Local Government
This elected official is the head of the executive branch in most U.S. cities, responsible for overseeing city operations and implementing policies.
Who is the mayor?
This legislative body is made up of 435 members, all of whom serve two-year terms and represent districts based on population.
What is the House of Representatives?
This document, signed in 1787, established the framework for the U.S. government and is still in effect today.
What is the U.S. Constitution
This amendment granted women the right to vote in all U.S. elections.
What is the 19th Amendment?
This term refers to a political party formed by a group of voters who are disillusioned with the two major political parties, often promoting ideas outside of the mainstream political spectrum.
What is a Third Party?
This body, typically made up of elected representatives, passes laws and budgets for a local government, and sometimes has the power to override a mayor’s veto.
What is a City Council?
This constitutional article establishes the structure, powers, and duties of the executive branch of the government.
What is a Article II of the Constitution?
This branch of government, created by Article II of the Constitution, is responsible for enforcing the laws and is led by the president.
What is the Executive Branch?
This amendment protects the right of U.S. citizens to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
What is the 15th Amendment?
This system, often used in presidential elections, involves electors from each state casting votes for the president, where the winner of the popular vote in each state generally wins all of that state’s electoral votes.
What is the Electoral College?
In many U.S. cities, this term refers to the individual responsible for maintaining public safety and enforcing laws at the local level, often a key figure in law enforcement.
What is Chief of Police?
This type of state-level lawmaking body is responsible for passing laws and approving the state budget.
What is the State Legislature?
This principle from the Declaration of Independence asserts that all people have unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
What is the Principal of Natural Rights?
This amendment lowered the voting age to 18 in federal, state, and local elections.
What is the 26th Amendment?
An election where voters can remove an elected official from office before their term ends, usually through a petition process.
What is a recall election?
The process by which a local government divides a city or county into districts for the purpose of electing representatives to local offices, often debated for fairness.
What is Redistricting?
In most states, this group of elected officials provides legal advice to the governor and represents the state in court.
Who is the Attorney General?
This principle of the U.S. Constitution, outlined in Federalist No. 51, calls for the division of government into three branches, each with the ability to limit the powers of the others.
What is Separation of Powers?
This 24th Amendment abolished this type of tax, which had been used to prevent poor and minority citizens from voting.
What is the Poll Tax?
This system, used in U.S. elections, involves selecting representatives based on the winner of the most votes in each district or state, with the person who receives the highest vote total being elected.
What is Winner-Takes-All?
This term refers to the local government’s authority to pass ordinances that regulate things like zoning, noise, and property use within its jurisdiction.
What is Police Power?
This term refers to the division of powers between the state government and the federal government, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
What is Federalism?
This clause, found in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, grants Congress the authority to make laws necessary to carry out its enumerated powers.
What is the Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)?
This law was an early step toward ensuring civil rights, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting practices like literacy tests, although the full impact on voting rights wasn't realized until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
What is the Civil Rights Act of 1864?
These are independent organizations that raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections, often through advertising and campaigning.
What are Super PACs?