Three Branches
100: What are the three branches of the federal government?
Answer: Legislative, executive, and judicial.
100: The President nominates a person to serve as a Supreme Court justice. Which part of the federal government must approve the nomination?
Answer: The Senate.
100: What are the two chambers of Congress?
Answer: House of Representatives and Senate
100: What three people/ groups make up the executive branch?
Answer: President and Cabinet (includes VP)
100: What is the highest court?
Answer: Supreme Court
200: Which branch of government is responsible for carrying out and enforcing federal laws?
Answer: Executive branch.
200: Congress passes a bill, but the President vetoes it. What can Congress do to still make the bill law?
Answer: Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.
200: Why does the Constitution create two houses of Congress instead of one?
Answer: To balance representation based on population in the House with equal state representation in the Senate.
200: Which presidential role involves proposing and supporting laws and working with Congress on legislation?
Answer: Chief Legislator
200: What is the power of courts to determine whether laws or government actions violate the Constitution?
Answer: Judicial review.
300: Which branch of government has the power to declare war, collect taxes, and make federal laws?
Answer: Legislative branch.
300: The Supreme Court determines that a law passed by Congress violates the Constitution. What happens to the law?
Answer: The law cannot be enforced because it is unconstitutional.
300: How many members are in the House of Representatives and the Senate?
300: The President gives a speech celebrating a national holiday and represents the country at an important ceremony. Which presidential role is being demonstrated?
Answer: Chief of State
300: How are federal judges selected?
Answer: The President nominates them, and the Senate confirms them.
400: Which branch of government determines whether laws and government actions are constitutional?
Answer: Judicial branch.
400: Congress passes a law giving the President a power that the Constitution does not allow the President to have. What could the judicial branch do to check that power?
Answer: The courts could declare the law unconstitutional through judicial review.
400: Why does a state with a much larger population generally have more representatives in the House than a state with a smaller population?
Answer: House representation is based on state population.
400: The President meets the president of South Korea to discuss economic partnerships
Answer: Chief Diplomat
400: A federal judge makes a decision in a case based on the Constitution, even though the decision is unpopular with the President and members of Congress. Why is the judge able to make this decision without being removed from office because of political disagreement?
Answer: Federal judges have lifetime appointments as long as they maintain good behavior, which helps protect judicial independence from political pressure.
500: Why did the Constitution give different powers to the legislative, executive, and judicial branches instead of allowing one branch to control the federal government?
Answer: To prevent the concentration of power and protect individual liberty through separation of powers and checks and balances.
500: Congress passes a bill, the President vetoes it, Congress overrides the veto, and a federal court later rules that the law is unconstitutional. Identify the different checks on power that occurred in this situation.
Answer: The President checked Congress with the veto, Congress checked the President by overriding the veto, and the judicial branch checked Congress by using judicial review.
500: Congress passes a bill that the President vetoes. What does Congress need to do to make the bill law without the President's approval?
Answer: Two-thirds of both the House and Senate must vote to override the veto.
500: The President directs federal agencies to carry out a law passed by Congress. Which presidential role is most directly involved, and why?
Answer: Chief Executive, because the President is responsible for enforcing and administering federal laws.
500: Why are federal judges given lifetime appointments as long as they maintain good behavior?
Answer: To help protect judicial independence and allow judges to make decisions based on the law and Constitution rather than political pressure.