| A | B |
|---|
| legislative branch | makes the laws |
| executive branch | enforces the laws |
| judicial branch | interprets the laws |
| judicial review | the power of the Supreme Court to declare a law unconstitutional |
| Federal Election Commission (FEC) | provides public money for campaigns and restricts spending and donations |
| PACs | political action committees; allows interest groups to donate money to campaigns |
| elastic clause | gives Congress the flexibility to stretch its powers to meet new situtations |
| Alexander Hamilton | founder of the Federalist Party; he supported having a national bank |
| Thomas Jefferson | leader of the Democrat-Republicans; wanted the states to have the most power |
| War Powers Act | attempted to limit the president's ability to lead the nation into war |
| primary election | used by parties to decide who their candidate should be |
| Electoral College | to be president, one must win a majority in this |
| Commander-in-Chief | the role the president plays when he orders the military to take action |
| judicial activism | when the Supreme Court acts as a lawmaker |
| judicial restraint | when the Supreme Court simply follows past decisions (precendents) |
| third parties | often their ideas get picked up by the major parties |
| term of office for a federal justice | life |
| broad construction | following the Constitution very loosely |
| strict construction | following the Constitution word for word |
| Senate | they approve all treaties |
| House of Representatives | a president can only be impeached here |
| Marbury v. Madison | established the idea of judicial review |
| John Marshall | early chief justice of the Supreme Court; under him the court increased the power of the national government |
| Gibbons v. Ogden | the "steamboat case"; increased federal control over interstate commerce |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | ruled that the federal government is supreme over the states |
| majority vote | its takes this to pass a bill in each house of Congress |
| filibuster | this can only happen in the Senate because they allow unlimited debate on a bill |
| Republican Party | big business, the wealthy, conservative |
| Democratic Party | unions, minorities, the donkey, liberal |
| nine | number of justices on the Supreme Court |
| checks and balances | an example would be if the president vetoed a bill from Congress |
| President | this person is in charge of deciding foreign policy in the U.S. |
| cabinet | the president's advisors; part of our unwritten Constitution |
| Chief Legislator | when a president signs a bill into law he/she is playing this role |
| Chief Diplomat | when a president makes a treaty with another nation he is playing this role |
| President of the Senate | the Vice-President must do this job |
| Speaker of the House | if the President and V.P. both should die, this person is next in line for the presidency |
| a crisis | it is during this that a president is most likely to see an increase in his power |
| amendments and elastic clause | these make the Constitution very flexible |
| federal requirements about voting | must be 18, no poll taxes nor literacy tests |
| state requirements about voting | must be registered, must be a U.S. citizen |
| 35 | one must be this age to be president |
| 6 years | length of a term of office for a Senator |
| 30 | A U.S. Senator must at least be this age |
| 2 years | term of office for a member of the House |
| 4 years | term of office for the president |
| Chief Justice | title for the leader of the Supreme Court |
