Congress
This is the term for a two-house legislature, which the Framers adopted from British Parliament.
What is bicameral?
This article of the Constitution, often called the "Executive Article," outlines most of the President's powers.
What is Article II?
This landmark 1803 case established the Supreme Court's power of judicial review.
What is Marbury v. Madison?
This agency, created in 1979, is responsible for coordinating federal responses to natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires.
What is FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)?
Alexander Hamilton argued in this Federalist Paper that the judicial branch is the "least dangerous" branch because it has no influence over money or military.
What is Federalist No. 78?
: This practice involves drawing oddly shaped legislative districts to give one political party an advantage over another.
What is gerrymandering?
This Federalist Paper argued for a single executive, claiming it would provide energy, unity, and accountability.
What is Federalist No. 70?
This is the term for the Supreme Court's power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
What is judicial review?
This 1883 law created the first civil service commission and established a merit system for hiring and promoting federal employees.
What is the Pendleton Act?
his is the term for the president's power to reject specific portions of a bill while approving the rest – a power Congress banned in 2010.
What is the line-item veto?
This 1929 law permanently set the number of seats in the House of Representatives at 435.
What is the Reapportionment Act of 1929?
This 1973 law restricts the President's war-making power by requiring congressional notification within 48 hours and authorization within 60 days.
What is the War Powers Resolution Act?
According to the "Rule of 4," this many justices must agree to hear a case for it to be placed on the Court's docket.
What is 4?
This political science concept describes the stable, mutually beneficial relationship between a congressional committee, a bureaucratic agency, and an interest group.
What is the Iron Triangle?
This 1993 Supreme Court case rejected a North Carolina redistricting plan designed to produce majority-minority districts, ruling that race cannot be the main factor in drawing districts.
What is Shaw v. Reno?
This stalling tactic in the Senate allows a senator to "talk a bill to death," and the longest in history lasted three weeks in 1917.
What is a filibuster?
This amendment to the Constitution limits the President to two terms in office, passed after FDR served three terms.
What is the 22nd Amendment?
This official represents the United States in all cases before the Supreme Court.
Who is the Solicitor General?
This term refers to the power bureaucrats have to decide how a law is implemented and to fill in critical details, creating regulations.
What is bureaucratic discretion?
This type of spending, also known as mandatory spending, includes programs like Social Security and Medicare where funds are already promised and allocated.
What are entitlement programs?
This type of committee is temporary, created to resolve differences between House and Senate versions of a bill.
What is a conference committee?
This 2024 Supreme Court case extended the President's absolute immunity for actions taken within their constitutional authority.
What is Trump v. United States?
This 2009 case involved a West Virginia Supreme Court justice who refused to recuse himself after the CEO of Massey Coal spent $3 million on his election campaign.
What is Caperton v. Massey Coal Co.?
This practice, used by President Andrew Jackson, involved giving government positions as rewards for political support rather than based on merit.
What is political patronage?
According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, these are the first three positions in the line of succession after the Vice President.
What are the Speaker of the House, President pro tempore of the Senate, and Secretary of State?