Term | Definition |
Bicameral | a legislature consisting of two parts,or houses |
Census | a population count taken by Census Bureau |
constituent | a person from a legislator's district |
gerrymander | a oddly shaped election district designed to increase the voting strength of particular group |
majority party | in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the political party to which more than half the members belong |
minority party | in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the political party to which fewer than half the member belong |
standing committee | permanent committee that continues work session to session in its congress |
seniority | years of service,which is used as a consideration for assigning committee members |
expressed powers | powers that Congress has that are specifically listed in the Constitution |
implied powers | powers that Congress has that are not stated explicitly in the Constitution |
elastic clause | clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that gives Congress the right to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its expressed powers |
impeach | to accuse government officials of misconduct in office |
writ of habeas corpus | a court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court to explain why they are holding the person |
bill of attainder | a law the punishes a person accused of a crime without a trail or a fair hearing in court |
ex post facto law | a law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that was not against the law when it was committed |
franking privilege | the right of senators and representatives to send job related mail without paying postage |
lobbyist | representative of an interest group who contacts lawmarkers or other government officials directly to influence their policy making |
casework | the work that a lawmaker does to help constituents with a problem |
pork-barrel project | government project grant that primarily benefits the home district or state |
joint resolution | a resolution that is passed by both houses of Congress |
special-interest group | an organization of people with some common interest who try to influence government decisions |
filibuster | a tactic for defeating a bill in the Senate by taking until the bill in the Senate by talking until the bill's sponsor withdraws it |
cloture | a procedure used in the Senate to limit debate on a bill |
voice vote | a voting method in which those in favor say "Yea" and those against " NO" |
standing vote | in Congress, when members stand to be counted for a vote on a bill |
veto | refusal to sign a bill or resolution |
pocket veto | president's power to kill a bill, if Congress is not in session, by not signing it for 10 days |
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