Legislative Branch
The chamber of Congress that has the sole power to initiate all revenue bills.
What is the House of Representatives?
A formal power of the President to reject a bill passed by both houses of Congress.
What is a veto?
The power of the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of laws or executive actions.
What is Judicial Review?
The heads of the 15 executive departments, such as the Secretary of Defense, make up this advisory body to the President.
What is the Cabinet?
The required document that argues for the necessity of separation of powers and checks and balances to prevent tyranny.
What is Federalist No. 51?
A tactic used in the Senate to halt action on a bill, often requiring a vote for cloture to end it.
What is a filibuster?
A presidential directive that manages operations of the federal government and has the force of law.
What is an Executive Order?
The principle that judges should defer to the policy decisions of the elected branches of government.
What is Judicial Restraint?
What is a check on the bureaucracy from congress?
oversight, funding, hearings
The check the judicial branch has on the executive branch.
What is Judicial Review of Executive Orders/Actions?
Redrawing congressional district lines to favor one political party.
What is gerrymandering?
A large, informal power of the President to appeal to the public to pressure Congress to support his or her policy agenda.
What is the bully pulpit?
The custom requiring four of the nine Supreme Court justices to agree to hear a case.
What is the Rule of Four?
A term used to describe the vast, unorganized network of congressional staff, advocacy groups, and think tanks that collaborate to influence a broad policy area.
What is an issue network?
This court case established the principle of "one person, one vote" and allowed federal courts to hear challenges to legislative redistricting.
What is Baker v. Carr (1962)?
Representatives who vote primarily according to the wishes of their constituents, regardless of their own opinions.
What is a delegate?
This required document argues for a single, energetic executive, claiming it will ensure accountability and quick decision-making.
What is Federalist No. 70?
The court case that established judicial review by declaring an act of Congress unconstitutional.
What is Marbury v. Madison (1803)?
The close, mutually beneficial relationship between a congressional committee, a bureaucratic agency, and an interest group.
What is an Iron Triangle?
This court case ruled that the creation of congressional districts based only on race was unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
What is Shaw v. Reno (1993)?
The legislative power that allows Congress to review, monitor, and supervise federal agencies and policy implementation.
What is Congressional Oversight?
A newly elected President's formal power to nominate individuals for Cabinet secretaries, agency heads, and federal judges, all subject to Senate approval.
What is the Appointment Power?
This principle in court cases encourages judges to follow precedents set by previous court decisions.
What is stare decisis (or 'let the decision stand')?
This is the primary way the President can exert control and influence over a bureaucratic agency.
What is appointing and removing agency heads (or issuing executive orders)?
The specific vote margin required in both the House and the Senate to override a presidential veto.
What is a two-thirds vote?