Terms : Hide Images
| 5958660748 | incumbents | those already holding office. In congressional elections, incumbents usually win. | 0 | |
| 5958664394 | casework | Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals; cutting through bureaucratic red tape to get people what they think they have a right to get | 1 | |
| 5958668319 | pork barrel | List of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges, and institutions available in a congressional district. | 2 | |
| 5958679174 | bicameral legislature | two houses of Congress | 3 | |
| 5958684236 | House Rules Committee | Sets debate limits, schedules the bill, sets parameters on additions to bills | 4 | |
| 5958705485 | fillbuster | unlimited debates in the Senate only | 5 | |
| 5958707772 | cloture (Senate rule 22) | 60 votes in the Senate to stop a fillbuster | 6 | |
| 5958711626 | Speaker of the House | 2nd most important position in gov't, decides which bills go on in the house is is elected by the members of the house of reps | 7 | |
| 5958726488 | majority leader | ally of speaker, leader in senate who schedules bills, influences committee assignments and securing votes | 8 | |
| 5958739353 | whip | party leaders that work with the leadership to count votes in either house and lean of members to vote for bills favored by the party | 9 | |
| 5958750406 | minority leader | leader of minority party in house and ssenate | 10 | |
| 5958779085 | standing committees | separate, permanent groups that handle bills and writing of bills on specific policy areas | 11 | |
| 5958786694 | joint committees | members of both houses who meet on a few policy areas such as taxes and the economy | 12 | |
| 5958797793 | conference committee | A special joint group of both houses appointed to reconcile differences when bills pass the two chambers of Congress in different forms who then rewrite a compromised bill | 13 | |
| 5958833412 | select committees | Joint group appointed for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation. | 14 | |
| 5958866745 | legislative oversight | monitoring and investigating bureaucracy to make sure policy is enacted properly | 15 | |
| 5958882216 | committee chairs | majority party member that is most senior on a committee | 16 | |
| 5958882217 | ranking members | senior person of the minority party on a committee | 17 | |
| 5958901048 | seniority system | rule used to pick committee chairs | 18 | |
| 5968581813 | bill | proposed law submitted by either a rep or senator | 19 | |
| 5968596873 | closed rule | prohibits amendments to bills (except by members of that committee) | 20 | |
| 5968607646 | conservative coalition | joint group of GOPs and conservative DFLers | 21 | |
| 5968614088 | constituents | residents of a Congressional district or state | 22 | |
| 5968616529 | delegate | person who represents the views of their constituents | 23 | |
| 5968624582 | discharge petition | House members vote to request bringing a pigeon holed bill to the floor for consideration | 24 | |
| 5968639076 | divided government | more than one party controls the White House and/or both houses | 25 | |
| 5968654489 | division petition | house members stand to declare their vote | 26 | |
| 5968658949 | earmark | spending projects are added to a bill by an individual member to be funded in their state or district | 27 | |
| 5968670118 | enumerated powers | powers expressly given to Congress as written in the Constitution | 28 | |
| 5968680856 | gerrymandering | drawing district lines to benefit a candidate or political party (Crack or pack) | 29 | |
| 5968690530 | joint resolution | formal opinion of Congress approved by both houses and POTUS (can be used to propose amendments) | 30 | |
| 5968699325 | logrolling | you support my bill and I will support yours | 31 | |
| 5968705049 | marginal districts | House districts where candidates win in close elections (usually by <55%) | 32 | |
| 5968725521 | multiple referral | bill is processed in several important committees | 33 | |
| 5968729780 | override | 2/3 vote in each house to overturn a POTUS veto | 34 | |
| 5968735644 | open rule | admenments to a bill are allowed | 35 | |
| 5968744928 | party caucus | party members meet to develop policy for their party | 36 | |
| 5968754886 | pocket veto | POTUS doesn't sign nor veto a bill and if Congress adjourns within 10 days, the bill dies | 37 | |
| 5968769849 | pork barrel legislation | legislation that benefits constituents in several districts or states in hopes that member is relected | 38 | |
| 5968781570 | president pro tempore | Senator who is of the majority party and been in the Senate the most years (3rd in line of succession) | 39 | |
| 5968798399 | public bill | bill of general concern | 40 | |
| 5968800331 | private bill | bill of personal or local matters | 41 | |
| 5968805427 | quorum call | minimum # of members who must be present to conduct business in Congress | 42 | |
| 5968898547 | reapportionment | assigning congressional district every 10 years after the cnesus | 43 | |
| 5968907146 | senatorial courtsey | POTUS checks with Senate members of a state for approval of presidential appointments from that state | 44 | |
| 5968924726 | trustee | member of Congress votes in the way they think is best | 45 | |
| 5968934785 | delegate vote | member of Congress votes the way their constituents what them to vote | 46 | |
| 5969005008 | roll call vote | members answer yea or nay to a voice vote | 47 | |
| 5969010408 | seniority rule | way in which committee chairs are chosen, they are in the majority and have been on the committee the most years | 48 | |
| 5969026699 | unified government | majority of both houses and POTUS belong to the same party | 49 | |
| 5969037326 | special or select committee | usually a temp committee that is used for a specific purpose such | 50 | |
| 5969062198 | Committee of the Whole | at least 100 House members conduct business as one group | 51 |
