Sample Question, 1 The Virginia and New Jersey Plans were proposals that: A. Disagreed about the power of the Central Government B. Disagreed about the method of representation C. Were resolved by the Great Compormise D. All of these

Sample Question, 2 Who is responsible for the approval of all treaties? A. the president B. the senate C. the Vice-President D. the House of Representatives

Sample Question, 3 Which of the following is a power held only by the states? A. declare war B. issue marriage licenses C. draft soldiers D. coin money

Sample Question, 4 Which fraction of the US Senate is up for election every two years? A. 4/5 B. 2/3 C. 3/4 D. 1/3

Sample Question, 5 The Constitution provides for the election of the President and VP by: A. the people B. the Senate C. the Electoral College D. All of these

Sample Question, 6 Which of the following was not designated to check the power of the president? A. impeachment B. popular election of presidents C. judicial review D. legislative power to override vetoes

Sample Question, 7 How does the executive branch check the legislative branch? A. by controlling salaries B. by declaring laws unconstitutional C. by vetoing bills D. by overriding vetoes

Sample Question, 8 The Bill of Rights guarantees all of the following rights or freedoms except? A. freedom of religion, speech and the press B. freedom from slavery C. right to bear arms D. right to assembly

Sample Question, 9 A law which punished someone for something which was not a crime when the person committed it is called: A. ex post facto B. bill of attainder C. habeas corpus D. quorum

Sample Question, 10 Who has the power to declare war? A. the president B. the supreme court C. congress D. all of these

Sample Question, 11 This states that a person cannot be imprisoned without cause or reason: A. ex post facto B. bill of attainder C. habeas corpus D. quorum

Foundations of the Constitution, I Before the Constitution, the United States was governed by the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia, PA The Constitution is divided into The Preamble, the Articles, and the Amendments The constitution divided the powers of the federal government into three branches in order to prevent any person or branch from gaining too much power The idea of the government being divided into the three branches to carry out different duties is called “separation of powers”

Foundations of the Constitution, II Powers held in common by the national and state governments are called concurrent powers Powers not stated in the Constitution but which can be used by the government to expand the Constitution are called implied powers Any government official can be impeached, or charged with a crime In order to be able to carry out business, Congress and other groups need a quorum In order to make certain each state has the correct number of Representatives, the Census bureau counts the population every ten years.

Article One, The Legislative, I This branch makes the laws Together, both branches are known as Congress In the House, the number Representatives are determined by state population The presiding officer of the House is the Speaker, currently Dennis Hastert Representatives must be 25 years old Representatives serve for only 2 years The House is in charge of removing from office those who have been impeached

Article One, The Legislative, II Each state has 2 Senators (2 x 50 states = 100 Senators Senators serve six years The Vice-President, currently Richard Chenney, is in charge of the Senate The VP can only vote in case of a tie Bills are passed by a 2/3 in both houses Tax bills begin in the House The power that gives Congress the power and the flexibility to pass laws that are “necessary and proper” to the fulfillment of its duties is called The Elastic Clause

Article Two, The Executive The Executive Branch enforces laws The chief officer of the Executive is the President, currently George W Bush The president of the US must be a natural born citizen One duty of the president is that he is Commander in Chief of the armed forces Another duty is that he can appoint government officials, including vacant Senator seats The president can veto a bill, but Congress can override that veto with a 2/3 vote The presidents closest advisors are his Cabinet

Article Three, The Judicial The judicial branch interprets the laws The Constitution does not list any requirements to be a Supreme Court justice Justices are on the court for life There are currently nine Justices John Roberts is the current Chief Justice The judicial branch can check the legislative branch by declaring laws unconstitutional The Supreme Court gained the right to do so through the case Marbury v. Madison and is known as Judicial Review

The Amendments Amendments must be ratified by ¾ of the states The Constitution has been amended 27 times The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights The thirteenth amendment, a Civil War amendment, abolished slavery Both African-Americans and women gained the right to vote through amendments (15 & 19) The 22 nd amendment limited the president to two terms The 24 th amendment abolished the poll tax The 26 th amendment lowered the voting age in every state to 18

Illinois Government Illinois became the 21 st state in 1818 The current Illinois constitution was written in 1970 The first article is the Bill of Rights Illinois has 118 representative districts Illinois has 59 senate districts The governor must be at least 25 years old The Comptroller works with the treasurer to pay funds The current governor is Rod Blagojevich IL’s current US Senators are Richard Durbin and Barack Obama The capital began in Kaskaskia, moved to Vandalia, and is now Springfield