Chapter 9 Flashcards
Undocumented young people brought to the US as children; Pushed Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for he more than 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country.
Dreamers
The residents in the area from which an official is elected.
Constituency
Having a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or houses.
Bicameral
A type of representation in which representatives have the same racial, gender ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds s their constituents. It is base on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one can correctly represent the other’s views.
Sociological Representative
A type of representation in which a representative is held accountable to a constituency if he or she fails to represent that constituency properly; This is incentive for good representation when the personal backgrounds, views, and interests of the representative differ from those of his or her constituency.
Agency Representative
Holding the political office for which one is running.
Incumbency
Taking care of the problems and requests of individual voters.
Constituency Service
The tendency for incumbent candidates to win a higher percentage of he vote when seeking future terms in office.
Sophomore Surge
Legally prescribed limits on the number of terms an elected official can serve.
Term Limits
The process, occurring after every decennial census that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states.
Apportionment
The process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives; this happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges to existing districts.
Redistricting
The apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party.
Gerrymandering
The resources available to higher officials, usually opportunities to make partisan appointments to offices and confer grants, licenses, or special favors to supporters.
Patronage
Appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home town.
Pork Barrel Legislation
A common form of pork barreling; a practice through which members of Congress insert into bills language that provides special benefits for their own constituents.
Earmark
A proposal in Congress to provide a specific person with some kind of relief, such as a special exemption from immigration quotas.
Private Bill
A gathering of House Republicans every two years to elect their house leaders; Democrats call their gathering the caucus.
Conference
The chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives; the Speaker is the most important party and House leader, and can influence the legislative agenda, the fate of pieces of legislation, and members’ positions within the House.
Speaker of the House
The elected leader of the House of Representatives or in the Senate; In the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the Speaker of the House.
Majority Leader
The elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate
Minority Leader
A party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party’s legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes.
Whips
A permanent committee with the power to propose and write legislation that covers a particular subject, such as finance or agriculture.
Standing Committees
(Usually) temporary legislative committees set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not within jurisdiction of existing committees.
Select Committees
Legislative committees formed of members of both House and Senate
Joint Committees
