Ch. 3-2 Governmental Powers CONGRESS Census- the govt. takes a count of the U.S. population every 10 years to determine the number of representatives in Congress If a state loses population then they lose members in the House of Rep.

Elastic Clause- Congress has the power to make informal changes to the govt. by passing laws that they feel are necessary and proper Committee System- members of Congress are placed on committees to create and propose laws (ex. Agricultural, Gay Rights, Gun Control, Energy etc. are all committees)

Special Interest Group- groups that represent certain sections of society and try to persuade Congressman to pass laws favorable to their group NRA, Gay Rights, Sports, Teachers, Doctors, Firefighters all support special interest groups

SUPREME COURT Supreme Court consist of 1 Chief Justice and 8 associate justices A Supreme Court Justice is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate (C&B) and serves for life They serve for life so that politics should not interfere with their decisions

2015 Supreme Court

EXECUTIVE Primaries- both parties have an election with several candidates so they can find out who most people in their party would like to represent the party Nominating Process- whoever wins the most primaries will then be nominated by their party

Electoral College Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in the state gets all of the electoral votes Candidate does not have to win the popular vote to win the electoral vote 1800,1824,1876,1888 and 2000 pop. vote winner did not become pres.

Electoral College was created because the framers of the Const Electoral College was created because the framers of the Const. did not trust the judgment of the common people Many are calling to abolish the Electoral College Each states votes are based on number of members in Congress (NYS 29) Some states are dividing the electoral votes up based on the % of the popular vote a candidate wins

2012 Presidential Results by County

Order of Succession- Pres. - Vice Pres. - Speaker of the House- Pres Order of Succession- Pres.- Vice Pres.- Speaker of the House- Pres. Pro Temp of the Senate- Cabinet Members based on creation 22nd Amendment- president is limited to 2- 4 year terms b/c of FDR 25th Amendment- deals with president being disabled

Impeachment House of Reps. has the power to bring charges of impeachment against the president Senate can convict the president of wrongdoing Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson have both been impeached but neither were convicted

Unwritten Constitution Political Parties now dominate politics GW est. a two-term presidency GW also created a group of advisors called the CABINET Judicial Review- the Supreme Court has the right to declare a law Constitutional (legal) or Unconstitutional (Illegal)