1. 1.5 Congressional Vocabulary
Unit 5: The Legislature
1.5 Congressional Vocabulary

2. Congressional Vocabulary
Constitutional Things
“Necessary and Proper” Clause: the part of the Constitution that allows Congress to do anything “necessary and proper” to carry out its other duties.
Impeachment: formal accusation of misconduct in office; the House accuses, while the Senate conducts the trial.
20th Amendment: sets the start date for new terms for Congress and the President.
27th Amendment: establishes that salary increases for Congress cannot take effect until the next session.
Add “Commerce Clause”

3. Congressional Vocabulary
Meetings
Session: when Congress meets, lasts one year with breaks for holidays and vacations (Jan.-Nov.)
Adjourn: to leave/end; members must vote to adjourn before they can leave, and cannot adjourn for more than three days without the approval of the other house.
Special Session: meeting called by the President after Congress has adjourned.

4. Congressional Vocabulary
At Meetings
Bill: a proposed law
Quorum: minimum number who must be present for anything to happen (1/2 + 1)
Censure: formal disapproval of a member’s actions
Exclusion: refusal to seat an elected member by majority vote
Caucus: closed meeting

5. Congressional Vocabulary
At Meetings
Filibuster: when a senator/representative keeps talking to prevent action; goal is to get the majority to either abandon or agree. The first three hours of a filibuster MUST be about the issue, but after that there is no required topic.
Filibusters are not very effective in practice, but are generally effective as threats.
Cloture: a 3/5 vote that stops a filibuster or limit to one hour; very difficult to achieve

6. Congressional Vocabulary
People and Privileges
President Pro Tempore: “he who presides for the time being” and is elected to do so by the Senate
Incumbents: those already in office
Constituents: those being represented
Franking Privilege: free resources given to Congress that include stationary and postage

7. Congressional Vocabulary
Getting Into Office
Census: the US population count that occurs every ten years
Reapportionment: uses the Census to determine the number of representatives per state
Redistricting: uses reapportionment to place new district lines within the state (this is something the states do on their own)

8. Now let’s do some gerrymandering…
Let’s say this is our state…
the controlling party is? R D
Now let’s do some gerrymandering…

9. Congressional Vocabulary
Getting Into Office
Gerrymandering: when a controlling political party draws district lines to gain an advantage in elections
Packing: drawing lines to create a district that includes as many of the opposing party’s voters as possible
Cracking: drawing lines to create a district that divides as many of the opposing party’s voters to weaken voter base

10. If we PACK all the Democrats, our districts might look like this…

11. If we CRACK the Democratic voters apart….