entire society. |
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| A member of Congress who aids the majority or minority leader of the House or Senate. |
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