Chapter 10: Congress

select committees

(usually) temporary legislative committees set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within the jurisdiction of existing committees

descriptive representation

a type of representation in which representatives have the same racial, gender, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents; it is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one can correctly represent the other's views

roll-call vote

a vote in which each legislator's yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members alphabetically

gerrymandering

drawing legislative districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to a political party or one racial or ethnic group

incumbency

holding the political office for which one is running

Speaker of the House

the chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives; the Speaker is the most important party and House leader and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of individual pieces of legislation, and members' positions within the House

polarization

the deep ideological distance between the two parties

majority leader

the elected leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate; in the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker of the House

minority leader

the elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate

multiple referral

the practice of referring a bill to more than one committee for consideration

veto

the president's constitutional power to turn down acts of Congress; a presidential veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress

cloture

a rule or process in a legislative body aimed at ending debate on a given bill; in the U.S. Senate, 60 senators (three-fifths) must agree in order to impose a time limit and end debate

unorthodox lawmaking

a set of legislative procedures that deviates from regular order; reflects a greater level of control from party leaders and less deliberation from members

filibuster

a tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down; once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a vote of three-fifths of the Senate to end a filibuster

substantive representation

a type of representation in which representatives are held accountable to their constituency if they fail to represent that constituency properly; this is incentive for representatives to provide good representation when their personal background, views, and interests differ from those of their constituency

what is a statement that describes congressional decision making?

Because constituents lack political knowledge, members of Congress rarely take constituents' opinions into account in decision-making. Interest groups exercise significant influence by providing information to lawmakers and often helping to craft specific language in legislation. Bipartisanship in lawmaking has increased over the past decade, allowing for swift decision-making. Members of Congress often change their positions on important bills due to receiving campaign donations from interest groups.

What effect has partisan polarization had on bill passage in Congress?

Congress has been unable to pass important legislation to address crises such as the coronavirus pandemic due to partisan polarization. Although partisan polarization has been on the rise, Congress has been able to pass legislation to address important crises like the coronavirus pandemic. Although party polarization is on the rise, party unity votes are on the decline since constituents punish legislators for not compromising.

omnibus appropriations bill

a bill that deals with a number of unrelated topics

conference

a gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their House leaders; Democrats call their gathering the "caucus"

bicameral legislature

a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or houses

caucus (political)

a normally closed political party business meeting of citizens or lawmakers to select candidates, elect officers, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters

whip

a party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes

standing committee

a permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture

pocket veto

a presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session

bill

a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate

closed rule

a provision by the House Rules Committee limiting or prohibiting the introduction of amendments during debate

open rule

a provision by the House Rules Committee that permits floor debate and the addition of new amendments to a bill

delegate (member of Congress role)

a representative who votes according to the preferences of their constituency

trustee

a representative who votes based on what they think is best for their constituency

party unity vote

a roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50 percent of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party

pork barrel (or pork)

appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home districts

conference committees

joint committees created to work out a compromise on House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation

joint committees

legislative committees formed of members of both the House and Senate

staff agencies

legislative support agencies responsible for policy analysis

ping-ponging

sending amendments back and forth between the relevant House and Senate committees to reconcile differences between bills or major measures without convening a conference committee at all

appropriations

the amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend

redistricting

the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives; this happens every 10 years, to reflect shifts in population

apportionment

the process, occurring after every decennial census, that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states

Seniority

the ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee in Congress

constituency

the residents in the area from which an official is elected

markup

the session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearings on a bill