AP Comparative Government: Legislatures flashcards

Question 1

What term describes a legislature that has just one chamber?

Accepted Answer

Unicameral

Question 2

What term describes a legislature divided into two chambers?

Accepted Answer

Bicameral

Question 3

What is the name for a body that debates and has the power to make a society's laws?

Accepted Answer

A legislature

Question 4

What name is given to the set of rules that lets lawmakers keep debating so that a bill is delayed or never reaches a vote?

Accepted Answer

A filibuster

Question 5

What is a vote called that ends a filibuster and forces a vote on the bill?

Accepted Answer

A cloture motion

Question 6

What are the people called whom a legislator speaks and acts for?

Accepted Answer

Constituents

Question 7

In which model of representation does a legislator follow what their constituents want?

Accepted Answer

The delegate model

Question 8

In which model of representation does a legislator follow their own judgment, even when constituents disagree?

Accepted Answer

The trustee model

Question 9

Which model of representation has a legislator balance the delegate and trustee approaches?

Accepted Answer

The politico model

Question 10

What is it called when two or more parties agree to work together to build a majority in a chamber?

Accepted Answer

A coalition

Question 11

What is the party called that controls over half of the seats in a chamber?

Accepted Answer

The majority party

Question 12

What is a voting threshold called that sits above 50 percent and is usually set for especially weighty decisions?

Accepted Answer

A supermajority

Question 13

What is a legislative district with only one representative called?

Accepted Answer

A single-member district

Question 14

What are legislative districts called that elect more than one representative?

Accepted Answer

Multimember districts

Question 15

In which electoral system does the candidate with the most votes win?

Accepted Answer

Plurality

Question 16

Which electoral system makes the legislature's makeup mirror each party's share of the population's support?

Accepted Answer

Proportional representation

Question 17

What are electoral systems called that blend proportional representation with plurality voting?

Accepted Answer

Mixed systems

Question 18

In which type of political system is the executive, often a president, kept separate from the legislature?

Accepted Answer

A presidential system

Question 19

What kind of system mixes some presidential traits with some parliamentary traits?

Accepted Answer

A semi-presidential system

Question 20

Which type of representation exists when a representative has the same demographic traits as the people represented?

Accepted Answer

Descriptive representation

Question 21

Which type of representation exists when a representative holds the same policy and ideological views as the people represented?

Accepted Answer

Substantive representation

Question 22

What are sessions called in which legislators question a panel, such as experts, about an issue or bill?

Accepted Answer

Hearings

Question 23

What are groups of lawmakers called that work together on one policy area?

Accepted Answer

Legislative committees

Question 24

What kind of legislature meets all year, has expert staff, and pays a full wage so lawmaking is a member's main job?

Accepted Answer

A professional legislature

Question 25

What kind of legislature meets for short periods and pays members little, since the job is part-time?

Accepted Answer

A nonprofessional legislature

Question 26

What is the principle called that a decision needs support from over half of a voting body?

Accepted Answer

Majority rule

Question 27

What name is given to the process by which governments decide how to spend money?

Accepted Answer

The appropriations process

AP Comparative Government: Legislatures flashcards

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