Ch. 7-8 - Executive Branch & Federal courts

bureaucracy

the offices, tasks, rules, departments, etc. that help large institutions coordinate work and implement policies efficiently

Bureaucrat

hired to a specific role for specific tasks, rules, procedures, and have a specific line of authority

Independent agencies

Set up by Congress, heads appointed by the president (ex. NASA)

Clientele agencies

serve a particular interest (dept of agriculture, transportation, etc.)

Agencies for revenue and security

collecting govt revenue, control/defending threats to internal/external security (IRS, TSA, CIA)

Regulatory agencies

often related to safety; rules made by these have force of law (FDA, OSHA)

Redistributive agencies

regulate money in the economy, interest rates, banks, etc. (Dept of Treasury, Fed, etc.)

fire alarm oversight

system of monitoring Congress uses that relies on interest groups/citizens to alert government officials to problems

statutory law

passed by Congress and signed by president

administrative law

passed by the executive branch and the regulatory agencies create the rules to enforce it

constitutional law

public law involving civil rights and liberties and government powers

case law

precedents (previous rulings) influence present/future rulings

common law

taken by a case by case basis

civil law

lays out how violations of the law will be dealt with

criminal cases

prosecutor accuses one of breaking a statutory law (misdemeanor, felony)

civil cases

plaintiff sues defendant (person/organization/govt) in seeking compensation for damages

public law

case involves powers of gov interacting with citizens

district courts

this court conducts trials with judge and/or jury to determine facts of the case

appellate courts

this court has a panel of judges to help ensure fair trial

Supreme Court

this court establishes broad interpretations of law to guide the lower courts

rule of 4

only _/9 justices need to agree to hear a case

Writ of Certiorari

document stating Court will hear the case

ripeness

case must actually have a controversy between two parties

Standing

one initiating a court case must show real significant stake in outcome

Moot

relevant facts have changed or problem was resolved by other means

Originalist/textualist view

Constitution read for original meaning; may read with dictionary at the time

Living/purposive view

Constitution read for original purpose

judicial restraint

a court only using the text of the Constitution for interpretation

Judicial activism

a court considering the broader social implications of the decisions

deregulation

reducing number of rules issued by the federal regulatory agencies

devolution

moving programs from federal level to state/local level

privitazation

moving all/part of a program from public to private sector (Ex. taking care of city garbage collection by hiring garbage company)

termination

Getting rid of programs (rare), budget reduction, deregulation

court autonomy

courts are separate from other branches

hierarchy

ability to appeal to higher courts

Judicial Review

courts can strike down unconstitutional actions

briefs

written document explaining court precedents and why court should rule in favor of them

Amicus curiae brief

can be written by anyone of which way they think the court should rule

majority opinion

explanation of the court’s decision

concurring opinion

explanation on why they agree with court’s decision but on different rationale