AP Gov Unit 2 Vocab: Chapter 4, Congress

Pork Barrel Spending

allocation (distributing) of monies to projects within districts or states

Logrolling

members of congress trade votes to get their earmarks passed

Constituency

bodies of voters in an area who elect a representative or senator

Apportionment

process of determining the number of representatives for each state using census data

Redistricting

states redraw the boundaries of the electoral districts

Gerrymandering

the intentional use of redistricting to benefit a specific interest or group of voters

Partisan Gerrymandering

the intentional use of redistricting to benefit a specific political party

Majority-minority districts

majority of voters of minority ethnicity within a district

Speaker of the house

only house leadership position described in congress, leader of the entire house (chosen by election of house members), most powerful member

House majority leader

second-in-command, assists the leader

Majority/minority whip

collects information about how individual members are planning to vote, corralling their support on key votes and setting party strategy in congress

Minority leader

leader of the party with the second-highest number of seats

Senate majority leader

head of the party with the most seats, most powerful person in the senate but not as powerful as the speaker, shapes legislative agenda

Filibuster

using unlimited debate with the intention of talking a bill to death

Cloture

60 senators vote to end filibuster and proceed to action

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

oversees the performance of federal agencies, and administers the federal budget

Entitlement program

program that provides benefit for those who qualify under the law, regardless of income

Mandatory spending

spending required by existing laws that is "locked in" the budget

Discretionary spending

spending for programs and policies at the discretion of congress and the president

Budget surplus

government spending less than government revenue

Budget deficit

government spending greater than government revenue

National debt

over time, multiple deficits

Politico role

emphasizes that congress is a politicized body; members of congress balance their choices with the interest of constituents and parties