What role does a president play when celebrating a national holiday?
Cheif of State
What is logrolling?
the practice of exchanging favors, especially in politics by reciprocal voting for each other's proposed legislation.
What was the turning point that gave rise to the modern institutional presidency?
the economic and social turmoil of the Great Depression
How does the White House staff differ from the president's Cabinet?
They have more influence on the president
What type of due process protects citizens from arbitrary or unjust state or federal laws?
Judicial Interpretation
What government entity has the power to settle disputes between the states?
Supreme Court
On average, how many people does each member of the House represent?
700,000
How might presidents use their powers of persuasion in the legislative process?
in leading public opinion to support their policy agendas
What amendment limits the president to two terms?
22nd Amendment
What is cloture?
a procedure for ending a debate and taking a vote
What first lady acted as a surrogate for her partially paralyzed husband?
Eleanor Roosevelt
What amendment gave women the right to vote?
19th Ammendment
How can the Congress change a decision of the Supreme Court?
Constitutional Convention or an Amendment
What is the Full Faith and Credit Clause?
addresses the duties that states within the United States have to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."
In what court do cases generally begin?
Trial
What do proponents of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility call its prisoners?
enemy combatants
What agency examines the cost implications of a proposed bill?
Office of Management and Budget
What is jurisdiction?
the official power to make legal decisions and judgments.
What type of legislature did the United States have under the Articles of Confederation?
Unicameral
Nullification was particularly prominent during what era in American history?
Civil war era
What amendment sets out the basic requirements for procedural due process?
5th amendment
According to the Constitution, how is the president supposed to be elected?
Electoral College
What clause in the Constitution requires states to return criminals to states where they have been convicted of a crime?
Article 4
What is an amicus curiae brief?
Legal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties. These briefs attempt to influence a court's decision.
Why was the War Powers Resolution (1973) adopted by Congress?
to reinvigorate the role of Congress in the conduct of war
Who was the author of the Declaration of Independence?
Thomas Jefferson
Selective incorporation makes the protections from the Bill of Rights applicable to the states through what amendment?
14th amendment
How many citizens did the Constitution initially mandate that each member of the House of Representatives should represent?
30,000
What is an oligarchy?
a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
Who represents the federal government in the Supreme Court?
Solicitor General
What institutional resource is closest to the president?
White House Staff
Aside from the First Amendment, what portion of the U.S. Constitution deals with the relationship between the state and religion?
Article 6
What was the main purpose for the March on Washington?
Jobs and Freedom in the nation's capital.
How many amendments have been made to the Constitution since its ratification?
27 Amendments
How does "pork" legislation aid the district of a member of Congress?
Increasing jobs and revenue with federally funded projects.
What is a conference committee?
A committe that resolves disagreements on a particular bill.
What are civil liberties?
individual rights protected by law from unjust governmental or other interference.
What is the major function of the Cabinet?
To help the president exicute laws
What type of court is the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran's Claims?
Legislative
What do proponents of judicial activism believe?
believe that the federal courts must correct injustices when the other branches of the federal government, or states, refuse to do so.
Who presides over trials for presidential impeachment?
Cheif Justice
How is a vice presidential vacancy filled?
Presidential Nomination
What is an unfunded mandate?
a statute or regulation that requires a state or local government to perform certain actions, with no money provided for fulfilling the requirements
Of the fifty-five delegates who attended some portion of the Constitutional Convention, how many ultimately signed it?
39
What did the Supreme Court determine was unconstitutional in Brown v. Board?
Segregation of schools
Why do incumbents have such a huge advantage?
name recognition, access to media, and franking privilege
What president is arguably the first modern president?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
What did Abington School District v. Schempp find to be unconstitutional?
Prayer in Public Schools
How are the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 similar?
Equal rights for african americans
What did Jim Crow laws mandate?
racial segregation in all public facilities in southern states of the former Confederacy
What rule bars the use of illegally seized evidence at a trial?
Exclusionary rule
What Amendment guarantees citizens the right to vote regardless of race?
15th amendment
What is mercantilism?
belief in the benefits of profitable trading; commercialism.
What is the current legal status of American Indian tribes?
They are sovereign nations
What was the primary focus at the Seneca Falls Convention?
Women's rights
In order to prevent tyranny, what did Benjamin Franklin think had to be included in the Constitution?
Impeachment
What is nullification?
a legal theory that a state has the right to invalidate any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional.
How has the Equal Rights Amendment affected women's civil rights?
It has had little effect because it was not formally adopted
What is direct democracy?
a form or system of democracy giving citizens an extraodinary amount of participation in the legislation process and granting them a maximum of political self-determination.
In the House of Representatives, who is second in authority to the Speaker of the House?
Majority Leader
Congressional whips serve what main function?
persuade party members to the party line
What is executive privilege?
the privilege, claimed by the president for the executive branch of the US government, of withholding information in the public interest.
In what year was the Constitution ratified?
1787
In what system of government do local and regional governments derive authority from the national government?
Unitary System
In what Article can the necessary and proper clause be found?
Article 1
What Plan proposed proportional representation in both the House and the Senate?
Virginia Plan
What is the principle that each branch of the federal government has the means to thwart or influence actions by other branches of government?
Checks and Balances
How might a bill become a law if it has been pocket vetoed?
The bill must be reintroduced in the next session of Congress.
What Amendment allowed voting for citizens who were eighteen or older?
26th amendment
What is a writ of certiorari?
orders a lower court to deliver its record in a case so that the higher court may review it.
What is apportionment?
measures the population so that seats in the U.S. House of Representatives can be correctly apportioned among the states.
What type of grants typically allocate federal dollars based on population?
Categorical Grants
Amendment Process Method 1
Proposed by CONGRESS by a 2/3 Vote in both houses. Ratified by state LEGISLATURE in 3/4 of states.
What plan called for a one-house legislature and multi-person executive?
New Jersey Plan
What Amendment provides for direct election of Senators?
17th Amendment
For a case to be heard in the Supreme Court, a minimum of how many justices must vote to hear the case?
4
What law created the basic three-tiered structure of the federal court system?
The Judiciary Act
The rights of what groups were enhanced in Lawrence v. Texas?
Lesbian and Gays
In what article can the procedure for amending the Constitution be found?
Article 4
What is the purpose of the Council of Economic Advisers?
to advise the president on economic policy
What for was required from the states for ratification under the Articles of Confederation?
13 states had to agree to ratify
In what federal courts are trials conducted?
Trial courts of General Jurisdiction
What occurs during the appropriations process?
Congress grants funds to federal agencies and programs.
In the United States, the government derives its power from whom?
The people
Historically, how are vice-presidential candidates chosen?
Politically Balance the ticket
What is libel
a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.
What is slander?
the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.
What are reserved powers?
The powers that remain with the states after other powers were delegated to the national government by the Constitution.
What cause prevents the national government from sanctioning an official religion?
Free Excersize Clause
What Supreme Court case developed the exclusionary rule?
Weeks v. United States
What Supreme Court case established judicial review?
Marbury v. Madison
What party favored a strong national government?
Federalist party
What is original jurisdiction?
power to hear a case for the first time
What strategy did the NAACP use most effectively to advance civil rights for African Americans?
Litigation
What Article of the Constitution created the federal judiciary?
Article 3
What are concurrent powers?
powers in nations with a federal system of government that are shared by both the State and the federal government.
Under the Constitution, who elects the president?
Ellectoral college
What was the three-fifths compromise?
Allowed the south more representation in the government by making 3 out of 5 slaves 1 american
On what is indirect democracy based?
Representation
In what year was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?
1789
Amendment Process Method 2
Proposed by CONGRESS by a 2/3 Vote in both houses. Ratified by state LEGISLATURE in 3/4 of states.
Amendment Process Method 3
Proposed at NATIONAL CONVENTION called by congress when requestion by 2/3 of State Legislatures. Ratified by the State LEGISLATURE in 3/4 of the states.
Amendment Process Method 4
Proposed at NATIONAL CONVENTION called by congress when requestion by 2/3 of State Legislatures. Ratified by CONVENTIONS held in 3/4 of states.
