The Legislative Branch
At the Constitutional Convention, this compromise settled the conflict between large and small states by combining population-based representation with equal representation.
What is the Great (Connecticut) Compromise?
Of the 15 executive departments, this is the only one whose leader is not called "secretary."
Who is the Attorney General (Department of Justice)?
This 1803 Supreme Court case established the power of judicial review.
What is Marbury v. Madison?
Joined with Congress's fiscal powers, this clause supported creation of the Second Bank of the United States in McCulloch v. Maryland.
What is the Necessary and Proper Clause?
Congress creates a national bank to help collect taxes and manage federal funds. A state imposes a tax specifically on the bank, arguing that taxation is a power shared by state and national governments.
Based on McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), what is can be true based on this statement?
The tax is unconstitutional because states cannot use their powers to interfere with a valid exercise of federal authority.
To promote continuity and stability, this chamber staggers its elections so that only about one-third of its members face voters every two years.
What is the Senate?
Although the president is commander in chief of the armed forces, Article I assigns this power to Congress, splitting wartime authority between the branches.
What is the power to declare war?
In Marbury v. Madison, the plaintiff asked the Supreme Court to issue this court order compelling Secretary of State Madison to deliver his commission.
What is a writ of mandamus?
This 1824 case held that interstate navigation counted as interstate commerce, striking down a state-granted monopoly.
Gibbons v. Ogden?
: This 1963 case held that states must provide counsel to defendants who cannot afford one in felony trials.
What is Gideon v. Wainwright?
According to the Constitution, all bills for raising revenue must originate in this chamber.
What is the House of Representatives?
The president's constitutional power to grant pardons and reprieves for federal offenses explicitly does not extend to this situation.
What are cases of impeachment?
The authority to hear a case first, decide facts, and build the record — exercised by district courts but not by appellate courts.
What is original jurisdiction?
In this 1995 case, the Court ruled the Gun-Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress's authority because gun possession near a school lacked a sufficient tie to interstate commerce.
What is United States v. Lopez?
This 1966 case requires police to warn a suspect in custody of the rights to remain silent and to counsel before interrogation.
What is Miranda v. Arizona?
This Senate power, requiring a two-thirds vote, is the reason the president negotiates treaties but cannot finalize them alone.
What is ratifying (advising and consenting to) treaties?
Though the Constitution never uses the word, this advisory body of department heads developed from Article II's provision allowing the president to require written opinions from principal officers.
What is the cabinet?
This level of the federal courts is where cases are tried first, with witnesses and juries.
What are the district courts (the trial level)?
This "marble cake" model of federalism describes national, state, and local governments sharing responsibilities, funding, and implementation, as in New Deal programs.
What is cooperative federalism?
This 1962 case held that government-composed prayer in public schools violated the Establishment Clause, even though participation was voluntary.
What is Engel v. Vitale?
In Federalist No. 70, Alexander Hamilton defends placing executive power in a single president rather than dividing it among several
What is to promote energy, accountability, and decisive administration in the executive?
In the presidential line of succession, after the vice president, Speaker of the House, and president pro tempore of the Senate, eligible cabinet secretaries follow in this order.
What is the order in which their departments were created?
This practice requires at least four justices to vote in favor before the Supreme Court will grant a writ of certiorari.
What is the Rule of Four?
This "layer cake" model of federalism describes national and state governments operating in relatively separate spheres, from the early republic through the early 1930s.
What is dual federalism?
This 2010 case held that restrictions on independent corporate and union election spending violated the First Amendment.
What is Citizens United v. FEC?