Gov congress quiz

15th Amendment

No racial discrimination in voting

17th Amendment

Direct election of Senators (voters in each state cast ballots directly for the person they want to represent them in the U.S. Senate)

19th Amendment

Women’s suffrage

23rd Amendment

DC gets electoral votes

24th Amendment

You can’t charge people money to vote.

26th Amendment

Voting age = 18

Article I, Section 4

States control elections; Congress can override

Election Day

1st Tuesday after 1st Monday in November

House term

2 years

Senate term

6 years, staggered (only a portion of the seats are up for election at any given time, rather than all of them simultaneously)

Presidential term limit

2 terms or 10 years (22nd Amendment)

General election

Elect officeholders

Special election

Fill a vacancy
Example: A senator dies → state holds an election to fill the spot.

Primary election

Choose party nominee

Open primary

Any voter participates

Closed primary

Only party members

Caucus

People meet in a room and vote in groups, not private ballots.

Voting Rights Act 1965

You cannot make voting rules that target racial groups.

Motor Voter Act 1993

You can register to vote when you get a driver’s license or by mail.

Reapportionment

Reassign House seats based on census
(Every 10 years, states gain or lose seats based on population.)

Redistricting

Redraw district lines

Gerrymandering

Draw districts to advantage a group/party (Lines are drawn in a weird way to help one side win more seats.)

Majority-minority district

Voter majority of racial minority (A district where most voters are a minority group.)

Baker v. Carr

Courts can review districting; 14th Equal Protection
(Courts are allowed to judge if district maps are unfair.)

“One person, one vote”

Baker v. Carr

Shaw v. Reno

Racial gerrymandering unconstitutional states who wish to create districts on racial grounds); race cannot be sole factor.

Who can filibuster?

ONLY Senators.

Ending a filibuster

60 votes

Can Senators filibuster Supreme Court nominees?

No (rule changed).

Can filibuster budget reconciliation?

No

Silent filibusters

Threat of filibuster; common today.

Revenue bills must start in…

House of Representatives.
(A revenue bill is a bill that raises money, like taxes.)

OMB (Office of Management and Budget)

Prepares president’s budget; executive branch.

President’s budget timeline

Submitted in January; 9 months before fiscal year starts (Oct 1).

Budget resolution

Broad spending framework; concurrent resolution; no president signature.

(Congress sets overall spending goals; not a real law.)

Appropriations bills

12 bills funding categories; can be filibustered; must be signed.

(These are the real budget bills that fund government programs.)

Continuing resolution

Temporary funding extension when budget not passed.

Government shutdown

If Congress doesn’t pass a budget or a temporary funding bill, the government shuts down and non-essential workers are sent home without pay.

CBO

Nonpartisan; analyzes costs, effects of policies; informs Congress.

(CBO does the math for Congress. They estimate costs, predict economic effects, and stay neutral. They don’t choose sides.)

Mandatory spending

Required by law; doesn’t need annual approval; Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on debt.

Discretionary spending

Annual appropriations; includes defense, education, etc.

Income tax

Tax on individual income; 16th Amendment.

Payroll taxes

Social Security & Medicare; split employee/employer.
Ex: You earn $1,000 from a job.
Payroll taxes take 7.65% from you, and your employer also pays 7.65%.

Corporate tax

Tax on business profits.

Excise tax

Tax on specific goods (ex: gas).

Teller vote

When specific people ("tellers") count the votes, either officially inside a government building or unofficially outside a polling place for a political party.

Voice vote

Say “yay” or “nay”; used for simple majorities.

Division vote

Members stand to be counted.

Roll call vote

Name called; say yay or nay; rare.

Electronic voting

ID cards; most common today.

What is fillibuster

A tactic used in the Senate to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill.