Article III of the Constitution establishes that there shall be a Supreme Court and other lower federal courts that Congress can create. Because Article III does not include many specifics about the structure of these courts, as one of its first orders of business, Congress passes the Judiciary Act of 1789.
The framers of the Articles of Confederation at the Constitutional Convention caution against an imbalance of power among the branches of government. To protect against that pitfall, they enumerate a system of checks and balances and outline broad but contained rights for each of three branches.
The 23rd Amendment gives residents of the District of Columbia the right to have their votes counted in presidential elections. D.C. residents have only one non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives.
The 27th Amendment prevents members of Congress from granting themselves pay raises during the current session. Rather, any raises that are adopted must take effect during the next session of Congress.
The Constitution is ratified. Article 1, Section 8 gives Congress the authority “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.”
Learn how laws are made in an updated version of LawCraft. Select a district to represent in the House of Representatives, then review letters from constituents. You’ll dig into survey data and select an issue that’s important to you and the people who live in your district. Take that issue to the House and jump into the law-making process. See if you can make the compromises necessary to get your bill passed by the House and Senate and still make a law you’re proud of.
This tool allows students to explore the rights the Sixth Amendment grants to defendants in criminal trials by linking the text’s most debated clauses to expert knowledge on their various interpretations.
Who wants to be President? Players must use their multitasking skills as they consider bills to sign, fly off for diplomatic meetings and act as commander-in-chief to handle a military crisis.
In this new version of Court Quest, jump on the Justice Express and help guide ordinary citizens who are looking for justice through local, state and federal court systems.
This game immerses students in the workings of our three branches of government. Players take on the roles of legislator, president and Supreme Court justice to get constitutional laws enacted. Players juggle several bills at once while holding press conferences and town hall meetings.
Planned Parenthood describes itself as “a visible and passionate advocate for policies that enable Americans to access comprehensive reproductive and sexual health care, education, and information.”
The Guttmacher Institute was founded in 1968 as the Center for Family Planning Program Development and was named after Alan Guttmacher, a former president of Planned Parenthood and distinguished obstetrician-gynecologist.
Project Vote Smart is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that gathers and organizes information on candidates for political office. Vote Smart seeks to discover where candidates stand on any number of issues by scouring public voting records, public statements and biographical information, by monitoring ratings of candidates given by more than 100 competing special-interest groups, and by sending its own detailed questionnaires to candidates through its National Political Awareness Test.
National Institute on Money in Politics is a nonpartisan organization “dedicated to accurate, comprehensive and unbiased documentation and research on campaign finance at the state level.”
The Federal Election Commission is an independent government agency was created in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandals to regulate campaign spending and police requirements for disclosing federal campaign money.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the organization, founded in 1920, is the “nation’s guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.”
The Alliance for Justice describes itself as “a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women’s, children’s and consumer advocacy organizations” that works to “advance the cause of justice for all Americans, strengthen the public interest community’s ability to influence public policy, and foster the next generation of advocates.”
The National Academy of Social Insurance is a nonprofit organization that evaluates economic security programs for people out of work due to disability, unemployment or retirement.
