Constitution
Federalism
Congress
The Presidency
The Bureaucracy
Foundational Docs
100
Term used to describe powers shared by the national and state governments.
What are concurrent powers?
100

Policy set by the national government that states must follow.

What is a mandate?

100

This name is given to the powers of Congress listed in the Constitution.

What are enumerated powers?

100

This president set the norm of a two-term maximum.

Who is George Washington?

100

Bureaucratic system in which jobs are awarded based on education or performance on competitive tests.

What is the merit system?

100

The first three words of this foundational document are "We the People...".

What is the Constitution?

200

This large-state contribution to the Constitutional Convention called for a bicameral legislature.

What is the Virginia Plan?

200

This concept of federalism views the national and state governments as working together to solve common problems.

What is cooperative federalism?

200

This clause of the Constitution, found in Article 1, Section 8, "stretches" the power of Congress.

What is the Necessary and proper Clause (or Elastic Clause)?

200

These powers are claimed by presidents based on the fact that their formal powers are vague.

What are informal powers?

200

This is the relationship between Congress, the bureaucracy, and interest groups, and is both strong and long-lasting.

What is an Iron Triangle?

200
In this foundational document, James Madison argues for the value of factions.

What is Federalist 10

300
This uprising of Revolutionary War veterans brought attention to several weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation.
What is Shays's Rebellion?
300

This type of federal grant comes with specific rules about how money can be spent.

What is a categorical grant?

300

Congress passed this resolution in 1973 to take their "war powers" back.

What is the War Powers Act (Resolution)?

300

So named by Teddy Roosevelt, when a president wants to put pressure on Congress by speaking directly to the public, they can use this.

What is the bully pulpit?

300

This short-term alliance between interest groups and individual actors is one of the few things that can break an Iron Triangle. 

What is an issue network?

300

In Federalist 70, Alexander Hamilton argues in favor of a strong, single ___________.

What is executive?

400

Article 5 of the Constitution says this type of majority is needed in both chambers of Congress to pass an amendment proposal.

What is 2/3 majority?

400

Landmark case that held a national ban on guns in school zones had exceeded Congress' power under the Commerce Clause.

What is U.S. v. Lopez (1995)?

400

Any member of the House of Representatives can introduce this to move a bill straight to a vote if a majority of members agree.

What is a Discharge Petition?

400

Passed in 1964, this resolution gave President Johnson nearly unlimited authority to wage war in Southeast Asia.

What is the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution?

400

This is when a street-level bureaucrat decides whether or not a regulation applies in a specific instance. 

What is adjudication?

400

The Articles of Confederation gave the United States this many branches of government.

What is one (1)?

500

This political philosopher's writings inspired much of the Declaration of Independence.

Who is John Locke?

500

Landmark case in which SCOTUS held that states cannot tax the federal government, saying that the "power to tax [was] the power to destroy."

What is McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

500

This parliamentary procedure, which requires 60 votes in favor, can be used to end a filibuster.

What is Cloture?

500

SCOTUS held in this case that the power of executive privilege cannot be used to cover up criminal activity.

What is US v. Nixon (1974)?

500

This act of Congress formally ended patronage in the bureaucracy.

What is the Pendleton Act (1883)?

500

In this part of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson lists the offenses against natural rights committed by King George III.

What is the Indictment?

1000

These two Founders did not help write the Constitution because they were our country's first ambassadors to The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and France respectively.

Who are John Adams and Thomas Jefferson?

1000

This alternative arrangement of government to the federal system concentrates all governing authority and power in the central government and can include monarchies.

What is a unitary system?

1000

To override a presidential veto, this number of votes are required in the House of Representatives.

What is 290?

1000

This many presidents have been impeached in the House of Representatives.

What is three (3)?

1000

George Washington's cabinet consisted of only four advisors: the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of War, and ______________.

Who was the Secretary of the Treasury.

1000

The authors of the Federalist papers wrote under this assumed name, taken from the a famous founder of the Roman Republic.

Who is Publius?