1.  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.

2.  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)

4.  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

5.  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

6.  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

7. 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.

8.  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

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

11.  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

12.  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)