Chapter 2

Question 1

Laws

Answer 1

Rules of conduct promulgated and enforced by the government.

Question 2

Jurisprudence

Answer 2

The study of law and legal philosophy.

Question 3

Natural Law

Answer 3

A legal philosophy whose proponents espouse that there are ideal laws that can be discovered through careful thought and humanity’s innate sense of right and wrong.

Question 4

Legal Positiviism

Answer 4

A legal theory whose proponents believe that the validity of a law is determined by the process through which it was made rather than by the degree to which it reflects natural law principles.

Question 5

Legal Formalism

Answer 5

A legal theory that views the law as a complete and autonomous system of logically consistent principles within which judges find the correct result by simply making logical deductions.

Question 6

Legal Realism

Answer 6

A legal philosophy whose proponents think that judges decide cases based on factors other than logic and preexisting rules, such as economic and sociological factors.

Question 7

Originalism

Answer 7

An approach to constitutional interpretation that narrowly interprets the text of the Constitution in a manner that is consistent with what most people understood those words to mean at the time that they were written.

Question 8

Eveolutionary appropach

Answer 8

An approach to constitutional interpretation in which judges seek to determine the underlying purpose that the drafters had in mind at the time they wrote the law and the modern-day option that best advances that purpose.

Question 9

Constitutional Law

Answer 9

A body of principles and rules either explicitly stated in , or inferred from, the US Constitution and those of the individual states.

Question 10

Confederation

Answer 10

A form of government in which independent units from an alliance but retain most of their power, delegating only a limited amount of power to a central authority.

Question 11

Sovereign Powers

Answer 11

The power of a government to do the things that are traditionally considered necessary to govern, such as making and executing laws, collecting taxes, signing treaties, and making war.

Question 12

Separation of Power

Answer 12

The division of governmental power among legislative, executive, and judicial brances.

Question 13

Power of Judicial Review

Answer 13

A court’s power to review statutes to decide if they conform to the US or state constitutions.

Question 14

Federalism

Answer 14

A system of government in which the authority to govern is split between a single nationwide central government and several regional governments that control specific geographic areas.

Question 15

Bill of Rights

Answer 15

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution.

Question 16

Doctrine of Incorporation

Answer 16

The application of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process protections to incorporate the provisions of the Bill of Rights and make them applicable to the states.

Question 17

State Action Requirement

Answer 17

A defendant cannot be charged with violating a constitutional right unless acting as an agent of a governmental entity.

Question 18

Statute

Answer 18

A law enacted by a state legislature or by Congress.

Question 19

Ordinance

Answer 19

A law enacted by a local government; a subcategory of statutory law.

Question 20

Administrative Law

Answer 20

Rules and regulations created by administrative agencies.

Question 21

Regulation

Answer 21

A law promulgated by an administrative agency.

Question 22

Enabling Act

Answer 22

A statute establishing and setting out the powers of an administrative agency.

Question 23

Fourth Branch of Government

Answer 23

Administrative agencies

Question 24

Executive Order

Answer 24

An official policy directed issued by the President, or by the governor of a state, that directs government employees as to how they should implement the law. At the federal level, executive orders are published in the Federal Register.

Question 25

Executive memorandum

Answer 25

An official policy directive issued by the President, or by the governor of a state, that directs government employees as to how they should implement the law.

Question 26

Common Law

Answer 26

Law created by the courts.

Question 27

Codification of common law

Answer 27

The process of legislative enactment of areas of the law previously governed solely by the common law.

Question 28

Derogation of the common law

Answer 28

Used to describe legislation that changes the common law.

Question 29

Equity

Answer 29

Fairness; a court’s power to do justice. Equity powers allow judges to take action when the law would otherwise limit their decision to monetary awards. Equity powers include a judge’s ability to issue an injunction and to order specific performance.

Question 30

Injunction

Answer 30

A court order requiring a party to perform a specific act or to cease doing a specific act.

Question 31

Specific Performance

Answer 31

A requirement that a party fulfill his or her contractual obligations.