AP US Gov Unit 5

Representation models & political behavior

Delegate model — Representative votes according to constituents’ wishes.
Trustee model — Representative uses personal judgment in constituents’ interest.
Instructed delegate model — Representative follows explicit instructions from constituents.
Politico model — Hybrid: acts as delegate on visible issues, trustee on complex ones.
Partisan model — Representative follows party position.
Attentive public — Citizens who follow politics closely and influence outcomes.

Elections, districts & population rules

How members of Congress are elected now & were in the past — House: directly elected since Constitution; Senate: originally chosen by state legislatures until the 17th Amendment (1913) made direct election nationwide.
Safe district — District heavily favoring one party; low electoral competition.
Marginal (competitive) district — District where election outcomes are uncertain; close races.
Reapportionment — Redistribution of House seats among states after the census.
Redistricting — Redrawing congressional district lines within a state.
Gerrymandering — Manipulating district lines to favor a party or group.
Majority-minority district — District where a racial/ethnic minority is the majority of voters.
Sophomore surge — Vote increase a newly elected representative gets in first reelection.
How do incumbents win? — Name recognition, fundraising, casework/franking, pork/earmarks, gerrymandered districts, staff support, experience.
Why incumbents sometimes lose — Scandal, redistricting, strong challenger, national wave, poor constituency service.

Congress structure & leadership

Bicameral legislature — Two chambers (House and Senate); different powers and rules.
Speaker of the House — Presiding officer, controls House agenda and committee assignments.
House Majority Leader — Schedules legislation for majority party; assists Speaker.
Majority Whip — Counts votes and enforces party discipline for majority.
House Minority Leader — Leads minority party in House.
Minority Whip — Assists minority leadership in vote counting/strategy.
President pro tempore — Senior senator presiding in VP’s absence; largely ceremonial.
Senate Majority Leader — Most powerful senator; controls floor schedule.
Senate Minority Leader — Leads minority party in Senate.

Committees & internal organization

Importance of committees — Filter, investigate, shape, and advance legislation; central to Congress’s workload.
Standing committee — Permanent committee with specific jurisdiction (e.g., Ways & Means).
Select (special) committee — Temporary committee for a specific purpose or investigation.
Joint committee — Members from both chambers; typically advisory or administrative.
Subcommittee — Subdivision of a committee for specialized tasks.
Seniority system — Tradition giving committee chair positions to members with longest service.
Committee assignments — Process/placement of members on committees; key to influence and reelection.
Lead committee — The committee primarily responsible for a bill.
Ways & Means Committee — House committee with primary jurisdiction over tax and revenue legislation.
House Rules Committee — Powerful House committee that sets terms of debate and amendment for most bills.
Committee of the Whole — House procedural device to speed consideration by operating under looser rules.

Legislative process (steps & specifics)

Bill — Proposed law introduced in either chamber (revenue bills must start in House).
Hopper — Box where House members drop bills to introduce them.
Joint referral — Sending a bill to more than one committee.
Agency review — Committees request executive agencies’ input on proposed legislation.
Hearings — Committees gather testimony and evidence from experts/witnesses.
Markup (mark-up session) — Committee meeting to revise text and vote on amendments.
Report — Committee’s written explanation and recommendation accompanying a bill to the floor.
Conference committee — Temporary committee of both chambers to reconcile differing bill versions.
What happens to a revenue bill — Must originate in House (Article I); referred to Ways & Means, then Rules, House floor; after House passage, Senate considers, conference if needed, then president.

Rules, debate, and special procedures

Open rule — House rule allowing floor amendments from members.
Closed rule — House rule limiting or prohibiting floor amendments.
Unanimous consent — Senate agreement without formal vote to expedite proceedings.
Germaneness — Requirement that amendments be relevant to the bill (strict in House; looser in Senate).
Discharge petition — Procedure to force a bill out of committee and onto the floor with majority signatures.
Filibuster — Senate tactic of extended debate to delay or block legislation.
Cloture — Procedure to end filibuster (historically 60 votes).
Nuclear option — Using simple majority to change Senate rules (e.g., to lower cloture threshold).
Pocket veto — President takes no action for 10 days while Congress adjourns; bill dies without formal veto.

Budget, spending & amendments

Pork barrel — Legislation that provides local projects/services to benefit a lawmaker’s district.
Earmark — Specific funding for a project inserted into broader legislation (often district-targeted).
Christmas tree bill — Bill that attracts many unrelated amendments and “gifts” for members.

Voting & bargaining strategies

Logrolling — Vote trading: “I’ll vote for your bill if you vote for mine.”
Instructed delegate — (see above) Representative bound by constituent instructions.

Oversight, services & staff

Oversight — Congress’s monitoring and investigation of the executive branch and agencies.
Casework — Constituent services by members’ offices to help individuals with federal agencies.
Franking — Free official mail sent by members to constituents for communication.
Ombudsperson — Official or staff who addresses constituents’ complaints about government agencies.
Effect of reliance on staff members — Staff conduct research, draft bills, manage casework; increases member capacity and specialization but also shifts policy influence toward unelected staff.

Procedural/technical terms

Mark-up session — (see Markup) Committee editing and amendment process.
Report — (see above) Committee document accompanying a bill.
Committee of the whole — (see above) House procedural forum with different quorum and rules.
Lead committee — (see above).
Joint committee — (see above).
Subcommittee — (see above).
Agency review — (see above).
Unanimous consent — (see above).
Discharge petition — (see above).

Legal cases & constitutional items

Article I of the Constitution — Establishes legislative branch powers and structure; enumerates Congress’s authorities (tax, commerce, declare war, etc.).
Baker v. Carr (1962) — Opened federal courts to redistricting claims; established one person, one vote principle for state legislative districts.
Shaw v. Reno (1993) — Ruled race-based redistricting that cannot be narrowly tailored; disallowed bizarrely shaped districts drawn predominantly on race.

Comparative & trend concepts

Comparison of Congress to a Parliament — Congress: separation of powers, independent executive; Parliament: fused executive-legislative, greater party discipline, government can fall by confidence vote.
Trends — changes in makeup of Congress — Growing demographic diversity, regional party realignment, professionalization, increased polarization.
Polarization — Greater ideological distance and reduced overlap between parties.

Caucuses & informal groups

Caucuses (legislative) — Informal groups of members (ideological, demographic, or policy-oriented) that coordinate strategy, shape agenda, and influence legislation (distinct from primary/caucus electoral events).

Miscellaneous small but important terms

Franking — (see above) free mail privilege for members.
Pocket veto — (see above) president’s inaction while Congress adjourns.
Joint referral — (see above) multiple committees may receive a bill.
Casework — (see above) constituent services.
Ombudsperson — (see above).
Agenda setting — Leadership’s control over which issues/bills get floor time.
Bill hopper — (see Hopper) box for bill introduction.