federal government final

house of reps

435 members, based on state population, 2 year term lengths, must be 25 years old.

senate

100 members, 6 year term length, must be at least 30 years old

senate confirmations

senate has to approve of supreme court justices and Cabinet members

filibuster

a stalling technique used to extend debate on legislation only available to the senate

enumerated powers

powers given only to congress like regulating commerce, declaring war, writing laws, TAXES, and borrowing money

implied powers

power of Congress to make laws and fufill roles of enumerated powers. this is mostly what congress does now like bank regulation, minimum wage and immigration control.

inherent powers

not in the constitution and not granted to congress or other branches but is required for government existence like border control and territory expansion.

power of the purse

law stating no money shall be drawn from the treasury and is the most important congressional power.

non discretionary spending

money must go to certain places in government

apportionment

power of dividing the fixed number of seats in the house among states

redistricting

redrawing geographical congressional districts to benefit one political party over another

-must be equal in population, and must be touching

gerrymandering

redrawing districts to benefit one political party over another.

delegate representation

delegates must employ some means to identify and vote on behalf of constituent views.

trustee representation

look to party consensus, leadership, powerful interests and personal views and national trends to identify voting choices.

substantive representation

balancing both models of trustee and delegate representation based on calculations

descriptive representation

representation rooted in racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, gender and sexual identity of representative themselves.

incumbency advantage

name recognition, media coverage, more funding, knowledge of the system and franking privileges.

credit claiming

incumbent strategy where elected officials take personal credit for positive outcomes in the government

home style politics

three goals that influence congress behavior like re-election, power and public policy

speaker of the house (formal structure of congress)

chosen by the house body and is considered the most critical person in congress because they have major control over what congress does.

standing committee (formal structure of congress)

most powerful committee in Congress where majority of work is done

select committee (formal structure in congress)

created by the speaker of the house to fulfill specific purposes then disband.

joint committee (formal structure in congress)

An informational committee appointed from both houses and explore concepts like the economy and taxation

conference committee (formal structure of congress)

used to reconcile different bills passed in both houses

universalism (informal structure of congress)

policies that earn a broad support because they distribute benefits to large amounts of constituents.

logrolling (informal structure of congress)

when members of Congress trade votes on bills to get distributive benefits for constituents.

earmarks (informal structure of congress)

pieces of legislation added to bills to gain support, even though its technically illegal.

seniority (informal structure of congress)

norm that the longest serving member of the committee serves as the chair.

president qualifications

must be a natural born us citizen, a us resident for 14 years, and at least 35 years old

commander in chief

controls day to day military operations through management of the department of defense.

chief of government

executive branch leader and in charge of the cabinet.

chief of state

symbolic political representative

appointments

shared power with congress where the president selects someone to be in the government and congress can approve.

executive order

change in policies without having congressional consent but can be overturned by the court.

executive agreements

international deals made without senate ratification and can bypass congressional votes.

treaties

shared power with the senate who must approve of negotiations made by the president.

pardons and commutations

president can forgive individuals of an alleged crime or reduce sentences.

legislative tools

Recommend policies in the state of the union, make appeals to citizens or go public and oftentimes include presidential veto’s during divided government

divided government

one party controls the executive branch while another controls the legislative.

expansion of executive power

the power the president has that avoids congress like executive order, signing statements, and executive agreements

bureaucracy

administrative groups of non elected officials charged with carrying out functions connected to the government

Weberian model

a political agency that is hierarchically organized and governed by federal proceedings.

acquisitive model

proposes that bureaucracies are naturally competitive and power hungry

monopolistic model

absence of competition in a bureaucracy

civil servants

people who work for a bureaucracy like teachers or mailmen

red tape

shorthand for excessive or unnecessary complex regulations

standard operating procedures (SOP’s)

step by step rules that bureaucrats must follow when implementing policies

principal-agent game

need to balance control and discretion

regulatory failures

when rules don’t work due to poor design, implementation or enforcement

outsourcing

bringing in a third party, private assistance for government practices like highway construction

outsourcing benefits

cost savings, efficiency, and greater flexibility

outsourcing costs

loss of control, service quality decrease, hidden costs and security issues

privatization

transferring government to the private sector and having no government input anymore

anti-federalists vs federalist

disagree on the strength of the courts as established by the constitution

federalist 78

the judiciary, from the nature of its function, will always be the least dangerous in the political right of the constitution.

brutus XV

The Supreme Court under this constitution would be exalted above all other powers in the government and subject to no control.

roles of the courts

settle citizen disputes, hear cases brought by government agencies to punish wrongdoings, listen to citizens who feel their rights have been violated by the government, and adjudicate state and federal legislation.

marbury vs madison

Madison refused to give Marbury a commission because it was signed by the outgoing president, who was of an opposing party, and argued that the law was unconstitutional

stare decisis

legal norm declaring supreme court should follow what previous courts said in similar cases

standing

legitimate justification for bringing a civil case

jurisdiction

the sphere of a court’s legal authority to hear and declare cases

writ of certiorari

at least 4/9 judges agree to hear a case appealed to them

amicus curiae

belief filled by interest groups or experts to convey views on legal issues to the court.

opinion of court

Supreme court decides what the constitution says

concurring opinion

justice who agrees with the courts decision but for different reasons

dissenting opinion

A justice who disagrees with the majority of the court.

judicial restraint

Judges should defer to precedent and policy decisions in nearly all situations

judicial activism

judges should defer to elected officials only if they are acting within their constitutional authority.

original intent

justices should interpret the law based on the founders’ intentions if the wording is unclear

living constitution

The Constitution should be interpreted while taking evolving national attitudes and circumstances into account, rather than just the text

equal protection clause

14th amendment saying no state shall deny equal rights to citizens

strict scrutiny

standard used by courts to decide if there is a compelling state interest in discrimination cases

intermediate scrutiny

standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on gender and sex

rational basis text

standard used by courts to decide most forms of discrimination cases

de jure segregation

segregation by law

de facto segregation

segregation without laws

plessy vs ferguson

plessy challenged separated train cars and was arrested

brown vs board of education

supreme court ruling that struck down the separate but equal clause of segregation and the ruling of plessy vs ferguson.

19th amendment

granted women the right to vote but still caused trouble for women of color

equal rights amendment

proposed amendment to the Constitution that prohibited all discrimination based on sex