| A | B |
|---|
| Bicameral legislature | A two chamber legislature |
| session | A period of time during which a legislature meets to conduct business |
| census | A population count |
| reapportionment | The process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census |
| redistrict | to set new district lines after reapportionment is complete |
| gerrymander | to draw a districts boundaries to gain an advantage in elections |
| at-large | as a whole |
| censure | a vote of formal disapproval of a members actions |
| incumbent | elected officials that is already in office |
| constituents | A person whom a member of congress has been elected to represent |
| cancus | A private meeting of party leaders to choose candidates for office |
| majority leader | The speakers top assistant whose job is to help plan the majority party's legislature program and to steer important bills through the house |
| whips | an assistant to the party floor leader in the legislature |
| bill | A proposed law |
| calendars | A schedule that lists the order in which bills will be considered in congress |
| quorum | the minimum number of members who must be present |
| president pro tempore | the senate member, elected by the senate, who stands in as president of the senate in the absence of the VP |
| fillibuster | a method of defeating a bill in the senate by stalling the legislative process and preventing a vote |
| clouture | a procedure that allows each senator to speak only 1 hour on a bill under debate |
| standing committee | a permanent committee in congress that oversees bills that deal with certain kinds of issues. |
| subcommittee | a group within a standing committee that specializes in a subcategory of its standing committee responsibility |
| select committee | a temporary committee formed to study one specific issue and report its findings to the senate or the house |
| joint committee | a committee of the house and the senate that usually acts as a study group and reports its finding back to the house and the senate. |
| conference committee | a temporary joint committee set up when the house and the senate have passed different versions of the same bill |
| seniority system | A system that gives the member of the majority party with the longest uninterrupted service on a particular committee the leadership of that committee |
| personal staff | the people who work directly for individual senators and representatives |
| committee staff | the people who work for house and senate committees |
| administrative assistance | member of a lawmakers personal staff who runs the lawmakers office, subversives the schedule and gives advice |
| legislative assistant | a member of a lawmakers personal staff that makes certain that the lawmaker is well informed about proposed legislation. |
| casework | a member that a lawmaker's personal staff who handles requests for help from constituents |
