Chapter 9 Flashcards
Undocumented young people brought to the US as children; Pushed Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for he more than 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country.
Dreamers
The residents in the area from which an official is elected.
Constituency
Having a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or houses.
Bicameral
A type of representation in which representatives have the same racial, gender ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds s their constituents. It is base on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one can correctly represent the other’s views.
Sociological Representative
A type of representation in which a representative is held accountable to a constituency if he or she fails to represent that constituency properly; This is incentive for good representation when the personal backgrounds, views, and interests of the representative differ from those of his or her constituency.
Agency Representative
Holding the political office for which one is running.
Incumbency
Taking care of the problems and requests of individual voters.
Constituency Service
The tendency for incumbent candidates to win a higher percentage of he vote when seeking future terms in office.
Sophomore Surge
Legally prescribed limits on the number of terms an elected official can serve.
Term Limits
The process, occurring after every decennial census that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states.
Apportionment
The process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives; this happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges to existing districts.
Redistricting
The apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party.
Gerrymandering
The resources available to higher officials, usually opportunities to make partisan appointments to offices and confer grants, licenses, or special favors to supporters.
Patronage
Appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home town.
Pork Barrel Legislation
A common form of pork barreling; a practice through which members of Congress insert into bills language that provides special benefits for their own constituents.
Earmark
A proposal in Congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief, such as a special exemption from immigration quotas.
Private Bill
A gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their house leaders; Democrats call their gathering the caucus.
Conference
The chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives; the Speaker is the most important party and House leader, and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of pieces of legislation, and members’ positions within the House.
Speaker of the House
The elected leader of the House of Representatives or in the Senate; In the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker of the House.
Majority Leader
The elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate
Minority Leader
A party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party’s legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes.
Whips
A permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture.
Standing Committees
(Usually) temporary legislative committees set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within jurisdiction of existing committees.
Select Committees
Legislative committees formed of members of both House and Senate
Joint Committees
Joint committees created to work out a compromise on House and Senate versions of a piece of legislation
Conference Committees
The ranking given to an individual on the basis of length of continuous service on a committee in Congress
Seniority
A proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate
Bill
A tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down; once given the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak, and it requires a vote of three-fifths of the Senate to end a filibuster
Filibuster
A rule or process in a legislative body aimed at ending debate on a given bill; in the U.S. Senate, 60 senators (three-fifths) must agree in order to impose a time limit and end debate
Cloture
The president’s constitutional power to prevent a bill from becoming a law; a presidential veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress
Veto
A presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session
Pocket Veto
A roll-call vote in the House or Senate in which at least 50% of the members of one party take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50% of the members of the other party
Party Unity Vote
A vote in which each legislature’s yes or no vote is recorded as the clerk calls the names of the members alphabetically
Roll-Call Votes
A legislative practice whereby agreements are made between legislators in voting for or against a bill; vote trading
Logrolling
The effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies
Oversight
The amounts of money approved by Congress in statutes (bills) that each unit or agency of government can spend
Appropriations
