POLS 1101 Exam 2 GLAS |65 Questions
and Answers
The Brownlow Report - -Report issued in 1937 by the President's Committee on
Administrative Management that likened the president to the CEO of a large corporation
and concluded that the president needed a professional staff.
-Expressed Powers of the Presidency - -Powers the Constitution explicitly grants to the
president
-Implied Powers of the Presidency - -The powers granted to a president that are not
explicitly listed in the Constitution-- establishing and consulting a Cabinet, executive
privilege, executive orders, executive agreements, presidential memorandum, anything
that can fall under 'necessary and proper' clause
-Executive Orders - -A presidential directive to an executive agency establishing new
policies or indicating how an existing policy is to be carried out.
-"Going Public" - -a president's strategy of appealing to the public on an issue, expecting
that public pressure will be brought to bear on other political actors
-Presidential memorandum - -A presidential directive to an agency directing it to alter its
administration of policies along lines prescribed in the memorandum. When a presidential
memorandum is published in the Federal Register, it assumes the same legal standing of an
executive order.
-Signing Statement - -A statement issued by the president that is intended to modify
implementation or ignore altogether provisions of a new law.
-State of the Union Address - -A message to Congress under the constitutional directive
that the president shall "from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of
the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge
necessary and expedient."
-War Powers Act - -Law that requires the president to inform Congress within forty-eight
hours of committing troops abroad in a military action
-The Cabinet - -The formal body of presidential advisers who head the fifteen executive
departments. Presidents often add others to this body of formal advisers.
-Electoral College - -A body of electors in each state, chosen by voters, who formally elect
the president and vice president of the United States. Each state's number of electoral votes
equals its representation in Congress; the District of Columbia has three votes. An absolute
majority of the total electoral vote is required to elect a president and vice president.
, -Selective Enforcement - -The practice of relying on the judgment of the police leadership
and rank-and-file officers to decide which laws to enforce.
-Prosecutorial Discretion - -The power of a prosecutor to decide whether to charge a
defendant and what the charge(s) will be, as well as to gather the evidence necessary to
prosecute the defendant in a court of law
-Orignial jurisdiction - -Court hears and decides a case for the first time
-Appellate Jurisdiction - -The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower
courts
-Dissening Opinion - -The written opinion of one or more Supreme Court justices who
disagree with the ruling of the Court's majority. The opinion outlines the rationale for their
disagreement.
-Concurring Opinion - -A written opinion by a Supreme Court justice who agrees with the
decision of the Court but disagrees with the rationale for reaching that decision.
-Court of Appeals - -The second tier of courts in the federal judicial system (between the
Supreme Court and the district courts). One court of appeals serves each of eleven regions,
or circuits, plus one for the District of Columbia.
-Federal District Court - -a general trial court of the federal system
-Court-packing (Court-Packing Plan) - -An attempt by President Franklin Roosevelt, in
1937, to remodel the federal judiciary. Its purpose ostensibly was to alleviate the
overcrowding of federal court dockets by allowing the president to appoint an additional
Supreme Court justice for every sitting justice over the age of seventy. The legislation
passed the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate by a single vote. If it had
passed, Roosevelt could have added six new justices to the high bench, thereby installing a
new Court majority sympathetic to his New Deal programs.
-Judicial Review - -The authority of a court to declare legislative and executive acts
unconstitutional and therefore invalid.
-Activism - -When judges deliberately shape judicial doctrine to conform to their personal
view of the Constitution and social policy.
-Restraint - -The judicial action of defering to the policies emanating from the elected
branches in the absence of a clear violation of the Constitution or established doctrine.
-Rule of Four - -A rule used by the Supreme Court's stating that when four justices support
hearing a case the certiorari petition is granted
and Answers
The Brownlow Report - -Report issued in 1937 by the President's Committee on
Administrative Management that likened the president to the CEO of a large corporation
and concluded that the president needed a professional staff.
-Expressed Powers of the Presidency - -Powers the Constitution explicitly grants to the
president
-Implied Powers of the Presidency - -The powers granted to a president that are not
explicitly listed in the Constitution-- establishing and consulting a Cabinet, executive
privilege, executive orders, executive agreements, presidential memorandum, anything
that can fall under 'necessary and proper' clause
-Executive Orders - -A presidential directive to an executive agency establishing new
policies or indicating how an existing policy is to be carried out.
-"Going Public" - -a president's strategy of appealing to the public on an issue, expecting
that public pressure will be brought to bear on other political actors
-Presidential memorandum - -A presidential directive to an agency directing it to alter its
administration of policies along lines prescribed in the memorandum. When a presidential
memorandum is published in the Federal Register, it assumes the same legal standing of an
executive order.
-Signing Statement - -A statement issued by the president that is intended to modify
implementation or ignore altogether provisions of a new law.
-State of the Union Address - -A message to Congress under the constitutional directive
that the president shall "from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of
the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge
necessary and expedient."
-War Powers Act - -Law that requires the president to inform Congress within forty-eight
hours of committing troops abroad in a military action
-The Cabinet - -The formal body of presidential advisers who head the fifteen executive
departments. Presidents often add others to this body of formal advisers.
-Electoral College - -A body of electors in each state, chosen by voters, who formally elect
the president and vice president of the United States. Each state's number of electoral votes
equals its representation in Congress; the District of Columbia has three votes. An absolute
majority of the total electoral vote is required to elect a president and vice president.
, -Selective Enforcement - -The practice of relying on the judgment of the police leadership
and rank-and-file officers to decide which laws to enforce.
-Prosecutorial Discretion - -The power of a prosecutor to decide whether to charge a
defendant and what the charge(s) will be, as well as to gather the evidence necessary to
prosecute the defendant in a court of law
-Orignial jurisdiction - -Court hears and decides a case for the first time
-Appellate Jurisdiction - -The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower
courts
-Dissening Opinion - -The written opinion of one or more Supreme Court justices who
disagree with the ruling of the Court's majority. The opinion outlines the rationale for their
disagreement.
-Concurring Opinion - -A written opinion by a Supreme Court justice who agrees with the
decision of the Court but disagrees with the rationale for reaching that decision.
-Court of Appeals - -The second tier of courts in the federal judicial system (between the
Supreme Court and the district courts). One court of appeals serves each of eleven regions,
or circuits, plus one for the District of Columbia.
-Federal District Court - -a general trial court of the federal system
-Court-packing (Court-Packing Plan) - -An attempt by President Franklin Roosevelt, in
1937, to remodel the federal judiciary. Its purpose ostensibly was to alleviate the
overcrowding of federal court dockets by allowing the president to appoint an additional
Supreme Court justice for every sitting justice over the age of seventy. The legislation
passed the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate by a single vote. If it had
passed, Roosevelt could have added six new justices to the high bench, thereby installing a
new Court majority sympathetic to his New Deal programs.
-Judicial Review - -The authority of a court to declare legislative and executive acts
unconstitutional and therefore invalid.
-Activism - -When judges deliberately shape judicial doctrine to conform to their personal
view of the Constitution and social policy.
-Restraint - -The judicial action of defering to the policies emanating from the elected
branches in the absence of a clear violation of the Constitution or established doctrine.
-Rule of Four - -A rule used by the Supreme Court's stating that when four justices support
hearing a case the certiorari petition is granted
