POLS 102 UPDATED 2026 EXAM SCRIPT QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Bureaucratic Successes / Failures - ✔✔FDA and thalidomide (success); Hurricane
Katrina response (failure).
✔✔Reasons for Delegation: Complexity / Expertise - ✔✔Congress lacks technical
knowledge, so it delegates authority to agencies.
✔✔Reasons for Delegation: "Chicken" Theory - ✔✔Lawmakers avoid blame for
controversial decisions by letting agencies decide.
✔✔Fire Alarm Oversight - ✔✔Congress waits for complaints from citizens or interest
groups, then steps in to supervise agencies.
✔✔Appropriations Hammer / Limitation Riders - ✔✔Congress restricts agency actions
through budget limitations or rules banning certain regulations.
✔✔Marbury v. Madison - ✔✔The 1803 case establishing judicial review, allowing the
Court to decide what the Constitution means.
✔✔Judicial Review - ✔✔The Court's power to strike down unconstitutional state or
federal laws.
✔✔Eras of Judicial Review - ✔✔Historical periods where the Court's influence and
approach to constitutional interpretation shifted.
✔✔Structure of the Federal Judiciary - ✔✔Three levels: District Courts, Courts of
Appeals, Supreme Court.
✔✔Jurisdiction of Courts - ✔✔Determines which kinds of cases a court is allowed to
hear.
✔✔Constitutional Interpretation - ✔✔When the Court decides what the Constitution
allows or prohibits.
✔✔Statutory Interpretation - ✔✔When the Court decides what a federal law means;
Congress can override these decisions by passing new legislation.
✔✔Transaction Costs of Reversing Constitutional Decisions - ✔✔Constitutional rulings
are hard to reverse; requires amendments or a future Court overturning the case.
✔✔Delegation by the Supreme Court - ✔✔The Court sets broad rules but leaves details
to lower courts or agencies.
, ✔✔Limits of Control over Judges - ✔✔Federal judges have life tenure and are difficult to
influence or remove.
✔✔Rule of Four - ✔✔At least four justices must agree to hear a Supreme Court case.
✔✔Conference Discussion - ✔✔Justices meet privately to discuss a case and vote.
✔✔Judicial Doctrine - ✔✔Rules or guidelines created by the Court that guide future
cases and government actions.
✔✔Stare Decisis - ✔✔The principle that courts should follow previous decisions
(precedent).
✔✔Precedent - ✔✔A previous ruling that lower courts and future cases should follow.
✔✔Types of Doctrine - ✔✔Substantive doctrine decides who should win in future similar
cases; procedural doctrine guides how courts operate.
✔✔Lack of the Power of the Purse/Sword - ✔✔Courts cannot enforce their decisions;
they rely on other branches, slowing change.
✔✔Textualism - ✔✔Judges interpret laws and the Constitution based on their plain
meaning (e.g., Justice Scalia).
✔✔Judicial Ideology / Attitudinal Model - ✔✔Theory that justices vote mainly based on
personal ideological preferences.
✔✔ Limited presidential power over lawmaking in the Constitution - ✔✔The Constitution
only allows the president to recommend policies, give the State of the Union, make
treaties (2/3 Senate), and veto bills — giving very little positive lawmaking power.
✔✔Status Quo - ✔✔The current policy that stays in place unless Congress passes a
new law and pivotal actors prefer the change.
✔✔Parliamentary majorities vs. U.S. Separation of Powers - ✔✔Prime ministers always
have a legislative majority to pass their agenda; U.S. presidents often face a Congress
that may not support them.
✔✔Divided Government - ✔✔When the president's party does not control both
chambers of Congress, making lawmaking, confirmations, and spending priorities
harder.
AND ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Bureaucratic Successes / Failures - ✔✔FDA and thalidomide (success); Hurricane
Katrina response (failure).
✔✔Reasons for Delegation: Complexity / Expertise - ✔✔Congress lacks technical
knowledge, so it delegates authority to agencies.
✔✔Reasons for Delegation: "Chicken" Theory - ✔✔Lawmakers avoid blame for
controversial decisions by letting agencies decide.
✔✔Fire Alarm Oversight - ✔✔Congress waits for complaints from citizens or interest
groups, then steps in to supervise agencies.
✔✔Appropriations Hammer / Limitation Riders - ✔✔Congress restricts agency actions
through budget limitations or rules banning certain regulations.
✔✔Marbury v. Madison - ✔✔The 1803 case establishing judicial review, allowing the
Court to decide what the Constitution means.
✔✔Judicial Review - ✔✔The Court's power to strike down unconstitutional state or
federal laws.
✔✔Eras of Judicial Review - ✔✔Historical periods where the Court's influence and
approach to constitutional interpretation shifted.
✔✔Structure of the Federal Judiciary - ✔✔Three levels: District Courts, Courts of
Appeals, Supreme Court.
✔✔Jurisdiction of Courts - ✔✔Determines which kinds of cases a court is allowed to
hear.
✔✔Constitutional Interpretation - ✔✔When the Court decides what the Constitution
allows or prohibits.
✔✔Statutory Interpretation - ✔✔When the Court decides what a federal law means;
Congress can override these decisions by passing new legislation.
✔✔Transaction Costs of Reversing Constitutional Decisions - ✔✔Constitutional rulings
are hard to reverse; requires amendments or a future Court overturning the case.
✔✔Delegation by the Supreme Court - ✔✔The Court sets broad rules but leaves details
to lower courts or agencies.
, ✔✔Limits of Control over Judges - ✔✔Federal judges have life tenure and are difficult to
influence or remove.
✔✔Rule of Four - ✔✔At least four justices must agree to hear a Supreme Court case.
✔✔Conference Discussion - ✔✔Justices meet privately to discuss a case and vote.
✔✔Judicial Doctrine - ✔✔Rules or guidelines created by the Court that guide future
cases and government actions.
✔✔Stare Decisis - ✔✔The principle that courts should follow previous decisions
(precedent).
✔✔Precedent - ✔✔A previous ruling that lower courts and future cases should follow.
✔✔Types of Doctrine - ✔✔Substantive doctrine decides who should win in future similar
cases; procedural doctrine guides how courts operate.
✔✔Lack of the Power of the Purse/Sword - ✔✔Courts cannot enforce their decisions;
they rely on other branches, slowing change.
✔✔Textualism - ✔✔Judges interpret laws and the Constitution based on their plain
meaning (e.g., Justice Scalia).
✔✔Judicial Ideology / Attitudinal Model - ✔✔Theory that justices vote mainly based on
personal ideological preferences.
✔✔ Limited presidential power over lawmaking in the Constitution - ✔✔The Constitution
only allows the president to recommend policies, give the State of the Union, make
treaties (2/3 Senate), and veto bills — giving very little positive lawmaking power.
✔✔Status Quo - ✔✔The current policy that stays in place unless Congress passes a
new law and pivotal actors prefer the change.
✔✔Parliamentary majorities vs. U.S. Separation of Powers - ✔✔Prime ministers always
have a legislative majority to pass their agenda; U.S. presidents often face a Congress
that may not support them.
✔✔Divided Government - ✔✔When the president's party does not control both
chambers of Congress, making lawmaking, confirmations, and spending priorities
harder.
