Terms : Hide Images
| 8671362516 | Apportionment | process of allotting congressional seats to each state following the decennial census according to the proportion of the population | 0 | |
| 8671362517 | bicameral legislature | A legislature divided into two houses; the US congress and the state legislatures are bicameral except for Nebraska which is unicameral | 1 | |
| 8671362518 | Bill | a proposed law | 2 | |
| 8671362519 | Cloture | mechanism requiring 60 senators to vote to cut off debate | 3 | |
| 8671362520 | Conference committee | special joint committee created to reconcile differences in bills passed in house of representatives and senate | 4 | |
| 8671362521 | congressional review | a process whereby congress can nullify agency regulations by a joint resolution of legislative disapproval | 5 | |
| 8671362522 | delgeate | role played by an elected representative who votes the way his or her party would want him to regardless of his or her own opinion | 6 | |
| 8671362523 | discharge petiton | petition that gives the majority of the house of representatives the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction | 7 | |
| 8671362524 | divided government | the political condition in which different political parties control the presidency and congress | 8 | |
| 8671362525 | earmark | fund that an appropriations bill designates for specific projects within a state or congressional district | 9 | |
| 8671362526 | filibuster | a formal way of halting senate action on a bill by means of long speeches or unlimited debate | 10 | |
| 8671362527 | hold | a tactic by which a senator asks to be informed before a particular bill or nomination is brought to the floor | 11 | |
| 8671362528 | impeachment | power delegated to house to charge civil officers with treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors | 12 | |
| 8671362529 | incumbancy | already holding an office | 13 | |
| 8671362530 | joint committee | standing committee that includes members from both houses of congress setup to conduct investigations or special studies | 14 | |
| 8671362531 | logrolling | vote trading, voting to support a colleagues bill in return for a promise of future support | 15 | |
| 8671362532 | majority leader | head of the party controlling the most seats in the house or senate | 16 | |
| 8671362533 | majority party | political party with the most members | 17 | |
| 8671362534 | markup | a session in which committee members offer changes to a bill before it goes to the floor | 18 | |
| 8671362535 | minority party | political party in house with second most members | 19 | |
| 8671362536 | minority leader | the head of the party with the second highest number of elected representatives in the house of representatives or senate | 20 | |
| 8671362537 | oversight | Congressional review of the activities of an agency, department or office | 21 | |
| 8671362538 | party or caucus or conference | A formal gathering of all party members | 22 | |
| 8671362539 | pocket veto | if congress is not in session and president doesn't approve a bill within 10 days, it is considered vetoed without his signature | 23 | |
| 8671362540 | politico | role played by an elected representative who acts as a trustee or as a delegate, depending on the issue | 24 | |
| 8671362541 | pork | legislation that allows representation to bring money and jobs to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs | 25 | |
| 8671362542 | president pro tempore | the official chair of the senate, usually the most senior member of the majority party | 26 | |
| 8671362543 | redistricting | process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states as well as population shifts within a state | 27 | |
| 8671362544 | select committee | temporary committee appointed for a specific purpose | 28 | |
| 8671362545 | senatorial courtesy | process by which presidents, when selecting district court judges, defer to the senators in whose state the vacancy occurs | 29 | |
| 8671362546 | seniority | time of continuous service on a committee | 30 | |
| 8671362547 | Speaker of the house | the only officer of the house of representatives specifically mentioned in the constitution | 31 | |
| 8671362548 | standing committee | committee to which proposed bills are referred, continues from one congress to the next | 32 | |
| 8671362549 | trustee | role played by an elected representative who listens to constituents opinions and then uses his or her best judgement to make a final decision | 33 | |
| 8671362550 | veto | the formal constitutional authority of the president to reject bills passed by both houses of congress thus preventing it from becoming a law without further congressional action | 34 | |
| 8671362551 | War powers act | Passed by congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty say period in peacetime unless congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period | 35 | |
| 8671362552 | whip | party leader who keeps close contact with all members of his or her party, takes voting count on key legislation, prepares summaries of bills, and acts as a communications link within a party | 36 |
