Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law.

• Separation of Powers
• Divine Right of Kings
• Absolute Monarchy
• Feudalism

Constitutional grant of powers that enables each of the three branches of government to check some acts of the others and therefore ensure that no branch can dominate.

• Checks and balances

• Judicial review

• Federalism

• Separation of powers

A government in which one party controls the white house and another party controls one or both houses of congress

• Divided Government
• Bicameral Legislature
• Executive Privilege
• Filibuster

any action – or inaction – by an officer or employee of the federal government that precludes federal funds from being obligated or spent, either temporarily or permanently.

• Federal Budget
• Impoundment
• Federal Reserve
• Taxation

a form of election in which voters directly choose a political party's candidates for office, it usually means a Republican will run against other Republicans and a Democrat will run against other Democrats.

• Direct Primary Election

• General Election
• Presidential Election
• Midterm Election

Procedure which allows citizens to contest the work of the legislature. If the legislature passes an unpopular law, the public can gather support, usually through signatures on a petition, to call for a vote to defeat or uphold the law.

• Referendum
• Impeachment
• Veto
• Executive Order

Power won by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803) which holds that the courts are vested with the authority to determine the legitimacy of the acts of the executive and the legislative branches of government.

• Judicial Review
• Executive Privilege
• Legislative Veto
• Constitutional Amendment

The process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct.

• Impeachment
• Indictment
• Injunction
• Incarceration

the right of the President / Executive branch to withhold information or their decision-making process from another branch, especially Congress.

• Executive Privilege
• Judicial Review
• Legislative Veto
• Presidential Pardon

A matter upon which a community of people agree in the course of their daily life, and the actions which are repeatedly performed by individuals and communities, or when a community makes a habit out of doing something.

• Culture
• Custom and Usage

• Referendum

• Economics