Practical Law - Chapter 2 and 3 Quiz - Mr. St. Louis

Statutory Law

Written laws created and passed by a legislature on the state or federal level.

Case Law

Law that is based on judicial decisions and precedent.

Initiatives and Referendum

When citizens directly vote on a proposal or law.

U.S. Senate

Consists of 100 members (2 per state) serving 6-year terms.

U.S. House of Representatives

Consists of 435 members based on population serving 2-year terms.

Federal Laws

Laws dealing with national issues like labor, civil rights, bankruptcy, and treaties.

State Legislatures

Bodies passing statutes regulating education, state taxes, criminal, family, and traffic laws.

Local Ordinances

Laws or regulations passed by individual counties, cities, or towns applying only locally.

Land Use

County regulations deciding where, how many, and what types of houses can be built.

Bill

A proposed law being considered by a legislative body.

Legislative Intent

What the lawmakers who passed a law wanted it to mean; used by courts to interpret unclear language.

Vague and Overbroad Laws

Laws that are not clear and are open to interpretation, lawsuits, or challenges.

lobbying

influencing or persuading legislators to take action to introduce a bill or vote a certain way on a proposed lawg

grassroots lobbyist

a person, or group of people, who works to convince a lawmaker to vote for or against a particular issue by parti­cipating in rallies or letter writing campaigns

initiative

a procedure by which voters can propose a law and submit it to the electorate or the legislature for approval

referendum

a procedure in which issues are voted on directly by the citizens rather than by their representatives in government

recall

the removal of an elected official from office by a vote of the people

compulsory voting

mandatory voting; voting that is required by all citizens