U.S. Government Exam Study Guide Notes

This study guide consists of 21 pages with approximately 20 questions per chapter.
Expect up to 10 questions from each chapter for the upcoming exam.
Use the textbook as a study reference.
There are 12 days available for exam preparation.

Permanent committees: Known as standing committees.
Committees for specific issues: Called select committees.
House debate terms: Determined through the Rules Committee.
Halting a bill: A filibuster is a procedural move to stop it.
Discrepancy resolution: A conference committee reconciliation occurs if the House and Senate pass differing bills.
Bill passage sequence: Introduction → Committee Review → House & Senate Approval → Conference Committee Reconciliation → Presidential Approval.
Senate president: The Vice President serves this role.
Most powerful in Senate: The Senate majority leader.
Congress's central role: Making policy is its primary responsibility.
Vote trading practice: Known as logrolling.
Congress creation objective: To check the power of the president.
Legislature makeup: The U.S. Congress is bicameral (two chambers).
Citizen influence on Congress: Through congressional elections and protests.

Electoral College electors: Comprises 538 members.
Electoral majority for presidency: 270 electors are required to win.
Certifying elections: Occurs when electors meet in December to cast votes.
Electors per state: Based on congressional representative count (2 senators + representatives).
Chief diplomat functions: Includes negotiating treaties and appointing ambassadors but not approving treaties which is a Senate role.
Presidential powers: Includes military roles and statutory powers granted by Congress.
Administrative discretion: Bureaucrats utilize this to implement public policy.
Accountability mechanisms: Congress, the president, and the courts monitor bureaucratic work.

Supreme Court jurisdiction basis: Defined by the Constitution; inferior courts set by legislation.
Original jurisdiction: Primarily held by trial courts.
Supreme Court role: Acts mainly in appellate jurisdiction.
Key landmark case: Marbury v. Madison cemented the Court's power.
Court systems in the U.S.: There exists a dual court system (state and federal).
Common law basis: Derived from tradition and earlier court decisions.

Characteristics: Political parties run candidates under a label and seek to govern.
Current party accessibility: Open to virtually everyone, surpassing traditional structures.
Voter registration: Typically shows a person's party identification.
Two-party system support: Influenced by laws favoring existing party structures and lack of alternatives.
Voting systems: Mainly winner-take-all in the U.S. elections.

Political socialization: The process of acquiring political values and opinions.
Poll initiation: Requires determining a target population first.
Sampling method: Stratified sampling reflects the target population's characteristics.
Tracking polls: Measure public opinion changes over time.
Public trust: The judicial branch typically ranks highest in public trust.