Incumbents
Those already holding office. In congressional elections, incumbents usually win.
Casework
Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals; cutting through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they have a right to get.
Pork Barrel
The mighty list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges, and institutions in the district of a member of Congress.
Bicameral Legislature
A legislature divided into two houses. The U.S. Congress and every American state legislature except Nebraska's are bicameral.
House Rules Committee
An institution unique to the House of Representatives that reviews all bills (except revenue, budget, and appropriations bills) coming from a House committee before they go to the full House.
Filibuster
A strategy unique to the Senate whereby opponents of a piece of legislation try to talk it to death, based on the tradition of unlimited debate. Today, 60 members present and voting can halt a filibuster.
Speaker of the House
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.
Majority Leader
The principal partisan ally of the Speaker of the House or the party's wheel horse in the Senate. The majority leader is responsible for scheduling bills, influencing committee assignments, and rounding up votes on behalf of the party's legislative positi
Whips
Party leaders who work with the majority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill favored by the party.
Minority Leader
The principal leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.
Standing Committees
Separate subject-matter committees in each house of Congress that handle bills in different policy areas. See also joint committees, conference committees, and select committees.
Joint Committees
Congressional committees on a few subject-matter areas with membership drawn from both houses. See also standing committees, conference committees, and select committees.
Conference Committees
Congressional committees formed when the Senate and the House pass a particular bill in different forms. Party leadership appoints members from each house to iron out the differences and bring back a single bill. See also standing committees, joint commit
Select Committees
Congressional committees appointed for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation. See also joint committees, standing committees, and conference committees.
Legislative Oversight
Congress's monitoring of the bureaucracy and its administration of policy, performed mainly through hearings.
Caucus (Congressional)
A group of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic. Most are composed of members from both parties and from both houses.
Committee Chairs
The most important influencers of the congressional agenda. They play dominant roles in scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills when they are brought before the full house.
Seniority System
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.
Bill
A proposed law, drafted in precise, legal language. Anyone can draft a bill, but only a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate can formally submit a bill for consideration.
House Ways and Means Committee
The House of Representatives committee that, along with the Senate Finance Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as a whole.
Senate Finance Committee
The Senate committee that, along with the House Ways and Means Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as a whole.
Twenty Second Amendment
Passed in 1951, the amendment that limits presidents to two terms of office.
Impeachment
The political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law, prescribed by the Constitution. The House of Representatives may impeach the president by a majority vote for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Watergate
The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment.
Twenty-fifth Amendment
Passed in 1951, the amendment that permits the vice president to become acting president if both the vice president and the president's cabinet determine that the president is disabled. The amendment also outlines how a recuperated president can reclaim t
Cabinet
A group of presidential advisors not mentioned in the Constitution, although every president has had one. Today the cabinet is composed of 13 secretaries and the attorney general.
National Security Council
An office created in 1947 to coordinate the president's foreign and military policy advisors. Its formal members are the president, vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of defense, and it is managed by the president's national security adviso
Council of Economic Advisors (CEA)
A three-member body appointed by the president to advise the president on economic policy.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
An office that grew out of the Bureau of the Budget, created in 1921, consisting of a handful of political appointees and hundreds of skilled professionals. The OMB performs both managerial and budgetary functions, and although the president is its boss,
Veto
The constitutional power of the president to send a bill back to Congress with reasons for rejecting it. A two-thirds vote in each house can override a veto. See also legislative veto and pocket veto.
Pocket Veto
A veto taking place when Congress adjourns within 10 days of having submitted a bill to the president, who simply lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it.
Presidential Coattails
The situation occurring when voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president's party because they support the president. Recent studies show that few races are won this way.
Electoral Mandate
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War Powers Resolution
A law, passed in 1973 in reaction to American fighting in Vietnam and Cambodia, requiring presidents to consult with Congress whenever possible prior to using military force and to withdraw forces after 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants an ex
Legislative Veto
The ability of Congress to override a presidential decision. Although the War Powers Resolution asserts this authority, there is reason to believe that, if challenged, the Supreme Court would find the legislative veto in violation of the doctrine of separ
Crisis
A sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event requiring the president to play the role of crisis manager.
Budget
A policy document allocating burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures).
Deficit
An excess of federal expenditures over federal revenues.
Expenditures
Federal spending of revenues. Major areas of such spending are social services and the military.
Revenues
The financial resources of the federal government. The individual income tax and Social Security tax are two major sources of revenue.
Income Tax
Shares of individual wages and corporate revenues collected by the government. The first income tax was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1895, but the Sixteenth Amendment explicitly authorized Congress to levy a tax on income.
Sixteenth Amendment
The constitutional amendment adopted in 1915 that explicitly permitted Congress to levy an income tax.
Federal Debt
All the money borrowed by the federal government over the years and still outstanding.
Tax Expenditures
Defined by the 1974 Budget Act as "revenue losses attributable to provisions of the federal tax laws which allow a special exemption, exclusion, or deduction." Tax expenditures represent the difference between what the government actually collects in taxe
Tax Loopholes
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Tax Reduction
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Tax Reform
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Social Security Act
A 1935 law passed during the Great Depression that was intended to provide a minimal level of sustenance to older Americans and thus save them from poverty.
Medicare
A program added to the Social Security system in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other expenses. Compare Medicaid.
Incrementalism
The belief that the best predictor of this year's budget is last year's budget, plus a little bit more (an increment). According to Aaron Wildavsky, "Most of the budget is a product of previous decisions.
Uncontrollable Expenditures
Expenditures that are determined by how many eligible beneficiaries there are for some particular program. According to Lance LeLoup, an expenditure is classified as uncontrollable "if it is mandated under current law or by a previous obligation." Three-f
Entitlements
Policies for which expenditures are uncontrollable because Congress has in effect obligated itself to pay X level of benefits to Y number of recipients. Each year, Congress's bill is a straightforward function of the X level of benefits times the Y number
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
An act designed to reform the congressional budgetary process. Its supporters hoped that it would also make Congress less dependent on the president's budget and better able to set and meet its own budgetary goals.
Budget Resolution
A resolution binding Congress to a total expenditure level, supposedly the bottom line of all federal spending for all programs.
Reconciliation
A congressional process through which program authorizations are revised to achieve required savings. It usually also includes tax or other revenue adjustments.
Authorization Bill
An act of Congress that establishes, continues, or changes a discretionary government program or an entitlement. It specifies program goals and maximum expenditures for discretionary programs. Compare appropriations bill.
Appropriations Bill
An act of Congress that actually funds programs within limits established by authorization bills. Appropriations usually cover one year.
Continuing Resolutions
When Congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriations bills, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year.
Describe the characteristics of our senators and representatives, and the nature of their jobs.
There are 100 members of the Senate and 435 members of the House of Representatives. Most members are from high-status and -income occupations. African Americans and Hispanics are underrepresented, but the most underrepresented group is women. Members can
Explain the structure of power and leadership in the United States Congress, and the role of Committees.
Most of the leadership in Congress is party leadership. The Speaker of the House is the only legislative office mandated by the Constitution. The Speaker is a senior member of the party. The Speaker is second in line to succeed the president. The majority
Identify what members of Congress do and discuss the congressional process and the many influences on legislative decision-making.
Most staff members work in the personal offices of individual members. They spend most of their time providing services to constituencies. Other staff helps members with legislative functions. Senators are particularly dependent on their staff. Committees