100 things I learned from class!

Hey if you have anything to add to the list, then let me know, and send it to me, so i can post it up here too!


1."The Do-nothings" Were the name given to the Senate in the first years of the Republic.

2. The coattail effect in presidential election since WWII was that each percent gain in the party’s
vote for president is associated with .31 percent increase in the party’s vote for Congress.

3.Strategic retirement is the tendency for legislators to retire when they know there electoral
chances have diminished.

4.Hernson argues that a necessary precondition for the passage of campaign finance reform is a
public perception of corruption.

5.The Democratizing Era witnessed the rise of partisan politics, it was also the era of Stump
speeches and the bandwagon effect.

6.100 members constitute a quorum for the Committee of the Whole in the House of
representatives.

7. In the House of Representatives the floor debates are more structures that the Senate.

8. The Civil war era was the era where the power of the Speaker reached it’s highest limit.

9. Cloture was first adopted in the "text Book era" of Congress, and today’s cloture law requires
60 Senators to end a filibuster.

10.The best electoral strategy for incumbent office holders is to create barriers to entry to
discourage "quality" opponents.

11.Voluntary retirement was the number one cause of turnover in Congress in the post WWII
Era.

12. Another name for constituency service is casework.

13.The terms for the House is 2 years, and the terms for the Senate is 6 years.

14. Parochialism focuses on a narrow locality, it’s associated with delegates.
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15.Republicanism is a form of government in which "intermediaries represent the interests of
citizens."

16.Side payments are most commonly used to obtain or achieve minimum winning coalitions.

17.James Madison defines Factions as an adverse to the rights of other citizens or the permanent
and aggregate interests of the community.

18. Baron de Montesquieu was the European philosopher who inspired the notion of separation
of powers.

19. They only needed 33 members of the first congress to establish a quorum in the House of
representatives.

20. Thomas Reed was largely responsible for formalizing the use of calendars in the House of
Representatives, which in turn led to the advent of "calendar politics."

21. Conditional party government occurs when the major political parties are on the same page
ideologically, when they are voting together on a regular basis.

22.In the House of Representatives, party polarization does a better job of explaining strong
leaders.

23.Negative "coattails" suggest that a candidate running for office may be hurt by some other
race on the ballot.

24.All congressional candidates want name recognition, however, the lecture made the case that
name recognition is best if it can be obtained without issue content.

25.The negative ads that run late in a congressional campaign often back fire.

26. The majority leader is the most influential member of the Senate in Modern times.

27. The majority leader has the right of first recognition on the floor of the Senate.
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28. The minority party leader of a standing committee is given the title "ranking member".

29. The third most influential member of the House of Representatives is the Minority leader.

30. Currently less than 15% of Congress is female, Sweden is the country that leads the world in
the proportional representatives of women.

31. Women are less likely than men to break civility norms of courtesy and reciprocity while
serving in congress.

32. President Pro tem is the title that goes to the senior most member of the majority party in the Senate.

33. The US Congress is the most heavily staffed legislature in the World. The total staff members
that works for the two chambers, their committees, and the leaders is 22,720.

34.Logrolling is the cooperation among politicians as they attempt to build a coalition by trading
favors.

35. Omnibus legislation is a catchall legislation that includes provisions on a variety of issues
patched together, often near the end of a congressional session, and passed as one measure.

36.A Caucus is a meeting of party members to elect leaders and/ or plan strategy.

37. President Woodrow Wilson said "Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, while
Congress in it’s committee-rooms is Congress at work!"

38. A conference is a Republican party meeting and a caucus is a democratic Party meeting.

39.Categoric groups- Individuals with unchangeable common characteristics, such as race,
gender, and age. Often, such characteristics result in common political interests, although not all
members of the group are aware of them.

40. Pork Barrel- legislation favoring the districts of particular members of congress by
guaranteeing them public works projects such as roads, dams, harbors, defense contracts, and
other government programs.

41. Whip is a party leader with the responsibility of assessing member preference, presenting
party positions, and getting supporters of the party position o the floor for voting. The term
comes from the rider in a fox hunt charged with keeping the dogs in line.

42. Discharge petition, a rarely used mechanism in the House allowing a majority of members
(218) to force action on legislation not released by a committee.

43. Markup- The final meeting of a committee on a bill where the proposed legislation is gone
over line by line before approval of the final version.

44. Pack Journalism- A defensive strategy by journalists of comparing their coverage with that of competing media and bringing their coverage into line.

45. Indirect lobbying- Lobbyists’ attempts to influence lawmakers; decisions using third parties,
usually constituents or the media.

46. Direct lobbying- Lobbyist’s presentation of arguments to legislators or their staffs, either
through personal contact or by committee testimony.

47.Issue advocacy- Spending for election-related advertising by interests groups. Groups may
spend unlimited funds on issue advocacy as long as it does not "expressly advocate" election or
defeat of a candidate. Issue advocacy spending is not publicly disclosed and is unlimited by
federal regulation.

48. Elite constituency- The group of citizens in a lawmaker’s constituency who are active,
informed, and willing to contact their members of Congress about an issue.

49.Access- The attempts by interest groups and citizens to "get a hearing" for their viewpoint in
Congress.

50. Indirect lobbying- Lobbyist’s attempts to influence lawmakers’ decisions using third parties,
usually constituents or the media.

51. Pundits try to do what is right, and bring experts to come in and talk about issues. Dr.Jewett
is head of the pundits of the Political Science Department at UCF.

52.Cloture- A Senate procedure for cutting off debate during a filibuster by garnering the
support of sixty Senators.

53. Coalition- A temporary group of often diverse members who agree to support a particular
policy position.

54. Committee of the whole- A procedure used in the House to facilitate the handling of
legislation by reducing the quorum to one hundred.

55.Cosponsorship- The right to add one’s name to a bill. Members cosponsor to claim some
credit for final passage, while bill sponsors seek cosponsoship as an indication of the popularity of their proposal.

56. Filibuster is a tradition of unlimited debate in the Senate, which can be restricted only by a
vote of sixty members in support of a cloture motion that limits debate.

57. Germane- Refers to the requirement that speeches and amendments to bills must be relevant to the issue being discussed. Rules of germaneness are much tighter in the House than in the Senate.

58. Hold is a senator’s right to ask for a delay backed up by the right of unlimited debate.
59.Side payments are benefits for joining a coalition having nothing to do with the substance of
the issue at hand.

60. A bought coalition is a group of people agreeing to support a position only after a change in
the substance of the legislation or in exchange for some other benefit.

61. Legislative intent- The purpose of an enacted law as evident in congressional debate over its
passage. Federal Courts often use legislative intent in interpreting federal law.

62. Unanimous consent agreement- The literal approval of all members of a course action. The
procedure is most relevant to the Senate with its right of unlimited debate.

63. Minimum winning coalition- The minimum number of coalition members required to achieve a particular policy goal. In Congress, the number required is usually a simple majority of those
present and voting, but for certain actions, supermajorities are required.

64. A hopper is a wooden box that holds new legislative initiatives in the House of
representatives.

65. An enrolled bill is a bill that is on it’s way to the President.

66.A bill that has been rewritten because significant changes have been made to the original bill
in committee is known as a clean bill.

67. The five minutes rule refers to the amount of time given each side to debate amendments in
the House when meeting as the committee of the whole.

68. When a bill is "read" for the third time, the floor vote should take place.

69. A motion which officially ends any given "legislative day" within a legislative session is
known as an adjournment to a day certain.

70. A Presidential veto is a presidential option after Congress has adjourned sine die.

71.The Speaker is the first person to sign the final version of a bill that is certified as "correct."

72. The Pocket veto was primarily intended to prevent congress from forcing the president to
have to decide on the suitability of new legislation in the last few days (ten days) of a legislation
session.

73. The President of the United States cannot sponsor a piece of legislation.

74. A provision in federal law that delays an administrative action, usually for sixty to ninety days, during which time Congress may vote to approve or disapprove the action is known as a
legislative veto.

75. The War power acts allows the President to report to congress whenever the troops are
committed, and terminate the use of force after 60 days if there is no congressional approval.

76. Senatorial courtesy refers to a senatorial norm that suggests a senator can have primary
influence in the selection of Federal judges that serve in their state.

77. Appropriations committees- Prestigious committees in the House and Senate the create
appropriations bills, specifying the actual amount to be spent on programs that are subject to
annual and multi-year appropriations.

78. Issue networks- A set of interrelationships between senators and representatives, interest
groups, the bureaucracy, and the media in particular policy areas. Generally broader in scope,
more permeable, and less influential than subgovernments.

79. Crisis Policies- Responses to immediate problems that are perceived to be serious, arrive
with little or no warning, and demand immediate action.

80. Distributive policies- Policies that provide subsidies and benefits to a limited group of
individuals, groups, or corporations.

81. Incrementalism- A congressional policy strategy in which decision makers make small,
incremental, marginal adjustments in current behavior.

82. Regulatory polices- Policies designed to protect the public by setting the conditions under
which various private activities can be undertaken.

83. Localism- A survival game strategy by which lawmakers consider and act on policy primarily as it affects the welfare of their districts and constituents.

84. Structural policies- Policies aimed at producing, deploying, and organizing military personnel
and material, usually within the confines of previously established strategic decisions.

85. Symbolism- A congressional policy strategy in which legislators devote time and attention to
a problem without actually devoting substantial resources to solve it.

86. Redistributive policy- Policy that manipulates the allocation of wealth, property, political or
civil rights, producing highly public and competitive games.

87. Change- An evolution of any sort, whether planned or unplanned, reform is a planned change with a specific goal in mind, which sometimes doesn’t work out the way they want.

88. Line-item veto- An authority currently wielded by forty-three governors that allows a chief
executive to veto parts of bills. Congress granted the president a form of line-item veto, enhanced recission authority, but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1998.

89. Responsibility- As applied to legislature, it concerns the ability of a legislature to solve
problems with speed and effectiveness.

90.The majority caucus or conference in the chamber approves the party leaders
recommendations, and selects the committee chairs.

91. The Ways and Means are the Committee in the House that deals with the payment of taxes.

92.Committee property rights refers to the right of a state to have a representative on a particular committee.

93. Among the reforms the House Republicans adopted after winning the majority in 1995 were
placing term limits on committee chairs.

94.In the 107th Congress , Chair swapping became an issue of the new House rule that committee chairs could only serve six years continuous.

95.accountability- the regular evaluation of a legislatures work by the citizenry.

96.Responsiveness- The capacity of a legislature to listen to and take into action the ideas and
sentiments of those who will be affected by it’s actions.

97. There are four types of committees- 1. Steering and policy committees, 2. Hill committees, 3. Procedural committees, 4. Legislative committees.

98. Select or Special committees- Created on an ad hoc basis, can not receive or report
legislation, and primarily investigative, and their agenda is topical.

99.There are three types of Senate Floor voting:
1. Un-tabulate voice vote- ( All in favor say I)
2. A standing or "division" ( Dividing the room on an issue)
3. A roll call ( Yes or nay when your name is called)

100. There are 4 primary types of referrals.
1. Single referral- Entire bill is sent to a single committee
2. Joint Referral- Same bill sent to multiple committees
3. Split referral- Bill is broke up and sent to multiple committees
4.Sequential referral- Speaker determines that a bill must pass through multiple
committees.