Gov Final Exam Study Guide

Gov Final Exam Study Guide Judiciary Powers: Judicial Review: the implied power of the Supreme Court to have the authority to declare laws of Congress and act of the executive branch unconstitutional The power to declare laws constitutional of unconstitutional This is when the Judiciary became equivalent in power to the other two branches Jurisdiction: it is the legal authority of a court to hear a case Original: the power of the court to hear a case for the first time without needing to go through a trial level case o All trial level courts have original jurisdiction Appellate: the power of a higher court to review a lower court’s decision o This happens in all appellate courts and in most cases heard before the Supreme Court. Mandatory: the requirement of appellate jurisdiction that the court hear all the cases that are appealed to the court o This happens in all levels of the Federal Appeals Courts except from the Supreme Court o This creates large dockets and a slow system Discretionary: the power of the Supreme Court to pick and choose which cases it will place on its dockets each year o They generally choose about 80-100 cases a year to hear in term. The Supreme Court: 9 justices Court of last resort They have discretionary, appellate, and original jurisdiction The Appointment Process: No formal qualifications to serve as a federal judge Individuals that are usually appointed have legal experience, good character, and share political or ideological views with the president appointing them. Good behavior: life-long career, can only be removed through impeachment, serve until you die  Process: 1. A judicial position opens. President either has a complied list of potential nominees or he solicits recommendations from senators 2. Nominees are evaluated by the President and his staf 3. The name is sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, here they perform their own background checks and evaluation procedures 4. A public hearing is held with the nominee to address any problems/questions/testimony about his/her background 5. The Judiciary Committee votes on whether they will recommend the nominee to the full Senate 6. If he/she gets the recommendation, the full Senate debates the nomination 7. When debate ends, a vote on the nominee is called and a simple majority is required for confirmation How they choose cases: Standing: the right of an individual to initiate a court case. To be a case there must be a controversy in which the individual has a direct stake in the outcome of case Mootness: the point where a legal proceeding or case can be found to have no efect Writ of certiorari: a petition from the lower court/individual for the higher to look at a case on its merits and see if it deserves to be heard o Nearly 10,000 petitions received a year and only grant “cert” to about 100 Rule of Four: the procedure by which the judges vote whether to hear a case. At least 4 judges are required to vote to vote to hear a case for it to be grated cert and be placed on the docket. Amicus briefs: “friend in the court” it is a position brief that is filed by an individual/groups who make their position know to the court in efort to have an efect on the courts decision Court Actors: Solicitor General: the government’s lawyer in all cases before the Supreme Court in which the government is party Attorney General: the main legal advisor to the government. He is the head of the Justice Department and sits on the president’s cabinet Law Clerks: the individuals behind the scene who provide assistance to judges in researching issues before the court, writing/editing briefs, and various other jobs The U.S. Constitution: Highest law of the land Statutory law: Largest source of law today; comes from Congress. Administrative law: Comes from bureaucracies/agencies Common law tradition: Court’s decision on a case should be consistent with earlier rulings (precedent). Precedent – the interpretation of the law that is reached based on the decisions of judges that have served beforehand. It can be developed to create new interpretations, reapplied in the same context, or overturned in an efort to change/develop what the law means. Stare decisis – “let the judgment stand” – the legal principle that requires judges to respect the precedent established in cases before now. Opinions Majority/Court Opinion- majority of justices agree on the legal rational for a decision, at least 5 justices must agree for it to become precedent Concurring opinion- separate opinion by justices who agrees with decision, but disagrees with reason/rational of the majority opinion Pre Curium Decision- a brief unsigned decision by the court lacking the majority to become Dissenting opinion: separate opinion by justices who disagree with the decision Judicial Restrain: stick to the words of the constitution when interpreting its meaning Judicial Activism: the Court needs to look beyond the words of the Constitution when interpreting its meaning Legislative Bicameralism: having legislative body/assembly composed of two chambers, House & Senate Powers of the Senate: - Nomination and confirmation of all federal officials; holds the trial to impeach, and ratify all treaties Advice and Consent: consulted or approached by the executive branch to approve treaties and appointments made by the President to various government positions (cabinet seats, federal judges, ambassadors, and US attorneys) Powers of Congress: - Enumerated: found in article 1 section 8 of the constitution Implied: powers granted to congress under the “necessary and proper clause” and “elastic clause” in article 1 Oversight: eforts by congress to make sure that laws are implemented correctly by the bureaucracy after they have been passed. War powers: congress has to officially declare war. Last officially declared war by congress was WW2 Impeachment: the check that congress has over the other branches that allows them to remove officers of the US for various diferent abuses of power but does not mean removal from office Gerrymandering: district lines are redrawn to benefit specific political parties, protect incumbents, or to change minority proportion for representation Redistricting: process of redrawing the geographic boundaries of legislative districts, occurs every 10 years with the Census Apportionment: the process of adding and subtracting districts to add or subtract number of representatives in the House How a bill becomes a law: 1. Bill idea is proposed in H or S. 2. Leadership assigns it to a committee for markups. It may be further assigned to a subcommittee for more specialization. 3. Committee holds hearings on the bill at hand to discuss. The committee completes markups of the bill for final presentation to leadership. 4. The bill is placed on the calendar for debate. 5. Debate occurs on the floor of the house or the senate. 1. Cloture: procedure in which senators can limit the amount of debate on a bill with a supermajority 60 votes 6. Changes are made. (This may require being sent back to the subcommittee where it originated). 7. A vote on the bill is scheduled for the floor. 1. Filibuster (only in the Senate): a tactic used by senators to block a bill by holding the floor and speaking to extend debate and prevent a vote 8. Voting takes place and the bill is passed or dies. 9. The process begins all over again in the other house of Congress. 10. Eventually, the final bill with votes in both houses comes to the president for signature. 1. President can sign – Bill become a law 2. President can refuse to sign – returns to Congress within 10 days and maybe used for a congressional override (check on presidential power) or may just die. 3. President can pocket veto – veto that occurs if a president does not act on a piece of legislation within last 10 days of a legislative session. Committees are specialized units created in congress to provide functionality Standing committees – these are the committees that exist from session to session and have the power to propose and write legislation over a particular subject matter. They generally correlate in subject matter to specific executive branch departments or agencies. Select committees – non-permanent committees that are established the highlight particular issues that arise within legislation that may or may not be under the jurisdiction of other existing committees. Joint committees – committees that are formed with joint membership from the House and the Senate. There are 4 that exist permanently (economic, taxation, library, and printing). They are powerful in the investigative sense but do not have the power to present legislation. Conference committees – temporary committees appointed by Speaker and the presiding Senate leadership. They are formed in an efort to form a consensus on legislation between the House and the Senate. These committees are crucial during times when the House and Senate majority are of opposing parties. Executive Qualifications: 35 yrs old Natural born citizen Retain residency in the US for at least 14 yrs 22nd amendment: the constitutional amendment that limits the number of terms that a president can serve to two Presidential Powers: Military: President is the highest military authority in the USA, with control of the entire military establishment. Also heads all intelligence agencies. o This point can spark some discussion about how the president has used his power as commander in chief to expand his power, but it’s covered more later in the presentation. Diplomatic – Head of State, rise of Executive Orders over Legislative law due to difficulty of securing the consent of the senate. Executive – Judges and heads of Agencies. Advice and Consent – the president seeks advice from individuals (Senatorial Curtesy) on whom to nominate for federal positions. After vetting, the Senate votes on the appointment. Legislative - Executive orders are a regulation issued by the president that has the efect and formal status of legislation. Explain Veto and Pocket veto. Executive Orders – are orders signed into efect by presidents in order to ensure that the government and all of its agencies can essentially function. They have the full force of law. Bully Pulpit & Policy: A platform through which a president can push his agenda by swaying public opinion and the media and efect the change President & The Media The relationship of the president and the media has developed significantly over time, giving the president vast amount of opportunities to utilize this powers State of the Union: Mandated by the constitution Signals what direction the President would like to take legislation for that year Article 2 Section 1: “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America”.