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| The activities of members of Congress (such as sending out newsletters or visiting the district) designed to familiarize the constituency with the member. |
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| The 1962 case in which the Supreme Court overturned the political question doctrine, holding that legislative apportionment was a justiciable issue that the courts had jurisdiction to hear and decide. |
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| Party committees in the House and Senate composed of all members of the party in the chamber. Each party's caucus develops a policy agenda for the party, appoints committees to make committee assignments, and raises campaign money for House and Senate candidates. |
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| A method of selecting the delegates to a political party's national convention by permitting the state conventions to select representatives from their states. |
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| Elections to choose a party's nominees for the general election that are open only to party members. |
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| The efforts by members of Congress to get their constituents to believe they are responsible for positive government actions. |
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| Descriptive representation |
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| The view of representation that calls for the racial and ethnic makeup of Congress to reflect that of the nation. |
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| Direct popular election plan |
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| A proposal to abolish the electoral college and elect the president directly by national popular vote. |
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| A plan to revise the electoral college that would distribute a state's electoral college votes by giving one vote to the candidate who wins a plurality in each House district and two votes to the winner statewide. |
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| The institution (whose members are selected by whatever means the state legislature chooses) that is responsible for selecting the president of the United States. |
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| The tendency of states to move their primaries earlier in the season in order to gain more influence over the presidential selection process. |
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| The process by which voters choose their representatives from among the parties' nominees. |
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| The drawing of district lines in such a way as to help or hinder the electoral prospects of a specific political interest. |
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| The tendency for congressional incumbents to be overwhelmingly successful when they run for reelection due to the nature of congressional districts, resources, and relations to constituents, among other reasons. |
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| The period of time between the election of one president and the first contest to nominate candidates to run in general election to the select the next president. |
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| An issue or topic over which the courts have jurisdiction or the power to make decisions. |
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| A method of selecting political party candidates that calls for party members in the state legislature to select candidates for statewide office and party members in the house of Representatives to select a party's candidate for president and vice president. |
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| The number of delegates needed at a political party's national convention for a candidate to be nominated as the party's candidate for the presidency; this number equals 50 percent plus one of all delegates at the convention. |
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| Majority-Minority Districts |
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| Districts in which the majority of the population are ethnic or racial minorities. |
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| A situation in which the distribution of legislative seats does not accurately reflect the distribution of the population. |
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| A method of selecting representatives in which more than one person is chosen to represent a single constituency. |
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| National party convention |
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| A nomination method in which delegates selected from each state attend a national party meeting to choose the party's candidates for president and vice president. |
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| The process through which political parties winnow down a field of candidates to a single one who will be the party's standard-bearer in the election. |
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| A type of election used in Louisiana in which candidates from all political parties run in the same primary, and the candidate who receives the majority of the vote obtains the office. |
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| The idea, arising out of the 1964 Supreme Court decision of Wesburry v. Sanders, that legislative districts must contain about the same number of people. |
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| Elections to select a party's candidate for the general election that are open for independents and, in some cases, members of the other party. |
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| Elections in which there is no incumbent running for reelection. |
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| The benefits and support activities that members of Congress receive in order to help them perform their job. |
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| A pejorative term used to describe federal government benefits distributed to congressional districts based on the efforts of members of Congress. (see distributive benefits) |
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| Public statements made by members of Congress on issues of importance to the Constituency. |
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| A plan to revise the electoral college such that the number of electoral college votes given to candidates would be based on the proportion of the popular vote they obtained. |
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| The process of adjusting the number of House seats among the states based on population shifts. |
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| The process of redrawing congressional district lines after reapportionment. |
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| A second primary election held between the top two candidates if no candidate received a majority of the votes in the first primary. |
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| A method of selecting representatives in which the people in a district select a single representative. |
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| State presidential primary |
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| A method of selecting delegates to a political party's national convention in which the voters directly elect delegates. |
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| Substantive representation |
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| The concept of representation that states that officeholders do not have to be minorities to accurately represent minority interests. |
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| The day in early March when several states hold their primaries. These states choose a significant portion of delegates to the national convention. |
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| States in which the outcome of a presidential race is unclear, and both candidates have realistic chances of winning. |
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| A rule that permitted a majority of a state's delegation to a political party's national convention to require that the entire delegation vote the same way. |
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| The 1964 case in which the Supreme Court invalidated unequal congressional districts, saying that all legislative districts must contain about equal numbers of people. Tue ruling is popularly known as the principle of one person, one vote. |
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