How the machine works: Congress and the road a bill travels, the presidency and the bureaucracy, the courts, who holds which powers, the Electoral College, parties, interest groups, the media and the budget. Study cards, hints, a practice quiz at three levels, and four workshop activities that check themselves.
A bill starts as an idea. To become law it has to get through the House — 435 members, all elected by population.
American government is built to be hard to move. When you wonder why nothing gets done, that is usually the design doing exactly what it was built to do — so a question about gridlock is usually a question about which gate stopped the bill.
What people get wrong
⚠️People often think…
The Senate has more members than the House because it represents states.
It has far fewer — 100 versus 435. The House is sized by population; the Senate is fixed at two per state. That is the great compromise, and it is why a senator from a small state has enormously more weight per voter.
House 435 by population, Senate 100 by state.
⚠️People often think…
The president appoints federal judges.
The president NOMINATES; the SENATE confirms. Neither can do it alone, which is the check working. A nomination that never gets a Senate vote never becomes an appointment.
Nominate versus confirm. Two branches.
⚠️People often think…
The filibuster is a constitutional protection.
It is a Senate RULE, which the Senate can change and has changed. Political parties are not in the Constitution either. A lot of what feels permanent about American politics is custom and rule rather than text.
A Senate rule, not a clause.
⚠️People often think…
Whoever gets the most votes nationally wins the presidency.
You need 270 of 538 ELECTORAL votes. Because almost every state awards all of its electors to the winner of that state, the national popular vote and the electoral vote can diverge — and have.
270 of 538 electoral votes.
⚠️People often think…
Criminal law is mostly made by Congress.
Most criminal and family law is STATE law — a reserved power. Congress handles interstate commerce, the currency, the military and federal crimes. That is why the same act can be legal in one state and not the next.
Crime and family law are state powers.
⚠️People often think…
If a power is not listed for the nation, nobody has it.
The Tenth Amendment reserves those powers to the states or the people. And some powers are CONCURRENT — both levels tax, both build roads, both run courts. Three categories, not two.
Enumerated, reserved, concurrent.
Worth knowing cold
The numbers worth knowing cold
One name, one fact. Four numbers and three kinds of power.
The House435 members, two-year terms, seats given out by state population — which is why the census matters politically.
The Senate100 members, six-year terms, two per state no matter the size. Wyoming and California get the same two.
538Electoral votes in all. 538 = 435 + 100 + 3 for the District of Columbia.
270The number needed to win — a majority of 538, not a majority of the country.
EnumeratedPowers listed for the nation: money, mail, the military, trade between states.
ReservedPowers kept by the states: most criminal law, family law, schools, driver licenses.
ConcurrentPowers BOTH levels hold — taxing is the clearest one. Both take from the same paycheck.
Choose, write, sign, carry out, judge
1Watch one
A bill has majority support in the country and still fails. Name three ways that happens.
Gate one: it never gets a vote in the House, because leadership controls the floor.
Gate two: it passes the House and dies in the Senate, where two-per-state gives small states outsized weight — or a filibuster stops it.
Gate three: it passes both and gets vetoed, and there are not two-thirds to override.
Gate four: it survives all that and a court strikes it down. Each gate is somebody’s check. ✓
2Do one with me
Fill in the numbers and the roles.
The number of members in the House is
Electoral votes needed to win is
The body that confirms federal judges is the
💬One sentence, then you move on
Why was the system designed to be hard to move?
3Try one
Powers held by BOTH the nation and the states are called what?
I want a hint first
It means running at the same time, in parallel. Both governments do it at once.
💬Last one — then you're done here
Why can the popular vote and the electoral vote disagree?
Where this goes
Where this lives
Knowing who to call about a pothole versus a tax, following a bill in the news, understanding why your state’s laws differ from the one next door.
What this feeds
Next unit is economics — the other set of levers governments and people pull.
Name one decision that is made at the state level where you live.
One card at a time — tap “Show me” to check yourself, then Next. Start at Foundation; when those feel easy, climb.
Helpful Hints
🧭 The machine in one line
Voters choose → Congress writes → the president signs and the bureaucracy carries out → courts referee → states and cities do most of the daily work → voters judge, and choose again.
Choose, write, sign, carry out, referee, judge.
🤝 The one idea
American government is built to be hard to move. When you wonder why nothing gets done, that is usually the design doing what it was built to do.
⚠️ Traps the test loves
House: 435, two years, by population. Senate: 100, six years, two per state.
Enumerated = listed for the nation. Reserved = the states. Concurrent = both.
The president NOMINATES judges; the SENATE confirms them.
538 electors in all; 270 to win.
The filibuster is a Senate RULE, not in the Constitution. Parties are not in the Constitution either.
📐 Who has the power? — the chart
Enumerated — the nation
Concurrent — both
Reserved — the states
declare war
collect taxes
run schools
coin money
borrow money
conduct elections
make treaties
build roads
issue licenses
regulate interstate trade
set up courts
most criminal and family law
run the post office
enforce laws
create local governments
🎯 How the test will ask
A power — “enumerated, reserved or concurrent?”
A flowchart of a bill with one box empty.
An electoral map — “how can the popular-vote loser win?”
A strange-shaped district — “what is this called, and why is it done?”
A line from Federalist 51 — “what is Madison’s point?”
✅ Before the test, can you…
Compare the House and the Senate on size, term and how seats are divided?
Walk a bill from introduction to signature?
Give two examples each of enumerated, reserved and concurrent powers?
Explain the Electoral College and the number 270?
Define filibuster, gerrymandering, lobbying and executive order?
Explain Madison’s ‘ambition must counteract ambition’?
Pick your level
Look back at anything you missed — the hint that appeared is exactly what to reread tonight.
How sure did you feel?
Workshop
Work like a citizen who knows the machine: sort the powers, walk a bill through Congress, read Madison line by line, then argue about how we choose a president.
Your practice never leaves this device. There is no account and no sign-in. Your work is saved in this browser only, and you can erase it whenever you want.
Your practice record — saved on this device
This is your record of the module on screen — it stays here and goes nowhere. Independent means you got it right on the first tap; supported means you got it after the explain-and-retry, or marked ‘I had it’ on a revealed answer. Both count, and neither is a grade. If your teacher asks, copy the row or show them this screen.
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The answer key is for a teacher: it prints only from here, for the unit on screen. Print the study packet prints the study pages and a blank quiz — never the answers.