Congress

Advertising

"Any effort to disseminate one's name among constituents in such a fashion as to create a favorable image but in messages having little or no issue content" Examples: Christmas cards, appearing in parades, commencement speeches. Related Terms: Reelection goals

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

"Obamacare" Current legislation on healthcare for the USA. Exemplifies Unorthodox lawmaking. Potentially repealed by AHCA which was passed in House but has yet to go to vote in Senate. Related Terms:AHCA, unorthodox lawmaking.

Max Baucus

(D-MT) Chairman Max Baucus, in the spring of 2009, signaled his desire to find a bipartisan compromise, working especially closely with Grassley, his dear friend and Republican counterpart, who had been deeply involved in crafting the Republican alternative to Clintoncare. Baucus and Grassley convened an informal group of three Democrats and three Republicans on the committee, which became known as the "Gang of Six." They covered the parties' ideological bases; the other GOPers were conservative Mike Enzi of Wyoming and moderate Olympia Snowe of Maine, and the Democrats were liberal Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and moderate Kent Conrad of North Dakota. Related Terms: ACA

Bypassing Committee

(House) Majority can bypass unresponsive committee by discharge petition (requires 218 votes) (ex: Constitutional amendment to balance budget in the 1990s). Sometimes done for expediency (special items like post-9/11 funding) but more often for political reasons. Committee chairs still play a large role even with committees are bypassed. (Senate) Bypassing committee is much more prevalent than it used to be (7 percent of bills in 1960s-80s, 26 and 45 percent more recently); Any senator can object under Rule 14 to send bill directly to calendar; Despite this power, the majority leader is in charge of scheduling and he has a de facto veto over other senators because of this Related Terms: Unorthodox lawmaking

Bureaucracy

A bureaucracy is "a body of non-elective government officials" and/or "an administrative policy-making group;" They are efficient and rational;

Single-member districts

A single-member district or single-member constituency is an electoral district that returns one officeholder to a body with multiple members such as a legislature. This is also sometimes called single-winner voting or winner takes all.

Conference Committee

A temporary, ad hoc panel composed of House and Senate conferees which is formed for the purpose of reconciling differences in legislation that has passed both chambers. Conference committees are usually convened to resolve bicameral differences on major and controversial legislation.

Credit Claiming

Acting so as to generate a belief in a voter that one is personally responsible for causing the government, or some unit thereof, to do something that the actor considers desirable. Examples include: ribbon cuttings; federal projects (create jobs) One of three re-election devices used by representatives to achieve re-election. Includes taking credit particularized benefits in a constituents district; such as LBJ credit claiming NASA's location in Houston. Related Terms: Mayhew; advertising; position taking;

Split Referral

Also known as a Multiple Referral, a process in which various parts of a bill is referred to a second committee. (when I looked at my notes, it didn't have this term. When I googled it, it said it was the same. I'm pretty sure what makes this "different" from multiple referral is split means it only goes through two committees while multiple can go to more than two) Related Terms: Multiple Referral

AHCA

American Health Care Act. The republican option to replacing the PPACA. Failed to pass the House of Representatives upon initial trial. Went to committee and came back to House vote. Passed and sent to Senate. Related Terms: ACA

Litigation

An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute.

Administrative Agency

Are enforced by the Executive Branch, are in charge of writing rules that enforce a bill, A bill won't make it through congress if its not vague. In other words, the interpretation (And crafting of) the meaning of a bill Is not over when it leaves the president's desk.

Asbestos

Asbestos refers to a set of six naturally occurring fibrous minerals: chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite. Among these, chrysotile and amosite asbestos are most common. Related Terms: FAIR Act (2005)

Current Policy

Assume that policy in place will continue, regardless of deadline Related Terms: Current Law, Bush debt deal

Administrative Procedure Act of 1946

Became law in response to new deal expansion of bureaucracy. Governs rule making process,and guides every stage of the rulemaking process. Congress often makes statutes intentionally vague, deferring to rulemakers technical expertise. Most interpretation of statutes comes during the notice proposed rules making part of the process. Agency eventually publishes a proposed rule; public gets adequate time to comment (usually 60 days). Then, agencies send their rules to White House OMB, which reviews costs and benefits. Eventually the agency publishes a final rule

Joint Referral

Before 1995 the Speaker could refer a bill to all committees with jurisdiction. Joint referral was referral to 2 (or more) committees at once

Post-committee Adjustments

Changes are made to a piece of legislation after committee but before floor debate. It is done by the party leaders. Related Terms: Unorthodox Lawmaking

Federalist No. 51

Creation of a bicameral legislative body, i.e. the House of Representatives & the Senate.

2011 Debt Deal

Deal to prevent government shutdown and raise the federal debt; overall would raise taxes and reduce some entitlement programs (both sides would have compromised). Primarily between Speaker Boehner and Obama; however, gang of 6 (Senate) became involved and caused problems in the deal, including a leak to the media about the contents of the plan. Related Terms: "Grand Bargain"

Checks and Balances

Division of powers as set-out in the Constitution and highlighted in the Federalist Papers (48 & 51). Specifically: Legislative (Art I) Checks Executive through Nominations, budget, override veto, impeach; Must approve cabinet nominations; Pass budget; Can override presidential veto through super-majority; Senate has constitutional right to impeach the president (don't elect kings); Check Judicial branch through confirmation of judges and ability to impeach and remove judges Executive (Art II): Has power of the legislative branch through presidential veto (formally); Informally: many ways. Must easier for executive branch (double congress's approval rating even for Donald Trump right now). Easier for American people to get behind one person than multiple representatives. Easier for president to use bully pulpit. That's an informal check; Checks the Judicial branch through Nomination of judges Judicial (Art III): Checks legislative branch through process of judicial review; Checks executive branch through judicial review; Before judicial review the courts did not have an equal amount of power. Marbury v. Madison (1803) lead to a much stronger court Related Terms: Federalist 48 & 51

"Obama's Deal"

Documentary related the passage of the ACA; illustrated partisanship and narrow passage of the ACA. Process involved a multitude of factors including turmoil in the Senate and loss of the filibuster proof majority for Democrats with the death of Senator Kennedy. Insurance executives/lobbyist were heavily involved with shaping the litigation and having the public option excluded from the final legislation. Related Terms: Former Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT); Former Rep. John Boehner (R-OH); Suspension of Rules; Interest Groups; AHCA; Polarization; Filibuster-proof majority; Public option; ACA

Sumner Simpson papers

Documents uncovered during litigation discover that indicated that major asbestos manufacturer was aware of harm caused by asbestos and failed to disclose it to employees and/or properly protect them. Showed the benefits of the adversarial legal system Related Terms: Asbestosis; Asbestos; Barnes; efficiency politics; adversarial legalism

FAIR Act of 2004

Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2004- Establishes within the Department of Labor the Office of Asbestos Disease Compensation, to be headed by an Administrator responsible for processing claims for compensation for asbestos-related injuries and managing the Asbestos Injury Claims Resolution Fund

Unanimous Consent Agreement

Feature of the Senate. Sometimes specify time for general debate and time limits for debating specific amendments, etc.; UCAs can lend order to floor consideration and can save time, yet they still allow for considerably more debate than in the House. UCA's can constrain debate

Filibuster Reform

Filibuster reform: Original reform was implemented to help pass Obama's D.C. circuit court (federal) judge nominations and lowered nominations rules to a simple majority Related Terms: D.C. Circuit Court

Former Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

Former Speaker of the House (Replaced by Paul Ryan on October 29th, 2015 after announcing retirement) Related Terms: Obama's Deal!

Political elites

Include politicians, party organizers, party activists, and some media figures; Members of Congress are Political elites; political elites are affected by mass media Related Terms: Polarization; Gridlock; Ideological Division

Term Limits

Limit on the amount of time a representative can serve in office. Term limits can be self-imposed or mandated by law. Of the major positions only the President has term limits - no term limits on the Speaker of House or Senate Majority leader or Congresspersons Related Terms: Congressional reforms (Throw the bums out)

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Longest standing senator in KY history. During the administration of President Barack Obama, McConnell was known to the left as being an obstructionist while opinion on the right was sharply divided. Some on the right praised him for tenacity and courage, while others criticized him for being part of the political establishment and not keeping his promises to conservatives. From early 2016, McConnell refused to schedule Senate hearings for Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, to replace Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. Garland's nomination remained before the Senate for 294 days, from March 16, 2016, until it expired on January 3, 2017, more than double the time of any other Supreme Court nomination. Later, McConnell used the nuclear option to lower the threshold for overriding filibusters for Supreme Court nominees to a simple majority, with the aim of confirming Neil Gorsuch to the Court.

Dodd-Frank Regulatory Act

Meant to regulate financial industry in wake of great recession, passed July of 2010 (House is in the process of changing but hasn't just yet, will in upcoming election. Tea Party is rising) it requires them to regulate never-before-regulated products in never-before-regulated markets that are constantly changing. Most liberals were unhappy with the bill as soon as it passed for two reasons: It did not break up the big banks and It didn't fundamentally change the structure of the financial system Related Terms: Regulatory Capture

Replacement Reform

No-fault compensation trust funds. Administrative alternative to litigation. Related Terms: adversarial legalism, FAIR Act, asbestos

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Overturned large portions of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act; Lead to the rise of Super PACs (unlimited political spending outside of campaigns); Core finding of the case equated money as free speech and that corporations had the right to free speech; Related Terms: Campaign finances

Packer, "The Empty Chamber"

Packer questions why the Senate can't function anymore and paints a very bleak picture. The Senate's focus on arcane rules and loopholes. Short-term successes magnified versus institutions broader dysfunction: Position taking doesn't make Senate work better, only scores short term success.

Position-taking

Position-taking-Part of the Rational Choice Theory by Mayhew. Involves publicly taking position on an issue. Related Terms: Rational Choice Theory by Mayhew, credit-claiming, advertising

Public Option

Public option was for government run healthcare. This was not included in the final version of the ACA, although further left Democrats wanted it included. Public option healthcare disadvantages private healthcare insurance because the government does not have to make a profit on healthcare Related Terms: "Obama's Deal"

Representation

Responsible v. Responsive Representation (Burke) includes advocating for the interests of the entire nation versus advocating for the interests of a reps individual constituency Related Terms: Burke

Federalist No. 48

Separation of power between three branches of government.

Special Rules

Special rules can be tailor-made for each specific piece of legislation; Special rules can be used to save time, prevent obstruction or delay, focus attention and debate on certain critical choices, and promote a particular outcome Related Terms: Unorthodox lawmaking

Management Reform

State power should be within the state organization; the state should mainly finance social, cultural, and scientific activities involving externalities and dealing with basic human rights, and public non-state service organization should execute them.

"Grand Bargain"

Summer 2011 bipartisan deal to slash the national debt between Speaker Boehner and Obama. Idea was that one large deal would be easier to pass than several small deals. However, it did not occur.

Suspension of Rules

Suspension of the rules is a procedure generally used to quickly pass non-controversial bills in the United States House of Representatives. A motion to suspend the rules is in order on Mondays and Tuesdays and towards the end of a session of Congress and may only be made by the Speaker of the House or their designee, though it is customary for committee chairs to write the Speaker requesting a suspension. Once a member makes a motion to "suspend the rules" and take some action, debate is limited to 40 minutes, no amendments can be offered to the motion or the underlying matter, and a 2/3 majority of Members present and voting is required to agree to the motion.

"Nuclear option"

The nuclear option is a parliamentary procedure that allows the United States Senate to override a rule or precedent by a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of by a supermajority of 60 votes. Notably used twice in US History in 2013, and 2017 to block presidential nominations. Related Terms: Supreme Court nominations

Efficiency politics

To overcome polarization, narrow majorities, ...bipartisan argument to appeal to both sides and to do that use politics of efficiency. Make the system work better. Emphasizes collective costs and benefits among a critical mass of stakeholders. Efficiency politics were used to try and pass asbestos legislation in 2005 (FAIR Act) however it failed to overcome party division/polarization Related Terms: FAIR Act (2005); Sumner Simpson Papers; Asbestos; Adversarial Legalism; Ideological Division

D.C. Circuit Court

Understaffed, more Republican, ruled in favor of business interest. Court that heard business roundtable v. SEC; case in which big banks litigated the language and rules surrounding Dodd-Frank and Commodities (as appropriate); banks seized on as appropriate as not number of trades but whether they could be limited at all). Understaffed D.C. Circuit court because Obama had nominated 4 justices to fill 4 vacancies on court and Congress for 3 years blocked the nominations (refused to send forward). Court was more republican than it should have been if Obama's nominees had been approved. Ruled for bank and hurt Dodd-Frank Act; example of how administrative rules can hurt the lawmaking process (and weakens it) Related Terms: Business roundtable v SEC, Dodd-Frank, federal judge nominations

Committee System

Way to divide labor in Congress and allow MC's to specialize in certain issues; committee assignments are determined by seniority and majority party. Committees allow political party leaders to maintain control over members through offering committee membership/leadership benefits (aid in stability of Congress and prevent it from being destroyed by rogue members). A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the U.S. Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committees were once bipartisan but are now highly partisan Related Terms: Institutionalization for the House; accumulation of expertise and division of labor; Textbook Congress (committees grew more powerful)

Multiple Referral

When a bill is introduced to more than one committee by more than one MC. Related Terms: Unorthodox Lawmaking

Filibuster-proof majority

When a party has 60+ people in the senate, it becomes impossible for the "minority" party to filibuster a bill. Related Terms: Filibuster

Federalist No. 10

Written by James Madison in 1787. Two ways to limit damage of factions: Remove the cause of faction: people being free to express their ideas (Like the Soviet Union, no freedom) this would destroy line. "Liberty is to faction what air is to fire". He suggest that we control the effects of factions! The answer is a large, diverse democratic republic-- more "fit characters"greater variety of interest and parties (majorities more infrequent) But, Minorities can have too much power. They can delay, slow down, and hamper the government (filibuster, judicial review, etc) Madison is preventing action, not faction (Willis)

Sequential Referral

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

Regulatory Capture

a form of government failure that occurs when a regulatory agency, created to act in the public interest, instead advances the commercial or political concerns of special interest groups that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. (Think of the way Lobbying works and how the NRA and PhRMA are hugely influential and also comprised of people who directly benefit in business from advancing legislation in favor of each lobbying group)

Bureaucratic Legalism

a legal system in which disputes are resolved through implementing a set of formal processes and rules that are applied uniformly to all cases (does not consider the "merits" of the case)

Gerrymandering

a practice intended to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries. Related Terms:

Regulatory Agency

a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity. Related Terms: EPA, OSHA, FDA

Home style

allocation of personal resources and those of his office, congressman's presentation of self to others, congressman's explanation of his Washington activity to others

Commodities and Futures Trading Commission

an independent agency of the US government created in 1974, that regulates futures and option markets. The Commodities Exchange Act ("CEA"), 7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., prohibits fraudulent conduct in the trading of futures contracts. Trade commodities (like coffee). Position limits, would make it more difficult for traders to corner a market, thus influencing pricing; more importantly they can help minimize risk for big banking institutions; Limits banks from investing only so much of net worth in any given time in one product; Makes harder to corner market by buying all one thing to sell if for a higher price Related Terms: Dodd-Frank Act; Independent Regulatory Agency

Unorthodox lawmaking

any method of legislative lawmaking that does not stick with the traditional standard of lawmaking. This encompasses a lot modes of lawmaking; there is no one way that unorthodox lawmaking looks but one example would be the practice of multiple referral. One party introduces a bill and another moves for it to be taken to committee. Current Political Era between mid-1970s and today.

Filibuster

delaying tactic used in the United States Senate to block a bill, amendment, resolution or other measure being considered by preventing it from coming to final vote on passage. Filibusters can happen only in the Senate, because the chamber's rules of debate place very few limits on Senators' rights and opportunities in the legislative process. Specifically, once a Senator has been recognized by the presiding officer to speak on the floor that Senator is allowed to speak for as long as he or she wishes.

Polarization

efers to cases in which an individual's stance on a given issue, policy, or person is more likely to be strictly defined by their identification with a particular political party (e.g., Democrat or Republican) or ideology (e.g., liberal or conservative). According to DiMaggio et al. (1996), "Polarization is both a state and a process. Polarization as a state refers to the extent to which opinions on an issue are opposed in relation to some theoretical maximum. Polarization as a process refers to the increase in such opposition over time."

Multi-member districts

electoral districts that send two or more members to a legislative chamber. Ten U.S. states have at least one legislative chamber with MMDs. There are two other electoral systems employed in the United States, single-member and at-large. (AZ, ID, MD, NH, NJ, ND, SD, VT, WA, WV)

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)

is a public notice issued when one of the independent agencies of the United States government wishes to add, remove, or change a rule or regulation as part of the rulemaking process.

Gridlock

refers to a situation when there is difficulty passing laws that satisfy the needs of the people. A government is gridlocked when the ratio between bills passed and the agenda of the legislature decreases. Laws may be considered as the supply and the legislative agenda as demand. Gridlock can occur when two legislative houses, or the executive branch and the legislature are controlled by different political parties, or otherwise cannot agree. Can lead to Government Shutdown.

Adversarial Legalism

refers to propensity for US in contrast to other industrialized countries to rely on legal style politics that emphasizes lawyer dominated litigation & policy-making, policy implementation and dispute resolution.

Independent Regulatory Agency

regulatory agency that is mostly free from executive oversight (ex: CIA, FCTC, etc.) Related Terms: Commodities and Futures Trading Commission

Current Law

what is supposed to happen in future laws, current policies are meant to expire like the Bush Tax Cuts. Related Terms: Current Policy