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527 Political Committee

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non-profit and unregulated interest groups that focus on specific causes or policy positions and attempt to influence voters.

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Iron Triangle

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The relatively stable relationships and patterns of interaction that occur among an agency, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees.

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Bureaucracy

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A set of complex hierarchical departments, agencies, commissions, and their staffs that exist to help a chief executive officer carry out his or her duties. Bureaucracies may be private organizations or governmental units.

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Spoils System

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The firing public-office holders of a defeated political party and their replacement with loyalists of the newly elected party.

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Merit System

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The system by which federal civil service jobs are classified into grades or levels, to which appointments are made on the basis of performance on competitive examinations

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Government Corporation

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Business established by Congress to perform functions that can be provided by private businesses.

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Quasi-Legislative

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Having a partly legislative character by possession of the right to make rules and regulations having the force of law

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Quasi-Judicial

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having a partly judicial character by possession of the right to hold hearings on and conduct investigations into disputed claims and alleged infractions of rules and regulations and to make decisions in the general manner of courts

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Administrative adjudication

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Quasi-judicial process in which a bureaucratic agency settles disputes between two parties in a manner similar to the way courts resolve disputes

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Civil service system

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The system created by civil service laws which many appointments to the federal bureaucracy are made.

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Hatch Act

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Law enacted in 1939 to prohibit civil servants from taking activist roles in partisan campaigns. This act prohibited civil servants from taking activist roles in partisan campaigns. This act prohibited federal employees from making political contributions, working for a particular party, or campaigning for a particular candidate.

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Pendleton act

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Reform measure that created the civil service commission to administer a partial merit system.

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Independent executive agency

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Governmental unit that closely resembles a cabinet department but has a narrower area of responsibility.

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Federal reserve

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The central banking system of the United States consisting of 12 districts with a bank in the principal commercial city of each district

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Board of governors

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the governing board of a public entity or a non profit organization

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Discount rate

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the rate that member banks can barrow money from the Federal Reserve Bank.

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Open market operations

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the buying and selling of government securities by the Federal Reserve Bank in the securities market.

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Reserve requirements

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Government requirements that a portion of member banks' deposits must be retained to back loans made.

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Monetary policy

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A form of government regulation in which the nations' money supply and interest rates are controlled.

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Fiscal policy

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federal policy on taxes, spending, and debt management intended to improve the government's macroeconomic goals.

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Federal budget deficit

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the amount by which federal expenditure exceeds federal revenue.

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Federal debt

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is money owed by any level of government.

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Gross domestic product

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The total market value of all goods and services produced in a country during a year.

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Deregulation

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a reduction in market controls in favor of market based competition

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Cloture

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mechanism requiring sixty senators to vote to cut off debate

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Filibuster

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a formal way of halting action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate in the senate

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Apportionment

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the process of allotting congressional seats to each state following the decennial census according to the state's proportion of the population

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Logrolling

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vote trading; voting yea to support a colleague's bill in return for a promise of future support

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Veto

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the formal, constitutional authority of the chief executive to reject bills passed by both houses of the legislative body, thus preventing their becoming law without further legislative action

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Redistricting

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the redrawing of congressional districts to reflect population changes or for political advantage

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Earmark

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funds that an appropriations bill designates for a particular purpose within a state or congressional district

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Bill

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a proposed law

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Committee

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a specialized group that fulfills certain tasks, such as reviewing proposed bills, conducting investigations, or reconciling both the House and Senate versions of a bill; are controlled by the majority part

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Impeachment

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the power delegated to the House of Representatives in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president, or other "civil officers," including federal judges, with "Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors." This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing such government officials from office

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Majority leader

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the elected leader of the party controlling the most seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate; is second in authority to the Speaker of the House and in the Senate is regarded as its most powerful member

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Minority leader

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the elected leader of the party with the second highest number of elected representatives in the House of Representatives or the Senate

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Whip

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one of several representatives who keep close contact with all members and take nose counts on key votes, prepare summaries of bills, and in general act as communications links within the party

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Speaker of the House

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the only officer of the House of Representatives specifically mentioned in the Constitution; elected at the beginning of each new Congress by the entire House; traditionally a member of the majority party

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President pro-tempore

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the official chair of the Senate; usually the most senior member of the majority party

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17th amendment

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passed in 1913, this amendment to the Constitution calls for the direct election of senators by the voters instead of their election by state legislatures.

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Executive agreement

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formal government agreement entered into by the president that does not require the advice and consent of the U.S. senate.

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Executive order

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rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect of law. All executive orders must be published in the Federal Register.

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Executive office of the President

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establishment created in 1939 to help the president oversee the executive branch bureacracy.

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Inherent powers

answer

powers that belong to the national government simply because it is a sovereign state.

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Line-item veto

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the authority of a chief executive to delete part of a bill passed by the legislature that involves taxing or spending. The legislature may override a veto, usually with a two-thirds majority of each chamber.

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Pardon

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the authority of a government to cancel someone's conviction of a crime by a court and to eliminate all sanctions and punishments resulting from conviction.

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Commute

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exchange a penalty for a less severe one

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Patronage

answer

jobs, grants, or other special favors that are given as rewards to friends and political allies for their support.

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Veto power

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the formal, constitutional authority of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of Congress, thus preventing their becoming law without further congressional action.

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War Powers Act

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passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit withdrawal) unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period.

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Cabinet

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the formal body of presidential advisers who head the fifteen executive departments. Presidents often add others to this body of formal advisers.

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Executive privilege

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an implied presidential power that allows the president to refuse to disclose information regarding confidential conversations or national security to Congress or the judiciary.

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Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

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the office that prepares the president's annual budget proposal, reviews the budget and programs of the executive departments, supplies economic forecasts, and conducts detailed analyses of proposed bills and agency rules.

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25th amendment

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clarifies an ambiguous provision of the Constitution regarding succession to the Presidency, and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President as well as responding to Presidential disabilities.

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22nd amendment

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limits the number of terms a president may be elected to serve

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Civil law

answer

codes of behavior related to business and contractual relationships between groups and individuals

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Criminal law

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codes of behavior related to the protection of property and individual safety

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Appellate courts

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courts that generally review only findings of law made by lower courts

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Precedent

answer

prior judicial decision that serves as a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature

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Rule of Four

answer

at least four justices of the Supreme Court must vote to consider a case before it can be heard

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Judicial review

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power of the courts to review acts of other branches of government and the states

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Original jurisdiction

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the jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first

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Brief

answer

a document containing the legal written arguments in a case filed with a court by a party prior to a hearing or trial

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Strict constructionist

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an approach to constitutional interpretation that emphasizes the Framers' original intentions

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Writ of certiorari

answer

a request for the Court to order up the records from a lower court to review the case

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Amicus curiae

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"friend of the court"; a third party to a lawsuit who files a legal brief for the purpose of raising additional points of view in an attempt to influence a court's decision

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Judicial restraint

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a philosophy of judicial decision making that argues courts should allow the decisions of other branches of government to stand, even when they offend a judge's own sense of principles

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Judiciary Act of 1789

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established the basic three-tiered structure of the federal court system

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Judicial implementation

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refers to how and whether judicial decisions are translated into actual public policies affecting more than the immediate parties to a lawsuit

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Legislative courts

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courts established by congress for specialized purposes, such as the Court of Military Appeals

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Stare decisis

answer

in court rulings, a reliance on past decisions or precedents to formulate decisions in new cases

AP Government Unit III (ch. 7-10,18) – Flashcards

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