Studied by 52 people
Three Branches of Federal Government and Minnesota Government
Legislative Oversight
Committees in Congress hold hearings and do investigations to make sure the laws they passed are working. This also makes sure the President and Bureaucracy are accountable to the people for how they execute the laws.
Constituents
Constituents are the people that an elected official represents. They are the people living in a certain area, like a town or a state.
Districts (how are they mapped)
Districts are drawn on a map to divide up areas for voting and electing representatives. Each district must have about the same number of people.
House make-up (2 years, 435 members)
The U.S. House has 435 members who are elected to their jobs for 2 years from a single member district.
Reapportionment
Reapportionment is when they decide how many representatives each state gets in the House of Representatives. They do this every ten years after counting how many people live in each area. This also affects how many votes for President each state receives in the Electoral College
Single-Member District
In a single-member district, one person is picked to represent each area. People vote for a specific person to represent them - they don’t vote for a political party
Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering is when they change the district lines (boundaries) to help elect a member of one political party. It can make elections unfair.
Incumbent
An incumbent is an elected person who is already in a job.
Speaker of the House
The Speaker of the House is like the leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. This person is also the head of the party with the most members in the House.
President of the Senate
The President of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States. They can vote if there is a tie.
Senate make-up (6 years, 100 members)
The U.S. Senate has 100 members who are elected to their jobs for six years. Every two years, some of them have to run for re-election.
Senate Majority Leader
The Majority Leader is the head of the party with the most members in the Senate. They help decide what laws to talk about and when to vote on them.
Senate Minority Leader
The Minority Leader is the head of the party with fewer members in the Senate. They help their party share its ideas and work together.
Committees
Committees are small groups of lawmakers who talk about certain topics, like health or taxes. They help decide if new laws should be made and how they should be written.
Standing Committees
These are permanent committees and have specific areas they focus on like the Ways and Means Committee works on taxes, and Judiciary committee works on confirming judges
Bill vs. Law
A bill is an idea for a new law. When both the House of Representatives and the Senate agree on a bill, and the President signs it, it becomes a law.
Quorum
Quorum is the smallest number of lawmakers who need to be at a meeting for important decisions to be made. Without enough people, the meeting can't start.
Filibuster
A special rule in the Senate that allows the minority party to delay action. It can be ended if 60 Senators vote against it. This gives the minority party in the Senate more power than it has in the House.
Qualifications to be President
To be President, you have to be a natural born citizen, be at least 35 years old, and have lived in the country for at least 14 years.
Presidential succession
Presidential succession is the order of who becomes President if the current one can't do the job. First, the Vice President takes over, the the speaker of the House and cabinet officers
Executive Order
Orders and rules that the President issues about how the government will implement laws. They have the same power as laws.
Executive Privilege
Executive privilege is when the President can keep some things secret from other parts of the government, like Congress or the courts.
Appointment Power
The President chooses many people in other parts of the government. (ex. Judges, ambassadors, cabinet members). The Senate confirms appointments.
Pardons
A pardon is legal forgiveness for a crime. Presidents have the power to give people pardons for federal crimes.
Federal Bureaucracy
The federal bureaucracy is all the people who work for the government to make sure laws are followed and things get done.
Executive Cabinet
The Executive Cabinet is a group of people picked by the President to help make decisions and run parts of the government. Each person is in charge of a different department, like the Department of Defense or the Department of Education.
Civil Service Employees
These are the people who work for government and run things from day to day. They are hired based on their qualifications, not politics.
Judiciary
The judiciary is the part of the government that makes sure laws are followed fairly.
Majority opinion
When the Supreme Court decides what a law means, it writes a majority opinion. This becomes the precedent for future cases.
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is like the area where a court has the power to make decisions. For example, Federal courts have power over federal laws. State courts have power over state laws
Original jurisdiction
Original jurisdiction means that a court is the first court to hear a case. It is the court where cases start.
Plaintiff & defendant
The plaintiff is the person who says someone else did something wrong, and the defendant is the person who is being accused of doing something wrong. It's like when someone is saying, "He did it!" and the other person says, "No, I didn't!"
How are federal judges appointed
Federal judges are picked by the President and then agreed on (confirmed) by the Senate.
Judicial Review
Judicial review is when courts decide if laws made by the government follow the rules in the Constitution.
Precedent
Precedent is like using an example from the past to help decide what to do now. It's like saying, "We did it this way before, so let's do it like that again."
Tax Revenue
Tax revenue is money that the government collects from people and businesses.
Largest source of Federal Tax Revenue
The largest percent comes from taxes that people pay on their income, like their wages from work.
Federal Entitlement programs
Congress created some benefit programs. Anyone who qualifies for the benefit gets it. It is “mandatory” because Congress must pay for it. Some examples are programs for older people like Social Security, or for people who need healthcare like Medicare.
Federal Discretionary spending
Congress has a choice about how much money to spend on these kinds of programs. (ex. Defense, Parks, Science, etc.)
Minnesota governorship
The Minnesota governorship is the job of being the leader of the Executive branch of the state.
Largest source of Minnesota Tax Revenue
The largest percent comes from taxes that people pay on their income, like their wages from work.
Where does Minnesota spending go
Minnesota spends the largest percentage of its money on health and human services and education.
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