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| powers of the federal government specifically mentioned in the Constitution |
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Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, also called the necessary and proper clause; Gives Congress the authority to make whatever laws are necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated responsibilities |
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| As applied to a legislative body, consisting of two houses or chambers |
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| According to the doctrine articulated by Edmund Burke, an elected representative who acts in perfect accord with the wishes of his or her constituents |
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| According to the doctrine articulated by Edmund Burke, an elected representative who believes that his or her own best judgment, rather than the instruction from the constituents, should be used in making legislative decisions |
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| Sometimes called statistical representation; means that the composition of a representative body reflects the demographic composition of the population as a whole |
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| Descriptive Representation |
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| The district of a legislator |
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| A citizen who lives in the district of an elected official |
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| The reallocation of House seats among the states, done after each national census, to ensure that seats are held by the states in proportion to the size of their populations |
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| The redrawing of congressional district lines within a state to ensure roughly equal populations within each district |
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| A committed member of a party; seeing issues from the point of view of the interests of a single party |
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| Redrawing electoral district lines to give an advantage to a particular party or candidate |
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| Majority-minority districts |
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| Districts drawn to ensure that a racial minority makes up the majority of voters |
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| An election in which there is no incumbent officeholder |
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| Services performed by members of Congress for constituents |
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| Also called pork barrel; projects designed to bring to the constituency jobs and public money for which the members of Congress can claim credit |
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| A regional, ethnic, racial, or economic subgroup within the House or Senate. Also used to describe the party in the House and Senate as in Republican Congress |
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| A political party member in Congress charged with keeping members informed of the plans of the party leadership, counting votes before action on important issues, and rounding up party members for votes on bills |
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| Relatively permanent congressional committees that address specific areas of legislation |
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| The taking of testimony by a congressional committee or subcommittee |
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| The process of revising a bill in committee |
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| Temporary committees in Congress created to conduct studies or investigations; they have no power to report bills |
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| Congressional committees with members from both the House and the Senate |
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| Ad hoc committees, made up of members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, set up to reconcile differences in the provisions of bills |
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| The principle that one attains a position on the basis of length of service |
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| The highest ranking member of the minority party on a congressional committee |
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| Deferral by members of Congress to the judgment of subject-matter specialists, mainly on minor technical bills |
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| Legislative action taken “without objection” as a way to expedite business; used to conduct much of the business of the Senate |
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| A tactic by which a single senator can prevent action on a bill or nomination; based on an implied threat of refusing to agree to unanimous consent on other Senate matters or willingness to filibuster the bill or nomination |
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| A parliamentary device used in the Senate to prevent a bill from coming to a vote by “talking it to death,” made possible by the norm of unlimited debate |
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| A vote to end a filibuster or debate; requires the votes of three-fifths of the membership of the Senate |
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| The box in the House of Representatives in which proposed bills are placed |
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| A petition signed by 218 House members to force a bill that has been before a committee for at least 30 days while the House is in session out if the committee and onto the floor for consideration |
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| Presidential disapproval of a bill that has been passed by both houses of Congress |
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| Rejection of a bill if the president takes no action on it for 10 days and Congress has adjourned during that period |
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| Congressional responsibility for monitoring the actions of executive branch agencies and personnel to ensure conformity to federal statutes and congressional intent |
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| House action bringing formal changes against a member of the executive branch on the federal judiciary that may or may not lead to removal from office by the Senate |
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