Unit 2 Matching Review

Question 1

Amicus Curiae

Answer 1

“friend of the court”

individuals or groups who aren’t parties to a lawsuit who seek to assist the Supreme Court in reaching a decision by presenting additional briefs

Question 2

Apportionment

Answer 2

Process, occuring after every decennial census, that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states

Question 3

Bureaucracy

Answer 3

Complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, & principle of organization that is employed by all large-scale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel

Question 4

Civil Law

Answer 4

Branch of law that deals w/disputes that don’t involve criminal penalties

Question 5

Cloture

Answer 5

Rule or process in a legislative body aimed @ ending debate on a given bill, in the U.S. Senate, 60 senators 3/5 must agree in order to impose a time limit & end debate

Question 6

Commander-in-Chief

Answer 6

Role of the president as commander of the national military & the state National Guard Units (when called into service)

Question 7

Conference Committee

Answer 7

Joint committees created to work out a compromise on House & Senate versions of a piece of legislation

Question 8

Constituency

Answer 8

Residents in the areas from which officials are elected

Question 9

Criminal Law

Answer 9

Branch of law that regulates the conduct of individuals, defines crimes, & specifies punishment for proscribed conduct

Question 10

Delegated Powers

Answer 10

Constitutional powers that are assigned to 1 governmental agency but are exercised by another agency w/the express permission of the 1st

Question 11

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

Answer 11

Permanent agencies that perform defined management tasks for the president; created in 1939, the EOP includes OMB, the council of Economic Advisors, the NSC, & other agencies

Question 12

Expressed Powers

Answer 12

Specific powers granted by the constitution to COngress (Article 1, Section 8) & to the president Article (II)

Question 13

Inherent Powers

Answer 13

Powers claimed by a president that are not expressed in the Constitution but are inferred from it

Question 14

Joint Committee

Answer 14

Legislative Committees formed of members of both the House & Senate

Question 15

Legislative Initiative

Answer 15

The president’s inherent power to bring a legislative agenda before congress

Question 16

Majority Leader

Answer 16

The elected leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate; in the House, the majority leader is subordinate in the party hierarchy to the speaker of the House

Question 17

Merit System

Answer 17

A product of civil service reform, in which appointees to positions in public bureaucracies must objectively be deemed qualified for those positions

Question 18

National security Council

Answer 18

A presidential foreign policy advisory council composed of the president, the vise president, the secretary of state, the secretary of defence, & other officials invited by the president

Question 19

Original Jurisdiction

Answer 19

Authority to initially consider a case; distinguished from appellate jurisdiction, which is the authority to hear appeals from a lower court’s decision

Question 20

Oversight

Answer 20

Effort by congress, through hearings, investigations, & other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies

Question 21

Pocket Veto

Answer 21

Presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session

Question 22

Pork Barrel

Answer 22

Appropriations made by legislative bodies for local representatives can win reelection in their home districts

Question 23

Redistricting

Answer 23

Process of redrawing election districts & redistributing legislative representatives, this happens every 10yrs to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges in existing districts

Question 24

Select Committee

Answer 24

Temporary legislative committees set up to highlight or investigate a particular issue or address an issue not w/in the jurisdiction of existing committees

Question 25

Standing Committees

Answer 25

Permanent committees w/the power to propose & write legislation that covers particular subjects, such as finance or agriculture

Question 26

Veto

Answer 26

President's constitutional power to turn down acts of congress; a presidential veto may be overridden by a 2-thirds vote of each house of congress

Question 27

Whip

Answer 27

Party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, & counting votes

Question 28

Writ of Certiorari

Answer 28

A decision of @ least 4 of the 9 Supreme Court justices to review a decision of a lower court; certiorari is Latin meaning "to make more certain"