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GOV Ch. 11 Vocabular
The Congress
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| apportionment | The distribution of House seats among the states on the basis of their representative populations. |
| congressional district | The geographic area that is served by one member in the House of Representatives. |
| malapportionment | A condition in which the voting power of citizens in one district is greater than the voting power of citizens in another district. |
| "one person, one vote" rule | A rule, or principle, requiring that congressional districts have equal populations so that one person's vote counts as much as another vote. |
| gerrymandering | The drawing of a legislative district's boundaries in such a way as to maximize the influence of a certain group or political party. |
| minority-majority district | A district in which minority groups make up a majority of the population. |
| trustee | A representative who tries to serve the broad interests of the entire society and not just the narrow interests of his or her constituents. |
| instructed delegate | A representative who deliberately mirrors the views of the majority of his or her constituents. |
| earmark | Spending provision inserted into legislation that benefits only a small number of people. |
| Speaker of the House | The presiding officer in the House of Representatives. The Speaker is a member of the majority party and is the most powerful member of the House. |
| majority leader | The party leader elected by the majority party in the House or in the Senate. |
| minority leader | The party leader elected by the minority party in the House or in the Senate. |
| whip | A member of Congress who assists the majority or minority leader in the House or in the Senate in managing the party's legislative program. |
| standing committee | A permanent committee in Congress that deals with the legislation concerning a particular area, such as agriculture or foreign relations. |
| subcommittee | A division of a larger committee that deals with a particular part of the committee's policy area. |
| conference committee | A temporary committee that is formed when the two chambers of Congress pass differing versions of the same bill; consists of members from the House and the Senate who work out a compromise bill. |
| Rules Committee | A standing committee in the House of Representatives that provides special rules governing how particular bills will be considered and debated by the House; normally proposes time limits on debate for any bill. |
| filibustering | The Senate tradition of unlimited debate undertaken for the purpose of preventing action on a bill. |
| cloture | A procedure for ending filibusters in the Senate and bringing the matter under consideration to a vote. |
| markup session | A meeting held by a congressional committee or subcommittee to approve, amend, or redraft a bill. |
| conference report | A report submitted by a conference committee after it has drafted a single version of a bill. |
| pocket veto | A special type of veto power used by the chief executive after the legislature has adjourned. Bills that are not signed die after a specified period of time. |
| nuclear option | Changing Senate rules - in particular, rules that require a supermajority - by simple majority vote. Also known as the constitutional option. |
| authorization | A part of the congressional budgeting process - the creation of the legal basis for government programs. |
| appropriation | A part of the congressional budgeting process - the determination |
| entitlement program | A government program (such as Social Security) that allows, or entitles, a certain class of people (such as elderly persons) to receive benefits. |
| fiscal year | A twelve-month period that is established for bookkeeping or accounting purposes; runs from October 1 through September 30. |
| first budget resolution | A budget resolution, which is supposed to be passed in May, that sets overall revenue goals and spending targets for the next fiscal year, beginning on October 1. |
| second budget resolution | A budget resolution, which is supposed to be passed in September, that sets "binding" limits on taxes and spending for the next fiscal year. |
| continuing resolution | A temporary resolution passed by Congress that enables executive agencies to continue working with the same funding that they had in the previous fiscal year. |
Created by:
LDhilario92
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