Political Question Doctrine (Article 3)

How to spot

An essay testing Political Question Doctrine would ask whether a federal court — especially the Supreme Court — is constitutionally allowed to decide a case, or whether the issue is non-justiciable because it’s a political question.

Political Question (Article III)

A political question is a question that is textually committed to a different branch, lacks judicially discoverable or manageable standards, or would be imprudent to consider

Political Question Doctrine

A Political Question is one that: (All 3 must be satisfied)

1. Is textually committed to a coordinate branch (Does it belong to the Senate? House? President?) OR

2. Lacks Judicially discoverable or manageable standards (It's a question; but is it a legal question?) OR

3. Would be imprudent to consider (Will multiple pronouncements embarrass the whole country?)

Political Questions List

• Withdrawal from a Treaty

• Impeachment and removal of federal official

• Gurantee clause (guarantees that each state will have a republican form of government and protects states from foreign invasion and domestic violence) and Referendums (direct votes by the people of a state on laws or constitutional arms)

• Partisan Gerrymandering (The practice of drawing election districts to dilute the votes of some people. Racial gerrymandering is different because that is an Equal Protection Clause issue)

• Rules of Engagement

• Mandatory Process

Call of the question for essays:

Call of the question for essays: Should a federal court entertain this case? Or should a federal court hear this case? Could the Supreme court hear this case?

• It depends on what part of the government you’re talking about. 

• Start with the text when you’re doing the rules. Have to cite the text. (Article 3)