Congress

Question 0

Constituency

Answer 0

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

Question 1

Incumbent

Answer 1

The current holder of a particular public office.

Question 2

Pork or pork-barrel spending

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Service strategy

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Open-seat election

Answer 4

An election in which there is no incumbent in the race

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 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

Party leaders

Answer 9

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 10

Party caucus

Answer 10

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 11

Party unity

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Standing committees

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Jurisdiction (of a congressional committee)

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Seniority

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Bill

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Cloture

Answer 16

A parliamentary maneuver that, if a 3/5 majority votes for it, limits Senate debate to 30 hours and has the effect of defeating a filibuster.

Question 17

Filibuster

Answer 17

A procedural tactic in the U.S. Senate whereby a minority of legislatures 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 18

Rider

Answer 18

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 19

Conference committee

Answer 19

A temporary committee form to bargain over the differences in 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 (as enacted by Congress)

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Veto

Answer 21

The presidents rejection of a bill thereby keeping it from becoming law unless Congress overrides The veto.

Question 22

Lawmaking function

Answer 22

The authority of the legislature to make the laws necessary to carry out the government powers.

Question 23

Representation function

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Logrolling

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Oversight function

Answer 25

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