| Term | Definition |
|---|
| bicameral legislature | 2-house legislature |
| session | period of time when legislature meets to conduct business |
| census | population count |
| re-apportionment | process of reassigning representation based on population; after every census |
| redistrict | set up new district lines after reapportionment is complete |
| gerrymander | to draw district lines to gain advantage in elections |
| at-large | as a whole |
| franking | benefits and resources for members of congress |
| censure | a vote of formal disapproval of a member's actions |
| incumbent | elected official that is already in office |
| constituents | people whom a member of congress represent |
| caucus | private meeting of party leaders to choose candidates for office |
| majority leader | the speaker's top assistant whose job is to help plan the majority party's legislative program and to steer important bills through the house |
| whips | assistant to the party floor leader in the legislature |
| bill | a proposed law |
| calendars | schedule that lists the order in which bills will be considered in congress |
| rules committee | committee that governs the way things are run |
| quorum | minimum number of members who must be present to permit a legislative body to take official action |
| president pro tempore | the senate member, elected by the senate, who stands in as president of the senate when the vice president is not there |
| filibuster | a method of defeating a bill in the senate by stalling the legislative process and preventing a vote |
| cloture | procedure that allows each senator to speak only 1 hour on a bill under debate |
| expressed powers | powers directly states in the constitution |
| necessary and proper clause | article 1, seciton 8 - power to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out duties |
| implied powers | powers that the government requires to carry out the expressed constitutional power |
| revenue bill | proposed law to raise money |
| appropriations bill | proposed law to authorize spending money |
| interstate commerce | trade among states |
| impeachment | a formal accusation fo misconduct in office against a public official |
| subpoena | legal order that a person appear or produce requested documents |
| perjury | lying under oath |
| contempt | willful obstruction of justice |
| immunity | freedom from prosecution for witnesses whose testimony ties them to illegal acts |
| legislative veto | the provisions congress wrote into some laws that allowed it to review and cancel actions of executive agencies |
| private bill | a law that applies to a particular person |
| public bill | a bill dealing with general matters and applying to the entire nation |
| simple resolution | statement adopted to cover matters affecting only one house of congress |
| rider | provision included in a bill on a subject other than the one covered in the bill |
| hearing | a session at which a committee listens to testimony from people interested in the bill |
| veto | rejection of a bill |
| pocket veto | when president kills a bill passed during the last 10 days congress is in session by simplying refusing to act on it |
| tax | money that people and businesses pay to support the activities of the government |
| closed rule | rule that forbids members of congress to offer amendments to a bill from the floor |
| appropriations | approval of government spending |
| authorization bill | bill that sets up a federal program and specifies how much money may be appropriated for the program |
| entitlement | a require government expenditure that continues from one year to the next |
| lobbyist | interest group representative |
| lobbying | direct contact made by a lobbyist in order to persuade government officials to support the policies their interest group favors |
| casework | a member of a lawmaker's personal staff who handles requests for help from constituents |
| pork-barrel legislation | laws passed by congress that appropriate money for local federal projects |
| logrolling | an agreement by two or more lawmakers to support each other's bills |
Combine with other sets
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