Chapter 11 Vocab: Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local Interests

Question 1

Incumbent

Answer 1

The current holder of a particular office.

Question 2

Constituency

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Pork

Answer 3

Also called pork-barrel spending; spending whose tangible benefits are targeted at a particular legislator’s constituency.

Question 4

Service strategy

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Reapportionment

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Redistricting

Answer 6

The process of altering election districts in order to make them as nearly equal in population as possible. Redistricting takes place every 10 years, after each population census.

Question 7

Gerrymandering

Answer 7

The process by which the party in power draws election district boundaries in a way that enhances the reelection prospects of its candidates.

Question 8

Midterm election

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Bicameral legislature

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Party leaders

Answer 10

The 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 11

Party caucus

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Party unity

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Standing committees

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Jurisdiction

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Seniority

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Bill

Answer 16

A proposed law (legislative act) within Congress or another legislature. (See also “law”)

Question 17

Cloture

Answer 17

A parliamentary maneuver that, if a three-fifths majority votes for it, limits Senate debate to 30 hours and has the effect of defeating a filibuster. (See also “filibuster”)

Question 18

Filibuster

Answer 18

A procedural tactic in the U.S. Senate whereby a minority of legislators prevents 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. (See also “closure)

Question 19

Conference committee

Answer 19

A temporary committee that is 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 20

Law

Answer 20

A legislative proposal, or bill, that is passed by both the House and the Senate and is not vetoed by the president. (See also “bill”)

Question 21

Lawmaking function

Answer 21

The authority (of a legislature) to make the laws necessary to carry out the government’s powers. (See also “oversight function;” “representation function”)

Question 22

Representation function

Answer 22

The responsibility of a legislature to represent various interests in society. (See also “lawmaking function;” “oversight function”)

Question 23

Oversight function

Answer 23

A supervisory activity of Congress that centers on its constitutional responsibility to see that the executive branch carries out the laws faithfully. (See also “lawmaking function;” “representation function”)

Question 24

Veto

Answer 24

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