Question: 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act

Answer: controversial pork-barrel legislation, funded thousands of projects that were already well-represented on the Appropriations Committee

Question: appropriation

Answer: A legislative grant of money to finance a government program or agency

Question: authorization

Answer: A formal declaration by a legislative committee that a certain amount of funding may be available to an agency

Question: bicameral

Answer: 2 chambers; Congress has the Senate and the House of Representatives

Question: Baker v Carr

Answer: (LBJ) 1962 Baker v. Carr, case decided in 1962 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Tennessee had failed to reapportion the state legislature for 60 years despite population growth and redistribution. Charles Baker, a voter, brought suit against the state (Joe Carr was a state official in charge of elections) in federal district court, claiming that the dilution of his vote as a result of the state's failure to reapportion violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The court dismissed the complaint on the grounds that it could not decide a political question. Baker appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled that a case raising a political issue would be heard. This landmark decision opened the way for numerous suits on legislative apportionment.

Question: Bridge to Nowhere

Answer: proposed in Alaska, connecting bunch of small islands to replace the ferry; would have cost $398 million

Question: caucuses

Answer: A closed meeting of a political or legislative group to choose candidates for office or to decide issues of policy

Question: Christmas-tree bill

Answer: A bill with many riders, or non-germane provisions. Occurs because individual senators are trying to attach their favorite ideas or benefits to their states.

Question: closed rules, open rules

Answer: Closed rules set time limits on debate and restrict the passage of amendments on bills; open rules permit amendments from the floor of the house.

Question: cloture

Answer: A procedure for terminating debate, especially filibusters, in the Senate.

Question: Committee of the Whole

Answer: A committee that consists of an entire legislative body; used for a procedure in which a legislative body expedites its business by resolving itself into a committee of itself

Question: conference committees

Answer: A joint committee appointed to resolve differences in the senate and house versions of the same bill

Question: congressional calendars

Answer: 5 house calendars (Union, House, Private, Consent, and Discharge) and 2 senate calendars (Executive Calendar, Calendar of Business)

Question: contract with America

Answer: In the 1994 congressional elections, Congressman Newt Gingrich had Republican candidates sign a document in which they pledged their support for such things as a balanced budget amendment, term limits for members of Congress, and a middle-class tax cut.

Question: discharge position

Answer: a petition signed by a majority of the members of the House of Representatives to force a bill from committe and bring it to the floor of consideration.

Question: earmarks

Answer: "Hidden" congressional provisions that direct the federal government to fund specific projects or that exempt specific persons or groups from paying specific federal taxes or fees

Question: Easley v. Cromartie

Answer: Stated that redistricting for political reasons did not violate Federal Civil Rights Law banning race-based gerrymandering.

Question: elastic clause

Answer: Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which allows Congress to make all laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out the powers of the Constitution.

Question: filibuster

Answer: A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue.

Question: franking privilege

Answer: Benefit allowing members of Congress to mail letters and other materials postage-free

Question: germane amendments

Answer: irrelevant additions to a bill made either to: 1) deter others from passing the bill 2) add more if you know it's going to be passed

Question: gerrymandering

Answer: Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Question: hidden earmarks

Answer: inserted in committee reports that are sent back to Congress, but can not be voted on by Congress

Question: incumbency

Answer: Holding a political office for which one is running

Question: joint commitees

Answer: Committees made up of an equal number of representatives and senators that help the two houses of congress work together.

Question: League of United Latin America Citizens et al. v Perry, Governor of Texas

Answer: Despite friction, large immigration into the south west meant a resurgence of the Mexican cultural presence, which became the basis for greater solidarity and political action for the ethnic Mexican population. Shortly after WW1, Mexican American began organizing, a development that culminated with the formation of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Texas in 1929.

Question: line-item veto

Answer: Presidential power to strike, or remove, specific items from a spending bill without vetoing the entire package; declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Question: logrolling

Answer: An agreement by two or more lawmakers to support each other's bills

Question: majority leader of the House

Answer: 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 members and to act as spokesperson for the majority party in the House.

Question: majority leader of the Senate

Answer: 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 members and to act as spokesperson for the majority party in the House.

Question: malapportionment

Answer: Drawing the boundaries of legislative districts so that they are unequal in population

Question: marking up

Answer: the process by which a U.S. congressional committee or state legislative session debates, amends, and rewrites proposed legislation

Question: mid-decade redistricting

Answer: redistricting to gain votes

Question: minority leader of the House

Answer: The party leader elected by the minority party in the House

Question: minority leader of the Senate

Answer: the party leader elected by members of the minority party in the House

Question: minority/majority districting

Answer: A rule by which the design of new electoral boundaries, must where possible, create electoral districts which have a majority population of some group which is a national minority

Question: multiple referral

Answer: a congressional process whereby a bill may be referred to several committees

Question: oversight

Answer: Congressional efforts to make sure that laws are implemented correctly by the bureaucracy after they have been passed

Question: party polariztion

Answer: members of both Houses are more ideologically polarized than the president

Question: party whips

Answer: legislative floor leaders who report to the majority or minority leaders

Question: pigeonholing

Answer: the process by which a Congressional Committee chairperson can kill a bill assigned to his/her committee simply by ignoring it, such as not scheduling it for hearings or for a markup session

Question: pocket veto

Answer: A veto taking place when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president, who simply lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it.

Question: pork barrel legislation

Answer: legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hope of winning their votes in return

Question: president pro tempore

Answer: Officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president

Question: simple resolution

Answer: an expression of opinion either in the House or Senate to settle procedural matters in either body

Question: concurrent resolution

Answer: An expression of opinion without the force of law that requires the approval of both the House and the Senate, but not the president

Question: joint resolution

Answer: A formal expression of congressional opinion that must be approved by both houses of congress and by the president; constitutional amendments need not be signed by the president

Question: revenue bills

Answer: Bills that deal with money must originate in the House of Representatives

Question: select committees

Answer: Congressional committees appointed for a limited time and purpose.

Question: seniority system

Answer: A simple rule for picking committee chairs, in effect until the 1970s. The member who had served on the committee the longest and whose party controlled Congress became chair, regardless of party loyalty, mental state, or competence.

Question: sequential refferal

Answer: A congressional process by which a Speaker may send a bill to a second committee after the first is finished acting.

Question: Shaw v. Reno

Answer: NO racial gerrymandering; race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; majority-minority districts.

Question: signing statements

Answer: statement issued by the president after he signs a bill wherein he provides his interpretation of the law/modifies the intent of Congress

Question: Speaker of the House

Answer: An office mandated by the Constitution. The Speaker is chosen in practice by the majority party, has both formal and informal powers, and is second in line to succeed to the presidency should that office become vacant.

Question: standing committees

Answer: Permanent committees in House and Senate that handle bills dealing with a particular subject area. Examples: Defense, Budget, Education.

Question: term limits

Answer: laws that limit the number of terms elected officials can serve

Question: veto

Answer: Chief executive's power to reject a bill passed by a legislature

Question: teller votes

Answer: members vote by turning in signed index cards: green for yea and red for nay; may occur in the House only when the electronic voting system is broken.

Question: voice votes

Answer: voting method used by deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding verbally.

Question: division votes

Answer: a congressional voting procedure in which members stand dividing into groups indicating a vote in favour of or in opposition to a motion on the floor.

Question: roll call votes

Answer: publicly recorded votes on bills and amendments on the floor of the House or Senate

Question: electronic votes

Answer: permits each member to insert a plastic card in a slot to record his or her vote, most common today

Question: Wesberry v. Sanders

Answer: (LBJ) 1964 , One person, one vote (in redistricting for federal elections, each congressional district was to be approximately the same) In Georgia, the 5th district had 3 to 4 times more people than did the other districts.