Congress and the Supreme Court Flashcards

Congress

  • Reapportionment: Redistribution of House seats based on population; occurs every 10 years after the U.S. Census.
  • Redistricting: Redrawing district lines within states managed by state legislatures.
Baker v. Carr (1962)
  • Established the principle of "one person, one vote."
  • Made redistricting justiciable; courts can now rule on it.
Gerrymandering
  • Manipulation of district lines to favor a particular group or party.
    • Partisan: Benefits a specific political party.
    • Racial: Dilutes the voting power of certain racial groups (often illegal).
    • Incumbent: Protects current officeholders.
Filibuster & Cloture
  • Filibuster: A Senate tactic to delay or block votes, allowing for unlimited debate.
  • Cloture: Procedure to end a filibuster; requires 60 votes.
Asymmetric Intensity
  • One side (usually a minority) demonstrates greater care and mobilization than the majority.
Single-Minded Seekers of Reelection
  • Members of Congress prioritize staying in office.
Mayhew’s Tools for Reelection
  • Advertising: Creating a favorable public image.
  • Credit Claiming: Taking credit for positive outcomes, especially pork barrel spending.
  • Position Taking: Making public statements on issues.
Universalism
  • Tendency to distribute benefits broadly to gain bipartisan support.

Pork/Particularized Benefits

  • Government spending directed towards localized projects to satisfy constituents.

Supreme Court & Civil Liberties

Marbury v. Madison (1803)
  • Established judicial review: the Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional.
Judicial Review Limits
  • Courts depend on other branches for enforcing their rulings.
  • Courts cannot initiate cases; they must wait for someone to sue.
Court Independence
  • Life tenure and secure salaries shield justices from political pressures.
“The Least Dangerous Branch”
  • Lacks power of purse and sword; its power lies in judgment.
Symbolic Power
  • Court decisions significantly shape public perception and legitimize issues.
Negative Freedoms
  • Freedoms from government interference, e.g., freedom of speech and religion.
First Amendment Cases & Doctrines
Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
  • Established selective incorporation via the 14th Amendment, allowing some rights to apply to states.
Establishment Clause
  • Prohibits the government from favoring or establishing a religion.
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
  • Introduced the Lemon Test:
    1. Must have a secular purpose.
    2. Must not advance or inhibit religion.
    3. Must not result in excessive governmental entanglement.
Bad Tendency Doctrine
  • Speech can be restricted if it tends to promote illegal actions.
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
  • Incorporated the 1st Amendment to the states via the 14th Amendment.
Clear and Present Danger – Schenk v. U.S. (1919)
  • Allows restriction of speech that poses an immediate danger.
Preferred Freedoms Doctrine
  • Protects some rights, like speech, with a higher level of scrutiny.
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
  • Speech can only be restricted if it incites imminent lawless action.
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
  • Flag burning is recognized as protected symbolic speech.

Civil Rights

Positive Freedoms
  • Government actions aimed at guaranteeing equality, such as civil rights laws.
14th Amendment
  • Equal Protection Clause: Foundation for several significant civil rights rulings.
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
  • Ruled that African Americans were not citizens; this was later invalidated by the 14th Amendment.
Post-Civil War Barriers
  • Laws such as Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests, Good Character Tests, and Grandfather Clauses served to disenfranchise Black voters.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
  • Upheld the doctrine of separate but equal segregation.
Court of Public Opinion
  • The Civil Rights Movement utilized media to gather public support.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
  • Overturned Plessy, establishing that segregation is inherently unequal.
Little Rock 9 / Freedom Riders
  • These groups actively challenged segregation in schools and during interstate travel.
Civil Rights Act (1964)
  • Legislation that banned discrimination in public spaces and employment.
Voting Rights Act (1965)
  • Outlawed discriminatory voting practices and empowered federal oversight.
De Facto vs. De Jure Segregation
  • De Jure: Segregation by law (now illegal).
  • De Facto: Segregation in practice (still persists, harder to combat).

The Presidency

Eligibility
  • Requirements include:
    • Natural-born citizen.
    • At least 35 years of age.
    • 14 years of residency in the U.S.
Informal Qualifications
  • Charisma, leadership qualities, representational attributes, and other political traits.
Formal Powers
  • Power to veto bills, grant pardons, appoint officials, command the military, and others.
Vesting Clause
  • “Executive power shall be vested…”; forms the basis for a broad interpretation of presidential power.
Inherent Powers
  • Powers that are implied but not specifically listed in the Constitution.
Views of Presidential Power
  • Constructionist: Strict and limited perspective on presidential powers.
  • Stewardship: Believes the president can take action unless specifically prohibited by the Constitution.
Presidential Roles
  • Various roles include:
    • Crisis Leader
    • Party Leader
    • Chief Legislator
    • Moral Leader
  • Presidents metaphorically function as jugglers, managing multiple roles often leading to Role Strain.
Presidential Paradoxes
  • Tension exists between:
    • Desire for strong leadership versus fear of excessive power.
    • Expecting leaders to be relatable yet brilliant.
    • Wishing them to be compassionate yet decisive or ruthless.
“With Great Responsibility…”
  • The president wields substantial influence but possesses limited formal tools to exert that influence directly.
Going Public
  • Utilizing media and public support to sway Congress, increasingly common due to modern technology.
State of the Union
  • An annual address to Congress for agenda-setting purposes and public mobilization.

Electoral System

Electoral College
  • Each state is allocated electors equivalent to its total number of representatives plus senators, totaling 538 electors, with a simple majority of 270 needed to win.
  • Unit Rule: Most states allocate all electors to the candidate who wins the popular vote.
  • 23rd Amendment: Granted Washington, D.C. 3 electoral votes.
Faithless Elector
  • An elector who elects not to vote according to their pledged candidate.
Battleground States
  • States where election outcomes are uncertain, prompting candidates to focus their campaigns there.
Proportional Plan
  • A proposed method for distributing Electoral College votes proportionally to popular vote shares.
Wasted Votes
  • Commonly occur in winner-take-all systems where minority votes in dominant party states contribute little to election outcomes.