| A | B |
|---|
| bicameral | consisting of the House of Reprenstative and the Senate. |
| census | population count taken by the Census Bureau |
| constituent | people represented |
| gerrymander | an oddly shaped district designed to increase the voting stength of a particular group |
| majority party | in both the House and the Senate, the political party to which more than half the members belong. |
| minority party | the other party is called the minority party. They have less members. |
| The Speaaker of the House | The most powerful leader within the House of Representatives |
| president pro tempore | the person usually acts as chairperson of a Senate |
| standing committee | on-going committees set up for a specific short term purpose |
| seniority | years of service |
| expressed powers | powers that Congress has that are specifically listed in the Constitution |
| elastic clause | gives congress the right to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its expressed powers |
| Implied powers | powers that Congress has that are not stated explicitly in the Constitution |
| impeach | the accuse governmetn officials of misconduct in office |
| writ of habeas corpus | a court order that requires plice tobring a prisoner to court to explain why they are holding the person |
| bill of attainder | a law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court |
| ex post facto law | a law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that was not against the law when it was committed |
| franking privilege | the right of senators and representatives to send job-related mail without paying postage |
| lobbyist | representative of an interest group who contracts lawmakers or other government officials directly to influence their policy making |
| casework | the work that a lawmaker does to help constituents with a problem |
