Flashcards: Government Exam: Raiff
All 27 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 6 principals of the Constitution | 1. Popular Sovereignty 2. Limited Government 3. Separation of Power 4. Checks and Balances 5. Judicial Review 6. Federalism |
| Checks and balances | A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power |
| Articles of Confederation | The nation's first constitution. The document was limited because states held most of the power, and congress lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, or control coinage |
| Bill of Rights | Created to protect individuals from government interference and possible tyranny. The Bill of Rights, drafted by a group led by James Madison, consisted of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which guaranteed the civil rights of American citizens. |
| Presidential Qualifications | Must be a natural born US citizen, must be 35 years of age, must have been a resident of the US for 14 years |
| Senator | 2 per state-6 year term-present: voters pick them-must be 30 yrs old and be citizen for 9 yrs |
| Member of House of Representatives | must be 25 years old and a citizen for 7 years |
| Congress | The legislative branch of government, as described in Article I of the US Constitution, consisting of the House of Representatives and Senate. Primarily responsible for making laws. |
| Senate | The smaller of the two bodies that make up the legislative branch of the United States government. |
| House of Representatives | One of 2 bodies creating Congress. The number of members a state can send to Congress depends on the state's population |
| How a bill becomes law | 1. written 2. discussed in committee + voted 3. discussed in House of Reps. and Senate + voted on in both 4. President signs it or vetoes it (which brings back to Congress, needs 2/3 vote to override veto) |
| Amendment 1 | freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition |
| Amendment 13 | abolition of slavery |
| Amendment 14 | Citizenship, due process, equal protection |
| Amendment 16 | Gave Congress power to collect taxes on income |
| Amendment 18 | Prohibition of alcohol |
| Amendment 19 | Voting Rights for Women |
| Amendment 25 | Presidential succession and disability |
| Amendment 26 | Voting age lowered to 18 |
| Presidential Succession | 1. Vice President 2. Speaker of the House 3. President Pro-Tempore of the Senate |
| conference committee | committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to work out differences on a particular bill passed by the House and Senate |
| Congressional Elections | *house elections (every 2 years) *senate elections (every 6 years) *every two years; 100% of the house is up and 30% of the senate |
| Elastic Clause | clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that gives Congress the right to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the powers expressed in the other clauses of Article I |
| Congressional Powers | collect taxes, borrow money, regulate currency, regulate trade, postal system, copyrights and patents, declare war, regulate military, elastic clause. |
| Senate leader | a senator selected by the majority party whose functions are similar to those of the speaker of the house |
| House of Representatives leader | Speaker of the House; elected by majority party of the House |
| General Elections | regularly scheduled elections at which voters of all parties make the final selections of officeholders |