Federal Government Part II Study Guide

  1. Vocabulary:
  • Veto- to reject, usually as in a law.
  • Bicameral- 2 house legislature.
  • Filibuster- A tactic to stop a law from passing in the U.S. Senate.
  • Appeal- To challenge something.
  • Checks & Balances- A method to ensure that one branch does not become more powerful than the others.
  1. 3 branches of government, specifically:
  • Executive- This branch is suppose to enforce laws and the President’s cabinet is apart of this branch. This branch is subject to checks and balances.
  • Legislative- This branch is bicameral and has the power to declare war and create laws. This branch is subject to checks and balances.
  • Judicial- In this branch, justices are appointed for life and must be confirmed by the senate, and this branch would decide if a law is constitutional or unconstitutional. This branch is subject to checks and balances.
  1. The Speaker of the House is in charge of the House of Representatives
  2. Study the examples of Checks and Balances from your notes.
  3. Federal Court Ranks:
  4. Lowest—District Court
  5. Middle—Court of Appeals
  6. Highest—Supreme Court
  7. Duties of citizens—paying taxes, serving in court, attending school, etc
  8. We use the Electoral College to elect the President
  9. The principle of checks and balances makes sure that all branches are equal in power. This means that the President is not the most powerful person in the U.S.
  10. A naturalized citizen can be appointed to the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and be a Federal Court Judge.
  11. The president must be a natural born citizen.
  12. The Great Compromise occurred during the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
  13. The President’s term last 4 years.
  14. The Vice-President is elected with the President using the Electoral College.
  15. There are 100 total senators, 435 House of Representatives, and 3 electoral votes from Washington D.C. Together these numbers equal 538 total electoral votes.
  16. Louisiana has 6 members in the House of Representatives, so Louisiana also has 6 districts
  17. The first 3 people in line for presidential succession are the Vice-President, Speaker of the House, and President Pro-tempore of the Senate
  18. The more population a state has, the more electoral votes it gets. The less population a state has, the less electoral votes it gets.
  19. Senators serve 6 year terms and House of Representatives serve 2 year terms.
  20. The President and Congress both share control of the military so that one branch does not become too powerful and use the military in unacceptable ways.
  21. The House of Representatives has the power to impeach the President.
  22. Filibusters are tactics that can be done by Senators and not House of Representatives.
  23. The 3 requirements to run for President are you must be 35 years or older, a natural born citizen, and have lived in U.S. for 14 years.
  24. Members of Congress (Senators & House of Representatives) must live in the state they represent.
  25. In order for a case to be heard by the Supreme Court it must be heard by all other lower courts and then you can ask the Supreme Court to hear the case.
  26. Electoral votes are determined by adding each states number of Senators and House of Representatives together (Ex. Louisiana currently has 2 Senators and 6 House of Representatives giving Louisiana 8 total electoral votes.)
  27. The requirements for Vice-President are the same as President because the Vice-President will assume the Presidential office if anything ever happens to the President.
  28. Name one of Louisiana’s current Senators (Bill Cassidy and David Vitter).
  29. Federaljudges are appointed for life to avoid political pressure.
  30. The purpose of the Electoral College is to make sure that large states do not dominate elections.
  31. One benefit of using the Electoral College is small states can have influence in elections.
  32. One weakness or negative consequence of using the Electoral College is the popular vote may not represent the electoral vote.