Term Definition Sentence

Perjury lying under oath The witness committed

perjury.
Pork-Barrel
Legislation
laws the Congress pass to
appropriate money for local
federal projects
Local federal projects get
money because of the
Pork-Barrel Legislation.
Expressed
Powers
enumerated powers (article
one, section 3)
Collecting and levying
taxes is one of the
government's expressed
powers.
Necessary and
Proper Clause
elastic clause. last clause of
section 8. implies that
Congress has powers beyond
those expressed in the first 17
Clauses.
The Necessary and
Proper clause is for the
betterment of all people.
Appropriations
Bill
proposed laws to authorize
spending money
Proposing laws to spend
money works with the
Appropriations Bill.
Interstate
Commerce
commerce among states The greatest interstate
commerce was between
California and Nevada.
25th
Amendment
when office of VP becomes
empty, president appoints a
replacement
The president appointed a
replacement VP as
required by the 25th
Amendment.
Rider a provision on a subject other
than the one covered by a bill.
Usually don't have anything to
do with the bill and occurs at
the end of a session...
The rider that was added
to the bill had nothing to
do with the subject of the
bill.
Veto when president refuses to
sign a bill and returns it to
Congress including reasons
for the actions
The president vetoed the
new law due to various
reasons.


Term Definition Sentence
Standing
Committee
a permanent committee One of the various
standing committees is on
Homeland Security.
Select
Committee
a temporary committee One of the committees is
the Select Committee on
Intelligence.
Joint
Committee
a committee made up of
members of both chambers in
a bicameral legislature
The Joint Committee on
the Library is one the few
joint committees.
Cloture closes a debate The Senate is set for a
cloture vote when
Congress reconvenes
Monday.
Ways and
Means
Committee
(House)
a committee that has total
jurisdiction on taxation, tariffs,
and other revenue-raising
bills. They cannot serve on
any other committees
Serving on the Ways and
Means Committee means
working on revenue-
raising bills.
Appropriation an approval of government
spending. This is
congressional responsibility.
The legislature will decide
soon whether to keep the
appropriation.
Lobbying the work the lobbyist do to
persuade officials to support
their views
There must be a more
productive way of
expressing their feelings
and lobbying for change.
PACs Political actions committees.
Fund-raising organizations
established by corporations,
labor unions and other
special-interest groups.
Funds come voluntarily by
company employees,
stockholders and union
members. Use funds to
support lawmakers who favor
their position in issues.
PACs get their money
through company
employees, stockholders,
and union members
voluntarily donating
money and use it to
support lawmakers who
favor their positions in
issues.


Term Definition Sentence
Concurrent
Resolution
deals with matters where laws
aren't needed. Require
actions of the House and
Senate
A concurrent resolution
extending the life of the
Joint Congressional
Committee on Inaugural
Ceremonies.
Speaker of the
House
member who preside (runs
the meeting), appoints some
members to committees,
refers bills to standing
committee (rules committee
dies this too), puts questions
to vote and follows up in
succession
The Speaker of the House
shared his views and the
bill was voted upon.
The Great
Compromise
a bicameral legislature with a
House of Representatives
based on population, and a
senate with equal
representation for all states
The Great Compromise of
1787 is an event of great
importance in the US
history as it laid the
foundation of the present
day structure of the US.
The Necessary
and Proper
Clause
allows congress to make all
laws that appear to be
necessary and proper, also
known as the elastic clause
The Necessary and
Proper clause is for the
betterment of all people.
Federalism The system of government
under which the national
government and local (state)
governments share powers
The principles of
federalism are recognized
under this government.
Confederation A system in which many
decisions are made by an
external member-state
legislation
In 1867 the confederation
of four provinces created
the new country of
Canada.
Reserved
Powers
Powers that belong
exclusively to the states
The Congress used it's
reserved powers to
impose a new law.
Concurrent
Powers
Powers shared by the nation
and states governments
Taxation is an example of
a concurrent power.
Judicial Review The power of the Supreme
Court to declare laws and
executive actions
unconstitutional
One way of challenging
state authority is to seek
judicial review of decisions
made by public bodies.
Conservative Individuals should be
responsible for their own well
being and should not rely on
government assistance
Conservatives believe that
everyone should take care
of themselves without
government help.


Term Definition Sentence
Liberal Believe that the government
should be used to remedy the
social and economic
injustices of the marketplace,
support government
regulation of the economy
Liberals believe that the
government should help
support everyone,
especially with economic
support.
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
The two main political
parties in America are the
Democrats and the
Republicans.
Super Tuesday Many primaries are held on
the same Tuesday early in
March
The primary is going to be
held on Super Tuesday.
Electoral
College
Created by the framers as a
mean of insulating the
government from whims of a
less educated public
The president is decided
from the electoral college
votes, not the popular
vote.
Voting Rights
Act of 1965
Encourage states to take
measures to increase minority
representatives in congress
Minorities were
encouraged in Congress
through the voting rights
act of 1965.
Earmarks Provisions within legislation
that appropriate money to a
specific project
Almost 20,000 earmarks
were requested by
lawmakers for their states.
Pocket Veto If a president doesn't sign a
bill during the 10 days before
a congressional session ends
The congressional
session ended resulting in
a pocket veto.
Plea Bargaining An agreement with the
prosecution to agree to a less
serious crime and sentence
The interrogation ended
with a plea bargain being
struck.
Appellate
Jurisdiction
Can only decide issues of
law, not the facts of the case
The judge only has
appellate jurisdiction.
Judicial
Restraint
When judges are reluctant to
overturn the acts of
legislature
Three of the Supreme
Court judges almost
always have judicial
restraint.
Judicial Activist A judge who has no qualms
overturning legislature
The Supreme Justice is a
judicial activist.


Term Definition Sentence
Writ of
Certiorari
A legal document used to
request the lower court
transcripts of a case
The Supreme Court wrote
a writ of certiorari to the
Southern District of
Indiana court.