What is the Electoral College?

The Electoral College was established by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. The people of the United States vote for the electors who then vote for the President. Read more about how the terms "Elector" and "Electoral College" came into usage.

Three Branches of Government

Our federal government has three parts. They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts).

Political Science

Political science is a branch of social sciences that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. Political science is often described as the study of politics defined as "who gets what, when and how". Political science has several subfields, including: political theory, public policy, national politics, and comparative politics.

Cabinet

The U.S. cabinet was not specifically established by the Constitution; it evolved through custom and is now defined by statute law. The members of the cabinet are not members of either house of Congress and are responsible, individually and not as a body, to the president, who appoints them with the approval of the Senate and may remove them at will.

Constitution of the United States

Drawn up at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787, and ratified by the required number of states (nine) by June 21, 1788. It superseded the original charter of the United States in force since 1781 (see Confederation, Articles of ) and established the system of federal government that began to function in 1789.

Writing in Political Science

This handout will help you to recognize and to follow writing practices and standards in political science. The first step toward accomplishing this goal is to develop a basic understanding of political science and the kind of work political scientists do.