This is a tactic in which a senator delays a vote on a bill that he/she opposes.
What is a filibuster?
100
This is the number of justices on the US Supreme Court, and they are appointed by the president.
What is nine?
100
It is the total number of Senators in the US Senate.
What is one hundred?
100
It is the first sentence of the US Constitution, and it explains the purpose and intent of the document.
What is the Preamble?
100
This official presides over the US Senate, and only votes in the event of a tie.
Who is the vice president?
200
These are powers that are shared by both the federal government and the state governments. Taxes are an example.
What are concurrent powers?
200
Nancy Pelosi currently holds this position, which is the top post in the House of Representatives.
What is the Speaker of the House?
200
This is the name of the speech the president gives to Congress every January, in which he reports on the current state of the country.
What is the State of the Union Address?
200
This Amendment was known as "prohibition", and it made the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages illegal. It was repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment in 1933.
What is the Eighteenth Amendment?
200
This refers to the powers that are granted only to the federal government.
What are delegated powers?
300
These are taxes placed on money or property a person inherits in the event of someone's death.
What are estate taxes?
300
The opposite of implied powers, these are the powers of government which are specifically spelled out in the Constitution.
What are enumerated (expressed) powers?
300
This Amendment extends the right to vote to all citizens, regardless of race.
What is the Fifteenth Amendment?
300
If the majority of senators vote to end the debate on a proposed bill, they have just used this tactic.
What is cloture?
300
This is the name given to a proposed law, which must be signed by the president in order to become a law.
What is a bill?
400
These are powers that are exclusively for the states.
What are reserved powers?
400
This official's job is to make sure that members of their political party in Congress vote the way their leaders want them to.
What is the whip?
400
This law, passed in 2001, has created great controversy because it gives law enforcement officlals more authority to investigate possible criminal/terrorist activities.
What is the PATRIOT Act?
400
Created after the September 11th attacks, this department has the responsibility of preventing future terrorist attacks in the US.
What is the Department of Homeland Security?
400
This Amendment guarantees the rights of citizens to vote by banning the poll tax.
What is the Twenty-Fourth Amendment?
500
This is a court's authority to review the decisions of lower courts.
What is appellate jurisdiction?
500
The founding fathers based the US Constitution on limited government and this belief, which states that governments are subject to the will of the people.
What is popular sovereignty?
500
This government agency enforces laws and administers procedures for dealing with immigration and foreign visitors to the United States.
What is US Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS)?
500
This refers to a court's authority to hear cases first.
What is original jurisdiction?
500
This Amendment establishes that US Senators will be directly elected by the people, rather than by state legislatures.