Chapter 11 Terminology

Question 1

Incumbent

Answer 1

The current holder of a particular public office.

Question 2

Constituency

Answer 2

The people residing within the geographical area represented by an elected official.

Question 3

Pork (pork-barrel spending)

Answer 3

Spending whose tangible benefits are targeted at a particular legislator’s constituency.

Question 4

Service Strategy

Answer 4

Use of personal staff by members of Congress to perform services for constituents in order to gain their support in future elections.

Question 5

Open-seat election

Answer 5

An election in which there is no incumbent in the race.

Question 6

Reapportionment

Answer 6

The reallocation of House seats among states after each census as a result of population changes.

Question 7

Redistricting

Answer 7

The process of altering election districts in order to make them as nearly equal in population as possible. Redistricting takes place every ten years, after each population census.

Question 8

Gerrymandering

Answer 8

The process by which the party in power draws election district boundaries in a way that is to the advantage of its candidates.

Question 9

Midterm election

Answer 9

The congressional election that occurs midway through the president’s term of office.

Question 10

Bicameral election

Answer 10

A legislature that has two chambers (the House and the Senate, in the case of the United States).

Question 11

Party leaders

Answer 11

Members of the House and Senate who are chosen by the Democratic or Republican caucus in each chamber to represent the party’s interests in that chamber and who give some central direction to the chamber’s work.

Question 12

Party caucus

Answer 12

A group that consists of a party’s members in the House and Senate and that serves to elect the party’s leadership, set policy goals, and plan party strategy.

Question 13

Party unity

Answer 13

The degree to which a party’s House or Senate members act as a unified group to exert collective control over legislative action.

Question 14

Standing committees

Answer 14

Permanent congressional committees with responsibility for a particular area of public policy. An example is the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Question 15

Jurisdiction (of a congressional committee)

Answer 15

The policy area in which a particular congressional committee is authorized to act.

Question 16

Seniority

Answer 16

A member of Congress’ consecutive years of service on a particular committee.

Question 17

Bill

Answer 17

A proposed law (legislative act) within Congress or another legislature.

Question 18

Mark up

Answer 18

The authority of congressional committees (and subcommittees in some cases ) to change the content of a bill.

Question 19

Cloture

Answer 19

A parliamentary maneuver that, if a three-fifths majority of votes for it, limits Senate debate to thirty hours and has the effect of defeating a filibuster.

Question 20

Filibuster

Answer 20

A procedural tactic in the U.S. Senate whereby a minority of legislators prevent a bill from coming to a vote by holding the floor and talking until the majority gives in and the bill is withdrawn from consideration.

Question 21

Rider

Answer 21

An amendment to a bill that deals with an issue unrelated to the content of the bill. Riders are permitted in the Senate but not in the House.

Question 22

Conference committees

Answer 22

Temporary committees formed to bargain over the differences in the House and Senate versions of a bill. A conference committee’s members are usually appointed from the House and Senate standing committees that originally worked on the bill.

Question 23

Law (as enacted by Congress)

Answer 23

A legislative proposal, or bill, that is passed by both the House and the Senate and is not vetoed by the president.

Question 24

Veto

Answer 24

The president’s rejection of a bill, thereby keeping it from becoming law unless Congress overrides the veto.

Question 25

Lawmaking function

Answer 25

The authority (of a legislature) to make the laws necessary to carry out the government’s powers.

Question 26

Representation function

Answer 26

The responsibility of a legislature to represent various interests in society.

Question 27

Logrolling

Answer 27

The trading of votes between legislators so that each gets what he or she most wants.

Question 28

Oversight function

Answer 28

A supervisory activity of Congress that centers on its constitutional responsibility to see the executive branch carries out the laws faithfully and spends appropriations properly.