VOCABULARY

1.

Perjury: lying under oath. Perjury is a federal offence with lots of consequences.

2.

Veto: when president refuses to sign a bill and returns it to congress including reasons for the actions. If the president doesnt like the a bill, he can veto it.

3.

Standing Committee: a permanent committee. A standing committee is not temporary.

4.

Select Committee: a temporary committee A select committee is not permanent.

5.

Joint Committee: a committee made up of emembers of both chambers in a bicameral legislature. A Joint Committee is made up of members of both the Senate and House of Representatives.

6.

Quorum: minimum number necessary to conduct business. The movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington shows the use of a quorum.

7.

Reapportionment: re-dividing the 435 house seats based upon their population. Depending on how many people per state, the house may have to call for reapportionment.

8.

Speaker: the most powerful position of the house. The speaker is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives

9.

Majority leader: the most powerful position in the senate. The Majority leader is the chief spokesman for the majority party.

10.

bicameral legislature: made up of two houses- Senate and House of Rep. Congress is a bicameral legislature, made up of 535 seats overall.

11.

Bill: this is a proposed law until both houses of congress pass it and the president signs it. Bills that survive the committee process are put on a house calendar. A bill goes through an intense process to make it to become a law, but most bills dont even get that far.

12.

Appropriations: an approval of government spending. (Congressional responsibility) Some people get really mad when appropriations get passed.

13.

Lobbying: the work lobbyists do to persuade officials to support their views. Lobbying is also done by lawyers, but this is talking about the government kind.

14.

Concurrent Resolution: deals with matters where laws arent needed. (requires actions of the House and Senate) I had never heard of concurrent resolution before this year.

15.

Reserved Powers: powers that belong exclusively to the states. States would be mad if the reserved powers were ignored.

16.

Concurrent Powers: powers shared by the nation and states governments. Some of the concurrent powers are the power to tax and make roads.

17.

Separation of Powers: the system that prevents any branch of government from becoming too powerful by dividing important tasks among the three branches. Separation of powers makes the government stronger, because the branches help divide up responsibilities.

18.

Legislative Branch: makes the laws Congress is a big part of the legislative branch.

19.

Judicial Branch: interprets the laws The supreme court is the head of the Judicial Branch.

20.

Executive Branch: enforces the law The president is the head of the executive branch.

21.

Checks and Balances: designed to prevent one branch of government from becoming dominant. Checks and Balances keep the country from having one part too powerful.

22. each house.

Overriding Veto: congress can override a presidents veto w/ 2/3rds majority in

An overriding veto is good because if the president makes a bad decision they can fix it.

23.

Ratify: to approve The president can ratify a bill.

24.

judicial review: the power of the supreme court to declare laws and executive actions unconstitutional. Judicial review was passed after Marbury vs. Madison supreme court case.

25.

conservative: individuals should be responsible for their own well being and should not rely on government assistance I am a conservative, and I believe pro-life.

26.

Liberal: believe that the government should be used to remedy the social and economic injustices of the marketplace, support government regulation of the economy. Most of the times liberals believe pro-choice

27.

Political parties: group of people with common political goals which hopes it influence policy through the election process, run candidates for office who represent the political agenda of party members. Republican and democratic are both titles of political parties.

28.

Electoral College: created by framers as a mean of insulating the government from whims of a less educated public.

The electoral college is the direct voters for president.

29.

Voting Rights Act of 1965: encourage states to take measures to increase minority representation in congress This is one of the main reasons why black men can vote today.

30.

Earmarks: provisions within legislation that appropriate money to a specific project. Earmarked reserves are being used during the year to fund specific expenditure.

31.

Pocket Veto: if a president does not sign a bill during the 10 days before a congressional session ends. A pocket veto is an indirect veto.

32.

Plea Bargaining: an argument with the prosecution to agree to a less serious crime and sentence. You plea bargain when you dont want as bad of a sentence.

33. Deficit spending

Deficit spending: funds raised by spending rather than taxing

34.

Civil Liberties: protections from the abuse of the governments power Civil Liberties are something that many countries with communism or a dictator dont have.

35.

Civil Rights: protections from discriminations based on race, gender, or minority status. Civil Rights keep blacks and whites equal.

36.

First amendment: freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly The first amendment guarantees that I can bash the president on national tv and not be shot for it.

37.

Poll Tax: a tax that must be paid in order to vote Poll tax is a tax on voting.

38.

Jim Crow Laws: state and local laws in the south to enforce racial segregation and otherwise redistrict the rights of African Americans The Jim Crow laws were the reasons that whites went to a different bathroom than blacks.

39.

Affirmative Action programs: seek to create special employment opportunities for blacks, women, and other victims on discrimination. Affirmative action was the good that came after the Jim Crow laws.

40.

Marbury vs. Madison: Judicial review. The court case that gave the power to declare laws and executive actions unconstitutional.