Creating A GovernmentUnit Exam

Review Power Point

Terms and

Qualifications for

Office

House of Representatives

• 435 members

• Term - 2 years term / entire body up for re – election every 2 years

• Qualifications – 25 years old, 7 years a citizen and a resident of the state

Senate

• 100 members

• Term – 6 years / 1/3 of body elected every 2 years

• Qualifications – 30 years old, 9 years a citizen and a resident of the state

President

• Term – 4 years / 2 terms

• Qualifications – 35 years old and born in the United States

Supreme Court

• 9 members

• Term - Life

Vocabulary

Republic

• A nation in which the voters elect representatives to govern them

Federalism

• The sharing of powers between the state and national governments

Separation of Powers

• Each branch of the government has its own powers – clearly described in the Constitution

• Each branch of the government has its own duties and responsibilities

Electoral College

• The system of electors chosen from each state to choose the President.

• Responsible for choosing the President and Vice - President

Checks and Balances

• Each branch of the Federal Government has some way to check, or control, the other two branches

• Examples – President vetoes a bill, Congress overrides his veto, Supreme Court declares a law unconstitutional, President appoints a Supreme Court Justice and the Senate ratifies the appointment

Bill

• A proposed law

Override

• Overruling a President’s veto

• Takes a 2/3’s majority in both houses of Congress

Veto

• Rejecting a bill

Impeach

• Bringing charges against a President or Supreme Court Justice

Amend

• To make changes in the Constitution

• 2/3’s of Congress to propose and ¾’s of the states to approve

• Constitution has 27 of them

Due Process

• Government must follow the same rules in all cases brought to trial

• Trial by jury, right to be defended by a lawyer, right to a speedy trial

Shared or Concurrent Powers

• The national government has certain powers, the state governments have certain powers and there are powers shared by both

Law

• Bill that is signed by the President

Legislative Branch

• Makes the laws

• Made up of the Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate

Executive Branch

• Enforces the laws

• President is the head of this branch

Judicial Branch

• Interprets the laws

• Made up of the Supreme Court and other Federal Courts

Census

• Counting the population ever 10 years

• Began in 1790

• Determines a state’s representation in the House of Representatives

Bill of Rights

• Lists the freedoms the government has to protect

• First 10 amendments to the Constitution – ratified in 1791

Ratify

• To pass or accept

• 9 of the 13 states had to do this for the Constitution to go into effect

Federalist

• A person who was in favor of the Constitution

Antifederalist

• A person who was opposed to the Constitution

Constitution

• A document that sets out the laws and principles of a government

• “Recipe for Government”

• Spells out the rights of the citizens

• Limits the power of government

Economic Depression

• A period when business activity slows, prices and wages fall and unemployment rises

• Led to Shays’ Rebellion in 1786

Who Am I?

James Madison

• Virginia• “Father of the

Constitution”• Co – author of the

Virginia Plan• One of the authors of

the Federalist Papers

George Washington

• Virginia• President of the

Constitutional Convention

• First President elected under the new Constitution

John Adams

• Massachusetts• Was not at the

Constitutional Convention because he was our Minister to England

• First Vice-President elected under the new Constitution

Benjamin Franklin

• Pennsylvania• Oldest delegate at the

Constitutional Convention

William Paterson

• New Jersey• Author of the New

Jersey Plan

Roger Sherman

• Connecticut• Author of the Great

Compromise

Alexander Hamilton

• New York• Only New York

delegate to stay at the Constitutional Convention

• One of the authors of the Federalist Papers

John Jay

• New York• One of the authors of

the Federalist Papers

Edmund Randolph

• Virginia• Co – author of the

Virginia Plan