EXAM STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS Flashcards
How many senators are there? How many from each state? How long is their term of office?
100 total, 2 from each state, 6 year term
How many U.S house members are there? How many from each state? How long is their term of office?
435, varies depending on population, 2 year term
Who are the current speaker of the house, senate majority leader, and chief justice of supreme court
Speaker: Mike Johnson
Senate Majority: John Thune
Chief Justice: John Roberts
Who was the main author of the declaration of independence
Thomas Jefferson
What was the main premise of the declaration of independence
People have natural rights that cannot be taken away and it is the job of the government to protect these natural rights. They can remove leaders that violate these rights
WHat were weaknesses of the articles of confederation
-National government could not tax
-No independent leader to direct the government
-The government couldn’t regulate commerce
How were votes determined in the Articles Of Confederation? How many votes were needed on important issues
Every state had 1 vote and 9/13 votes were needed on important issues
What were the Virginia and New Jersey Plan
Virginia- Legislative branch would have 2 houses, BOTH houses would be decided by population of each state
New Jersey- There would be 1 house and all states would have the same number of representatives
What was the Great Compromise
-2 chambers, 1 where each state has the same number of reps, 1 where its decided by population of each state
How many votes does each state get for President under the Electoral College
The sum of the representatives and senators for each state
Which clause speaks to when state laws conflict with national laws
Supremacy Clause
What year was the constitution written
1787
What is separation of powers?
-Assigning law making, law enforcing, and law interpreting to separate branches of government
What happens if no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes?
- The house of reps pick the president
What was the original plan for how the President and Vice President were selected
-Most electoral votes becomes president, second most electoral votes becomes vice president
How long of a term do federal judges serve? How are federal judges appointed?
-Life terms
-They are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate
What compromises were made regarding slavery in order to ratify the constitution?
slaves counted as 3/5 of a free person , Cant ban the slave trade for at least 20 years, fugitive slaves had to be returned
What were supporters of the Constitution called? Why did they support this?
Federalists, they were concerned that the articles of confederation were too weak
WHat were opponents of the Constitution called? Why did they oppose this
Antifederalists, they thought the new national gov would be too strong and that states would lose a lot of their rights
What were the federalist papers
85 newspaper articles written to defend the constitution
What were the main arguments of Federalist 10, 51, 70, and 78
Fed 10: New gov would not be ruled by a faction
Fed 51:Tyranny would be prevented by checks and balances and separation of powers
Fed 70: 1 single executive as the leader of the executive branch
Fed 78: Judicial branch is the least dangerous because they have neither force or will, only judgement
What were the main arguments of Brutus 1
-The size of the US was too large for a strong national/ central government
What was added to ensure the ratification of the constitution?
-The bill of rights
Which supreme court case established the principle of judicial review
Marbury Vs Madison
What is federalism
Division of power between the central gov and state governments
What are characteristics of Dual Federalism?
-belief that the powers of the national and state governments are clearly different
What are characteristics of Cooperative Federalism?
-Allows the National gov and state gov to undertake functions jointly and often share power
What are enumerated powers?
- Powers that are granted specifically to the national gov in the constitution, especially with congress
What is the necessary and proper clause?
-grants congress the authority to legislate as it seems fit to carry out its constitutionally granted powers
What is the commerce clause?
- grants congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations among the several states and with Indian tribes.
What is selective incorporation?
-the process that the supreme court applies the bill of rights to states on a case by case basis
What are grants-in-aid?
-general term for money paid from one level of government to another level of government
- What is fiscal federalism?
-the federal gov’s use of grant- in aids to influence policies in the states
What was decided in the Supreme Court case of United States vs. Lopez?
-there are limits to the national govs ability to regulate behavior based on the commerce clause
-gave states more power over national gov
What was decided in the Supreme Court case of McCulloch vs. Maryland?
-national bank is constitutional and states cannot tax it
-gave national gov more power over the states
What is the 10 th Amendment to the Constitution?
any powers specifically given to national gov and not denied to the states are given to the states
What is the role of both the House of Representatives and the Senate regarding
impeachment?
- the house can impeach a president with majority vote, The senate holds a trial which needs a 2/3 vote for removal
What is descriptive representation?
- a belief that constituents are most effectively represented by legislators that have similar demographics like race or ethnicity
Why does Congress use committees? What are standing committees?
-congress uses committees to break up the work load they have
-standing committee is a permanent committee that specializes in a certain policy area
What is the role of a committee chair?
-set the agenda, head of the committee,and are of the majority party,
What is a select committee? When are these used?
-temporary committee , usually for investigations and the committee disbands after the investigation is over
What are the names of the roles of leaders in both the House of Representatives and the
Senate called?
-Speaker of the house-Most powerful person in the house
- Senate Majority leader- most powerful person in the senate
What Constitutional Amendment changes the method in which Senators were selected?
How did this happen?
-17th amendment in 1913
-senators were appointed before then ( they are now voted for)
What is reapportionment? When does this occur?
- redistribution of representatives among the states, based on population change
- happens every 10 years after the census
What is gerrymandering?
-belief that political districts are redrawn to give an advantage to the political party in power
What is an incumbent? What is the incumbency advantage? Describe some advantages
incumbents have?
-current office holder
-they have greater name recognition, usually have more money, also can mail out things to constituents for free ( franking privilege)
What is a filibuster? What is cloture?
-Nonstop speech making to prevent a vote in the senate
Cloture-Limits the amount of time that can be spent debating a bill
What is divided government?
-situation where 1 party controls the white house and another party is the majority in at least 1 of the 2 chambers of congress
What is the budget setting process?
-The budget is set by the president and it is approved by congress
What is mandatory spending?
-spending that is required by law that congress does not need to approve each year
What is discretionary spending?
- things like the military and education that HAVE to be voted on each year
What is a budget surplus? What is a budget deficit?
-When the gov collects more in taxes than it spends in 1 year
-When the gov collects less money than it spends in 1 year
What is bipartisanship?
-2 political parties work together to pass legislation
What is the delegate role? What is the trustee role?
-Delegate role is when they vote based on the majority of how their constituents wish them to
Trustee role is when they votes based on their individual values
What was decided in the case of Baker vs. Carr?
- state legislative districts have to be approximately equal based on population
What was decided in the Supreme Court case of Shaw vs. Reno?
-race cannot be the only factor in creating a congressional district
What are the requirements to become president?
-have to be a natural born U.S citizen
-have to had lived in the U.S for at least 14 years
-have to be at least 35
How are vacancies in the role of vice president now filled? What caused this change?
- president appoints a new VP who has to be confirmed by both chambers of congress (25th amendment)
What role does the president have in the legislative process?
-the presidents have become increasingly active in all stages of the legislative process
How long can a president serve in office total? According to what?
-They can serve 2 terms or a total of 10 years under the 22nd amendment
What are some of the main reasons someone running for President may consider in
choosing his/her running mate as Vice President?
-you could appeal to different geographic regions or to provide a different strength than the president has
What is executive privilege?
a right claimed by presidents to keep certain convos, records and transcripts confidential from Congress and other places
What is the official process for someone to become a Cabinet member?
-appointed by the president, confirmed by the senate
What is the State of the Union Address?
- That is an annual speech from the president to Congress, updating them on the state of national affairs
Describe the role of Chief Executive.
-Overseeing the federal bureaucracy
What are executive orders?
-a presidential directive that creates or modifies a law that does not need to be approved by congress
What is the role of commander in chief? Who can declare war?
-They oversee the military chain of command
-ONLY congress can declare war (BOTH HOUSES)
How many Cabinet departments exist today? How are cabinet departments created?
-15 cabinet departments
-congress creates cabinet departments
What is civil service?
-a merit based system( actually qualified ) for hiring and promotion instead of it being loyalty bases
What is an iron triangle?
-a relationship between bureaucratic agencies , congressional committees, and interest groups that join forces to create policy
What is deregulation?
-a bureaucratic reform by which the gov reduces its role as a regulator of business
What is oversight?
- congress ensuring laws are being followed by its original intent or to investigate members of the executive branch
Describe the terms for commissioners and the reason for it.
-appointed for set terms to be insulated from politics
What is political patronage?
-filing bureaucratic position based on loyalty
What is the Hatch Act and why was it created?
-it prevents federal workers from engaging in politics
How many U.S. district and appeals/circuit courts are there? Describe the relationship
for each state.
-94 district courts, 13 circuit courts
-every state has at least 1 district court and no district court covers more than 1 state
What is appellate jurisdiction?
-authority of courts to hear cases that have already been tried,
What is judicial restraint
-a belief that judges closely follow laws and precedents
What is judicial activism?
-when federal judges follow precents and existing laws loosely and interject their own values in the decisons
What is a majority opinion?
-outcome the most judges vote for, is the decison of the case and is now precedent for future cases
What is a concurring opinion?
-you agree with the outcome of the majority, but for a different reason
What is a dissenting opinion?
-you disagree with the majority opinion (you are in the minority of the votes)
How are federal judicial appointments part of a president’s legacy?
-because they are for a life term and it gives the president a chance to have a lasting impact on the judicial system
- What are the roles of Chief Justice?
-they direct the conferences of the supreme court
What roles does the Solicitor General have?
-person that represents the government before the supreme court
What are amicus curiae briefs?
- are briefs in a court case filed by those who are not a direct party, but have an interest in it
What is “senatorial courtesy”?
-district and appeals court nominees have to be acceptable to the home state senator from the presidents party
- What is precedent (stare decisis)?
-the name of a judicial ruling that serves as the basis for ruling in a later case
how many articles are in the constitution?
7
how many amendments are in the constitution
27
