Structure of the Federal Government

Question 1

Census

Answer 1

a complete count of a population, including place of residence

Question 2

Gerrymandering

Answer 2

to draw a district’s boundaries to gain an advantage in eleections

Question 3

Filibuster

Answer 3

a method of defeating a bill in the senate by stalling the legislative process and preventing a vote

Question 4

Levying

Answer 4

to impose a tax

Question 5

Cloture

Answer 5

a procedure for ending a debate by taking a vote

Question 6

Speaker of the House

Answer 6

An administrative leader of the house controls proceedings, manages the business of the House, and maintains order; becomes president if P and VP die.

Question 7

Majority leader

Answer 7

the speaker’s top assistant whose job is to help plan the majority party’s legislative program and to steer important bills through the house

Question 8

Minority leader

Answer 8

the head of the minority party in a legislative body in the House

Question 9

Majority whip

Answer 9

responsible for counting heads, rounding up party members for votes and quorum calls, and occasionally standing in for majority or minority leaders

Question 10

President pro tempore

Answer 10

High-ranking senator of the majority party who presides over the US Senate in the absence of the VP

Question 11

separation of powers

Answer 11

an act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies.

Question 12

consituent

Answer 12

a person whom a member of congress has been elected to represent

Question 13

checks & balances

Answer 13

provides each branch of government with individual powers to check the other branches and prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.

Question 14

veto

Answer 14

rejection of a bill by the president

Question 15

pocket veto

Answer 15

when a president kills a bill passed during the last 10 days while Congress is in session by simply refusing to act on it

Question 16

executive order

Answer 16

a rule issued by the president that has the force of law

Question 17

executive privilege

Answer 17

the right of the president and other high-ranking executive officers to refuse to testify before congress or a court

Question 18

executive agreement

Answer 18

legally binding pact between the president and the head f a foreign government that does not require Senate approval

Question 19

cabinet

Answer 19

the president’s closest advisors, consisting of the VP, secretaries of each of the 15 executive departments, and other top government officials that help the president mak decisions and policies

Question 20

appeal

Answer 20

a legal proceeding by which a case is brought before a higher court for review of the decision of a lower court

Question 21

jurisdiction

Answer 21

the limit or territory within which authority may be exercised

Question 22

original jurisdiction

Answer 22

the authority of a trial court to be the first to hear a case

Question 23

litigant

Answer 23

A person involved in a lawsuit

Question 24

writ of certiorari

Answer 24

an order from the supreme court to send up the records on a case for review

Question 25

precedent

Answer 25

a legal principle created by an appellate court decision that lower court judges must follow when deciding similar cases

Question 26

federalism

Answer 26

a system of government in which two or more governments exercise power over the same people and the same territory

Question 27

Judicial review

Answer 27

the power of the Supreme court to declare laws and actions of local, state, or national governments unconstitutional

Question 28

judicial activism

Answer 28

the philosophy that courts must sometimes step into political and social controversies in order to protect the constitutional rights

Question 29

judicial restraint

Answer 29

the philosophy that courts should generally avoid overturning laws passed or action taken by democratically elected bodies

Question 30

rule of four

Answer 30

an unwritten rule declaring that if four of the nine justices agree to gear a case, it will be scheduled for argument