POLS 206 Exam 3 Material

Key Terms CH.5

Constituency- the citizens who reside in a district from which an official is elected.

Delegate- legislatures who vote accordingly to the preferences of their constituents.

Trustees- legislatures who vote accordingly to what they think is best for their constituents.

Bicameral Legislature- a legislative body composed of two chambers, or houses.

Money Bill- a bill concerned solely with taxation or government spending.

Incumbent- a current office holder.

Casework- efforts by members of Congress to gain the trust and support of constituents by providing
personal services. One important type of casework is helping constituents to obtain favorable treatment
from the federal bureaucracy.

Patronage- direct services and benefits that members of Congress provide to their constituents,
especially making partisan appointments to offices and conferring grants, licenses, or special favors to
supporters.

Pork-Barrel Legislation- appropriations that members of Congress use to provide government funds for
projects benefiting their home district or state.

Gerrymandering- the drawing of electoral districts in such a way as to give an advantage to one political
party.

Party Caucus- a nominally closed party meeting to select candidates or leaders, plan strategy, or make
decisions regarding legislative matters. Termed a caucus in the democratic party and a conference in the
republican party.

Party Conference- same as a party caucus.

Speaker of the House- the chief presiding officer of the House of Representatives. The speaker is
selected at the beginning of every congress on a straight party vote and is the most important party and
house leader.

Majority Leader- the elected leader of the party holding the majority of the seats in the House of
Representatives or in the Senate. In the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy
to the speaker.

Minority Leader- the elected leader of the party holding less than a majority of the seats in the House of
Representatives or the Senate.

Standing Committee- a permanent legislative committee that considers legislation within a designated
subject area.

Seniority- the priority or status ranking given based on how long an individual has served on a
congressional committee.
Closed Rule- the provision by the house rules committee that restricts the introduction of amendments
during the debate.

Open Rule- the provision by the house rules committee that permits floor debate and the addition of
amendments to a bill.

Cloture- a procedure by which three-fifths of the members of the Senate can set a time limit on a
debate over a given bill.

Filibuster- a tactic from which members of the Senate prevent action on legislation they oppose by
continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority abandons the legislation., Once given the
floor, senators have an unlimited time to speak, and a cloture vote by three-fifths of the Senate is
required to end a filibuster.

Conference Committee- a joint committee created to work out a compromise between House and
Senate versions of a bill.

Veto- the president’s Constitutional powers to reject acts from Congress.

Pocket Veto- a veto that occurs automatically when Congress adjourns during the 10 days that a
president must approve a bill and the president takes no action on it.

Party Vote- a roll call vote in the House or the Senate in which 50 percent of the members of one party
take a particular position and are opposed by at least 50 percent of the members of the other party.

Roll-Call Vote- voting in which each legislature’s yes or no vote is recorded.

Polarization- strong ideological divisions between groups that make compromise and progress difficult.

Gridlock- a situation in which legislation cannot move forward, typically resulting from strong
polarization between groups.

Whip System- a party communications network in each house of Congress. Whips poll their party’s
members to learn the member’s intentions on specific bills and convey the leadership’s views and plans
to members.

Logrolling- agreements among members of Congress to vote for one another bills.

Oversight- the effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise
control over the activities of executive agencies.

Executive Agreement- an agreement between the president and another country that has the force of a
treaty but does not require the Senate’s “Advice or Consent”.

Impeachment- the process of charging a government official (president or other) with ‘Treason, Bribery,
or other high crimes and misdemeanors” and bringing that official before Congress to determine guilt.
 Key Terms CH.6

Expressed Powers- powers that the Constitution explicitly grants to the federal government.

Delegated Powers- constitutional powers that are assigned to one branch of government but exercised
by another branch with permission of the first.

Inherent Powers- powers claimed by a president that are not expressed in the constitution but are said
to stem from the “rights, duties, and obligations of the presidency”.

Commander in Chief- the president’s role as commander of the national military and of the state
national guard units (when they are called into service).

Executive Privilege- the claim that communications between the president and close advisors should
not be revealed without the president’s consent.

Line-Item Veto- the power of the president to veto specific provision (lines) of a bill passed by the
legislature (declared unconstitutional by the supreme court in 1998).

War Powers Resolution- a 1973 resolution by Congress declaring that the president can send troops into
action abroad only if Congress authorizes the action or if U.S. troops are already under attack or
seriously threatened.

Legislative Initiative- the president’s inherent power to bring a policy agenda before Congress.

Executive Order- a rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect of law.

Cabinet- the heads of the major departments of the federal government.

National Security Council (NSC)- a presidential foreign policy advisory council made up of the president,
vice president, secretary of state, secretary of defense, and other officials invited by the president.

Regulatory Review- the Office of Management and Budget function of reviewing all agency regulations
and other rulemaking before they become official policy.

Signing Statement- an announcement made by the president when signing a bill into law, sometimes
presenting the president’s interpretation of the law, as well as remarks predicting the benefits it will
bring to the nation.

Key Terms CH.7

Bureaucracy- refers to the actual offices, tasks, rules, and principles of organization that large
institutions use to coordinate their work.

Implementation- that is carrying out the organization’s objectives as laid down by its board of directors
(if a private company) or by law (if a public agency).

Clientele Agency- agencies whose mission is to promote, serve, or represent a particular interest.

Regulatory Agency- agencies delegated by Congress broad powers over a sector of the economy or a
type of commercial activity and authorizes it to make rules governing the conduct of people and
businesses within that jurisdiction.
Federal Reserve System (Fed)- has the authority over the lending activities of the nation’s most
important banks, notably the interest rates they charge. Works to prevent both inflation and deflation of
the nation’s money and credit.

Bureaucratic Drift- a shift towards policy preferences of bureaucratic agents and the president.

Oversight- the effort by Congress through hearings, investigations, and other techniques to exercise
control over the activities of executive agencies.

Deregulation- the policy of reducing the number of rules issued by federal regulatory agencies.

Devolution- the policy of delegating a program or passing it down from one level of government to a
lower level, such as from the national government to the state and local governments.

Privatization- The act of moving all or part of a program from the public sector to the private sector.

Key Terms CH.8

Criminal Law- cases arising out of actions that allegedly violate laws protecting the health, safety, and
morals of the community.

Civil Law- cases involving disputes among individuals or between individuals and the government that
does not involve criminal penalties.

Precedents- past cases whose principals are used by judges as the basis for their decisions in present
cases.

Public Law- cases involving the powers of government or the rights of citizens.

Trial Court- the first court to hear a criminal or civil case.

Court of Appeals- a court that hears the appeals of a lower court’s decisions, also called an appellate
court.

Supreme Court- the highest court in a particular state or in the country.

Jurisdiction- the type of cases over which a court has authority.

Due Process- the requirement that citizens be treated according to the law and be provided adequate
protection for individual rights.

Writ of Habeas Corpus- a court order demanding that an individual in custody be brought into court and
shown the cause for detention. Habeas Corpus is guaranteed by the Constitution and can be suspended
only in cases of rebellion or invasion.

Chief Justice- the justice on the supreme court who presides over the court’s public sessions.

Senatorial Courtesy- the practice whereby the president, before formally nominating a person for a
federal district judgeship, finds out whether the senators from the candidate’s state support the
nomination.

Judicial Review- the power of the courts to determine whether the actions of the president, Congress,
and the state legislatures are consistent with the Constitution.
Supremacy Clause- a clause of Article VI of the Constitution stating that all laws and treaties approved
by the national government are the supreme laws of the United States and superior to all laws adopted
by any state or local government.

Ripeness- the requirement that a case must involve an actual controversy between two parties, not a
hypothetical one.

Standing- the requirement that anyone initiating a court case must show a substantial stake in the
outcome.

Class-Action Suit- a lawsuit in which many persons with common interstress join under a representative
party to bring or defend a lawsuit.

Moot- no longer requiring resolution by the courts, typically because the facts of the case have changed,
or the problem has been resolved by other means.

Writ of Certiorari- a formal request to have the supreme court review a decision of a lower court.

Amicus Curiae- “friend of the court”, an individual or group that is not a party to a lawsuit but has a
strong interest in influencing the outcome.

Brief- a written document in which an attorney explains using case precedents- why a court should rule
in favor of a client.

Oral Argument- the stage in the supreme court proceedings in which attorneys for both sides appear
before the court to present their positions and answer questions posed by the justices.

Opinion- the written explanation of the supreme court’s decision in a particular case.

Concurrence- an opinion agreeing with the decision of the majority in a supreme court case but with a
rationale different from the one provided in the majority opinion.

Dissenting Opinion- a decision by a justice who voted with the minority opinion in a particular case, in
which the justice fully explains the reasoning behind his or her opinion.

Judicial Restraint- the judicial philosophy that the supreme court should refuse to go beyond the text of
the Constitution in interpreting its meaning.

Judicial Activism- the judicial philosophy that the supreme court should see beyond the text of the
Constitution or a statute to consider the broader societal implications of its decisions.

Important Court Case:

Marbury v. Madison: Adams Administration was on its way out of the office and was superseded by the
new Jefferson administration. Just before Adams’s admin left, John Adams made a few last-minute
appointments which he asked John Marshall to deliver. John Marshall never delivered them and one of
those appointments was to go to Marbury. The new Jefferson Administration did not recognize the
previous administration’s appointments and opted to not allow the appointment to go to Marbury, of
which then Marbury sues for a “Writ of Mandamus”. Goes all the way to U.S. SC of which the chief
justice is still John Marshall who was responsible for the whole mess. Decides the best course of action
to prevent him from giving up all the SC power to Madison or preventing it from looking like he was
siding with the previous Adams administration declares that he does not have the power to appoint
Marbury to his position and needs to take it to another court. In doing this John Marshall gave more
power to the SC to use Judicial Review over Congress.

Key Terms and Concepts:

Representation: representatives are Delegates who “behave in a manner their constituents want”,
Thomas Paine felt that a representative is your person. Or a Trustee who “does whatever he/she thinks
is correct although it might not be what their constituent wants, they feel it to be the right thing. James
Madison was in favor of this idea of representation.

select committees: created for a specific purpose, after which once the purpose is achieved, they
dissolve. They are NOT permanent and can take place either in H.O.R. or the Senate at one time.

cabinet:

divided government: done to intentionally split up the branches of power in our government from both
houses of Congress to the presidency and this can cause political gridlock.

subcommittees:

vice-president:

parliamentary systems:

bill markup:

Electoral College:

Bicameralism: we split our legislative branch into 2, H.O.R. “acts most response to the public *Larger”
and Senate “acts more distant from public *Smaller”.

Rules Committee: only exists in the H.O.R. and NOT the Senate. Very much influenced by the speaker of
the house, its job is to decide 1) how much time, & 2) what type of amendments can be added to a bill.

“Commander in chief”: refers to the president acting as commander in chief over the armed forces. The
tradition of a civilian overseeing the military. Shows a clear division between the president and the
military.

House of Representatives:

open rule: lots of debate and amendments do NOT have to be germane.

Supreme Court: highest court in the land has three limitations, 1) SC has no ability to self-start a case, 2)
stare decisis “let the decision stand” the SC never likes to overturn its past decisions, and this is how the
SC holds itself to a standard. 3) SC is heavily dependent upon the other two branches of government to
implement and enforce their rulings, they themselves have no way of enforcing their rulings
Senate:

closed rule: limits amount of debate and amendments have to be germane.

“fundamental law”:

descriptive representation:

germane amendments: must pertain to a bill.

original jurisdiction:

prime minister:

filibuster: talking a bill to death, when senators take to the floor to talk nonstop on a bill thus preventing
any further debate/voting on that bill from occurring thus effectively causing gridlock. But the senator
must keep taking and can’t stop. The threat of using a filibuster is often greater than the actual filibuster
itself.

appellate jurisdiction:

casework/constituency service: where representatives give individual representation to their

constituent the individual. Does NOT benefit the district only the individual/party in question.

cloture: the Senate must vote with 3/5th to end a filibuster. This is a vote to end the debate on a bill.

certiorari:

chief of staff:

amendments:

writ of mandamus:

seventeenth amendment:

Modern Presidency: started after F.D.R and his creation of the New Deal Era programs in response to
the great depression and the organization/mobilizations of labor unions demanding government help.
All this led Congress to vote towards establishing the Executive Office of the Presidency due to the
strong overwhelming positive support the public had of F.D.R., Congress hoped that by giving a bunch of
power to the presidency they could curtail the effect of the worsening economy.

amicus curiae:

institutionalized presidency:

veto:

habeas corpus:

Speaker of the House: at the beginning of every Congress each party Democrats/republicans gets
together to vote for their party leadership. The majority party selects the speaker of the house and the
majority leader. While the minority party elects a minority leader.
pocket veto: if 10 days pass and the president took no action on a bill, congress adjourns, and the bill is
automatically vetoed. If Congress is not adjourned and they are in session and the president took no
action on the bill in those 10 days, then Congress can vote the bill into law without the President’s
approval.

sunshine law: states that committee proceedings are open to the public so long as the contents are not
related to matters of national security.

President Pro Tempore:

presidential power:

statutory interpretation: has to deal with laws and states and how courts review laws and how they are
to be interpreted by them and if their implementation of the law is correct.

delegate model of representation:

bargaining/persuading:

constitutional interpretation: this happens when there must be a determination if a law interferes with
the Constitution. determining if a law is constitutional or not.

party whips: the majority and minority whips are also chosen by their respective parties, and they act as
communication networks that keep track of how their party members are going to vote. Whips exist in
both the H.O.R. and Senate

twenty-second amendment:

stare decisis:

Congressional committees:

head of state: the president has 2 roles and serves as both the Head of State and the Head of
Government. The head of state has 3 powers, Military/Judicial/Diplomatic.

judicial review:

standing committees: formed based on a topic like a foreign affairs committee. These committees are
not the same in H.O.R. or Senate, they do NOT overlap. You cannot have members of the H.O.R. on the
Senate committee or vice versa. Standing committees are where bills, land, and laws are made.

head of government: the office of the presidency has the billet as head of government.

federal courts: 3 types of cases that start in federal courts, 1) if you violate a federal civil or criminal law.
2) you have a case or suit against the federal government. 3) civilian case that involves individuals from
two separate states but with at least $75k at stake for the parties involved. Most cases are typically
dealt with at the state level but those that involve civil rights/liberties issues go to a federal court.

joint committees: exist in a few policy areas and have members from both H.O.R. and Senate, they are
also considered Permanent committees.

White House:
staff standing:

conference committees: created to reconcile a House bill and a Senate bill. They are a committee
created during a law-making process and have members from both the H.O.R. and Senate on it. Created
for a specific purpose once achieved they are dissolved, they are NOT permanent. They ensure an
approved bill from H.O.R. and the Senate matches word for word and is the same. Once done they
create a report “essentially a new bill” that cannot have new amendments added to it. Must go back to
H.O.R. and Senate for their approval then to the President to sign into law.

committee on committees:

Executive Office of the Prez: this is the change that moves us into the modern presidency “institutional
presidency”. Gave the president by way of his advisors to influence independent establishments and
government corporations.

state courts:

solicitor general:

trustee model of representation:

What are the various ways we can think about representation? Is Congress representative?

How does the relationship between the legislature and the executive vary between presidential and

parliamentary systems?

How are the two houses of Congress organized and why?

How does a bill become law?

What are the powers of the president? How has the power of the president evolved?

How is the executive branch organized? How has it changed over time?

How are the courts organized? How do cases reach the Supreme Court?

How do state and federal courts relate to each other?

What is judicial review and where does it come from?

Explain judicial power and its limitations.