``Name:______________________________________
Legislative Branch Vocabulary
Word
Bicameral
Census
Constituent
Gerrymander
Majority Party
Minority Party
My Definition
Group’s
Definition
Class Definition
A legislature consisting of
two parts, or houses
A population count taken
by the Census Bureau
A person from a
legislator’s district
An oddly shaped district
designed to increase the
voting strength of a
particular group
In both the house and
Senate, the political party
to which more than half
the members belong
In both the house and
senate, the political party
to which fewer than half
Standing
Committee
Seniority
Expressed
powers
Implied
powers
Elastic clause
the members belong
Permanent committees
that continue their work
from session to session in
Congress
Years of service, which is
used as a consideration for
assigning committee
members
Powers that Congress has
that are specifically listed
in the Constitution
Powers that congress has
that are not stated
explicitly in the
Constitution
Clause in Article I, section
8, of the constitution that
gives congress the right to
make all laws “necessary
and proper” to carry out
its expressed powers.
Impeach
Writ of
Habeas
Corpus
Bill of
Attainder
Ex Post Facto
Law
Franking
Privilege
Lobbyist
To accuse government
officials of misconduct in
office.
A court order that requires
police to bring a prisoner
to court to explain why
they are holding the
person
A law that punishes a
person accused of a crime
without a trial or a fair
hearing in court
A law that would allow a
person to be punished for
an action that was not
against the law when it
was committed
The right of senators and
representatives to send
job-related mail without
paying postage
Representative of an
interest group who
Casework
Pork-barrel
project
Joint
Resolution
Specialinterest group
Rider
contacts lawmakers or
other government officials
directly to influence their
policy making
The work that a lawmaker
does to help constituents
with a problem.
Government projects and
grants that primarily
benefit the home district
or state
A resolution that is passed
by both houses of
congress
An organization of people
with some common
interest who try to
influence government
decisions
A completely unrelated
amendment tacked on to
a bill
Filibuster
Voice Vote
Roll-call vote
Veto
Pocket veto
Cloture
A tactic for defeating a bill
in the Senate by talking
until the bill’s sponsor
withdraws it
A voting method in which
those in favor say “Yea” or
those voting against say
“No”
A voting method in the
senate in which members
voice their votes in turn
Refusal to sign a bill or
resolution
President’s power to kill a
bill, if congress is not in
session, by not signing it
for 10 days
A procedure used in the
senate to limit debate on a
bill.