U.s. Government Midterm Review

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Who is James Madison?

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One of the Founding Fathers. Madison was a member of the Continental Congress. A leader in the drafting of the Constitution, he worked tirelessly for its adoption by the states, contributing several essays to The Federalist Papers. He served as president from 1809 to 1817, after Thomas Jefferson. The United States fought the War of 1812 during his presidency.

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Writ of Certori?

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A decision by the Supreme Court to hear an appeal from a lower court.

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.What is the Supreme Court?

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: the highest court in the judicial branch of the U.S. government that has original jurisdiction over controversies involving ambassadors or other ministers or consuls but whose main activity is as the court of last resort exercising appellate jurisdiction over cases involving federal law

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. Who is John Jay?

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a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States (1789–95). Jay served as the President of the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1779. During and after the American Revolution.

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Who is.Marbury v. Madison?

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a landmark case in United States law. It formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution.

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What are the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut?

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created a functioning government out of three towns on the Connecticut River. By creating a central government which has power over other smaller, but sovereign governments, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut is probably one of the first examples of federalism in the colonies

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. What is the 17th Amendment?

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established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote.

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Inauguration/20th Amendment-

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The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

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Qualifications for a member of Congress

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The Constitution sets forth only three qualifications for membership in Congress: U.S. citizenship, residency in the state represented, and a minimum age. The framers set the citizenship requirement at seven years for members of the House of Representatives and nine years for senators. Representatives must be at least twenty‐five years old to take their oath of office, while senators must be thirty.

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Redistricting

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A form of redistribution, is the process of drawing United States district lines. This often means changing electoral district and constituency boundaries in response to periodic census results

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. Attorney General

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The attorney general is head of the U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT and chief law officer of the federal government

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constitutional Amendment

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The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.

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Amnesty

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a general pardon for offenses, esp. political offenses, against a government, often granted before any trial or conviction.

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Article I

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legislature

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5th Amendment

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nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

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. 1st Amendment

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The amendment prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as erecting a wall of separation between church and state.[1]

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. Thomas Jefferson

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A political leader of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; one of the Founding Fathers; the leader of the Democratic-Republican party. Jefferson was principal author of the Declaration of Independence and served as president from 1801 to 1809, between John Adams and James Madison. He arranged for the Louisiana Purchase,

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Articles of Confederation

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First U.S. government operated under the articles.the agreement made by the original 13 states in 1777 establishing a confederacy to be known as the United States of America; replaced by the Constitution of 1788

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BiCameral Legislature

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2 house legislature

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Majority Party of Congress

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Currently Republican-The party with the most members

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Gerrymandering

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the dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.

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. Concurrent Resolutions

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Concurrent resolutions address matters affecting the operations of both the House of Representatives and Senate. In modern practice, concurrent and simple resolutions normally are not legislative in character since they are not "presented" to the president for approval, but are used merely for expressing facts, principles, opinions, and purposes of the two chambers of Congress.

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. Executive Privilege

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the discretionary right claimed by certain U.S. presidents to withhold information from Congress or the judiciary.

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Virginia House of Burgesses

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First representative government group in the American colonies. Famous delegates include Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. The House met for the first time at Jamestown. It was July 30, 1619.

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Appropriations Committees

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It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government

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Joint Committee

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a committee made up of members of both houses of a legislature (as for purposes of investigation or oversight)

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Constituents

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voters back home.

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constitutional convention

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For four months, 55 delegates from the several states met to frame a Constitution for a federal republic

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Mayflower compact

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An agreement reached by the Pilgrims on the ship the Mayflower in 1620, just before they landed at Plymouth Rock. The Mayflower Compact bound them to live in a civil society according to their own laws. It remained the fundamental law of their colony of Plymouth until the colony was absorbed into Massachusetts in the late seventeenth century.

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. Equal Justice Under Law

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Everyone must be treated fairly by the law

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House Ways and Means Committee

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the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Members of the Ways and Means Committee cannot serve on any other House Committees
They are responsible for revenue raising measures.

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21st Amendment

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The Twenty-first Amendment (Amendment XXI) to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which mandated nationwide Prohibition. It was ratified on December 5, 1933.

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Parts of the Declaration of Independence

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There are five parts of the Declaration of Independence, The parts are:
1. The Introduction.
2. The Preamble. which begins with "We hold theses truths to be self-evident.
3. The Indictment of King George III.
4. The Denunciation of the British people. A statement announcing not only the separation of colonial government from British government, but colonial people from British people.
5. Conclusion.

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23rd Amendment

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Presidential Vote for District of Columbia

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Vice President

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The Constitution limits the formal powers and role of Vice President to becoming President should the President become unable to serve (due to the death, resignation, or medical impairment of the President), and to acting as the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate.

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22nd amendment

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Presidential Term Limits

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Speaker of the House

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the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The current speaker is John Boehner, a Republican who represents Ohio's 8th congressional district.

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Seven Years

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Must be a citizen 7 years to run for Congress

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Petit Jury

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The ordinary trial jury of twelve persons whose duty it is to find facts as opposed to the grand jury whose duty it is to return an indictment. A

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Original Jurisdiction

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Original jurisdiction refers to a court’s right to hear a case first. This is in contrast to an appellate court, which reviews judicial decisions from courts of original jurisdiction. Courts with original jurisdictions include local and county trial courts, traffic courts, family courts, juvenile courts, United States (US) federal bankruptcy courts, landlord and tenancy courts, and US tax courts.

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. Bill

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A bill is a proposed piece of legislation

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Article I.

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The Legislative Branch

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Article II

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The Executive Branch

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Article III

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The judical Branch

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Article IV.

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The States

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Article V.

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Amendment

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Article 6

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Debts, Supremacy, Oaths

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Article 7

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Ratification

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. Majority Opinion

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- the opinion joined by a majority of the court (generally known simply as `the opinion')

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. litigant

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a party to a lawsuit; someone involved in litigation; "plaintiffs and defendants are both litigants"