Legislative Tactics Flashcards
Attitudinal View
members of Congress vote based on their ideologies and political party
Congressional Committee
legislative sub-organization in the Congress that handles a specific duty
Congressional Staffer
Personal staff, who work for individual members of Congress
Contiguity
continuous mass, or a series of things in contact or in proximity
Cracking
Separating a party within district
Delegate
view that an elected representative should represent the opinions of his or her constituents
Earmark
A rider that contains spending
Federal Bureaucracy (Agency)
hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality.
Gerrymandering
Manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency as to favor one party of class
Interest groups
Any organization (corporation, union, a political issue organization) that makes it their business to influence legislation and policy
Iron triangle
Interest groups, congressional committee, and exclusive department
Line item veto
The president can veto individual spending items in bills that was struck down in scotus
Lobbying
Interest groups use money and influence to try to shape policy and get support from lawmakers in Congress
Logrolling
Trading favors for adding earmark
Omnibus bill
A bill that attaches riders as if it were stuffing into a crowded bus
Minority-majority district
An electoral district, such as us congressional district in which the majority of the constituents are racial or ethnic minorities
Packing
Making district lines so that the majority is all on party
Organizational View
members of Congress vote based on cues from colleagues and party members
Pork-Barrel spending
Attaching local spending projects to federal legislation
Partisan
one affiliated with a party will be more likely to vote within their party; supporter
Population Equality
the new districts must have approximately the same number of people, making them the same size; “one person, one vote”
Reapportionment
Redistribution of representation in a legislative body especially the periodic realignment of US congressional seats according to the changes in census
Redistricting
The process of drawing us electoral district boundaries the way this is done varies among states
Revolving door
The idea that people in govt can easily get jobs with special interests
Representational View
members of Congress vote to please their constituents in order to secure re-election
Rider
An additional or markup to a bill usually added by a committee
State Legislatures
rain ultimate authority to states except for those powers delegated to central gov
Trustee
A model of representation in which a member of the House or Senate follows his or her own conscience when deciding issue positions
US Census
accounting for population every 10 years
Voting Rights Act
suspended poll taxes and literacy tests. required all electoral actions in states where a large percentage of minorities were not registered to vote, to be approved by the federal government.
