Final 13, 15, 18 Flashcards
Main Purpose to enforce laws (roles of the presidents)
- Chief of state: ceremonial head of the government and symbol of the people
- Chief of executive: power to enforce the law Most powerful position in the world (since WWII)
3 Chief administrator: CEO of the federal government (employs=2.7 million people - Chief diplomat: architect of foreign policy ( relationship with other countries)
- Commander in chief: head of armed forces
- Chief legislator: architect of public policy (ideas of laws)
- Chief of party:leader of his political party
- Chief citizen: representative of all us citizen since wwii president id considered most powerful position in the world
7 power of the president
1 appointment power: (cabinet , federal judges, etc)
2power to convene congress: state of the union address special session
3 power to make treaties!: agreement between ween two or more countries
4executive orders: a rule of order issued by the president to an executive branches gov
5 veto power: reject legislation
6 commmander in Chief power: head of the armed forces
7 pardoning power: grant releases to criminals
Formal qualifications
1 be a natural born citizen
2 be at least 35 years old
3 have lived in the USA for least 14 yrs
Oval Office
Place where the president does their work
Fringe benefits
$50,000 per year expense account 2 houses ( White House and camp David) Air Force one Free health care Pension ($200,000) Lifetime- secret service protection
Presidential succession
1 Vice President
2 speaker of the House
3 president pro temper in the senate
Disability
Vice president
1 the president informs congress in writing that he/she is unable to perform his/her duties
2 the vp and the majority of the cabinet inform congress in writing that the president is unable to perform his duties
Vice President formal duties
Presided over the senate Help decide the disability of president - chosen to balance the tickets - spikes person for the president - represent president at important events
Why electoral college important
Protects against the tyranny of the majority
Discourages voter fraud
Guess and voice to both large and small states
Four divisions of the executive branch
1 president
2 vide President
3 cabinet
4 independent agencies
Electoral college
A group of people chosen from each state to formally select the president and Vice President
Must get 270 to win
Winner of popular votes in the state takes all of the electoral votes
The cabinet
15 executive departments
Originally only 4 1 dept of state- Thomas Jefferson 2 dept of treasury- Alexander Hamilton 3 dept of war- henry Knox 4 dept of justice- Edmund Randolph
Independent agencies
NASA federal rescue EPA FDA Us postal service
White House staff
Chief of staff- presidents private secretary
Press secretary- president public spokesperson
National security director
Director of national intelligence
Judicial branch (3 functions jobs)
1 interpret the laws
2 settle disputes
3 Crete expectations for the future
There are 2 separate court system in the USA
State courts( 50 states) Federal/ national courts
Federal courts 2
- Constitutional courts
- Supreme Court
- district courts
- court of appeals
- us court of internal trade
2 special courts
- armed services
-veterans
-Federal claims
-tax
2 types of jurisdictions
1 original jurisdictions =the court which the case is first heard
2appellate jurisdictions=the court that hears cases on appeal
Jurisdictions
The authority of a court to hear a case
District courts ( 94)
- have juries
Court appeals (12) has appellate jurisdictions
No juries
3 judges panels
Can refuse to hear a case
Federal courts
Hear both criminals and civil cases
Plaintiff
Person who files the charges suit
Defendant
The person who the complaint is against
Grand jury
16 to 23 decides if there is enough evidence to take a case to trial
Petite jury
12 decides the guilt or innocence of the accused
Supreme Court
The court of last resort
Marburg vs Madison
1803- landmark case that gave the Supreme Court power of the judicial review.
Solicitor General-
Federal government chief lawyer- case must get past him/her first screen
Rule of 4
If 4 out of 9 justice agree to hear the case
Type of cases do the Supreme Court hear
1 cases that will affect the entire country
2 cases that involved constitutional question
3 crimes committed on highest sea
Write of certiorari
Legal order to hear the case
Briefs
Written legal arguments presented by each lawyer to the justices
Oral arguments
Lawyer present their case
Each lawyer gets exactly 30 minutes
Majority opinions
Gives reason for their decision- official ruling
Minority’s opinion
Good bed reason why they oppose the ruling
Level of courts
1 state supreme courts 2 state appeals courts 3 circuit courts 4 probate courts 5 juvenile courts 6 family courts 7 divorce courts 8 small claims courts 9 traffic courts
