Definitions

Question 0

Census

Answer 0

census is an official count of a country’s population.

Question 1

Bicameral

Answer 1

two-house, Congress

Question 2

Reapportionment

Answer 2

After each census, state legislatures actually redraw the congressional district lines to re- flect population shifts

Question 3

Gerrymandering

Answer 3

Redrawing these district boundaries to favor the political party that controls the state legislature

Question 4

Congressional district

Answer 4

congressional district is a geographical area in a state represented by a House member.

Question 5

Single-member district

Answer 5

having one representative elected from a given region

Question 6

At large

Answer 6

voters on a statewide or at large basis elect United States senators

Question 7

17th amendment

Answer 7

direct popular election of sena- tors did not take place until 1913 with the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment

Question 8

Delegates

Answer 8

Delegates

Question 9

Coalition

Answer 9

When members of different parties join together in support of or in opposition to a bill because of some common interest

Question 10

Caucus

Answer 10

consists of all the members of a party within a house of Congress.

Question 11

Majority leader

Answer 11

the leader of the party with the most members in the House or Senate

Question 12

Minority leader

Answer 12

the leader of the party with the second-most members in the House or Senate

Question 13

Majority whip

Answer 13

are in charge of communications between party members in the House or Senate and their party leaders

Question 14

Minority whip

Answer 14

are in charge of communications between party members in the House or Senate and their party leaders

Question 15

President pro tempore

Answer 15

is largely an honorary position given to the most senior member of the Senate’s majority party

Question 16

Speaker of the house

Answer 16

He presides over the House, manages House business, and serves as the official spokesperson for the body

Question 17

Term limits

Answer 17

referenda that would limit the number of terms of state legislators and members of Congress.

Question 18

Franking privilege

Answer 18

(free postage)

Question 19

Junkets

Answer 19

seemingly unnecessary trips abroad

Question 20

Standing committees

Answer 20

permanent committees that are generally more powerful than other types of committees

Question 21

Select committees

Answer 21

are those created for a spe- cific purpose, generally to investigate a particular problem, and are therefore temporary

Question 22

Joint committees

Answer 22

are permanent committees composed of members from both the House and Senate

Question 23

Conference committee

Answer 23

ad hoc (temporary) committees drawn from both chambers that meet to work out a compromise agreement on a bill, or proposed law

Question 24

What are chairs?

Answer 24

if he or she wished to kill a bill, to refrain from scheduling hearings on it.

Question 25

What is a filibuster

Answer 25

more formal way of preventing or delaying the passage of a bill. Unlike the House, in the Senate there is unlimited debate, so opponents of a bill can try to “talk a bill to death” through long speeches.

Question 26

What is a cloture?

Answer 26

Is a a motion to stop debate

Question 27

What is a pocket veto?

Answer 27

If Congress is not in session during the ten days, and the president does not sign it, the bill dies.