CONGRESS 2
Terms
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- representation
- the efforts of elected officials to look out for the interests of those who elect them.
- constituency
- the voters in a state or district.
- policy representation
- congressional work to advance the issues and ideological preferences of constituents.
- allocative representation
- congressional work to secure projects, services, and funds for the represented district.
- pork barrel
- public works projects and grants for specific districts paid for by general revenues.
- casework
- legislative work on behalf of individual constituents to solve their problems with government agencies and programs.
- symbolic representation
- the efforts of members of Congress to stand for American ideals or to identify with common constituency values.
- lawmaking
- the creation of policy to address national problems.
- bicameral legislature
- a legislature with two chambers.
- reapportionment
- a reallocation of congressional seats among the states every ten years, following the census.
- malapportionment
- the unequal distribution of population among districts.
- redistricting
- the process of dividing the states into legislative districts.
- gerrymandering
- redistricting to benefit a particular group.
- racial gerrymandering
- redistricting to enhance or reduce the chances that a racial or ethnic group will elect members to the legislature.
- franking
- the privilege of free mail service provided to members of Congress.
- strategic politician
- an office seeker who bases the decision to run on a rational calculation that he or she will be successful.
- incumbency advantage
- the electoral edge afforded to those already in office.
- coattail effect
- the added votes received by congressional candidates of a winning presidential party.
- midterm loss
- the tendency for the presidential party to lose congressional seats in off-year elections.
- majority party
- the party with the most seats in a house of Congress.
- Speaker of the House
- the leader of the majority party, who serves as the presiding officer of the House of Representatives.
- party caucuses
- party groupings in each legislative chamber.
- seniority system
- the accumulation of power and authority in conjunction with the length of time spent in office.
- legislative oversight
- a committee's investigation of government agencies to ensure they are acting as Congress intends.
- standing committee
- a permanent committee responsible for legislation in a particular policy area.
- House Rules Committee
- the committee that determines how and when debate on a bill will take place.
- select committee
- a committee appointed to deal with an issue or problem not suited to a standing committee.
- joint committee
- a combined House-Senate committee formed to coordinate activities and expedite legislation in a certain area.
- conference committee
- a temporary committee formed to reconcile difference in the House and Senate versions of a bill
- norms
- informal rules that govern behavior in Congress.
- legislative agenda
- the state of proposals and issues that representatives think it worthwhile to consider and act on.
- policy entrepreneurship
- the practice of legislators becoming experts and taking leadership roles in specific policy areas.
- fillibuster
- the practice of unlimited debate in the Senate to prevent or delay a vote on a bill.
- cloture
- a vote to end a Senate filibuster; requires a three-fifths majority , or sixty votes.
- veto override
- the reversal of a presidential veto by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress.
- line-item veto
- presidential authority to strike out individual spending provisions in a budget; passed by Congress but ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
- pocket veto
- presidential authority to kill a bill submitted within ten days of the end of a legislative session by not signing it.
- roll call voting
- publicly recorded votes on bills and amendments on the floor of the House or Senate.