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Ileap review

7th grade Ileap review: American History and Government

Question	Answer
Explain the purpose of government.	to provide structure and order
What is a democracy?	a system of government in which the people of that nation have the authority. "Rule by the people"
What is a republic?	a system of government in which the people elect representatives who choose executives, make laws, and govern on behalf of the people.
What is the U.S. constitution?	the national body of laws thatestablishes the structure and power of the U.S. government.
What is an autocracy?	a system of government which places the power in the hands of a single person, such as an emporer or king.
What is an absolute monarchy?	a system of government in which a king or queen has unlimited power.
what is a constitutional monarchy?	a system of government in which a king or queen's power is limited by a constitution (a set of national laws)
What is a dictatorship?	a system of government in which a single ruler or political party rules with no restictions on power.
What are totalitarian governments?	governments that insist the state is far more important thant the individuals. Nearly every aspect of society is controlled by the government, and political opposition (speaking out against the government) is not permitted.
What is a theocracy?	a system of government based on religious laws.
What is the preamble to the U.S. Constitution?	It is the opening sentence which defines the purpose of the national government.
Explain: "insure domestic tranquility"	the U.S. government maintains peace and order
Explain: " provide for the common defense"	the government is responsible for protecting US citizens from outside dangers and enemies that might attack the US.
Explain: "promote the general welfare"	the government is meant to pass laws and enact policies that better the lives of citizens and improce US society
Explain: "secure the blessings of liberty"	The US government is charged with protecting the liberties of US citizens both now and for generations to come
Explain: "establish justice"	the US government is empowered by the Constitution to make and enforce laws that govern the country and extablish justice
What is Federalism	a key principle of the U.S. government. In a federalist system, two levels of government share power. The national and state governments each have authority over certain areas.
What are "delegated" powers?	powers delegated soley to the national government
What are "reserved" powers?	powers reserved for the states
What are "concurrent" powers?	powers exercised by both levels of government
List three examples of delegated powers	print money, degotiate and approve treaties with foreign nations, and declare war
List three examples of reserved powers	establish school systems, conduct elections, issue licenses
List three examples of concurrent powers	pass and enforce laws, tax citizens, and establish courts
What are the three branches of the U.S. governments	legislative, executive, and judicial
What is the primary role of the legislative branch?	to make laws
What is the primary role of the executive branch?	to enforce the laws
What is the primary role of the judicial branch?	to make sure all laws and the way they are enforced are constitutional
Explain the system of checks and balances.	it prevents any one branch of government from becoming too powerful by giving each branch the power to "check" or "balance" the other branch.
Give an example of the president's ability to check the legislative branch.	He can veto a law that Congress passed.
Give an example of the legislative branch's ability to check the president.	The Senate must approve a treaty negotiated by the president.
Give an example of the legislative and executibe branches checking the judicial branch	the president may appoint federal judges, and the Senate must approve them.
What is Judicial Review?	the power of the federal courts to review laws or presidential actions and determin their constitutionality. If a law is deemed unconstitutional, that law no longer applies.
What is impeachment?	when a public official is charged with wrongdoing while in office.
Who has the power to impeach?	the House of Representatives
Who decides if an impeached official is guilty?	the Senate (two-thirds of the Senate must vote guilty in order for that official to be removed from office.)
Explain the Separation of Powers.	Each of the three branches of our nation's government are assigned certain powers to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.
What makes up the legislative branch?	Congress: The Senate and the House of Representatives
How is representation determined in the House of Representatives?	Population determines how many representatives each state has. The greater the state's population, the more representatives that state has.
Who serves as the head of the House of Representatives?	The Speaker of the House
How long is the term of a member of the House of Representatives?	two years
What is the minimum age of a member of the House of Representatives?	25 years of age
What is the citizenship requirement for a member of the House of Representatives?	Must have been a citizen for at least 7 years and a resident of the state he or she represents at the time of election
How is representation determined in the Senate?	Every state elects two.
Who rules over the Senate?	The vice president of the United States
Who is the president pro tempore?	The highest ranking senator. The most senior member of the majority party (The political party thas has the most senators.) He or she leads the Senate when the vice president is absent.
List three powers of Congress	impeach public officials, try impeachment cases, confirm or reject presidential appointments, ratify or reject treaties with foreign nations, propose taxes, introduce bills, pass laws, borrow money, regulate foreign and interstate trade, coin money,...
Who is the chief executive?	the president of the United States
How is the president elected?	by the Electoral College
What is the Electoral College?	a body of delegates (a group of leaders) that meets every four years to elect the president and vice president.
How is it determined how many electoral delegates each state receives?	Each state's delegation in the Electoral Collage equals its number of representatives and senators in Congress.
Today, how do the electoral delegates determine how they will vote?	They cast their votes for whichever candidate received the majority of the votes from their state.
Define "inaugurated"	swear an oath to uphold the duties of their office
How long is the term of the president and vice president?	4 years
How many consecutive terms may a president serve?	2
Who is the commander in chief of the armed forces?	The predident
What does in mean to be the commander in chief of the nation's military?	the president is the top commander of all of the armed forces.
List three responsibilities of the president.	negotiating treaties, appointing some public officials, enforcing federal laws...
If there is a tie when the Senate votes, who may cast a vote to break that tie?	the vice president
What is the president's cabinet?	heads of various federal departments that serve as the president's official advisors.
What is the role of the secretary of state?	he or she advises the president on foreign affairs and acts as the president's representative to foreign govenments.
What is the role of the secretary of defense?	he or she is in charge of the military. (Although, he or she must answer to the president just like all other members of the cabinet)
What is the role of the attorney general?	the nations top law enforcement official. This person is over agencies like the FBI.
How do member of the cabinet recieve their position?	They are appointed by the president but must be approved by Congress.
Who are the Joint Chiefs of Staff?	They are commanding officers from each major branch of the United States military.
What is the minimum age requirement for the president and vice president?	35 years of age
What is the citizenship requirements for the president and vice president?	They must be "natural born" citizens and have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years.
Of what does the judicial branch consist?	The federal court system and the U.S. Supreme Court.
What is the U.S. Supreme Court?	The highest court in the United States.
How do members of the judicial branch receive their positions?	They are appointed by the president but their appointment must be approved by Congress.
How long is the term of a federal judge or a Supreme Court justice?	life
Who are the "justices"	U.S. Supreme Court judges
Who is the Chief Justice	The lead justice
The U.S. Supreme Court justices have appallate jurisdiction? What is appallate jurisdiction?	The power of the Supreme Court to review the decisions of all federal and state court decisions.
What is a precedence?	it means that a court uses past leagal decisions to make rulings because the law is open to interpretation.
What is the significance of Marbury vs. Madison?	It established one of the Supreme Court's most important powers. The power of judicial review.
What is judicial review?	the power of the federal courts to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
What is the legislative process?	The process of making laws
What is a bill?	a proposed law
Where can bills be introduced?	in either house of Congress
What must happen before a bill is sent to the president for approval?	The majority of each house of Congress must vote in favor of the bill.
If the president vetoes a bill what can be done?	The bill may go back to Congress for a re-vote. If two-thirds of both houses vote in favor of the bill, the president's veto is overridden and the bill becomes law anyway.
What are committees and how do they play a role in the legislative process?	They are groups within each house of Congress that are responsible for studying bills and recommending whether or not they should pass.
Where does a bill go if it makes it out of committee?	It goes before the entire house for debate and a vote.
What is a filibuster?	a strategy in which a senator will continue to talk (during a debate) until the bill is either withdrawn or until the other Senators have been persuaded to vote "no". This only happens in the Senate because in the House, there is a time limit on debate.
The original 13 colonies prefered a confederation. What is a confederation?	a form of government in which the states maintain a great deal of independence while being loosely unified as a nation.
What are the two reasons the Articles of Confederation failed?	It did not give the federal government enough power... 9 of 13 states had to agree in order for a law to pass Congress. Also, It did not give Congress the power to pass taxes
What happened when delegates met to revise the Articles of Confederation?	They decided to do away with the Articles of Confederation and write a new set of laws.
What did the Great Compromise state?	The legislative branch would have two houses. The House of Representatives (# determined by the population of the state) and the Senate (each state gets two).
Why did Northern and Southern states disagree about how slaves should be counted?	Because the southern states wanted the slaves to count toward their population when determining how many representatives a state would have. The northern states thought that was unfair since those slaves could not vote.
What did the three-fifths complromise state?	each slave would count as "three-fifths of a person"
Why did a few states refuse to ratify (approve) the Constitution?	they claimed it did not do enough to guarantee the rights of citizens.
What does the Bill of Rights protect?	the rights of citizens
List three Federalist leaders and what they believed.	Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and James Madison. They favored a strong central government and supported the Constitution.
List one Anti-Federalist and what he believed.	Thomas Jefferson. They feared the Constitution gave the central government too much power. They beleived in "strict interpretation" (the federal government should only do what the Constitution specifically says.
What rights are protected by the 1st amendment to the Constitution?	The freedom of speech, to assemble, to petition, the press, and religion.
The fifth amendment guarantees due process of the law. What is due process?	rules by which the government may arrest and charge a citizen with a crime
What is double jeopardy?	being charged with the same crime twice. (The 5th amendment protects us from this.)
What is eminent domain?	the government's power to take private property for public use. (The Government must pay the citizen what the item is worth.)
The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th amendments protect the rights of those accused of a...	crime
How does the 10th amendment help establish federalism?	it says that those powers no restricted by the Constitution, nor delegated to the U.S. government, are reserved for the states.
What type of government did the Greeks have?	direct democracy
What type of government did the Romans have?	a republic
List two British documents that influenced the US government through the idea of limited government.	The Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights
Why did the Puritans set up the Mayflower Compact?	because they wanted to be self-governing. It established an elected legislature and stated that the government got its power from the people of the colony. They wanted to be ruled by loval gobernment rather than England.
Thomas Jefferson was greatly influenced by the Enlightenment. Explain the Enlightenment.	It was a time that featured new ideas about government. Enlightenment thinkers believed the right to govern comes from the people. They beleived people had rights the government could not take away.
What rights are listed in the Declaration of Independence?	The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
What is the purpose of a political party?	to promote political beliefs and to sponsor candidates.
What are the two main political parties in the US?	Democrats and Republicans
What is a party platform?	a political party's statement of programs and policies it will pursue once its candidates are in office.
What is the difference between a general election and a primary election?	in a primary election, members of a political party vote to choose the candidate they want to represent their political party in the upcoming election. A general election is the actual election of a candidate to office.
What are some ways citizens can voice their opinions?	petition, civil disobedience and protests
What is an amendment?	a change made to the Constitution
List 5 key responsibilities of citizenship.	Military service, jury duty, paying taxes, obeying laws, and serving in public office
what are three ways countries can interact peacefully?	meet to work out peaceful solutions to problems (diplomacy), humanitarian aid, and trade agreements.
What are three ways that a country can punish another country for their actions?	Sanctions, embargoes, military action...
What government leaders deal with foreign policy?	US ambassadors, the secretary of state, the vice president and the president
What is the purpose of the United Nations?	to help nations engage in diplomacy and find peaceful solutions to problems.

Created by: pricekat

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