Exam 2: Concepts from text

Question 1

one person, one vote

Answer 1

all congressional districts must have equal populations

the principle from the constitution that was applied to ensure that each person’s vote carried the same weight. This was the reason the Supreme Court voted in 1964 that each congressional district must have the same amount of voters to make the voting fair.

Question 2

authorizations versus appropriations

Answer 2

The two steps of the congressional budgeting process.
Authorization: certain amount of funding may be available
Appropriation: specifying the amount of authorized funds that will actually be used

Question 3

Chapter 10: line-item veto

Answer 3

The power of an executive to veto individual provisions, but the pass the bill in general
overturned in 1998 because no longer constitutional

Question 4

Youngstown Steel and Tube Company v. Sawyer

Answer 4

1952, after the employees of steel companies threatened to strike, President Truman ordered the Secretary of Commerce to seize US steel companies. The steel companies sued. President’s power if any, to issue the order must stem either from an Act of Congress, or from the Constitution itself

Question 5

25th Amendment

Answer 5

25th Amendment a 1976 amendment concerning presidential succession. It established procedures for filling presidential and vice presidential vacancies and makes provisions for presidential incapacity, death, or resignation.

Question 6

Chapter 12: stare decisis

Answer 6

a Latin phrase that means “to stand on decided cases.” It obligates judges to follow the precedents set previously by their own courts or by higher courts that have authority over them. It provides a basis for judicial decision making in all countries that have common law systems

Question 7

FISA

Answer 7

the foreign intelligence surveillance act. In 1978 it established a court to hear requests for warrants for the surveillance of suspected spies. Officials can request a warrant without having to reveal to the suspect or the public the information used to justify the warrant.

Question 8

Marbury v. Madison

Answer 8

supreme court case where the court declared that if a federal court declares that a federal or state law or policy is unconstitutional, then the court’s decision affects the application of the law or policy only within that court’s jurisdiction

Question 9

Chapter 11: Minerals Management Service;

Answer 9

a bureaucracy that does not work as it should
a former agency of the US department of the interior designtated with managing the nation’s natural gas on the outer continental shelf; dissolved into 3 separate agencies in 2010 following conflict after deepwater horizon

Question 10

FOIA

Answer 10

the freedom of information act passed in 1966. It requires federal agencies to disclose to individuals information contained in government files. Beneficial to individuals as well as organizations that have used it to uncover government waste, scandals, and incompetence.

Question 11

Whistle-Blower Protection Act

Answer 11

the civil service reform act passed in 1978 by congress saying that bureaucracies can’t fire whistleblowers. It also set up the Merit Systems Protection Board as part of this protection. It is ineffective as Sibel Edmonds demonstrates