Final Exam Study Guide POS 1041 Fall 2015 Electoral College How does the electoral college work Candidates for elector is nominated by political parties and other groupings in each state It is these elector candidates for whom the people vote in the November election States vote and the party with the most votes wins the electoral for that state Electoral votes are counted and the majority of the electoral votes is required to win Why was it put in place Didn t trust the people Madison thought it combined importance of states and population like bicameralism How is the number of electors in each state determined Equal to the number of senators 2 plus the number of house representatives How are electors chosen Political parties How many total electoral votes are there 538 Where does this number come from Census How many electoral votes does a successful candidate need 270 What was the last time a presidential candidate won the popular vote and lost the electoral vote and did not become president Gore in 2000 Who determines how the electors in a state are selected Political parties How do 48 states allocate the electors Winner takes all Two states use the congressional district method What is this Maine and Nebraska Each congressional district gets elector for winner candidate with most districts get 2 senate votes What are the arguments against the electoral college Undemocratic popularly elected candidate does not always win Concentrates attention to a few swing states Discourages turn out Discourages third parties Faithless electors What are the arguments for the electoral college Federalism Technically easier than national election Small states have influence Prevents urban oriented victory Helps minority groups What is the National Popular Vote Instate compact States agree to cast their electoral votes for the candidate winning popular vote What would have to occur to change to a popular vote Chapter 13 The Judicial Branch What article of the constitution deals with the federal judiciary How does it compare in length and detail to the articles dealing with Congress and the President Article 3 of the Constitution invests judicial power in the United States to the Supreme Court This is the shortest article with only 3 sections The Founding Father s valued court s independence in the constitution so there is lifetime appointments and salaries that cannot be reduced What is rule of law legal principle that law should govern the nation What is the phrase on the top of the U S Supreme Court building that describes the purpose of the court Equal justice under law Words that guide the supreme court past present and future When does the Supreme Court convene first Monday in October What is noteworthy about the makeup of the 2015 Supreme Court Affirmative action in university admissions florida death penalty judge unanimous jury redistricting and abortion How many Supreme Court justices have been from Florida none What is the process of being placed on the docket of the U S Supreme Court To be placed on the U S Supreme Court the president first submits the name to Senate and then Public hearings are held The Judiciary Committee will then vote and then the Senate will vote a simple majority vote is required to induct the nominee What is the Rule of 4 Four judges agree Robert Bork was appointed but did not get Senate approval Why do we remember him Famous because it was the first time forces organized strongly against him to fight his nomination by Reagan He was opposed because of his orginalist views He was viewed as an extremist concerned roll back civil rights decisions and women s rights decisions Borked now means actions with the aim of preventing a person s appointment to public office According to the constitution how are inferior courts established Article 3 of the Constitution describes the establishment of inferior courts Congress makes up modifications accordantly 2 What two components in the constitution help insure the Supreme Court s independence Lifetime appointments Salaries can not be reduced Why was the 1803 case Marbury v Madison important to the operation of the court At issue was a political act At the end of the adams administration a federalist congress passed the judiciary act which increased the number of district and appeals courts and created lots of new judges John marshall left on his desk a stack of signed and sealed justice of peace commissions President Jefferson wanted to repeal the act and eliminate the judgeships Congress did this William Marbury felt he had denied justice and appealed to the court The court ruled that could not give him back his job and that the law was constitutional but did have the right to rule an act of congress unconstitutional What is judicial review Is it in the constitution Power of courts to declare the acts of governmental officials unconstitutional What does this phrase refer to It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is refers to Marbury v Madison Does the Supreme Court always support existing law No What is an example where the court overturned a federal law Campaign finance overturned federal law Does the Supreme Court always overturn existing law no What is an example where the court upheld a federal law Voting Clearly the Court can overturn federal law Can it also overturn state law What is an example It can strike down state laws that violated federal law or constitution Immigration overturned state law Affirmative action overturned state law Gun control overturned state law Most decisions of the court are decided by what vote i e 9 0 5 4 6 3 In recent years more important decisions of the court campaign spending ObamaCare affirmative action gay marriage were decided by what vote When Supreme Court justices agree to hear a case they issue what When Supreme Court justices agree to hear a case they issue a writ of certiorari How does the court decide which cases to consider Issue of broad significance disagreement among lower courts lower court found federal law unconstitutional state court has decided a major federal question 3 How many cases does the court each year on average In the 2012 2013 session how many cases did they take How many petitions for consideration did they consider 70 in 2013 2014 session Does the court have to take every case appealed to it What federal law
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