Chapter 11 VOCAB

Reapportionment

Redistribution of representatives among the states, based on population change. The House is reapportioned after each census.

Impeachment

The formal charging of a government official with “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Incumbent

A current officeholder.

Gerrymandering

Redrawing a congressional district to intentionally benefits one political party.

Casework

Solving problems for constituents, especially problems involving government agencies.

Descriptive Representation

A belief that constituents are most effectively represented by legislators who are similar to them in such key demographic characteristics as race, ethnicity, religion, or gender.

Racial Gerrymandering

The drawing of a legislative district to maximize the chance that a minority candidate will win election.

Veto

The president’s disapproval of a bill that has been passed by both houses of Congress. Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in each house.

Standing Committee

A permanent congressional committee that specializes in a particular policy area.

Joint Committee

A committee made up of members of both the House and the Senate.

Select Committee

A temporary congressional committee created for a specific purpose and disbanded after that purpose is fulfilled.

Conference Committee

A temporary committee created to work out differences between the House and Senate versions of a specific piece of legislation.

Seniority

Years of consecutive service on a particular congressional committee.

Oversight

The process of reviewing the operations of an agency to determine whether it is carrying out policies as Congress intended.

Speaker of the House

The presiding officer of the House of Representatives.

Majority Leader

The head of the majority party in the Senate; the second-highest ranking member of the majority party in the House.

Filibuster

A delaying tactic, used in the Senate, that involves speechmaking to prevent action on a piece of legislation.

Cloture

The mechanism by which a filibuster is cut off in the Senate.

Hold

A letter requesting that a bill be held from floor debate.

Constituents

People who live and vote in a government official’s district or state.

Trustee

A representative who is obligated to consider the views of constituents but is not obligated to vote according to those views if he or she believes they are misguided.

Delegate

A legislator whose primary responsibility is to represent the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of his or her own view.

Parliamentary System

A system of government in which the chief executive is the leader whose party holds the most seats in the legislature after an election or whose party forms a major part of the ruling coalition.

Earmarks

Federal funds appropriated by Congress for use on local projects.

Pocket Veto

A means of killing a bill that has been passed by both houses of Congress, in which the president does not sign the bill and Congress adjourns within ten days of the bill’s passage.

Rider

An additional provision added to a bill or other measure under the consideration by the legislature having little connection with the subject matter of the bill. Usually created as a tactic to pass a controversial provision that would not pass as its own bill.

Pork Barrel Project

The appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative’s district.