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52 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Annual authorizations
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
Authorization legislation originates in a legislative committee and states the maximum amount of money that an agency can spend on a given program. This authorization may be permanent, it may be for a fixed number of years, or it may be annual[or renewed each year or the program or agency goes out of business](pg. 428)
Appropriation
(Chapter 15)
A legislative grant of money to finance a government program or agency.
Authorization legislation
(Chapter 15)
Legislative permission to begin or continue a government program or agency.
Bureaucracy
(Chapter 15)
A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials.
Bureaucratic imperialism
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
The tendency of agencies to grow without regard to the benefits that their programs confer or the costs they entail. (p. 430)
Chadha
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
The Chadha case of 1983 where the Court held that the Congress cannot take any action that has the force of law unless the president concurs in that action. (pg. 429)
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
Congress recognized that many high-level positions in civil service have important policy-making responsibilites and that the president and his cabinet officers ought to have some flexibility in recruiting, assigning, and paying such people. (pg. 419)
Committee clearance
(Chapter 15)
The ability of a congressional committee to review and approve certain agency decisions in advance and without passing a law.
Competitive service
(Chapter 15)
The government offices to which people are appointed on the basis of merit, as ascertained by a written exam or by applying certain selection criteria.
Department of Homeland Security
(Not defined in glossary)
An executive agency of the US government established on November 25, 2002 with a mission of protecting America and its citizens, esp. from terrorist attacks
(pg. 414 and dictionary.com)
Discretionary authority
(Chapter 15)
The extent to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and make policies that are not spelled out in advance by laws.
Excepted service
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
Most civilian positions in the Federal government of the United States are part of the competitive service, where applicants must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management. However, some agencies (and some positions within other agencies) are excluded from these provisions. Although they primarily operate on a merit basis also, they have their own hiring systems and evaluation criteria. These agencies are excepted service. (dictionary.com)
Iron triangle
(Chapter 15)
A close relationship between am agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group.
Issue networks
(Chapter 15)
A network of people in Washington, DC-based interesy groups, on congressional staffs, in unviersities and think tanks, and in the mass media, who regularly discuss and advocate public policies.
Laissez-faire
(Chapter 15)
An economic theory that government should not regulate or interfere with commerce.
Legislative veto
(Chapter 15)
The authority of Congress to block a presidential action after it has taken place. The Supreme Court has held that Congress does not have this power.
Name-request job
(Chapter 15)
A job that is filled by a person whom an agency has already identified.
National Performance Review
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
Also known as the "reinvent government" and led by VP Al Gore, this NPR emphasized customer satisfaction, called for less centralized management, employee initiative, and fewer detailed reules. (pg. 432-433)
Patronage
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
The distribution of jobs and favors on a political basis, as to those who have supported one's party or political campaign (pg. 412 and dictionary.com)
Pendleton Act of 1883
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
A United States federal law established the United States Civil Service Commission, which placed most federal government employees on the merit system and marked the end of the so-called "spoils system." The act provided for some government jobs to be filled on the basis of competitive exams. (pg. 417 and wikipedia.com)
Red tape
(Chapter 15)
Complex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something else.
Schedule C [appointments]
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
Appointments to jobs that are described as having a "confidential or policy-making character" below the level of cabinet or subcabinet posts such as executive assistants, special aides, and confidential secretaries. (pg. 417)
Senior Executive Service
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
Eight thousand top federal managers who can in theory be hired, fired, and transferred more easily than civil servants. Created by the Civil Service Reform Act. (pg. 420)
Trust funds
(Chapter 15)
Funds for government programs that are collected and spent outside the regular government budget.
Whistle Blower Protection Act of 1989
(Chapter 15)
(Not defined in glossary)
The law created the Office of Special Counsel, charged with investigating complaints from bureaucrats that they were punished after reporting to Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies. (pg. 423)
Activist approach
(Chapter 16)
The view that judges should discern the general principles underlying laws or the Constitution and apply them to modern circumstances.
Amicus curiae
(Chapter 16)
A brief [written statement by an attorney that summarizes a case and the laws and rulings that support it]submitted by a "friend of the court."
Appellate jurisdiction
(Chapter 16)
(Not defined in glossary)
Cases begin in another, lower court. Hears appeals, at its discretion, from Court of Military Appeals and State Supreme Courts (pg. 449)
Bloc voting
(Chapter 16)
(Not defined in glossary)
To vote as a group of legislators, usually of both major political parties, who vote together for some particular interest. (dictionary.com)
Civil law
(Chapter 16)
(Not defined in glossary)
The body of laws of a state or nation regulating ordinary private matters, as distinct from laws regulating criminal, political, or military matters. (dictionary.com)
Class action suit
(Chapter 16)
A case brought by someone to help him or her and all others who are similarly related.
Concurring opinion
(Chapter 16)
A signed opinion in which one or more members agree with the majority view but for different reasons.
Constitutional court
(Chapter 16)
A federal court authorized by Article III of the Constitution that keeps judges in office during good behavior and prevents their salaries from being reduced. They are the Supreme Court (created by the Constitution) and appellate and district courts created by Congress.
Criminal law
(Chapter 16)
(Not defined in glossary)
The laws of a state or country dealing with criminal offenses and their punishments. (dictionary.com)
Diversity case
(Chapter 16)
Cases involving citizens of different states who can bring in federal courts.
Dredd Scott v. Sanford
(Chapter 16)
(Not defined in glossary)
A black slave whose suit for freedom (1857) was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court (Dred Scott Decision) on the grounds that a slave was not a citizen and therefore could not sue in a federal court.
Fee shifting
(Chapter 16)
A rule that allows a plantiff to recover costs from the defendant if the plantiff wins.
Friday conference
(Chapter 16)
(Not defined in glossary)
When the justices retire to their conference room to debate the cases they have heard in complete secrecy. (pg. 455)
In forma pauperis
(Chapter 16)
A method wherby a poor person can have his or her case heard in federal court without charge.
Judicial review
(Chapter 16)
The power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional.
Litmus test
(Chapter 16)
An examination of the political ideology of a nominated judge.
Per curiam opinion
(Chapter 16)
A brief, unsigned court opinion.
Plantiff
(Chapter 16)
The party that initiates a lawsuit.
Political question
(Chapter 16)
An issue that Supreme Court will allow the executive and legislative branches decide.
Remedy
(Chapter 16)
A judicial order enforcing a right or redressing a wrong.
Senatorial courtesy
(Chapter 16)
(Not defined in glossary)
When the president nominates a "qualified" person to be a judge, and the Senate approves or rejects the nomination based on those "qualifications"; it gives heavy weight to preferences of the senators from the state where a federal court is to serve. (pg. 447)
Solicitor general of the U.S.
(Chapter 16)
(Not defined in glossary)
The third-ranking officer of the Department of Justice. They decide what cases the government will appeal from lower courts and personally approves every case the government presents to the Supreme Court (pg. 455)
Sovereign immunity
(Chapter 16)
The rule that a citizen cannot sue the government without the government's consent.
Standing
(Chapter 16)
A legal rule stating who is authorized to start a lawsuit.
Stare-decisis
(Chapter 16)
"Let the decision stand," or allowing prior rulings to control the current case.
Strict-constructionist approach
(Chapter 16)
The view that judges should decide cases strictly on the basis of the language of the laws and the Constitution.
Writ of certiorari
(Chapter 16)
An order by a higher court directing a lower court to send up a case for review.