UGA POLS 1101 Midterm 2 Review Nicholson

Amicus Curiae brief

"friend of the court" brief filed by an interest group to influence a Supreme Court decision

apellate jurisdiction

authority of a court to review the decisions of a lower court

Argument

A statement put forth and supported by evidence

Civil Cases

Court cases that involve relations between individuals and organizations, such as a divorce action, or a suit for damages arising from an automobile accident or for violation of a business contract.

Common Law

a system of law based on precedent and customs

Concurrence

the agreement of a judge with the court's majority decision, for a reason other than the majority reason

Criminal Cases

court cases involving a crime, or violation of public order

Dissent

to disagree

Docket

The list of potential cases that reach the Supreme Court.

Judgement

the judicial decision in a court case

Judicial Activism

An interpretation of the U.S. constitution holding that the spirit of the times and the needs of the nation can legitimately influence judicial decisions (particularly decisions of the Supreme Court)

Judicial Restraint

A judicial philosophy in which judges play minimal policymaking roles, leaving that duty strictly to the legislatures

Opinion

a detailed explanation of the legal thinking behind a court's decision in a case

Original Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. These are the courts that determine the facts about a case.

Plea Bargain

Agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having to stand trial for a more serious offense.

Precedent

an example that may serve as a basis for imitation or later action

Rule of 4

How the Supreme Court decides whether to hear a case. Requires four or more justices to "grant certiorari" (agree to hear an appeal). Supreme Court agrees to hear

Senatorial Courtesy

a custom whereby presidential appointments are confirmed only if there is no objection to them by the senators from the appointee's state, especially from the senior senator of the president's party from that state.

Solicitor General

A presidential appointee and the third-ranking office in the Department of Justice. The solicitor general is in charge of the appellate court litigation of the federal government.

Stare decisis

Let the decision stand; decisions are based on precedents from previous cases

Statutory construction

The judicial interpretation of an act of Congress.

US Courts of Appeals

Courts within the second tier of the three-tiered federal court system, to which decisions of the district courts and federal agencies may be appealed for review.

US district courts

the courts where most federal cases begin, the U.S. District Courts are courts of original jurisdiction and hear civil and criminal cases

US Supreme Courts

the highest court of the United States; it sits at the top of the federal court system

Life Tenure

federal judges keep their jobs until they retire or die; however, they can be impeached

Agency Advisory Committee

A formal group of people drawn from communities that a government agency serves to help the agency solve problems and hold it accountable for its work.

Bureaucracy

a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.

Bureaucratic discretion

the power to decide how a law is implemented and to decide what Congress meant when it passed a law

Bureaucratic network

A collection of bureaucracies that work together to achieve a substantive goal

Bureaucrats

the appointed officials who operate government agencies from day to day

Civil Service

the group of people whose job it is to carry out the work of the government

Coproduction

individual people in communities whom government bureaucracies serve coming forward and working with bureaucrats to help them carry out their work

Critical Tasks

concrete actions that bureaucrats need to perform to help the bureaucracy address the key issues for which it is designed

Departments

one of the major subdivisions of the federal government, represented in the president's cabinet

Executives

Top-level bureaucrats responsible for entire bureaucracies or major parts of them who make strategic decisions about the total collection of the organization's programs, financial resources, organizational arrangements, and personnel.

Fire Alarm Oversight

A method of oversight in which members of Congress respond to complaints about the bureaucracy or problems of implementation only as they arise rather than exercising constant vigilance.

Government Corporations

A government agency that operates like a business corporation, created to secure greater freedom of action and flexibility for a particular program.

Incrementalism

Small changes in policy over long periods of time; usually in reference to budget-making--that th ebest indicator of this year's budget is last year's budget plus a small increase

Independent Agencies

government organizations independent of the departments but with a narrower policy focus

Managers

Mid-level bureaucrats who lead parts of government bureaucracies by overseeing programs, budgets, and personnel.

Operators

Front-line bureaucrats who have the most direct contact with the daily work of their organization.

Organizational Culture

the set of values, ideas, attitudes, and norms of behavior that is learned and shared among the members of an organization

Police patrol oversight

congressional oversight that consists of actively monitoring agencies through routine inspection

Red Tape

complex rules and procedures required by bureaucratic agencies

Regulations

rules governing the operation of all government programs that have the force of law

Regulatory Commmissions

Agencies of the executive branch of government that control or direct some aspect of the economy.

Representative bureaucracy

bureaucracy in which the people serving resemble the larger population whom they serve in demographic characteristics such as race, age, ethnicity, sex, religion, and economic status

Rulemaking

The process by which an administrative agency formally adopts a new regulation or amends an old one.

Satisficing

Making a decision that is acceptable and good enough to get a job done.

Sense of Mission

The condition of having agreement among bureaucrats about the critical tasks and key human relationships that should operate in a bureaucracy.

standing

a legal rule stating who is authorized to start a lawsuit

Strategic Triangle

An approach to leadership whereby managers and executives of bureaucracies articulate public value, secure external legitimacy, and maintain capabilities for their organizations to succeed.

Hatch Act

A federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics.

Bimodal Distribution

A distribution (of opinions) that shows two responses being chosen about as frequently as each other.

Civic Education

Education geared toward training the young to be good citizens.

Issue Framing

The way that politicians or interest group leaders define an issue when presenting it to others.

Normal Distribution

A symmetrical bell-shaped distribution (of opinions) centered on a single mode, or most frequent response.

Operational Ideology

individual's views toward specific public policy issues

Opinion Polling

Interviewing a sample of citizens to estimate public opinion as a whole

Political Socialization

The complex process by which people acquire their political values.

Public Opinion

the distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues

Random Sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Self-Interest Principal

the implication that people choose what benefits them personally

Skewed Distribution

An asymmetrical but generally bell-shaped distribution (of opinions); its mode, or most frequent response, lies off to one side.

Socioeconomic Status

Position in society based on a combination of education, occupational status, and income.

sociotropic responses

Opinions about how the country as a whole is doing affect political preferences more strongly than one's own personal circumstance.

Stable distribution

A distribution (of opinions) that shows little change over time.

Symbolic Ideology

the ideological label that people use to describe themselves

Transmission Model

The theory that parents transmit their partisan identification to their children.

How abortion became a divisive issue

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-abortion-became-divisive-issue-us-politics-2022-06-24/

How same-sex marriage became a divisive issue

https://theconversation.com/congress-is-considering-making-same-sex-marriage-federal-law-a-political-scientist-explains-how-this-issue-became-less-polarized-over-time-187509

Caucus

A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.

Congressional Campaign Committee

a party committee in Congress that provides funds to members and would-be members

Critical Election

An election when significant groups of voters change their traditional patterns of party loyalty.

Electoral Dealignment

*Used to describe the decline in numbers of voters identifying with any political party

*Young people in U.S. are less likely than their parents to identify with either political party

Electoral Realignment

the change in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election. People switch from one party to another

Majority Representation

the system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes

National Committee

One of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions. The national committee is composed of representatives from the states and territories.

National Convention

The meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform. Every 4 years.

Nomination

The official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party. Generally, success in the nomination game requires momentum, money, and media attention.

Party Conference

a meeting to select party leaders and decide committee assignments, held at the beginning of a session of Congress by Republicans or Democrats in each chamber

Party Identification

a citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other

Party Machine

a centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections

Party Platform

A document drawn up at each national convention, outlining the policies, positions, and principles of the party.

Political Party

A group of individuals with broad common interests who organize to nominate candidates for office, win elections, conduct government, and determine public policy

Political System

a set of interrelated institutions that links people with government

Proportional Representation

An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.

Responsible Party Government

a set of principles formalizing the ideal role of parties in a majoritarian democracy

Two-Party System

An electoral system with two dominant parties that compete in national elections.

Who fled the center?

Agenda Building

A collective process in which media, government, and the citizenry reciprocally influence one another in areas of public policy

Citizen Group

A type of interest group that seeks changes in spending, regulations, or government programs concerning a wide range of policies (also known as a public interest group).

Coalition Building

the banding together of several interest groups for the purpose of lobbying

Direct Lobbying

direct interaction with public officials for the purpose of influencing policy decisions

Free-Rider Problem

The problem faced by unions and other groups when people do not join because they can benefit from the group's activities without officially joining. The bigger the group, the more serious the problem.

Grassroots Lobbying

indirect lobbying efforts that spring from widespread public concern

Information Campaign

an organized effort to gain public backing by bringing a group's views to public attention

Interest Group Entrepeneur

an interest group organizer or leader

Lobbyist

A person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches.

Program Monitoring

keeping track of government programs; usually done by interest groups