PSC 101: Exam 2
93 Cards in this Set
Front | Back |
---|---|
Civil rights
|
Guarantees of equal opportunities, privileges, and treatment under the law that allow individuals to participate fully and equally in American society.
|
Dred Scott v. Sandford
|
Supreme Court decision in 1857 declaring that neither slaves nor the descendants of slaves could be U.S. citizens
|
Equal protection clause
|
clause in the fourteenth Amendment stating that states are not to deny any person equal treatment under the law
|
state action
|
Supreme Court interpretation of the equal protection clause that holds the clause prohibited unfair discriminatory actions by government, not by private indiviuals
|
Jim Crow laws
|
system of laws that separated the races.
|
Plessy v. Ferguson
|
Supreme Court decision in 1896 upholding the constitutionality of laws and government policies that required segregated facilities for blacks and whites
|
separate but equal doctrine
|
Doctrine allowing segregation as long as the facilities are equal.
|
Brown v. Board of Education
|
Prohibited segregation in schools
|
de jure segragation
|
segregation that happens due to laws
|
de facto segregation
|
segregation that is a result of behavior
|
affirmative action
|
attempts to hire/recruit from minority groups
|
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
|
Court decision that disallowed colleges setting a "quota" on minority students but that colleges could see it as a "plus" when considering a student
|
civil disobedience
|
the purposeful breaking of a law, nonviolently, to draw attention to a cause.
|
white primary
|
primary elections in southern states where only white people could vote
|
majority-minority districts
|
The drawing of voting districts that groups large portions of minority together ensuring the election of a minority.
|
Collective Benefit
|
A benefit everyone enjoys, regardless of whether or not they contributed to it's attainment.
|
Selective benefit
|
benefits that only those who contributed to their attainment get to enjoy.
|
socioeconomic status
|
a combination of an individuals' occupation, income, and education levels
|
civic skills
|
writing, speaking, analyzing, and organizing that reduce the cost of political participation.
|
political efficacy
|
an individual's belief that he or she can influence what happens in the political world.
|
suffarge
|
the right to vote
|
Voting Rights Act of 1965
|
legislation that abolished literacy tests as a requirement to vote.
|
GOTV
|
stands for get out the vote, and describes events or activities campaigners use to ensure voters vote on election day.
|
impeachment
|
the act or charging a government official with a high crime.
|
constituents
|
The people who reside within an elected offical's political jurisdiciton
|
incumbent
|
the individual in an election who currently hods teh contested office
|
casework
|
the direct assistance that members of Congress give to individuals; doing their constituents favors.
|
delegate representation model
|
where representatives are elected to do the bidding or their constituents
|
trustee representation model
|
the type of representation by which representatives are elected to do what they think is best for their constituents
|
collective action problem
|
a situation in which the members of a group would benefit by working together to produce some outcome, but each individual is better off refusing to cooperate and reaping benefits from those who do the work
|
cycling
|
A phenomenon that occurs when multiple decision makers must decide among multiple options and cannot agree on a single course of action.
|
party caucus
|
A closed meeting of a party's House or Senate Democractic members; also called a party conference
|
party conference
|
an organization of the members of the Repulblican party in the House or Senate
|
party whips
|
a member of the Senate/House who is chosen by his/her party colleagues to assist the party's floor leader in managing its legislative program.
|
markup
|
the process by which the members of a committee of subcommittee rewrite, delete, and add portions of a bill.
|
open rule
|
An order from the House Rules Committee that permits a bill to be amended on the floor
|
closed rule
|
An order from the House Rules Committee that sets a time limit on debate; forbids a bill from being amended on the floor
|
cloture
|
A procedure for terminating debate, especially filibusters, in the Senate.
|
conference committee
|
A special joint committee appointed to reconcile differences when bills pass the two chambers of Congress in different forms.
|
sunset provision
|
a condition of a law that requires it to be reauthorized after a certain number of years
|
appropriations
|
A legislative act authorizing the expenditure of a designated amount of public funds for a specific purpose.
|
earmarks
|
federal funds that support specific local projects
|
continuing resolutions
|
A steady flow of money that funds federal and state projects.
|
supplemental resolutions
|
temporary funding given to fund federal projects when unforeseen circumstances.
|
electoral college
|
A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president
|
necessary and expedient clause
|
a clause in Article II, section 3, of the Constitution that authorizes the president to recommend legislation to Congress
|
take care clause
|
The constitutional requirement (in Article II, Section 3) that presidents take care that the laws are faithfully executed, even if they disagree with the purpose of those laws.
|
executive privilege
|
The power to keep executive communications confidential, especially if they relate to national security.
|
delegation
|
The passing of power to the President from Congress to be the main actor in the creation of policy
|
formal powers
|
specific grants of authority defined in the Constitution or in law
|
veto
|
Chief executive's power to reject a bill passed by a legislature
|
pocket veto
|
A veto taking place when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president, who simply lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it.
|
line-item veto
|
Presidential power to strike, or remove, specific items from a spending bill without vetoing the entire package; declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
|
executive agreement
|
A formal agreement between the U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that does not require Senate approval.
|
executive order
|
A rule issued by the president that has the force of law
|
mandate
|
A president's claim of broad public support.
|
unified government
|
The same party controls the White House and both houses of Congress
|
divided government
|
A situation in which one major political party controls the presidency and the other controls the chambers of Congress, or in which one party controls a state governorship and the other controls the state legislature.
|
Presidential cabinet
|
name given to the President's advisors, group of officials who head government departments and advise the president
|
Executive Office of the President
|
A group of organizations that advise the president on a wide range of issues; includes the Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council, and the Council of Economic Advisers
|
district courts
|
Lowest level of fed. courts, where fed. cases begin &trials are held (bank robbery, environmental violations, tax evasion)
|
magistrate courts
|
municipal court which handles misdemeanors
|
appellate courts
|
Courts that determine whether lower courts have made errors of law.
|
writ of certiorari
|
A formal writ used to bring a case before the Supreme Court.
|
original jurisdiction
|
The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. These are the courts that determine the facts about a case.
|
briefs
|
Documents setting out the arguments in legal cases, prepared by attorneys and presented to courts.
|
oral argument
|
A presentation of a case given directly to a court by a lawyer/
|
conference
|
A special joint committee appointed to reconcile differences when bills pass the two chambers of Congress in different forms.
|
Chief Justice
|
Head of the Judicial branch at the NATIONAL level
|
majority opinion
|
A court opinion reflecting the views of the majority of the judges.
|
concurring opinion
|
An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning.
|
dissenting opinion
|
A statement written by a justice who disagrees with the majority opinion, presenting his or her opinion
|
plaintiff
|
A person or party filing a lawsuit
|
defendant
|
An individual or group being sued or charged with a crime.
|
jury
|
a body of citizens sworn to give a true verdict according to the evidence presented in a court of law
|
criminal case
|
A case in which a defendant is tried for committing a crime as defined by the law
|
civil case
|
A case involving a noncriminal matter such as a contract dispute or a claim of patent infringement
|
class action suit
|
A case brought by someone to help him or her and all others who are similarly situated
|
standing
|
the requirement establishing that for a plaintiff to bring a case to court, he or she must have suffered a well-defined injury that is a result of violation of the civil code
|
ripeness doctrine
|
a doctrine under which the court will not hear a case unless there is an actual, present controversy for the court to decide
|
plea bargin
|
The defendent agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a reduction of charges of lighter sentence
|
common law
|
Laws that are based not on actual laws but on previous judicial rulings.
|
public law
|
Criminal law deals with acts against welfare & safety of public
|
judicial review
|
Review by a court of law of actions of a government official or entity or of some other legally appointed person or body or the review by an appellate court of the decision of a trial court
|
legal model
|
a view of judicial decision making that argues that judges set aside their own values and make decisions based solely on legal criteria
|
stare decisis
|
A common law doctrine under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions
|
judicial restraint
|
A judicial philosophy in which judges play minimal policymaking roles, leaving that duty strictly to the legislatures
|
judicial activism
|
An interpretation of the U.S. constitution holding that the spirit of the times and the needs of the nation can legitimately influence judicial decisions (particularly decisions of the Supreme Court)
|
attitudinal model
|
A model that suggests that judges' decisions are largely, if not exclusively, determined by their personal ideological and policy preferences
|
strategic model
|
the theory of judicial decision-making in which judges consider their own policy preferences as well as the possible actions of the other branches of government when making decisions
|
solicitor general
|
A presidential appointee and the third-ranking office in the Department of Justice.
|
amicus curiae
|
A brief submitted by a "friend of the court"
|
senatorial courtesy
|
Presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.
|