Three Branches of the Federal Government

Flashcards reviewing the three branches of the U.S. Federal Government.

Checks and Balances

A branch's power to limit the other two branches.

Terms of the House of Representatives

Two-year terms.

Terms of the Senate

Six-year terms.

How many seats are in the House of Representatives?

435 seats.

What is apportionment?

The process by which seats in the House are distributed among the states.

What is redistricting?

Redrawing of electoral district boundaries every ten years.

What is gerrymandering?

The manipulation of district boundaries to favor a particular candidate or party.

What are the qualifications for House of Representatives?

Must be a U.S. citizen of at least seven years’ standing and at least twenty-five years old; resident of the state that they are elected to represent.

What are the qualifications for Senate?

Required to have nine years’ standing as citizens and to be at least thirty years old when sworn in; Resident of the state that they are elected to represent.

What is the incumbency advantage?

The historical difficulty of unseating an incumbent in the House or Senate

What is an enumerated power?

A power explicitly stated in the Constitution.

What is an implied power?

A power not specifically detailed in the Constitution but one that is inferred as necessary to achieve the objectives of the national government.

What are inherent powers?

Powers not enumerated or implied, but assumed to exist as a direct result of the country’s existence.

What is oversight?

The right to review and monitor other bodies, such as the executive branch.

What is impeachment?

The act of charging a government official with serious wrongdoing, which in some cases may lead to the removal of that official from office.

What is the War Powers Resolution?

Federal law that requires that presidents get approval from Congress to continue any military campaign beyond sixty days.

Who is the Speaker of the House?

The most important leadership position in the House, which is elected by the entire body of representatives.

Who is the Senate Majority Leader?

The majority party’s leader in the Senate.

Who is the President Pro Tempore?

The most senior senator of the majority party who presides over the Senate.

What is a filibuster?

A parliamentary maneuver used in the Senate to extend debate on a piece of legislation as long as possible, typically with the intended purpose of obstructing or killing it.

What is a standing committee?

A committee with permanent jurisdiction over a policy area.

What is a joint committee?

A committee with members appointed from both the House and the Senate and charged with exploring key issues.

What is a conference committee?

A committee used to reconcile different bills passed in both the House and the Senate. The conference committees are appointed on an ad hoc basis as necessary when a bill passes the House and Senate in different forms.

What is an ad hoc, special, or select committee?

A temporary committee set up to address specific topics. These types of committees often conduct special investigations and hearings, such as on aging or ethics.

What is markup?

The amending and voting process in a standing committee.

What is cloture?

A parliamentary process to end a debate in the Senate, as a measure against the filibuster; invoked when three-fifths of senators vote for the motion.

What is an omnibus bill?

A proposed budget that includes amendments that advance unrelated policies.

What is the delegate model of representation?

A method of representing constituents through which the representatives act as delegates in accordance with the wishes of constituents.

What is the trustee model of representation?

A method of representing constituents in which representatives act as trustees, entrusted by the constituents with the power to use their own good judgment to make decisions on the constituents’ behalf.

What is descriptive representation?

Representation rooted in the racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, and sexual identity of the representatives themselves.

What is pork-barrel politics?

Federal spending on projects designed to benefit a particular district or set of constituents.

What is allocation?

Assigning of funds to programs or agencies in order to implement policies.

What are earmarks?

Funds designated for a specific project.

What is the Electoral College?

The constitutionally created group of individuals, chosen by the states, with the responsibility of formally selecting the next U.S. president.

Who is the Commander in Chief?

Supreme commander of the armed forces.

What is a pardon?

A reduction in the penalty a person serves for a crime granted by a president.

What is the Cabinet?

A group of advisors to help a president administer his or her duties, consisting of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch.

What is executive privilege?

The presidential right to withhold information from Congress, the judiciary, or the public.

What are Executive Agreements?

International agreements negotiated between two countries that, unlike treaties, do not need to be ratified by the U.S. legislature.

What are Executive Orders?

A rule or order issued by the president without the cooperation of Congress and which has the force of law.

What is the Inagural Address?

The first speech of newly-elected presidents, in which they announce their policy priorities.

What is the Bully Pulpit?

The president’s platform from which they can advocate for their agenda to the public.

What are Signing Statements?

Statements issued by a president when agreeing to legislation that indicate how the chief executive will interpret and enforce the legislation in question.

What is an Omnibus Bill?

A proposed budget that includes amendments that advance unrelated policies.

What is the Primary system?

An election in which people vote for candidates from a particular political party to run for office in the general election.

What is the Line-Item Veto?

A power created through law in 1996 and overturned by the Supreme Court in 1998 that allowed the president to veto specific aspects of bills passed by Congress while signing into law what remained.

What is the Line-Item Veto?

A power created through law in 1996 and overturned by the Supreme Court in 1998 that allowed the president to veto specific aspects of bills passed by Congress while signing into law what remained.

What is the Executive Office of the President?

The administrative organization that reports directly to the president, which is made up of important offices, units, and staff of the current president, and is headed by the White House chief of staff.

What is the National Security Council?

The president's principal forum for national security and foreign policy decision-making.

What is the Office of Management and Budget?

An office within the Executive Office of the President charged with producing the president’s budget, overseeing its implementation, and overseeing the executive bureaucracy.

What is a Bureaucracy?

An administrative organization of non-elected officials charged with carrying out functions connected to a series of policies and programs.

What is Rulemaking?

The process by which laws are converted to more specific rules or directives that shape federal policies, regulations, and programs.

What is the Acquisitive Model?

A model of bureaucracy that understands them as naturally competitive, power-hungry, and run by bureaucrats who recognize that they are competing for limited resources.

Who are Civil Servants?

Individuals who work in the bureaucracy and fill roles in every area of government.

What is Adjudication?

A judiciary process through which agencies determine whether violations of federal rules have occurred, resolve disputes, and issue punishments.

What is the Monopolistic System?

A model of bureaucracy that suggests that the absence of competition provides the greatest insight into how a bureaucracy functions.

Who is a Whistleblower?

An official who publicizes misdeeds committed within a bureaucracy or other organization.

What is the Merit System?

A system for filling civil service positions by using competitive examinations to value experience and competence over political loyalties.

What is the Spoils System?

A system through which officeholders reward their political supporters by appointing them to paid government positions within the bureaucracy.

What is the Freedom of Information Act?

A law that provides journalists and the general public the right to request records from federal agencies and requires agencies to release that information unless it qualifies for exemption.

What is the Government in Sunshine Act?

Legislation that requires all multi-headed federal agencies to hold their meetings in a public forum on a regular basis.

What is the Dual Court System?

The division of the courts into two separate systems, one federal and one state, with each of the fifty states having its own courts.

What are Trial courts?

The courts in which a case starts or is tried.

What are Appellate Courts?

The courts that review cases already decided by a lower or trial court and that may change a lower court’s decision.

What is original jurisdiction?

The power of a court to hear a case for the first time.

What is appellate jurisdiction?

The power of a court to hear a case on appeal from a lower court and possibly change the lower court’s decision.

What is the Rule of Four?

A Supreme Court custom in which a case will be heard when four justices decide to do so.

What is a Writ of Certiorari?

An order of the Supreme Court calling up the records of the lower court so a case may be reviewed, which is abbreviated as cert.

Who is the Solicitor General?

A lawyer who represents the federal government and argues some cases before the Supreme Court.

What is Oral Argument?

Words spoken before the Supreme Court (usually by lawyers) explaining the legal reasons behind their position in a case, and why it should prevail.

What is Judicial Review?

The power to say what the law is.

What is Stare Decisis?

The principle by which courts rely on past decisions and their precedents when making decisions in new cases.

What is Judicial Activism?

A judicial philosophy in which a justice is more likely to overturn decisions or rule actions by the other branches unconstitutional, especially in an attempt to broaden individual rights and liberties.

What is Judicial Restraint?

A judicial philosophy in which a justice is more likely to let the decisions or actions of the other branches of government stand.