U2: The Federal Government

Flashcard deck · A.P. U.S. Government · Federal Government · Social Studies

135 cards on the federal government covering Congress, the presidency, and courts, with terms like Elastic Clause, Commerce Clause, Brutus No. 1, and Executive Orders for AP Gov.

Terms in this deck

Advice and Consent: Senate's constitutional authority to approve presidential appointments and ratify treaties by a two-thirds vote.
Amicus Curiae Brief: Friend of the court brief filed by an interest group to influence a Supreme Court decision.
Anti-Federalist No. 70: Argues against a single executive, warning that a powerful presidency risks tyranny.
Appellate Jurisdiction: The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts.
Appropriations: Congressional approval of government spending; the power of the purse allowing Congress to fund or defund programs.
Attitudinal View of Representation: The theory of congressional voting behavior which assumes that members vote on the basis of their own beliefs because the array of conflicting pressures on members cancel out one another.
Bicameral Legislature: A lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts.
Brutus No. 1: Anti-Federalist essay warning that a strong central government would destroy state power and individual liberty.
Bully Pulpit: The president's use of his prestige and visibility to guide or enthuse the American public.
Bureaucrat: A career government employee.
Bureaucratic Adjudication: When the federal bureaucracy settles disputes between parties that arise over the implementation of federal laws or determines which individuals or groups are covered under a regulation or program.
Cabinet: The group of executive department heads who advise the president and lead major federal agencies.
Checks and Balances: Constitutional system where each branch of government can limit the powers of the other two branches.
Civil Law: A law that governs relationships between individuals and corporations and defines their legal rights.
Closed Rule: An order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate and forbids a bill from being amended on the floor.
Commerce Clause: Constitutional provision giving Congress power to regulate interstate commerce; basis for broad federal legislative authority.
Committee of the Whole: 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.
Concurrent Resolution: A statement of position on an issue used by the House and Senate acting jointly; does not have the force of law and does not require the president's signature.
Concurring Opinion: An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning.
Conference Committee: A committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.
Congress: The legislature of the United States government.
Congressional Budget Office: Advises Congress on the probable consequences of its decisions, forecasts revenues, and is a counterweight to the president's Office of Management and Budget.
Congressional Caucus: An association of members of Congress based on party, interest, or social group such as gender or race.
Congressional Research Office: Created in 1914 to respond to congressional requests for information; it also keeps track of every major bill and produces summaries of legislation for members of Congress.
Congressional-Executive Agreement: An agreement between the president and Congress on a foreign policy matter that requires only a majority vote rather than two-thirds Senate ratification.
Continuing Resolution: A temporary spending measure Congress passes to keep the government funded when a new budget has not been approved.
Criminal Law: Codes of behavior related to the protection of property and individual safety; reflects the belief that society has been harmed.
Delegation of Authority: Congress granting rule-making and implementation powers to executive agencies to carry out legislation.
Descriptive Representation: The idea that an elected body should mirror demographically the population it represents.
Discharge Petition: A petition that, if signed by a majority of the House of Representatives' members, will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration.
Discretionary Spending: Government spending set annually through the appropriations process, covering defense, education, and other programs.
Dissenting Opinion: A statement written by a justice who disagrees with the majority opinion, presenting his or her reasoning.
Double-Tracking: A procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster in which the disputed bill is shelved temporarily so that the Senate can get on with other business.
Elastic Clause: Another name for the Necessary and Proper Clause; called elastic because it stretches congressional power beyond enumerated grants.
Executive Agreement: An agreement between the president and the leader of another country.
Executive Branch: The branch of government that carries out laws.
Executive Office of the President (EOP): A collection of offices within the White House organization designed mainly to provide information to the president.
Executive Order: A rule or order issued by the president to an executive branch of the government and having the force of law.
Executive Privilege: The power to keep executive communications confidential, especially if they relate to national security.
Expressed Powers: Powers explicitly granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, such as coining money and declaring war.
Fast Tracking: Expedited procedures used to speed up the ordinary legislative process, usually through bypassing a time-consuming stage such as committee consideration.
Federal Bureaucracy: Agencies and the employees of the executive branch of government.
Federal Civil Service: The merit-based bureaucracy, excluding the armed forces and political appointments.
Federal Courts of Appeals (Circuit Courts): The middle level of the federal judiciary; these courts review and hear appeals from the federal district courts.
Federal District Courts: The lowest level of the federal judiciary; these courts usually have original jurisdiction in cases that start at the federal level.
Federal Judiciary: The branch of the federal government that interprets the laws of the nation.
Federalist No. 78: Written by Alexander Hamilton; discusses the federal judiciary and argues that it must depend on the other two branches to uphold its decisions.
Federalist No. 51: Written by Madison; argues that separation of powers and checks and balances prevent tyranny and protect liberty.
Federalist No. 70: Written by Hamilton; argues for a single, energetic executive as essential to good government.
Federalist No. 76: Written by Hamilton; defends presidential appointment power and Senate advice and consent role.
Filibuster: A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor, thereby delaying proceedings and preventing a vote on a controversial issue.
Formal Powers (Enumerated): Specific grants of authority defined in the Constitution or in law.
Franking Privilege: The ability to send mail by one's signature rather than by postage, dating back to the seventeenth-century English House of Commons.
Freedom of Information Act: Gives all citizens the right to inspect all records of federal agencies except those containing military, intelligence, or trade secrets; increases accountability of the bureaucracy.
General Accounting Office: Created in 1921 to perform routine audits of the money spent by executive departments; it also investigates agencies and makes recommendations on every aspect of government.
Gerrymandering: The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.
Going Public: A president's strategy of appealing to the public on an issue, expecting that public pressure will be brought to bear on other political actors.
Government Corporation: A business-like federal entity that provides services that could be provided by the private sector, such as Amtrak or USPS.
Hatch Act: A federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics.
Impeachment: A formal document charging a public official with misconduct in office.
Implementation: The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.
Implied Powers: Powers not explicitly stated in the Constitution but suggested by the Necessary and Proper Clause; allow Congress to carry out its expressed powers.
Independent Regulatory Agency: A federal agency outside the executive departments that creates and enforces regulations in a specific policy area.
Informal Powers: Powers not laid out in the Constitution but used to carry out presidential duties.
Iron Triangle: A close relationship between an agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group.
Issue Network: Webs of influence between interest groups, policymakers, and policy advocates.
Joint Committee: A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations.
Joint Resolution: 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.
Judicial Activism: An interpretation of the U.S. Constitution holding that the spirit of the times and the needs of the nation can legitimately influence judicial decisions, particularly decisions of the Supreme Court.
Judicial Restraint: A theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power.
Judicial Review: Allows the court to determine the constitutionality of laws.
Judiciary Act of 1789: Passed by Congress in 1789, this act created the federal court system and established a federal district court in each state operating according to local procedures, quieting popular apprehensions.
Lame Duck: An elected official serving out a term after losing an election or being unable to run again; reduced political influence.
Line-Item Veto: Power to reject specific provisions of a bill without vetoing the entire legislation; declared unconstitutional for the president in 1998.
Loose Constructionism: Judicial philosophy holding that the Constitution should be interpreted broadly to adapt to changing circumstances.
Majority Leader: The legislative leader elected by party members holding the majority of seats in the House or Senate.
Majority Opinion: A statement that presents the views of the majority of Supreme Court justices regarding a case.
Majority-Minority Districts: Legislative districts in which a racial or ethnic minority group comprises a majority of the population.
Malapportionment: The drawing of legislative district boundaries so that districts are unequal in population.
Mandatory Spending: Government spending required by existing law, such as Social Security and Medicare, not subject to annual appropriations.
Marbury v. Madison (1803): Established the power of judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to strike down unconstitutional laws.
Mark-Up: Committee action to amend a proposed bill.
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): Supreme Court ruling that upheld implied powers and federal supremacy, establishing that Congress could create a national bank.
Merit System: The practice of hiring people into government jobs on the basis of their qualifications.
Minority Leader: The principal leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.
Multiple Referral: A congressional process whereby a bill may be referred to several committees.
National Security Council (NSC): Executive Office body that advises the president on national security and foreign policy matters.
Necessary and Proper Clause: Article I clause giving Congress power to make all laws needed to carry out its enumerated powers; basis for implied powers.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Executive Office agency that prepares the federal budget and oversees spending by executive agencies.
Open Rule: An order from the House Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor.
Organizational View of Representation: The theory of congressional voting behavior which assumes that members make voting decisions to please fellow members and obtain their goodwill; since constituents seldom know how their representatives vote, members vote by following cues provided by colleagues.
Original Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial; these courts determine the facts about a case.
Oversight: Congress's power to monitor and review the actions of executive agencies and ensure laws are faithfully implemented.
Party Vote: A vote in which the majority of one party opposes the position of the majority of the other party.
Pendleton Act: An 1883 law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons.
Pocket Veto: A veto that occurs when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president, who lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it.
Political Patronage: Appointment to political office, usually as a reward for helping get a president elected.
Pork-Barrel Legislation: Legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hope of winning their votes in return.
Precedent: An example or prior ruling that may serve as a basis for imitation or later action.
President Pro Tempore: Officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president.
Presidential Pardon: Presidential authority to release individuals convicted of a crime from legal consequences and set aside punishment.
Quorum Call: A roll call in either house of Congress to see whether the minimum number of representatives required to conduct business is present.
Reapportionment: Redistribution of seats in the House of Representatives among states after each decennial census based on population changes.
Recess Appointment: Presidential appointment made while the Senate is in recess, allowing the nominee to serve without Senate confirmation.
Regulation: Government intervention in a market that affects the production of a good.
Representational View of Congress: The theory that members of Congress wish to do what their constituents want in order to get reelected.
Restrictive Rule: An order from the House Rules Committee that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made to a bill on the floor.
Rider: A provision attached to a bill — to which it may or may not be related — in order to secure its passage or defeat.
Roll-Call Vote: A congressional voting procedure that consists of members answering yea or nay to their names.
Rule of Cloture: Requires debate to end under a filibuster and forces a vote on the bill, requiring a three-fifths vote, or 60 of 100 senators, to approve.
Rule of Four: At least four justices of the Supreme Court must vote to consider a case before it can be heard.
Rules Committee: 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.
Senatorial Courtesy: The presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.
Separation of Powers: Constitutional division of government into three branches — legislative, executive, judicial — each with distinct functions.
Seventeenth Amendment: Established the direct popular election of U.S. senators by the people of each state, replacing the previous system where senators were chosen by state legislatures.
Signing Statement: A presidential document that reveals what the president thinks of a new law and how it ought to be enforced.
Simple Resolution: An expression of opinion in either the House or Senate used to settle procedural matters in either body.
Solicitor General: The government official who represents the United States before the Supreme Court and decides which cases the government will appeal.
Speaker of the House: The leader of the majority party who serves as the presiding officer of the House of Representatives.
Spoils System: Practice of rewarding political supporters with government jobs; replaced by the merit-based civil service system after 1883.
Standing Committees: Separate subject-matter committees in each house of Congress that handle bills in different policy areas.
Stare Decisis: Let the decision stand; decisions are based on precedents from previous cases.
State of the Union Address: The president's annual statement to Congress and the nation, setting presidential priorities.
Strict Constructionism: Judicial philosophy holding that the Constitution should be interpreted based on its original, literal meaning.
Substantive Representation: When a member of Congress represents constituents' interests and policy concerns.
Supreme Court: The highest federal court in the United States.
Treaty: A formal agreement between two or more sovereign states, ratified by the Senate.
Unanimous Consent: Senate procedure where all senators agree to set aside rules to move business forward more quickly.
Veto: The chief executive's power to reject a bill passed by a legislature.
Voice Vote: A congressional voting procedure in which members shout yea in approval or nay in disapproval, permitting members to vote quickly or anonymously on bills.
War Powers Resolution: A law passed in 1973 spelling out the conditions under which the president can commit troops without congressional approval.
Whip: Party leader in Congress who assists the majority or minority leader and works to ensure party members vote along party lines.
Whistleblower Protection Act: A law passed in 1989 that created an Office of Special Counsel to investigate complaints from federal employees claiming they were punished after reporting waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies to Congress.
Writ of Certiorari (Cert): An order by the court directing a lower court to send up the record in a given case for its review.
Writ of Mandamus: A court order requiring a government official to perform a legal duty; central to Marbury v. Madison.

Study this deck on Knovli — flashcards, multiple choice, speed quiz and more, free.