Law and Politics

Flashcards of vocabulary terms related to law and politics.

Law

Social control

Politics

The struggles to determine who gets power

Law & Politics

The intersection of social control that governs the fight to get you what you want.

Political Science

An investigation into a political phenomenon

Ordinances

Local laws, municipalities

Constitutions

A combination of values, objectives, restraints, and aspirations

Power

The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.

Institutions

Nongovernmental agencies that advocate on behalf of the people and their ideas

Liberty

Freedom in check and took acts of desperation -> government exists to protect property and remove temptation by giving us what we want.

Hobbs

Life is evil, nasty, brutish, and short -> the state of nature brings out the worst in humans -> government exists to prevent this.

Rousseau

The government’s sole purpose is to keep you safe.

Oligarchy

Run by the few

Liberalism

Belief that government must intervene to regulate personal wants to prevent societal breakdown. The government creates a social welfare system to ensure everyone’s basic needs are met.

Conservatism

Emphasizes maintaining the established order, grounded in religious beliefs about the natural world. The government’s role is to preserve moral order and provide security, with capitalism determining society's success.

Progressivism

Advocates for a mixture of capitalism (to generate wealth) and socialism (to distribute wealth), aiming for societal equity and a closer relationship between government and society.

Libertarianism

Prioritizes free markets and minimal government intervention. It champions personal liberty and the least restrictive government possible.

Constituents

The governed

Home style

Further the interest of his own constituents

Hill style

Further the nation and own political ambitions

Trustee view

Entrusted to vote in best interest

Instrusted delegate

Told to vote a certain way

Reconciliation

Same bill passed in both chambers (form committee to make it the same bill

Justiceability

Whether a case is suitable for the court to hear

Redistricing

The process of drawing electoral district boundaries

Reapportionment

Dividing seats among the House for the 50 states based on updated census

Jerry mandering

Manipulating the boundaries in favor of one party or class

Franking

Senators send mail with just signature

Fiscal Year

October (2024) - September (2025)

Executive Budget

President Submits Budget to congress in May

Second Budget Resolution

September (sets limits on tax and spending for next fiscal year)

Common Law

Judge made law

Civil Law

Man made law

STARE DECISIS

Stand by the things decided

writ of certiorari

Request to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court

Jurisdiction

The power of a court to hear a case

Federal Specific Jurisdiction

Federal Question Jurisdiction: If the essential ingredient to the litigation is federal law

Diversity Jurisdiction

All the plaintiffs must be from different state than the defendants; Sueing amount must be over $75,000

Venue

Should be held in the corpus delicti - body of evidence

Federal District Courts

New Jersey's 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has only 1 District for the whole state

NJ Supreme Court

Top-level court in NJ, handles appeals

Appellate Division

When you appeal a trial court, it goes to the appellate division, which is an equal but different division from trial court

Landlord Tenant

Where you take your claim if you have a lease agreement or are looking to evict (with lease) or eject (no lease) someone from the property.

Equity Division

The court that hears cases in which people want a fair judgment, not according to the law.

Probate

Court that handles a. Wills and Testaments b. Estates c. Incompetency

Municipal Courts

Establish as the main role to indeed administer the ordinances of that specific township and NJ legislature.

Persuasive Authority

Once adoption in new jurisdiction, all courts below are bound.

Jurisprudence Constante

to keep the statute consistent, to maintain what is written in the statutes. Want judge to apply the law as it is written.

Civil Law

Takes its origins from Roman law. A civil law system is generally more prescriptive than a common law system. Considered man made law, rather than judge made law.

Case Law

We get common law decisions by looking at cases of the subject matter. We need case history to determine the law

Majority Opinion

The official ruling.

Concurring Opinion

A justice agrees with the majority conclusion but has different reasoning, which they explain in their own opinion.

Natural Law Approach

The Law springs from natural understanding of what is right and wrong.

Legal Postivism

Law is right (legitimate) if it went through the right process

Legal Formalism

Law is separate from society -> formed by simple logical deductions.

Legal Realism

Consider factors outside the law (socio-economic status, gender, etc)

Originalism

Justice Galia, the most vocal advocate of OG intent, must interpret and applythe Constitution and law as it was written.

Living Document View

The Constitution lives based on social morals of the time. It's a conduit for the expression of the general will and changes meaning based on what the people want.

Evolutionary

Hybrid of orginalism and legal realism -> where law is outdated we considered the extenuating factors.

Legal

Right, proper, ought to do, or all components parts that go into making something law.

System

Organization with Mutiple Parts that work together to help whole function.

Legtimacy

Collective social belief that the law and the people applying it are right.

Legal Culture

The peoples history with a legal system and their response.

Social Control

Peer, Social, or gov, pressure to do or not to do something

Dispute Settlement

Mechanism to provide space to settle disputes civilly

Social Engineering

Change the way people think/social attitudes

Claims of Right

Citizens assert that they have right to protections from government.

Legal Analysis

The application of the law to a set of facts

Cause of action

Claim based on law to support actual lawsuit

Ratio dasadeni

Reasoning/explanation

Dictum

Opinion statement

Analogous

Case that defines issue entirely

Distinguishable

Case that is similar but key fact is different

Consitutional Law

The collection of case law that interprets the constitution and lay out how it must be applied

Federalism

A system where power is shared between different levels of government (federal, state, local).

Unitary System

System Power is centralized

Confederal System

System Power rests with local entities

Implied Powers

Powers not explicit but implied but implied by designated authority of the constitution

Inherent Powers

Powers not explicitly written in the Constitution but NATURAL by the nature of the federal government

Explicit Powers

Powers vested by the constitution

Concurrent Powers

Powers that both the Federal (centralized) and states (decentralized) have (e.g taxing powers, drug relations).

Elastic Clause

Grants Congress the authority to do what is necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated powers

Checks and Balances

The theory that the only way to keep government from being tyrannical is to balance the three branches and levels of government

Horizontal Control

Within the levels (prez -> congress)

Vertical Control

Up and down - state to fed

Commerce Clause

Grants Congress power to regulate interstate commerce

Devolution

Power is transferred from Federal to State (neo-confederal)

Police Powers

Authority of the state to govern health, welfare, and safety.

Criminal

Offenses against society and the states

Civil

Offenses against a individual person or private private (Delictuals)

Criminal Standard of Proof

Beyond a reasonable doubt

Civil Standard of Proof

Preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not), clear and convincing (more than more likely not)

Civil Remedies

Damages - Compensatory, Punitive, Nominal; Injunctions

Criminal Law

Before Jury -> must show a. Prima Phasia Case must show i. Mens Rea (guilty mind, intent) ii. Actus Reus (guilty action)

Constructive law

So said to be the law

Legal Fiction

An assertion accepted as true to a achieve a goal in a legal matter

Contract

An agreement between two or more parties for which the law provides remedy or specific performance for breech

COMA

Four Elements - Consideration (the bargained for exchange),; Offer (made); Mutual Assent (agreement); Acceptance

Tort Law

Harm to a person property (Three Segments) - Tort Feasor (violates torts)

FAT BITC

False Imprisonment; Assault; Battery; Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress; Trespass of Property; Conversion; Trespass to Chattels

Substantive Law

Created rights and duties