1. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet encouraging Colonists to declare independence was called_____________
The group of people opposed to the ratification of the Constitution were called _______________. They eventually agreed to ratification when a _______________ was added to the Constitution.
Members of the House of Representatives serve ____ year terms
Members of the Senate serve ____ year terms
To allow for change the Constitution contains the ________ clause
All _____ bills must start in the House of Representatives
The Senate ratifies __________ and confirms (approves) __________

2. Many steps are necessary for passing a federal law
How a Bill becomes a Law
Many steps are necessary for passing a federal law

3. Step One - Introduction
House Senate
Representative hands bill Senator announces bill on
to clerk the floor
Bill given HR number Bill given an S number
Committee Action
Referred to House Committee Referred to Senate Committee

4. Step 2 - Committee Action
Bill is placed on committee calendar
Bill sent to subcommittee for hearings and revisions
Standing committee may recommend passage or kill the bill

5. Step 3 - Floor Action Debates by both the House and the Senate
Bill either passes and goes to Senate/House for approval or a different version passes and goes on to conference committee

6. Step 4 - Conference Action
Conference committee works out differences and sends identical compromise bill to both chambers for final approval
House votes on compromise bill
Senate votes on compromise bill

7. Step 5 - Passage
The President signs the bill or allows it to become law without signing it. or
The President can veto the bill.
Congress can override a Presidential veto by a 2/3 majority.
If either House fails to override the veto the bill dies.

8. Jackson vetoed a total of 12 bills in his two terms in office (5 regular and 7 pocket vetoes); all of his predecessors combined vetoed only 10 bills.

9. Electoral College
The Framers had two concerns with using a popular vote to choose a president.
1. They feared presidential elections would involve several regional candidates because there were no political parties and there were limited travel and communication technologies.
2. They feared the lower classes and wanted a “check” on their power

10. The Framers settled on using the Electoral College to elect the president.
Each state would receive a number of electors equal to their number of representatives and senators they had in Congress.
(New York has 29 electors)
Individuals would vote for electors in each state who would then vote for the President.
 Winner Take All – Whichever candidate wins a states popular vote takes all of that state’s electors. This makes it possible to win the popular vote and lose the election (Al Gore 2000)

11. 1996 Popular Vote Vote % Electoral Vote
Base your answers to the question below on the table shown and on your knowledge of social studies.
1996
Popular Vote
Vote %
Electoral Vote
Clinton
47,125,563
49.2
379
70.4
Dole
39,079,735
40.8
159
29.6
Perot
8,141,611
8.5 --
Others
1,436,755
0.5
Which proposal has most commonly been made to deal with the situation shown in the table?
1 - Prohibiting third-party candidates from Presidential elections
2 - Allowing the direct popular election of the President
3 - Requiring electors to campaign for the candidate of their choice
4 - Counting only the popular vote of the top two candidates
2 - Allowing the direct popular election of the President

12. 1996 Popular Vote Vote % Electoral Vote
Base your answers to the question below on the table shown and on your knowledge of social studies.
1996
Popular Vote
Vote %
Electoral Vote
Clinton
47,125,563
49.2
379
70.4
Dole
39,079,735
40.8
159
29.6
Perot
8,141,611
8.5 --
Others
1,436,755
0.5
Which conclusion can best be drawn from the information in the table?
1 - Incumbent Presidents usually win re-election.
2 - Third-party candidates threaten the electoral process.
3 - A candidate can be elected President with less than half the popular vote.
4 - Candidates are more interested in winning the popular vote than in winning
the electoral vote.
2 - Third-party candidates threaten the electoral process.

13. What has been the most frequent criticism of the electoral college system?
1 – An excessive number of third-party candidates have been encourage to run for office.
2 – Electors frequently ignore the vote of the people.
3 – The person who wins the popular vote has not always been chosen as President.
4 – The electors are not chosen by political parties.
3 – The person who wins the popular vote has not always been chosen as President.

14. Base your answers to the question below on the table shown and on your knowledge of social studies.
Which generalization is supported by the information provided in the pie charts above?
1 – The electoral vote often fails to reflect the popular vote.
2 – The House of Representatives settles Presidential elections in which third-party candidate participate.
3 – The electoral college system weakens the two-party system.
4 – Electoral college members often vote against their party’s candidates.
1 – The electoral vote often fails to reflect the popular vote.