Congress
These are the two primary responsibilities of Congress, and everything else the institution does is secondary to them.
What are lawmaking and representation?
The Constitution gives the president this title over the armed forces, though only Congress may declare war.
What is the commander in chief?
Before the Pendleton Act, federal jobs went to the winning party's supporters under this system.
What is the spoils system?
What is Marbury v. Madison?
This party holds the majority in both the House and the Senate in the 119th (the current one) Congress.
What is the Republican Party?
A senator votes against what her mail tells her because she believes she has better information than her constituents. She is acting under this model of representation.
What is the trustee model?
It takes a two-thirds vote in both chambers to override this presidential action.
What is a veto?
Amtrak and the Postal Service charge for their services and run on a business model. They belong to this category of federal entity.
What are government corporations?
This many justices must agree before the Court will hear a case.
What is four?
This Louisiana representative holds the only congressional leadership post named in the Constitution.
Who is Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House?
Of a member's four constituencies, this is the loyal core that would stick with them even in a contest primary.
What is the primary constituency?
Rather than bargaining with legislators, a president takes the agenda on television and asks voters to pressure their own members. Kernell gave this strategy its name.
What is going public?
Name all three corners of an iron triangle.
What are a federal agency, a congressional committee or subcommittee, and an interest group?
A justice agrees the majority reached the right outcome but will not sign on to its reasoning, so she writes this instead.
What is a concurring opinion?
The Senate has no Speaker, so this South Dakotan runs the floor as majority leader.
Who is John Thune?
A staffer spends Tuesday tracking down a veteran's missing benefits check. This is the name for that kind of constituent work.
What is casework?
This is what happens when Congress adjourns before having the chance to override a presidential veto.
What is a pocket veto?
Instead of running routine audits, Congress waits for an interest group or an angry constituent to raise a complaint, then investigates. McCubbins and Schwartz named this oversight style.
What is fire alarm oversight?
This model of judicial decision-making holds that once you know a justice's ideology, you can predict their vote; the legal reasoning is mostly after the fact.
What is the attitudinal model?
Name the two top Democratic leaders in the 119th Congress, one in each chamber.
Who are Hakeem Jeffries (House) and Chuck Schumer (Senate)
Richard Fenno's term for the persona a member presents back in the district - the rolled sleeves, the diner stops, the way they explain Washington to the folks at home.
What is home style?
Within five points: President Trump's job approval in the national polling average as of October 2026.
What is about 36 percent?
Because no official has unlimited time or information, administrators stop at the first option that is good enough rather than hunt for the best one. Simon coined this term.
What is satisficing?
The old idea that a judge simply drops the facts in one end and the correct ruling falls out the other, with no discretion involved, goes by this mechanical nickname.
What is the slot-machine theory?
This leadership role, borrowed from British fox hunting, exists in both chambers and both parties; its job is counting votes and holding the caucus together.
What is the whip?