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| Case that established the principle of one man, one vote. This decision created guidelines for drawing up congressional districts and guaranteed a more equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state. |
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| A law making body made up of two chambers or parts. The U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislature composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. |
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| An association of members of Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest. |
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| Amendments on matters unrelated to a bill that are added to an important bill so that they will “ride” to passeage through Congress. When a bill has lots of riders, it is called a Christmas-tree bill. |
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| An order from the House Rules Committee in the House of Representatives that sets a time limit on debate forbids a particular bill form being amended on the legislative floor. |
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| The process in which it takes 60 senators to cut off a filibuster and is aimed at protecting minority interests. |
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| A rule used by the Senate to end or limit debate. Designed to prevent “talking a bill to death” by filibuster. To pass in the Senate, three-fifths of the entire Senate membership (or sixty senators) must vote for it. |
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| An expression of congressional opinion without the force of law that requires the approval of both the House and Senate but not of the president. Used to settle housekeeping and procedural matters that affect both houses. |
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| A committee consisting of senators and representative that meets to resolve differences in legislation. |
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| Power used by Congress to gather information useful to the formation of legislation, review the operations and budgets of executive departments and independent regulatory agencies, conduct investigations through committee hearings, and bring to the public’s attention the need for public policy. |
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| An alliance between Republicans and conservative Democrats. |
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| Descriptive Representation |
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| A correspondence between the demographic characteristics or representatives and those of their constituents. |
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| A device by which any member of the House, after a committee has had a bill for thirty days, may petition to have it brought to the floor. If the majority of the members agree, the bill is discharged from the committee. The discharge petition was designed to prevent a committee from killing a bill by holding it for too long. |
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| Results in the government giving benefits directly to people, groups, farmers, and businesses. Typical policies include subsidies, research and development funds for corporations, and direct government aid for highway construction and education. |
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| A congressional voting procedure in which members stand and are counted |
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| A procedure to keep the Senate going during a filibuster in which the disputed bill is shelved temporarily so that the Senate can get on with other business. |
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| An attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action on it. From the Spanish word filibuster which means a “freebooter,” a military adventurer. |
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| The ability of members of Congress to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature (frank) for postage. |
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| State legislatures, based on political affiliation, create congressional districts, many of which are oddly shaped and favor the political party in power in the state making the changes |
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| Describes people’s perception that Congress and the president are in a state of disagreement that results in little legislation passing. |
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| Describes a Congress that succeeds in establishing itself as dominant in legislative and foreign policy. |
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| Those elected officials who are running for new terms in office |
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| Committees on which both representatives and senators serve. An especially important kind of joint committee is the conference committee made up of representatives and senators appointed to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same piece of legislation before final passage. |
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| A formal expression of congressional opinion that must be approved by both houses of Congress and by the president. Joint resolutions proposing constitutional amendment need not be signed by the president. |
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| A tactic used in Congress that is best illustrated by one legislator saying to another, “I’ll vote for your legislation, if you vote for mine.” |
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| The legislative leader elected by party members holding the majority of seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate. |
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| Majority-Minority District |
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| Congressional districts designed to make it easier for citizens of racial or ethnic minority to elect representatives. |
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| Drawing the boundaries of political districts so that districts are very unequal in population. |
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Political district in which the candidate elected to the House of
Representatives wins in a close election, typically with less that 55% of the vote. |
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| (floor leader) The legislative leader elected by party members holding a minority of seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate. |
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| A congressional process whereby a bill may be referred to several committees that consider it simultaneously in whole or in part. For instance, the 1988 trade bill was considered by fourteen committees in the House and nine in the Senate simultaneously. |
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| An order from the House Rules Committee in the House of Representatives, that permits a bill to be amended on the legislative floor. |
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| A vote in which a majority of voting democrats oppose a majority of voting Republicans. |
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| The practice of legislators obtaining funds through legislation that favors their home districts. |
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| Temporary presiding officer of the senate. |
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| A legislative bill that deals only with specific, private, personal, or local matters rather than with general legislative affairs. The main kinds include immigration and naturalization bills (referring to particular individuals) and personal claim bills. |
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| A legislative bill that deals with matters of general concern. A bill involving defense expenditures is a public bill. |
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| Minimum number of members required to conduct official business |
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| A calling of the roll in either house of Congress to see whether the number of representatives in attendance meets the minimum number required to conduct official business. |
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| The process in which a state legislature redraws congressional districts based on population increases or declines. |
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| Reapportionment Act of 1929 |
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| Act that provides for a permanent size of the House and for the number of seats, based on the census, each state should have. |
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| Policy that results in the government taking money from one segment of the society through taxes and giving it back to groups in need. It includes such policies such as welfare, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, tax credits for business expenses or business investment, and highway construction made possible through a gasoline tax. |
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| Policy that results in government control over individuals and businesses. Examples of regulatory policy include protection of the environment and consumer protection. |
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| An order from the House Rules Committee in the House of Representatives that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made to a bill on the legislative floor. |
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| A congressional voting procedure that consists of members answering “yea” or “nay” to their names. When roll calls were handled orally, it was a time consuming process in the House. Since 1973 an electronic voting system |
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| A district in which incumbents win by margins of 55% or more. |
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| Specially created congressional committees that conduct special investigations. The Watergate Committee and Iran-Contra Investigators were select Senate committees. |
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| A congressional process by which a Speaker may send a bill to a second committee after the first is finished acting, or may refer parts of a bill to separate committees. |
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| An expression of opinion either in the House of Representatives or the Senate to settle housekeeping or procedural matters in either body. Such expressions are not signed by the president and do not have the force of law. |
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| An increase in the votes that congressional candidates usually get when they first run for reelection. |
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| The representatives from the majority party in the House of Representatives who sets the House agenda, presides over House meetings, recognizes speakers, refers bills to committees, answers procedural questions, and declares the outcome of votes. |
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| Committees that deal with proposed bills and also act in an oversight function. They are permanent, existing from one Congress to the next, such as the House Ways and Means and Senate Appropriations. |
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| Substantive Representation |
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| The correspondence between representatives’ opinions and those of their constituents. |
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| A congressional voting procedure in which members pass between two tellers, the “yeas” first and then the “nays.” Since 1971 the identities of members in a teller vote can be “recorded” |
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| A congressional voting procedure in which members shout “yea” in approval or “nay” in disapproval; allows members to vote quickly or anonymously on bills. |
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| Also known as assistant floor leaders, they check with party members and inform the majority leader of the status and feelings of the membership regarding issues that are going to be voted on. Whips are responsible for keeping party members in line and having an accurate count for who will be voting for or against a particular bill. |
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