The Bill of Rights
The principal cancels a student club’s peaceful protest on the school sidewalk simply because the administration disagrees with the message on the posters.
The first amendment
A judge orders a teenager caught spray-painting a fence to spend six months inside a tiny metal box in the hot sun without water.
The Eighth Amendment
The principle of dividing government authority into legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent any single group from gaining absolute control.
Separation of Powers
The minimum vote percentage required for a regular bill to pass the floor in either the House of Representatives or the Senate before moving to the next stage.
51%
The constitutional division of political power between a central national government and individual regional state governments
Fedearlism
A police officer opens and reads a sealed letter inside a student’s private backpack in the parking lot without asking for permission or getting a warrant from a judge
Two small-business owners go to federal court over an unpaid $15,000 bill, and one owner demands a trial with a group of citizens instead of just letting the judge pick the winner.
The Seventh Amendment
The overarching principle and system where each branch of the federal government has specific constitutional tools to limit the actions of the other two branches.
Checks and Balances
When a bill is assigned to a committee in either the House or Senate, outside experts and members of the public are called in to do this during public hearings.
Testify
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution specifically lists the powers granted to Congress—such as coining money, establishing post offices, and declaring war—which are known by this two-word term.
Enumerated Powers
Following a natural disaster, the local government orders regular homeowners to give up their extra bedrooms so rescue troops have a place to sleep and eat.
The Third Amendment
uring a criminal trial, the prosecutor plays an audio recording of a mystery witness, but the judge will not let the defendant's lawyer ask that witness any questions.
The Sixth Amendment
The President uses this specific constitutional check when refusing to sign a major environmental bill passed by both chambers of Congress, sending it back with an official rejection notice.
Presidential Veto
This term describes a legislature divided into two separate chambers or houses, designed during the Constitutional Convention as a compromise between large and small states.
Bicameral Legislature
Powers that are not explicitly granted to the federal government in the Constitution and therefore belong exclusively to the states, such as regulating local schools or setting drinking ages
Reserved Powers
A city passes a law requiring people to keep their home-defense weapons taken apart into separate pieces inside a locked box, making them impossible to quickly use if an intruder breaks in.
The Second Amendment
The government claims citizens do not have a right to travel freely between states simply because the phrase "freedom to travel" was never written into the Constitution.
The Ninth Amendment
Congress checks the President's veto power by doing this, which requires a minimum two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.
Veto Override
The fraction or percentage of votes required in both houses of Congress to successfully override a presidential veto and enact a bill into law without the President's signature
2/3 or 67%
What amendment most directly relates to federalism?
10th Amendment
The state takes a family's front yard to widen a public road, but the government refuses to pay the family a fair amount of money for the land it took.
What is the Fifth Amendment?
The national government in Washington, D.C. orders local town police chiefs to carry out federal vehicle checks using the town's own budget and officers
The Tenth Amendment
When the Supreme Court rules 9–0 that a federal law banning social media criticism of government officials violates the First Amendment, the Court is exercising this constitutional power over Congress and the President.
Judicial Review
When the House and Senate pass slightly different versions of the same bill, appointed members from both chambers meet in this specific committee to resolve differences and craft a single compromise bill.
A Conference or Reconciliation Committee.
Fought from 1861 to 1865, this major conflict in American history represents the ultimate test and dispute over state sovereignty versus federal supremacy.
The Civil War