Key Terms Gov 4.1-4.3

pork barrel spending

Legislators trying to get the federal government to spend money in their district.

Logrolling

Trading your vote in order to get ideas passed

Oversight

Efforts by Congress to make sure the executive branch is acting legally.

Constituency

Voters in a given area who vote for a given representative or senator.

Apportionment

Determining how many representatives each state has using census population data.

Redistricting

States redrawing electoral boundaries following each census.

Gerrymandering

The intentional drawing of electoral districts to benefit a specific party or group of voters.

partisan gerrymandering

Drawing districts to benefit a political party.

majority-minority districts

A district where the number of people who are minorities is greater than the majority.

Malapportionment

The uneven distribution of the population among election districts in a state.

Incumbency

Being already in office as opposed to running for office.

incumbency advantage

Built-in advantages held by those already in office.

Speaker of the House

Leader of the House of Representatives chosen by an election of its members.

political action committee (PAC)

An organization that raises money for a campaign or candidates.

House majority leader

The person who is second in command in the House of Representatives.

Whip

A member of Congress chosen by their party.

minority leader

The head of the party with the second highest number of members, elected by party members.

Senate majority leader

The most powerful person in the Senate; head of the party with the most seats.

committee chair

Leader of the congressional committee who has authority over the committee's agenda.

discharge petition

Motion filed by a member of Congress to move a bill out of committee and onto the floor for a vote.

House Rules Committee

Powerful committee that determines the bill on the House floor.