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| Redistribution of representatives among the states, based on population change. Congress is reapportioned after each census. |
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| The formal charging of a government official with "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." |
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| Redrawing a congressional district to intentionally benefit one political party. |
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| Solving problems for constituents, especially problems involving government agencies. |
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| Descriptive Representation |
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| A belief that constituents are most effectively represented by legislators who are similar to them in such key demographic characteristics as race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. |
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| The drawing of a legislative district to maximize the chances that a minority candidate will win. |
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| The president's disapproval of a bill that has been passed by both houses of Congress. Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in each house. |
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| A means of killing a bill that has been passed by both houses of Congress, in which the president does not sign the bill and Congress adjourns within ten days of the bill's passage. |
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| A permanent congressional committee that specializes in a particular legislative area. |
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| A committee made up of members of both the House and the Senate. |
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| A temporary congressional committee created for a specific purpose and disbanded after that purpose is fulfilled. |
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| A temporary committee created to work out differences between the House and Senate versions of a specific piece of legislation. |
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| Years of consecutive service on a particular congressional committee. |
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| The process of reviewing the operations of an agency to determine whether it is carrying out policies as Congress intended. |
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| The presiding officer of the House of Representatives. |
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| The head of the majority party in the Senate; the second highest ranking member of the majority party in the House. |
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| A delaying tactic, used in the Senate, that involves speechmaking to prevent action on a piece of legislation. |
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| The mechanism by which a filibuster is cut off in the Senate. |
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| People who live and vote in a government official's district or state. |
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| A representative who is obligated to consider the views of constituents but is not obligated to vote according to those views if he or she believes they are misguided. |
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| A legislator whose primary responsibility is to represent the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of his or her own view. |
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| A system of government in which the chief executive is the leader whose party holds the most seats in the legislature after an election or whose party forms a major part of the ruling coalition. |
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