Tutor profile: Robert Z.

What are the three branches of the United States federal government and what are their major functions.

The three branches of the United States federal government are referred to as the executive, legislative and judicial branches. The executive branch is comprised of federal regulatory agencies, the federal bureaucracy and headed by the President of the United States. The executive branch serves the purpose of implementing/enforcing the laws of the land. The legislative branch is comprised of the Congress. Congress itself is a bicameral house made up of the House of Representatives and Senate. Each house holds different enumerated powers (the house and appropriations, the senate and confirmation powers), but they are both responsible with drafting laws in the name of the American people. The judicial branch is comprised of the various levels of federal courts and exemplified best by the Supreme Court of the United States. These courts serve the purpose of settling disputes between states, oversee federal criminal and civil proceedings and, after the establishment of judicial review with Marbury v Madison, determine the constitutionality of federal laws.

What is Duverger's law and what implications does it have on the study of political science?

Duverger's law is the idea in political science that the way in which countries like the United States conduct elections: winner-take-all, plurality-rule and occurring in single-member districts creates a system in which only two dominant political parties can be successful in attaining power.

What were the leading causes of the American Civil War?

The most significant causes of the American Civil War that scholars argue were growing regional divides between North and South on the topics of the slavery, states' rights and federal authority.