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Final Exam Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the major function of the executive branch?

A

To enforce the law

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2
Q

What are the 8 roles of a president?

A
  1. Chief of State- ceremonial head of the government and symbol of all people
  2. Chief executive- power to enforce the law (most powerful position in the world)
  3. Chief Administrator- CEO of the federal gov (employs about 2.7m people)
  4. Chief Diplomat- architect of foreign policy (relationship with other countries)
  5. Commander in Chief: head of the armed forces
  6. Chief legislator: architect of public policies (ideas for laws)
  7. Chief of party- leader for their political party
  8. Chief citizen- the representative of all the people of the USA.
    * since WWII the president of the us is considered to be the most powerful position in the world
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3
Q

What are the 7 powers of the president?

A
  1. Appointment power- cabinet, federal judges, etc
  2. Power to convene Congress. State of the Union address, special session
  3. Power to make treaties- agreements between two or more countries
  4. Executive orders: a rule or order issued by a president to an executive branch of the government and having the force of law. (Every pres since GW has used)
  5. Veto power: reject legislation
  6. Commander in Chief power- head of the armed forces
  7. Pardoning power: grant release to criminals
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4
Q

Formal Qualifications for president (3)

A
  1. Be a natural born citizen
  2. Be atleast 35 years old
  3. Have lived in the USA for atleast 14 years
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5
Q

What is the oval office?

A

Place where the president does their work

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6
Q

What is the president’s term? What amendment lays it out?

A

22 amendment

2-4 year term or no more than 10 years

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7
Q

What are the salary and fringe benefits of a president?

A 
-$400,000
50,000 per year expense account
2 houses (white house and camp david)
AirForce One
Free healthcare
Pension Plan (200,000)
Lifetime secret service protection
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8
Q

What is the 25th amendment?

A

Deals with presidential succession and disability

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9
Q

What are the top 3 in line for presidential succession?

A
  1. vice president
  2. Speaker of the House
  3. President pro-tempore of the senate
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10
Q

When a president is disabled the vice president will become acting president if what 2 things happen?

A
  1. Th president informs congress in writing that he or she is unable to perform his duties.
  2. The vice president informs and the majority of the cabinet inform Congress in writing, that the president is unable to perform duties
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11
Q

What is impeachment?

A

The charge of high crimes and misdemeanors cover allegations of misconduct by officials

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12
Q

What are the two formal duties of vice president?

A
  1. Preside over the senate

2. Help decide disability of president

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13
Q

Why is a vice president chosen?

A

To balance the ticket

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14
Q

Today what are the two main duties of vice president

A

Spokesperson for the president

Represent president at important events

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15
Q

Formal qualifications, salary, and housing of the vice president?

A

Same as the president
$230,700
Lives at the us naval observatory

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16
Q

2 steps in the presidential selection?

A
  1. Popular vote

2. Electoral College

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17
Q

What is the electoral college?

A

A group of people chosen from each state to formally select the president and vice president

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18
Q

What is representation in the electoral college based on?

A

Number of representatives and senators a state has - total of 538

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19
Q

How many votes do presidential candidates need to win in the electoral college?

A

They need 270

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20
Q

What 3 reasons is the electoral college important?

A
  1. Protects against the tyranny of the majority
  2. Discourages voter fraud
  3. Gives a vote to both the large and small states
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21
Q

What are the four division of the executive branch?

A
  1. President
  2. Vice President
  3. The Cabinet
  4. Independent Agencies
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22
Q

What is the Cabinet?

A

15 executive depart,emts (originally only 4)

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23
Q

What are the 4 original departments in the cabinet?

A
  1. Dept of State- thomas jefferson
  2. Dept of Treasury- alexander hamilton
  3. Dept of War- henry knox
  4. Dept of Justice- edmund randolph
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24
Q

How was the cabinet started?

A

Started as a custom by George Washington

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25
Q

Each department of the cabinet is headed by what? Except for what?

A

A secretary except for the department of justice which is headed by the attorney general
They are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate

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26
Q

What are the two jobs of the cabinet?

A
  1. Administer their department/ agency

2. Advise the president

27
Q

What are the oldest, largest, and newest departments?

A

Oldest dept of state
Largest dept of defense
Newest dept of homeland security-2001
Includes the secret service

28
Q

What are the Independent Agencies?

A

Agencies that run outside the cabinet departments. To keep them from political pressures/influences.
Ran as semi private businesses not totally funded by the government
150 of them

29
Q

6 examples of independent agencies?

A 
Nasa
Federal reserve
Epa
Fda
Us postal service
Cia
30
Q

What are the top 3 positions of white house staff?

A

Chief of staff- President’s private secretary (assistant) top position
Press Secretary- President’s public spokesperson
Executive Office of the President- main advisors on policy experts
- national security director
- director of national intelligence agency

31
Q

Three functions of the judicial branch?

A
  1. Interpret the laws
  2. Settle disputes
  3. Creates expectations for the future (establish precedence)
32
Q

There are 2 separate court systems in the US what are they?

A
  1. State courts (50 states)

2. Federal/National courts

33
Q

What are the 4 types of constitutional courts?

A

Supreme court
District courts (trial courts)
Court of appeals
US Court of International Trade

34
Q

What are special courts? [4 kinds]

A

Armed Services
Veterans
Federal Claims
Tax

35
Q

Who hear most of the cases in the federal level

A

Constitutional courts * district mostly

36
Q

What is jurisdiction?

A

The authority of a court to hear a case

37
Q

Two major types of jurisdiction?

A

Original jurisdiction: the court in which the case is first heard
Appellate jurisdiction: the court that hears cases on approval

38
Q

How many districts courts are there, what type if jurisdiction do they have, and what cases do they hear mostly?

A

94, original jurisdiction (trial courts), and hear most if the cases on a federal level. They also have petite juries

39
Q

What type of jurisdiction does the Court of Appeals have, what type of judging system , and what can they do?

A

They have appellate jurisdiction, no jury, 3 judge panels, and can refuse to hear a case

40
Q

What type of jurisdiction does the supreme court have?

A

Both jurisdictions

41
Q

What are the federal judges?

A

They are appointed by the president and approved by the senate. There are over 600 judges.
Life time terms
1-3 judge panels

42
Q

What are US Marshals?

A

One/ district court (94)

Police force of the court system

43
Q

What type of cases do federal courts hear?

A

Both criminal and civil cases

44
Q

What is the plantiff?

A

The person who files the charge/suit

45
Q

What is the defendant?

A

The person who the complaint is against

46
Q

What is a grand jury?

A

Decide if there is enough evidence to take a case to trial (only need a majority vote)

47
Q

What is a petite jury?

A

Decides the guilt or innocence of the accused (must be a unanimous vote)

48
Q

Do the court of appeals and the supreme court have juries?

A

No the judges make all the rulings.

49
Q

What is the supreme court also known as?

A

The court of last resort

50
Q

What did Marbury vs Madison do?

A

Landmark case that gave the supreme court the power of judicial review (the right to decide if a case is constitutional or unconstitutional).

51
Q

How many judges are there in the supreme court?

A

9

52
Q

When does the sup court hear cases?

A

October through june

53
Q

Who is in charge of the supreme court?

A

The chief justice

54
Q

How many cases are appealed per year (to the sup court)? How many are accepted?

A

About 8000 appealed but only 75 to 85 or 1% are accepted

55
Q

If a case is denied what happenes?

A

The ruling on the lower court stands

56
Q

What 2 things decide which cases to accept in the supreme court?

A

Solicitor general: federal governments chief lawyer - a case must get past him/her first-screens
Rule of four- if 4 out of 9 justices agree to hear the case

57
Q

What types of cases does the supeme court hear?

A
  1. Cases that will affect the entire country
  2. Cases that involve constitutional questions
  3. Crimes committed on the high seas
58
Q

If a case is heard what does it receive?

A

A Writ of Certiorari-legal order to hear the case

59
Q

What are briefs?

A

Written legal docs presented by each lawyer to the justices (summary) that they will read before the case

60
Q

What are they oral arguments and what are their 2 rules?

A

Lawyer presents their case
Each lawyer gets exactly 30 mins to present
Each case lasts exactly one hour

61
Q

What are the two types of court opinions

A

Majority opinions: gives reasons for their decisions- official ruling
Minority opinions: give reasons why they opposed the rulings
*decisions do not have to be unanimous. All decisions are final. They cannot be appealed. Usually handed out in the spring/summer.

62
Q

Most court cases are heard on what level?

A

State level

63
Q

Where do almost all criminal cases start?

A

State courts

64
Q

Most judge are what?

A

Elected not appointed like the federal level

Government (6 decks)

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