Congress
This chamber has 100 members serving six-year terms
What is the Senate?
These are presidential directives that have the force of law without requiring congressional approval.
What is an Executive Order?
Federal judges serve for this length of time, which protects their independence from political pressure.
What is a life term (During good behavior)?
This vast organization of nearly 3 million executive branch employees carries out the day-to-day work of the federal government.
What is the federal bureaucracy?
The House can formally charge a president with 'high crimes and misdemeanors' through this process.
What is Impeachment?
When state legislatures draw congressional district lines to benefit a particular party or group
What is Gerrymandering?
The president exercises this power when refusing to sign a bill into law, returning it to Congress with objections.
What is a Veto?
In Marbury v. Madison (1803), Chief Justice Marshall established this power, which allows courts to strike down unconstitutional laws.
What is Judicial Review?
Sub-units in each department that operate outside cabinet departments
What are the Independent Executive Agencies?
The Senate uses this power to approve or reject presidential appointments to the Cabinet and federal courts.
What is Advice & Consent?
Process occurs every 10 years when congressional seats are redistributed among the states based on census data
What is Reapportionment?
This informal presidential power involves using the visibility of the office to appeal directly to the public for support.
What is the Bully Pulpit (going public)?
When at least four of the nine justices agree to hear a case, the Court grants certiorari under this informal practice.
What is the Rule of Four?
A stable, mutually beneficial alliance among a bureaucratic agency, a congressional committee/subcommittee, & an interest group in the same policy area
What are "Iron Triangles"?
Congress can override a presidential veto with this supermajority vote in both chambers.
What is a two-thirds vote?
This powerful House committee controls which bills reach the floor & under what rules they will be debated
What is the Rules Committee?
Set up the line of succession if the president can no longer serve
(President → VP → Speaker of the House → President Pro-Tempore → Secretary of State)
What is the 25th Amendment?
Acts that focuses on how judges interpret the constitution
What is Strict & Loose Constructionism?
When bureaucratic agencies interpret laws and create specific rules to implement them, they are exercising this authority.
What is discretionary & rule-making authority?
A senator can delay or block a vote on legislation by holding the floor and speaking indefinitely in this practice.
What is Filibustering?
In Shaw v. Reno (1993), the Supreme Court ruled that this type of gerrymandering violates the Equal Protection Clause.
What is Racial Gerrymandering?
This 1973 law requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing troops and limits deployment to 60 days without approval.
What is the War Powers Act of 1973?
Acts that focuses on how judges exercise their judicial power
What is Judicial Activism/Restraint?
This congressional tool allows committees to review and approve certain agency actions before they take effect
What is committee clearance (congressional oversight)?
Ability to reduce the funding of the Executive Branch
What is the Power of the Purse? (Applied by the Legislative Branch/Congress)