AP Government & Politics
3 Branches of Government Test Study Guide
Legislative Branch
What are the requirements to be a member of the House of Representatives?
What are the requirements to be a member of the Senate?
How many seats in the House belong to the state of Illinois?
Who determines the number of seats that each state gets in the House?
How many Representatives are there? How many Senators are there?
Know the following terms:
Pigeonholed
Constituent
Apportioned and Re-apportionment
Bicameral
Filibuster
Cloture Rule
Incumbent
Gerrymandering
How many terms may a member of Congress serve?
What is the length of terms in Congress?
What is Senate representation based upon?
All the work on a bill (hearings, junkets, study) is done in ______________________.
Who are the presiding officers in the House and Senate and what are their respective titles?
What is the fate of most bills?
How many readings must a bill go through before being passed through a chamber?
Explain the role of Congress in the impeachment process, a veto override, and what they must
approve with a 2/3 vote:
Being named committee chairperson is largely based upon what 2 things?
What’s the 17th Amendment do? What about the 27th Amendment, what does it do?
What are some of the most important expressed powers of Congress?
Who are your 3 representatives in Congress from Illinois?
Executive Branch
What is the president’s role in regards to the military?
To which positions may the president appoint people?
The president may appoint, however, what is the check on the president’s power of appointment?
What is the number one duty/task given to the president under the Constitution?
How would you describe the scope of the president’s powers over the past 200-plus years?
What justifies the presence of the president’s cabinet?
List the order of presidential succession: President, ___________________, ___________________,
___________________, ___________________, Secretary of the Treasury
What amendment filled in the gaps in presidential succession, ratified in 1967?
What are the four ways by which a president can leave the office of the presidency before the end of
his term?
What happens if a president were to experience a debilitating illness or event or otherwise be rendered
incapacitated and unable to fulfill his duties to the fullest? (2 different things)
a.
b.
Define: amnesty, commutation, pardon, reprieve, special session, “State of the Union” address
What are the qualifications necessary to be president according to the constitution?
When it comes to a bill, what actions can a president take?
Can the president fire the Vice-President? Why/Why not?
What happens if the Vice-President’s position becomes vacant?
How long is the president’s term? How many terms may a president serve? How many years
maximum? What is the president’s salary?
Describe how the electoral college works. What is the biggest criticism? What would be an obvious
solution to the problem? Who decides the election if the electoral college cannot?
Judicial Branch
What’s the term of a federal judge?
Who’s the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court?
How is the system of federalism illustrated in the judicial branch?
Who decides the verdict in the federal district courts? What about the courts of appeals?
Where is the power of “judicial review” defined?
In what year did the federal district courts get created? What about the courts of appeals?
Who appoints federal judges? Who approves appointments?
What’s the general term for the Supreme Court during the year?
Define: Precedent, Jurisdiction (know the two different types), Writ of Certiorari
Approximately how many cases a year does the Supreme Court hear full arguments for?
How many cases a year get appealed to the Supreme Court?
Which federal court handles most of the federal caseload during the year?
How many federal districts does Illinois have?
How many Supreme Court justices must agree to hear the case before the Supreme Court takes it?
How many Supreme Court justices are there?