| A | B |
|---|
| Baker v. Carr | Reversed the previous precedent that the court's would not hear "political questions" such as malapportionment of districts. It opened the floodgates of cases that were thereafter addressed by the court. |
| Cloture | A procedure for ending a debate in the Senate by getting at least 3/5 of Senators to vote to end a filibuster. |
| Commerce Clause | describes an enumerated power of Congress listed in the United States Constitution, how it can regulate commerce among the states (interstate) and other nations as well. |
| Constituents | a member of a constituency. People who representatives represent. |
| "Cracking"(in gerrymandering) | involves spreading out voters of a particular type among many districts in order to deny them a sufficiently large voting block in any particular district (House of Reps or state legislature districts). |
| Credit Claiming | When an elected official tries to assume the credit for some government success. This is especially beneficial for incumbents running for re-election. Think: Mrs. Tsai's Grandpa's Hawthorne Blvd. project. |
| Elastic Clause | a statement in the U.S. constitution (Article I, Section 8) granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers. |
| Senate Finance Committee | a committee appointed to consider financial issues. |
| Franking Privilege | Allows members of congress to send mail for free without having to pay. |
| Gerrymandering | a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan advantaged districts. |
| Delegate Model | when a congressional member acts as a true representative of their constituents' beliefs and desires |
| Impeachment | a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity. In the US, this takes a majority vote of the House. |
| Incumbency effect | Where an official in office is more likely to get reelected than someone who is not. Incumbents are more likely to be elected than challengers. |
| Legislative veto | A legislative veto is an oversight tool of Congress. It requires that an executive agency have the approval of Congress before it takes a specified action. |
| New Jersey Plan | A response to the Virginia Plan, proposed unicameral legislation and each state had equal number of representatives. Led to creation of the Senate. |
| "Packing"(in gerrymandering) | to concentrate as many voters of one type into a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts. Also ensures a win for that political ideology/party within that district. |
| President Pro Tempore | President pro tempore is the Senator who presides over the Senate when the VP is not there. |
| Reapportionment | The process of redistributing seats in the House every ten years after the census is taken. |
| Redistricting | the process of re-drawing US electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the census |
| Revolving door | is the movement of personnel between roles as legislators and regulators and the industries affected by the legislation and regulation. |
| Rider bill ("nongermane bill") | an additional unrelated amendment added to a bill. If the bill passes, the rider passes along with it. |
| Senatorial courtesy | A custom whereby presidential appointments are confirmed only if there is no objection to them by the senators from the appointee's state, esp. from the senior senator of the president's party from that state |
| Seventeenth Amendment | Had stated that now people would directly elect the Senators. 1913. |
| Trustee Model | when a congressional representative makes decisions for their constituents; acting as a source of expertise over the constituents' needs or national good |
| Virginia Plan | Proposed plan for the Constitution in which each state's representation was to be based on their population. This went on to become the House of Reps. |
| Ways and Means Committeee | a standing committee of the House that is charged with creating, revising, and introducing tax code laws. |
| Wesberry v. Sanders | Court case involving U.S Congressional districts in Congress. These districts must be as near equal in population as possible in order to not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. |
| Legislative immunity | The protection of legislators (House of Reps and Senators) from being sued for what they say or do while conducting debates on legislation |
