Chapter 10: Congress

also will probably need to review this one a lot

Bicameralism

The system of having two chambers within one legislative body, like the House and Senate in the U.S. Congress

Permanent campaign

The continual quest for reelection that is rooted in high-cost professional campaigns that are increasingly reliant on consultants and expensive media campaigns

Pork barrel

Legislative appropriations that benefit specific constituents, created with the aim of helping local representatives win reelection.

Descriptive representation

Representation in which a member of Congress shares the characteristics (such as gender, race, religion, or ethnicity) of their constituents

Substantive representation

Representation in which a member of Congress serves constituents’ interests and shares their policy concerns

Trustee

A member of Congress who represents constituents’ interests while also taking into account national, collective, and moral concerns that sometimes cause the member to vote against the preference of a majority of constituents

Delegate

A member of Congress who loyally represents constituents’ direct interests

Politico

A member of Congress who acts as a delegate on issues that constituents care about (such as immigration reform) and as a trustee on more complex or less salient issues (such as some foreign policy or regulatory matters)

Electoral Connection

The idea that congressional behavior is centrally motivated by members’ desire for reelection

Casework

Assistance provided by members of Congress to their constituents in solving problems with the federal bureaucracy or addressing other specific concerns.

Incumbency advantage

The relative infrequency with which members of Congress are defeated in their attempts for reelection

Redistricting

Re-drawing the geographic boundaries of legislative districts. This happens every 10 years to ensure that districts remain roughly equal in population

Apportionment

The process of assigning the 435 seats in the House to the states based on increases or decreases in state population

Gerrymandering

Attempting to use the process of re-drawing district boundaries to benefit a political party, protect incumbents, or change the proportion of minority voters in a district

Gridlock

An inability to enact legislation because of partisan conflict within Congress or between Congress and the president

Logrolling

A form of reciprocity in which members of Congress support bills that they otherwise might not vote for in exchange for other members’ votes on bills that are very important to them.

Earmark

Federally funded local projects attached to bills passed through Congress.

Seniority

The informal congressional norm of choosing the member who has served the longest on a particular committee to be the committee chair.

Speaker of the House

The elected leader of the House of Representatives.

Majority Leader

The elected head of the party holding the majority of seats in the House or Senate.

Whip system

An organization of House leaders who work to disseminate information and promote party unity in voting on legislation.

Minority Leader

The elected head of the party holding the minority of seats in the House or Senate.

President pro tempore

A largely symbolic position usually held by the most senior member of the majority party in the Senate.

Roll call vote

A recorded vote on legislation; members may vote “yes,” “no,” or “present,” or they may abstain.

Party vote

A vote in which the majority of one party opposes the position of the majority of the other party.

Party unity

The extent to which members of Congress in the same party vote together on party votes

Standing committees

Committees that are a permanent part of the House or Senate structure, holding more importance and authority than other committees.

Select committees

Committees in the House or Senate created to address a specific issue for one or two terms.

Joint committees

Committees that contain members of both the House and Senate but have limited authority.

Conference committees

Temporary committees created to negotiate differences between the House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation that has passed through both chambers.

Markup

One of the steps through which a bill becomes a law, in which the final wording of the bill is determined.

Cloture

A procedure through which the Senate can limit the amount of time spent debating a bill (cutting off a filibuster) if a supermajority of 60 senators agree.

Filibuster

A tactic used by senators to block a bill by continuing to hold the floor and speak—under the Senate rule of unlimited debate—until the bill’s supporters back down.

Veto

The president’s rejection of a bill that has been passed by Congress. A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.

Pocket veto

The automatic death of a bill passed by the House and Senate when the president fails to sign the bill in the last 10 days of a legislative session.

Omniubus legislation

Large bills that often cover several topics and may contain extraneous, or pork-barrel, projects.