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66 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Marbury v. Madison |
Whether the Supreme Court of the United States has the power, under Article III, Section 2, of the Constitution, to interpret the constitutionality of a law or statute passed by Congress. The Court decided that Marbury’s request for a writ of mandamus was based on a law passed by Congress that the Court held to be unconstitutional. The Court decided unanimously that the federal law contradicted the Constitution, and since the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land, it must reign supreme. |
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class action suit |
type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member of that group. |
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role of the solicitor general |
federal gov. top attorney |
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what did the framers call the least dangerous branch |
supreme court |
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What type of law is the Gov. always the Plaintiff? |
Criminal Law |
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What is Senatorial Courtesy? |
a custom whereby presidential appointments are confirmed only if there is no objection to them by the senators from the appointee's state, especially from the senior senator of the president's party from that state. |
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How many Supreme Court Justice's are there? |
There are nine (9) Supreme Court Justices |
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What does "habeas corpus" mean? |
Latin for "you [shall] have the body") is a legal action or writ by means of which detainees can seek relief from unlawful imprisonment. |
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What does "stare deceisis" mean? |
Let the decision stand! The legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent. |
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What is "jurisdiction"? |
the official power to make legal decisions and judgments. |
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Why do contracts have to do with civil law? |
When a contract is broken, it will ALWAYS involve civil law. |
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What is 'congressional oversight'? |
oversight by the United States Congress over the Executive Branch, including the numerous U.S. federal agencies. Congressional oversight includes the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation. |
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What is 'devolution'? |
the transfer or delegation of power to a lower level, especially by central government to local or regional administration. |
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What is a bureaucracy? |
a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives. |
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What is fiscal policy? |
is the means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor and influence a nation's economy. It is the sister strategy to monetary policy through which a central bank influences a nation's money supply. |
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What are examples of a Government Corp? |
USPS (United States Postal Service) |
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What is an example of an independent agency? |
CIA, EPA, NASA |
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What is the USA Patriot Act do? |
allow attorney general to detain any foreigner that may pose a threat to the united states. |
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How were government appointments handled before the Civil Service Act of 1883? |
appointments were made to political supporters as a part of the spoils system. |
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What does bureaucracy translate into? |
Offices and Desks |
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What is "implementation"? |
the process of putting a decision or plan into effect; execution. |
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What is the office of management and budget (OMB) and council of economic advisors a part of? |
Executive Office |
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Why is the first lady an important resource? |
She is considered an advisor to the president. |
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What did the framers intend for the presidency to have? |
ENERGY |
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Which Article establishes the presidency? |
Article 2 |
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Where do a presidents delegated powers come from? |
Congress |
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What does legislative initiative mean? |
presidents power to set debate concerning policy to congress / shape public policy |
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How many members are in congress? |
535 |
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What kind of structure is congress? |
Bicameral Legislature |
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What is a Bicameral Legislature? |
is one in which the legislators are divided into two separate assemblies, chambers or houses. |
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How long is a senator in office? |
is six years and approximately one-third of the total membership of the Senate is elected every two years. Look up brief biographies of Senators from 1774 to the present in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. |
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What is sociological representation? |
the people choose a representative whose ethnic, religious, racial, social, or educational background resembles their own. |
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How can a veto be overridden? |
By a 2/3 vote in both houses of congress. |
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What is a filibuster? |
act in an obstructive manner in a legislature, especially by speaking at inordinate length. |
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What does a select committee do? |
are temporarily formed for specific purposes, often to study a particular issue. They usually do not draft legislation. |
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What are 3 factors related to who gets elected and what they do in office? |
who runs for congress, encompassing, apportionment |
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What do interest groups do? |
an organization of people who share a common interest and work together to protect and promote that interest by influencing the government. Interest groups vary greatly in size, aims, and tactics. Political scientists generally divide interest groups into two categories: economic and noneconomic. |
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What is the theory of pluralism? |
theory that centers on the idea of how power is distributed. The pluralist model indicates that power is distributed among many groups. These groups may include coalitions of like-minded people, unions, professional associations and business lobbyists. |
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What is a free rider problem? |
refers to a situation where some individuals in a population either consume more than their fair share of a common resource, or pay less than their fair share of the cost of a common resource. |
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What is the iron triangle? |
is a unique relationship between the bureaucracy, congressmen, and lobbyists that results in the mutual benefit of all three of them. |
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What is a political action committee? |
an organization that raises money privately to influence elections or legislation, especially at the federal level. |
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What amendment protects lobbying? |
First Amendment: Freedom of Speech |
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What is the typical composition of an interest group? |
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What is a primary election? |
a preliminary election to appoint delegates to a party conference or to select the candidates for a principal, especially presidential, election. |
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What is retrospective voting? |
Voters use the past few years to decide how to vote. In general, if a voter thinks that the country has done well over the last few years, he or she votes for the party in power. |
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How does a person pic a candidate? |
PIC:partisanship, issues they stand on, what are their characteristics. |
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What is referendum? |
a general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision. |
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What is the electoral college? |
Example of indirect voting at a nationwide level |
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What are some tools that modern campaigns use? |
Digital tools |
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What is gerrymandering? |
manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class. |
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What is the coattail effect? |
is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. |
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What is the plurality system? |
electoral process in which the candidate who polls more votes than any other candidate is elected. It is distinguished from the majority system, in which, to win, a candidate must receive more votes than all other candidates combined |
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What is a political party? |
is an alliance of like-minded people who work together to win elections and control of the government. Political parties compete against one another for political power and for the ability to put their philosophies and policies into effect. |
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Why do we have a two-party system? |
single member electoral districts |
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How many party systems have we have in the USA? |
6 Distinctive Party Systems |
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What do Third Parties represent? |
call attention to otherwise ignored, misrepresented, or even suppressed principles or issues. |
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When do realignments occur? |
occurs when the minority party becomes stronger than the majority party, usually as the result of a minority party candidate winning a critical election. Party dealignment occurs when no single political party is dominant. |
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What is a party activist? |
someone who is aligned with a political, economic, or social party and who promotes that party's principles through a variety of means. Party activists can be passive, reflecting their views in subtle ways that may go virtually unnoticed or active, communicating their views outwardly through speech, video, actions, etc. |
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When does accidental mobilization occur? |
Individuals are exposed to political info that they did not explicitly seek out |
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What is political socialization? |
lifelong process by which individuals learn political attitudes and behaviors. It is part of the broader socialization process whereby an individual becomes a member of a particular society and takes on its values and behaviors. |
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What is political mobilization? |
the actors' attempt to influence the existing distribution of power. A directional variable is introduced in order to define more precisely the type of relationship which develops between individuals and parties. |
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What do the SOPA and PIPI do? |
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) are bills that were introduced into the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate in the last quarter of 2011. Both are responses to the problem of enforcement of U.S. laws against websites outside U.S. jurisdiction. |
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What is suffrage? |
The right to vote |
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What is the gender gap between men and women? |
the difference, typically in percentage, between men and women voters. This gap can occur even if both genders support the same candidate. |
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What was the goal of the rock the vote campaign? |
mission is to ... made us the largest non-partisan voter engagement campaign in the nation. |
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Who are evangelical protestants most likely to side with (party wise)? |
GOP (republican party) |
