Visual Vocab

• Census

  • Offcial count or survey of a pop. every 10 years
• Reapportionment

  • The process by which congressional distribution are redrawn and seats are redistributed amoung states and the House
• Gerrymandering

  • Manipulate the boundaries so as to favor one party or class
• Franking Priviledge

  • Members of Congress can send mail by signature rather than by postage
• Mandatory Expenditures

  • Areas of the federal budget that must be enacted each year by law and are not dependent on annual review by committees of Congress
• Pork Spending

  • Spending which is intended to benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support
• Logrolling

  • Process by which politicians trade support for one issue or piece of legislation in exchange for another poltician's support
• Constituents

  • A person who is represented politically by a designated gov. official or officeholder
• Original Jurisdiction

  • A court being the first to hear about the case
• District Courts (KID)

  • The trial courts for the federal court system in which all categories of cases can be heard
• Circuit Court of Appeals (TEEN)

  • Task is to determine whether or not the law was applied correctly by the district court
  • Appellate jurisdiction
• Supreme Court (ADULT)

  • Has both appellate jurisdiction and original jurisdiction
• Senatorial Courtesy

  • An agreement among senators to not vote for a nominee opposed by senators from a nominees home state
• Precedent

  • Binding template for future decisions within courts
• Stare Decisis

  • Determination by precedent
• Judicial Restraint

  • Just using the Consititution on legal proceedings and not caring about the impact on society
• Judicial Activism

  • Consitutionality and the impact on society
• Writ of Certiorari

  • A request that the SC order a lower court to send up a record for case review