AP Gov Unit C Vocab 25-26

pork barrel spending

legislation that directs specific funds to projects/local industries (leads to more jobs) within districts or states, can be controversial and viewed more negatively; type of earmark

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, can help incumbents because it creates uncompetitive districts

partisan gerrymandering

drawing district boundaries into strange shapes to benefit a political party

majority-minority districts

a district in which voters of a minority 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, where incumbents usually (but not always) win

why? = name recognition

many broader implications - less new ideas (less new/younger candidates), less election engagement

credit claiming (not on vocab list but Skonberg talked about it)

when candidates reference past achievements/deeds done for constituents to say they are responsible for those successes and actions

filibuster

a tactic through which an individual senator may use the right of unlimited debate to delay a motion or postpone action on a piece of legislation, use has risen since 1970s, minority party likes it because they only need to block a supermajority

cloture

process where senators can end a filibuster and proceed to action when ⅗ or 60 of senators vote to agree on it

veto

formal rejection by the president of a bill that has passed both houses of Congress, more likely in times of divided government

casework

services performed for constituents (eg. lost checks, navigating bureaucracy, reference letters)

most powerful strategy a candidate could use to gain voter

standing committees

permanent committees, where most of the work gets done, one-house, members specialize in a single policy area, produce bills (eg. Ways and Means, Judiciary, Budget)

select committees

temporary committees -- one-house, limited to a single crisis/investigation

conference committees

VERY temporary committees -- two-house/members of both chambers, limited to rewording a single bill, used when there are differences between House and Senate versions of a bill

joint committees

permanent committees, two-house/members of both chambers, focus public attention on an issue, gather information for Congress

Speaker of the House

the leader of the House of Representatives, chosen by an election of its members, sets agenda

Senate Majority Leader

the person who has the most power in the Senate and is the head of the party with the most seats, not as powerful as Speaker, shapes legislative agenda

Whip(s)

a member of Congress, chosen by party members, whose job is to ensure party unity and discipline in both House and Senate; makes sure party votes the way the leadership has decided

Committee Chairperson(s)

leader of a congressional committee who has authority over/sets the committee's agenda, member of the majority party, limited terms