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Legislative Branch
Chapter 6
Term | Definition |
---|---|
bicameral | a legislature consisting of two parts, or houses |
census | a population count taken by the Census |
constituent | person from a legisator's district |
gerrymander | an oddly shaped election district designed to increase the voting strength of a particular group |
majority party | in both of 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 Representatuves and the Senate, the political party to which fewer than half rhe members belong |
standing committee | permanent committee that contiues work from session to session in it's 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 the Article, Section 8 of the Constitution that gives Congress the right to make all laws "neccessary 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 that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court |
ex post facto law | a law that would allow a person to be punished for an ction 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 lawmakersor other governmetn officials directly to influence their plolicy 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 house of Congress |
special-interest group | an organization of people with some common interest who try to influence government decisions |
fillbuster | a tactic for defeating a bill in the Senate by talking until the bill's sponsor withdraws |
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 say "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, of Congress is not in session, by not signing it fro 10 days. |
roll-call vote | a voting method in the Senate in which members voice their votes in turn |