AP Gov - Ch 13 Vocab

Partisan Polarization - heightened conflict between elected democrats and republicans

Bicameral Legislature - a lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts

Filibuster - an attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action on the bill

Majority-minority Districts - congressional districts where a majority of voters are racial or ethnic minorities

Descriptive Representation - when citizens are represented by elected officials from their same social or ethnic background

Substantive Representation - the ability of citizens to elect officials who will enact into law policies that the citizens favor

Marginal Districts - districts in which candidates elected to the House of Reps win in close elections typically, less than 55% of the vote

Safe Districts - districts in which incumbents win by a comfortable margin

Conservative Coalition - an alliance between Republicans and conservative democrats

Majority Leader - the legislative leader elected by party members holding the majority of seats in the House or the Senate

Minority Leader - the legislative leader elected by party members holding a minority of seats in the House or the Senate

Whip - a senator or representative who helps the party leader stay informed about what party members are thinking

Speaker - the presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the leader of the majority party in the House

Party Vote - a vote where most Democrats are on one side of the bill

Caucus - an association of congressional members created to advance a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest

Standing Committees - permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within a certain subject area

Select Committees - congressional committees appointed for a limited time and purpose

Joint Committees - committees on which both senators and representatives serve

Conference Committees - joint committees appointed to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same bill

Discharge Petition - a device by which any member of the House, after a committee has had the bill for 30 days, may petition to have it brought to the floor

Closed Rule - an order from the House Rules Committee that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made to a bill on the floor

Open Rule - an order from the House Rules committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor

Quorum - the minimum number of members who must be present for business to be conducted in Congress

Riders - Amendments on matters unrelated to a bill that are added to an important bill so that they will "ride" to passage through Congress. When a bill has many riders, it is called a Christmas tree bill

Cloture Rule - a rule used by the Senate to end or limit debate

Double Tracking - a procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster in which the disputed bill is shelved temporarily so that the Senate can get on with other business

Voice Vote - a congressional voting procedure in which members shout "yea" in approval or "nay" in disapproval permitting members to vote quickly or anonymously on bills

Division Vote - a congressional voting procedure in which members stand and are counted

Roll-call Vote - a congressional voting procedure that consists of members answering "yea" or "nay" to their names

Teller Vote - a congressional voting procedure in which members pass between two tellers, the "yeas" first and the "nays" second

Veto - Literally, "I forbid;" it refers to the power of a president to disapprove a bill, and may be overridden by a ⅔ vote of each house of Congress

Divided Government - one party controls the White House and another party controls one or both houses of Congress

Unified Government - the same party controls the White House and both houses of Congress

Pork-barrel Legislation - legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature for postage

Franking Privilege - the ability of members to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature for postage