Skibidi Mustard 4 Episode I

pork barrel spending

Legislation that directs specific funds to projects within districts or states.

Logrolling

Trading of votes on legislation by members of Congress to get their earmarks passed into legislation.

Oversight

Efforts by Congress to ensure that executive branch agencies, bureaus, and cabinet departments, as well as their officials, are acting legally and in accordance with congressional goals.

Constituency

A body of voters in a given area who elect a representative or senator.

Apportionment

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

Redistricting

States' redrawing of boundaries of electoral districts following each census.

Gerrymandering

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

partisan gerrymandering

Drawing of district boundaries into strange shapes to benefit a political party.

majority-minority district

A district in which voters of a minority ethnicity constitute an electoral majority within that electoral district.

Malapportionment

The uneven distribution of the population among legislative districts.

Incumbency

Being already in office as opposed to running for the first time.

incumbency advantage

Institutional advantages held by those already in office who are trying to fend off challengers in an election.

Speaker of the House

The leader of the House of Representatives, chosen by an election of its members.

political action committee (PAC)

An organization that raises money for candidates and campaigns.