Exam 2 Flashcards
War powers resolution
limit president’s authority to wage war
Executive privilege
Right to maintain confidential communications.
Executive agreement
an agreement between the US and foreign government. It is less formal than a treaty.
Executive order
a directive from the president used to manage the operation of the federal government.
Signing statement
a statement from the president clarifying a bill signed into law.
Bureaucratic:
Selection is based on merit, you need some qualifications (police or firefighters), specialized training
2. Organization: hierarchical
Part of the government that implements policies and laws and provides services. Distinguished by organization. Specialized divisions to bureaucracies. We look at bureaucrats as professionals.
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Independent agency; Created merit system control board
Hired by the president, serves at pleasure of the president.
President can fire head of Office of personnel management
pendleton act 1883
established merit system for selecting people for bureaucracy
Civil service reform act (1978)
Gave presidents more power over bureaucracies.
Established senior executive staff
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Writes budget for president
Assists president in managing federal bureaucracy
New regulations need to be gone through OMB
Independent Commissions
End in commissions, Federal communications commission (FCC)
Federal trade commission (FTC)
Independent Boards
End in Boards, National labor relations board
State court amount
50
Supreme Court amount
1; 9 members
Federal appears courts
13
Federal district courts
94
Common Law
judge made law, made by judicial bodies.
Statutory Law
made by legislative body
Writ
court order
Writ of certiorari
court order that comes from supreme court; court order for a case to go to supreme court.
Rule of 4
four members of court to order a certiorari
Plea bargaining
instead of going to trial, they need to appear in front of a judge.
-charged with assault, plead guilty and then the judge tells you what to do.
Precedent
court references previous decisions that go before the court (from similar cases).
Textualism vs Originalism
Text: look at text of constitution, decisions based off actual wording of constitution
Original: look at text, actual statements, words, also goes back to see what they meant.
Chief justice of supreme court
John Roberts (conservative)
Supreme court conservatives and liberals
6 conservatives, 3 liberals
Court levels
Local, state, highest state court
Judicial restraint
very reductant on striking down a law only in extreme cases. (Reluctance to interfere with elected branches, only to do so as a last resort)
Judicial activism
A vigorous or active approach to reviewing the other branches of government
Majority opinion
deciding opinion of court
Concurring opinion
agrees with majority, but offers different ideas
Dissent
disagrees fully
Standing committee
permanent
selective committee
temporary
Filibuster
rule to end it is a closure rule to end filibuster (Needs 60 votes)
Discharge petition
petition to force a bill out of the house of representatives.
Pocket veto
congress adjourns, president doesnt sign bill, bill doesnt become law.
Rule making process
process which regulatory agencies establish administrative laws
Administrative act:
require regulatory agencies to announce proposed regulations to whole hearings. Allows effective parties to discuss them.
Established rule making process
