Legislative Branch
What is the primary function of the Legislative Branch?
To make laws.
What is the primary function of the Executive Branch?
To enforce laws.
What is the primary function of the Judicial Branch?
To interpret laws.
The Constitution
The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws and actions of local, state, or national governments unconstitutional.
Judicial Review
What are the two chambers of Congress? How are they different?
House of Representatives (435 members)
Senate (100 members)
What might a president issue to enact change without lobbying Congress to pass a law?
An Executive Order
What are the three levels of the federal court system?
District Courts, Appellate Courts, Supreme Court
What article of the Constitution created each of the three branches of government?
Article 1 - Legislative Branch
Article 2 - Executive Branch
Article 3 - Judicial Branch
A person whom a member of Congress has been elected to represent.
Constituent
How are term limits different for members of the House and members of the Senate?
Senate - 6 year terms
Describe the steps to the removal process for a president?
Impeachment in the House of Representatives by majority vote.
Removal from office by a 2/3 vote in the Senate.
What opinions are generally issued following a Supreme Court case?
Majority Opinion
Dissenting Opinion
Concurring Opinion (Sometimes)
The power of the Legislative Branch to review the policies, programs, and activities of the Executive Branch on an ongoing basis.
Legislative Oversight
The process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census.
Reapportionment
What are a few powers that are granted to Congress?
Congress has the power to:
•To lay and collect Taxes…
•To borrow Money…
•To regulate Commerce…
•To coin Money…
•To establish Post Offices and post Roads…
•To declare War…
•To raise and support Armies..
•To provide and maintain a Navy..
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper
What are a few powers granted to the President?
They are "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States"
A President can:Make treaties (with 2/3 of Senate approval)
Grant Pardons
Take care that "laws are faithfully executed."
How does the Supreme Court decide to take a case?
By using the rule of four.
A president may veto a law passed by Congress. What does Congress have to do to override that veto?
They need a 2/3 majority vote to override the veto in BOTH chambers of Congress.
The right of the President and other high-ranking executive officers to refuse to testify before Congress on a court.
Executive Privilege
How does a bill become a law?
1. It is introduced in either the House or the Senate.
2. It passess committee.
3. It passes a floor vote.
4. It gets passed to the other chamber and repeats steps two and three.
5. It is sent to the President and signed into law.
What did the War Powers Resolution (1973) do?
It gave the President authority to act without congressional approval. However, the President has to notify Congress of their actions within 48 hours. Additionally, if the President sends troops somewhere, they are only allowed to remain for 30 days without congressional approval.
What does the Supreme Court issue if they agree to take a case?
A Writ of Certiorari
What was the overarching goal of creating a system of Checks and Balances? Name an example of something current that embodies that process today.
To make sure no one entity had complete control of the government.
Answers may vary.
A military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings.
Military Tribunal