Powers
Can't We All Just Get Along?
The Three Branches
Balancing Act
Is That Your Final Answer?
Foundations
100
These powers are shared by both the national and state governments.
What are Concurrent Powers?
100
This type of document states the laws, principles, structures, and processes by which a government will operate.
What is a constitution?
100
The President's advisory board is known by this term.
What is the Cabinet?
100
Federalism divides the ruling authority between these two levels of government.
What are the central (national) and state governments?
100
These first ten amendments to the Constitution guarantee extensive individual liberties to Americans.
What is the Bill of Rights?
100
This Constitutional principle holds that the people are the only source for governmental power.
What is popular sovereignty?
200
These powers are held by the national government and prohibited to the states.
What are Exclusive Powers?
200
This is a formal agreement between two sovereign Nation-States.
What is a treaty?
200
This Supreme Court case established the judiciary's authority to review the constitutionality of the acts of Congress and the President.
200
The president's rejection of an act of Congress is given this name.
What is a veto?
200
The U.S. Constitution has been amended this many times.
What is 27?
200
This concept, that no one is above the law including Congress and the President, is essential to a functioning democracy.
What is the rule of law?
300
This name is given to Article 6 of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution superior to every other law in the United States.
What is the Supremacy Clause?
300
This term is used to describe formal changes to the Constitution.
What is an amendment?
300
The longest Article in the Constitution is used to describe the powers and functions of this branch of government.
What is the legislative branch?
300
The power of U.S. courts to decide whether government acts are constitutional is known by this term.
What is judicial review?
300
This amendment extended the right to vote to women.
What is the 19th Amendment?
300
This constitutional principle applies when the Senate confirms or rejects the President's appointee to run the CIA.
What is checks and balances?
400
These powers are kept by the states and not given to the national government.
What are Reserved Powers?
400
A pact that a President makes with the head of a foreign state is given this name.
What is an executive agreement?
400
This informal custom regarding the Presidency was eventually added to the Constitution through formal amendment.
What is the two-term limit for Presidents?
400
Presidents often use executive agreements in negotiations with foreign heads of state to avoid the requirement that all treaties be ratified by this organization.
What is the U.S. Senate?
400
Only these two institutions are able to formally propose an amendment to the Constitution.
What is the U.S. Congress and national conventions?
400
This Constitutional principle holds that government may do only those things that the people have given it power to do.
What is limited government?
500
This clause in the Constitution requires states to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings" of every other state.
What is the Full Faith and Credit clause?
500
This term is given to the custom that the Senate will approve only a presidential appointee acceptable to the senators of the President's party from the appointee's home state.
What is senatorial courtesy?
500
The U.S. Congress is made up of this many members.
What is 535?
500
This group normally selects the U.S. president.
What is the Electoral College?
500
This method of amending the Constitution has been the most commonly used throughout American history.
What is proposal by Congress followed by ratification by state legislatures?
500
This term is used to describe a governmental system in which the basic political powers are distributed among three distinct and independent branches.
What is separation of powers?