US Government - Congress
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| 329745820 | Constituents | The residents of a congressional district or state. | |
| 329745821 | Reapportionment | The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts. | |
| 329745822 | Redistricting | The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population. | |
| 329745823 | Gerrymandering | The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent. | |
| 329745824 | Safe seat | An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other, so the success of that party's candidate is almost taken for granted. | |
| 329745825 | Incumbent | The current holder of the elected office. | |
| 329745826 | Bicameralism | The principle of a two-house legislature. | |
| 329745827 | Enumerated powers | The powers expressly given to Congress in the Constitution. | |
| 329745828 | Speaker | The presiding officer in the House of Representatives, formally elected by the House but actually selected by the majority party. | |
| 329745829 | Party caucus | A meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and to develop party policy. Called a conference by the Republicans. | |
| 329745830 | Majority leader | The legislative leader selected by the majority party who helps plan party strategy, confers with other party leaders, and tries to keep members of the party in line. | |
| 329745831 | Minority leader | the legislative leader selected by the minority party as spokesperson for the opposition. | |
| 329745832 | Whip | Party leader who is the liaison between the leadership and the rank-and-file in the legislature. | |
| 329745833 | Closed rule | A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments. | |
| 329745834 | Open rule | A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill. | |
| 329745835 | President pro tempore | Officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president. | |
| 329745836 | Filibuster | A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue. | |
| 329745837 | Cloture | A procedure for terminating debate, especially filibusters, in the Senate | |
| 329745838 | Senatorial courtesy | Presidential custom of submitting the names of perspective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work. | |
| 329745839 | Standing committee | A permanent committee established in a legislature, usually focusing on a policy area. | |
| 329745840 | Special or select committee | A congressional committee created for a specific purpose, sometimes to conduct an investigation. | |
| 329745841 | Joint committee | A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations. | |
| 329745842 | Earmarks | Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents. | |
| 329745843 | Seniority rule | A legislative practice that assigns the chair of the committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee. | |
| 329745844 | Conference committee | Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form. | |
| 329745845 | Logrolling | Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators. | |
| 329745846 | Discharge petition | Petition that, if signed by majority of the House of Representatives' members, will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration. | |
| 329745847 | Rider | A provision attached to a bill - to which it may or may not be related - in order to secure its passage or defeat. | |
| 329745848 | Pocket veto | A veto exercised by the president after Congress has adjourned; if the president takes no action for 10 days, the bill does not become law and does not return to Congress for possible override. | |
| 329745849 | Override | An action taken by Congress to reverse the presidential veto, requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber. |
