Ch.5, 12,13,15 Flashcards
Affirmative Action
Compensatory action to overcome consequences of past discrimination
Bakke v. University of California (1978)
- He was denied admission
- School had reserved 16/100 available slots for minority students
- Can’t have separate application slots
- Supreme Court ordered the school to admit Bakke
- Upheld affirmative action
Hopwood v. Texas Law School (1996)
- Declared that race can NEVER be used as a factor in admission even if it is to promote diversity
Patronage
- The resources ( $ & Support) available to higher officials
Veto
- Presidents constitutional power to turn down acts of congress
- Veto can be overridden by 2/3 votes of each house of congress
Pocket Veto
The Constitution grants the president 10 days to review a measure passed by the Congress. If the president has not signed the bill after 10 days, it becomes law without his signature, only when congress is in session. If congress is out of session the bill is vetoed.
Oversight
The effort of congress, through hearings, investigations to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies
Appropriations
the amount of money approved by congress in bills that each unit or agency of gov. can spend
Mandate
if a government or official has a mandate to make important decisions, they have the authority to make the decisions because they have been elected by the people to do so
Rallying Effect
This usually happens in a time of crisis where the people are in favor of the decisions of the president/gov.
Ex: 9/11, Bag checks in the train station
White House Staff
- Analyst and advisers to the president
- Broader advice, more political
- Usually have a longer and closer relationship with the president
- the # of white house staff have grown since the New Deal due to more executive power
- Presidents increasingly relying on them
Cabinet
- 15 cabinet positions (ex. department of justice, defense, state, homeland security, health and human services)
- not a collective, don’t give advice
- called secretaries
- have to be appointed & confirmed & are usually experts in the field
- Purpose: to build support, support government policies, carryout legislation
Executive agreement
an agreement, made between the president and another country, that has the force of treaty and does not require the senate’s, “advice and consent”
Sociological representation
- Reflects their community
- same racial, gender, ethic, religious, or educational backgrounds
- We do not have sociological representation
Agency representation
- The type of representation in which a representative is held accountable to a constituency (voters) if he or she fails to represent the constituent properly
Incumbency
Currently in office & is gonna run again
Conference committee
joint committees created to work out a compromise on house and senate versions of legislations
Filibuster
- tactic used by members of the senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor, senators have unlimited time to speak
- requires 3/5th’s of the senate to end a filibuster
- recent examples: rand paul march 2013
Cloture
rule allowing a majority of 3/5th votes or 2/3rds of a legislative body to set a time limit on debate over the bill. *must agree in order to impose such limit
Closed rule
- supporters prefer a closed rule
- puts severe limits on on floor debates & amendments
Open rule
- Opponents prefer an open rule
- easier to add amendments
- can cripple or weaken its chances for passage
Public Law
- Issues of government power and individual issues
- 1% of cases get to the supreme court
Writ of certiorari
- most common way cases get to the supreme court
- 4/9 justices decide they want to hear the case
- has to be a case of controversy (needs to be settled), ex: abortion
- Standing (that people have been affected, hurt by the controversy)
Solicitor general
- the top government lawyer in all cases before the supreme court where the government is a party
- David B. Verrilli, Jr.
opinion writing
- Majority opinion
- Concurring decision
- Dissenting
Majority Opinion
5 or more justices can write why they made the decision
Concurring decision
- voted on the majority side, but for different reasons
Dissenting decision
- Voice your agreement/disagreement
- why those kinds of cases should keep coming in
- possibility of court coming to a different decision
Judicial activism
- Going beyond the constitution, to apply to society how it works today
Judicial Restraint
- Interpreting it exactly as stated in the constitution
Judicial review
- power of the court to review
- declare actions constitutional or unconstitutional
- marbury v. madison (1803) established judicial review
Amicus Curaie
- friend of the court
- someone who doesn’t have standing in the case (directly involved)
- give info to help justices make a decision to hear the case
how does the Executive Branch’s role today differ from the executive branch’s before?
- Presidents role today: more involved
- Chief clerk (before) following, chief executive (now) now (ex.patriot act)
- framers did not want to want president directly accountable to the ppl.
- voted by electoral college (270+ votes to win)
what are the executive branch’s domestic powers?
A. Executive
- Execute laws
- Hiring & firing staff
B. Military
- protect from invasion & domestic violence
- usually during time of emergency
- FEMA (federal emergency management agency) (ex: hurricane katrina, sandy)
C. Legislative
- veto
- addressing the country (state of the union)
- executive order (ex. establishing minimum wage for contractors $10.10, Changing the Name of the National Security Staff to the National Security Council Staff)
National security Council
The National Security Council (NSC) is the President’s principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials.
How was FDR important in expanding the role of the president?
- Hoovervilles helped people who were homeless, helping people get back up from the great depression
- the new deal: federal programs in response to great depression, economic recovery (stabilized banks), investment in public works, job creation
How do cases get to the supreme court?
- A case goes to the Supreme Court only after going through all lower levels of courts and appeals courts. A motion is filed for the Supreme Court to hear a case and the SC justice responsible for the area of the country where the case is from decides if the court will hear the case
- To get to the SC the following courts must be gone through:
- Local Level: Local trial courts, State Appeals Court, the individual states highest Court of Appeals, Supreme Court
- Federal Level: Federal District Courts, US Federal Courts of Appeals, US Supreme Court
Jurisdiction refers to..
A courts area of authority
The U.S. Supreme Court is made up of one chief justice and ____________ associate justices.
8 Associate justicies
U.S. circuit court decisions are made by
3 Judges
Congress may change all of the following except
The supreme courts original jurisdiction
The country is divided into ____________ regional judicial circuits, each of which has a U.S. Court of Appeals.
12
In a civil case, the party who brings a case against a defendant is referred to as the
Plaintiff
The powers of the presidency are outlined in ____________ of the U.S. Constitution.
Article II
A group of senators or representatives who join together because they share certain opinions, interests, or social characteristics is the definition of
Congressional Caucuses
In general, the purpose of the congressional whip system is
Communications
Which type of legislation specifies a project or other authorizations to be funded, as well as the location of the project within a particular district?
Pork Barrel
distinguish civil rights from civil liberties
Unlike civil liberties, civil rights place positive obligations on the government to take action.
Universalization of Civil Rights
The protections won by the African American civil rights movement that spilled over to protect other groups as well
How a bill becomes a bill
- Submitted
- Committee/sub-comitee deliberation (deal w/ the issues)
- Reported out
- Debate
- Conference committee
- Presidential Action
The name of the justices
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stephan Breyer
- Samuel Alito
- Elena Kagan
- Clarence Thomas
- Antonin Scalia
- John Roberts
- Anthony Kennedy
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
