Bureaucracy + Judiciary

Independent Regulatory Agencies

created by Congress to oversee one specific policy; may create rules for their assigned area of supervision and enforce those rules; heads do not directly report to president

Ex: FEC, SEC, FCC, the Federal Reserve Board

Independent agencies

do not fall under a larger department; may be responsible for a wide variety of tasks, including intel gathering and running government museums and zoos; heads report directly to president

Ex: EPA, CIA, NSA, NASA

Departments

part of the Cabinet, largest bureaucratic agencies, cover broad areas of policy responsibility

Government Corporations

Usually created to supply important yet not very profitable services that could be and sometimes are provided by private companies

Ex: US Postal Service

Civil Service

Includes most government jobs (except the very top positions)

Ex: Workers for the State Department, Inspectors for the Agriculture Department

Merit System

designed to recruit people for civil service based on merit, not patronage or political favoritism; diminished power of political parties in day-to-day functions of government

Hatch Act (1939)

made it illegal for federal civil service employees to take an active part in partisan political management or political campaigns, but still allowed them to vote and make campaign contributions

Pendleton Act (1883)

created a civil service commission (Office of Personnel & Management) which filled jobs based on the merit system

Spoils System

Victorious politicians rewarded supporters with government jobs (aka patronage), popular under Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

Office of Personnel & Management

a civil service commission that fills jobs based on a merit system by recruiting, interviewing, and testing potential employees

Implementation

the process of making a law active or effective, the bureaucracy does this with Congress’ legislation

Administrative Discretion

Congress creates broad guidelines and the bureaucracy is then entrusted with handling the implementation of their laws

Rules

Agencies have the power to issue rules or implement policies; these rules go through a 60 day waiting period, hearings, and lobbying; rules carry the weight of law and can be challenged in court

Federal Register

An official document published every weekday, listing new and proposed rules of regulatory agencies

Iron Triangle

a policy making instrument composed of a tightly related alliance of a congressional committee, interest groups, and federal department/ agency/ bureaucracy; iron triangles do what is best for the constituents, not consumers; also called subgovernments

Issue Network

a policy making instrument composed of loosely related interest groups, congressional committees, presidential aides, and others, including the mass media

Recent Trends in the Bureaucracy

privatization, deregulation, and devolution of the functions of the federal bureaucracy, along with an increasing amount of power of interest groups and corporations

Solicitor General

the office responsible for arguing on behalf of the US in the Supreme Court

Majority Opinion

the final ruling given by the Supreme Court; the Chief Justice can decide who writes the opinion

Dissenting Opinion

comes from justices that disagree with the majority opinion

Concurring Opinion

part of/ agree with the majority opinion but have more opinions

Affirm

the ruling from a lower court is upheld by the Supreme Court

Reverse

the lower court’s ruling is deemed wrong

Remand

the case is sent back to a lower court for retrial with no corrections

Constitutional Courts

created by Congress under Article III, hear a wide range of cases, both civil and criminal, judges can only be removed through impeachment, 94 district courts, 12 courts of appeals

Courts of Appeals

created to lighten Supreme Court’s workload, no juries, only panels of judges, have appellate jurisdiction

Special/ Legislative Courts

created by Congress under Article I Section 8 for a very specific/ narrow purpose

Exclusive Jurisdiction

a court has sole authority to hear a case

Concurrent Jurisdiction

two or more courts (state or federal) have the authority to hear a case

Original Jurisdiction

the court where a case must be heard first

Appellate Jurisdiction

a court that hears an appeal of a case decided by a lower court

Supreme Court

has original, exclusive, and appellate jurisdictions depending on the situation

Judicial review

the power to declare a law unconstitutional

The Rule of Four

4/9 federal judges agree to grant a writ of certiorai (research more about a case), used to decide which cases the supreme court will hear

Writ of Certiorari

to be more fully informed, the Supreme Court researches a case brought to them by a lower court

By Certificate

a lower court asks the Supreme Court to clarify a rule/ procedure in order to help them decide a case, better for the Supreme Court than adding another case to their plate

Amicus Curiae

“friend of the court” briefs from people/ interest groups not involved in the case but have a strong interest in the outcome of a case

Judicial Restraint/ Strict Constructionism

the belief that judges should restrain/ limit the extent of their own power

Judicial Activism/ Loose Constructionism

believe the Constitution is a living document and should be open to new evaluation and modernization

Stare Decisis

the obligation to follow precedents/ earlier rulings except in extreme cases, a huge part of judicial restraint