Government Final Exam

Front 1

Civil Rights

Back 1

The rights of all people to be free from irrational discrimination such as that based on race, etc.

Front 2

Adversary System

Back 2

A judicial system in which the court of law is a neutral arena where two parties argue their differences.

Front 3

Affirmative Action

Back 3

Remedial action designed to overcome the effect of discrimination against minorities and women.

Front 4

Cabinet

Back 4

The advisory council for the president, consisting of heads of the executive departments, the vice president, and a few other officials selected by the president

Front 5

Circuit Court of Appeals

Back 5

Courts with appellate jurisdiction that hear appeals from the decisions of lower courts.

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Closed Rule

Back 6

A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments.

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Concurring opinion

Back 7

An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs in the reasoning.

Front 8

Conference Committee

Back 8

A committee appointed by the presiding officer of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in a different form.

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Constituents

Back 9

Residents of a congressional district.

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De Facto Segregation

Back 10

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.

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De Jure Segregation

Back 11

Segregation imposed by law.

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Delegate

Back 12

An official who is expected to represent the views of his constituents even when personally holding different views; one interpretation of a legislator.

Front 13

Dissenting Opinion

Back 13

An opinion disagreeing with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling.

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District Courts

Back 14

Courts in which criminal and civil cases are originally tried in the federal court system.

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Dual Citizenship

Back 15

Citizenship in more than one country.

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Earmarks

Back 16

Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents.

Front 17

Electoral College

Back 17

The electoral system used in electing the president and vice president, in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for a particular party's candidates.

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Executive Office of the President (EOP)

Back 18

The cluster of presidential staff agencies that help the president carry out his responsibilities.

Front 19

Executive Orders

Back 19

Formal orders to government or an agency that carry the force of law issued by the president to direct action by the federal bureaucracy, or by a governor to direct a state bureaucracy.

Front 20

Executive Privilege

Back 20

The power to keep executive communications confidential, especially if they relate to security.

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Feminism

Back 21

The movement to get women equal rights as men.

Front 22

Grandfather Clause

Back 22

A provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases.

Front 23

Impeachment

Back 23

A formal accusation by the lower house of legislature against a public official; first step in removal from office.

Front 24

Incumbant

Back 24

The current holder of office

Front 25

Jim Crow Laws

Back 25

State laws formerly pervasive in the South requiring public facilities to be segragated by color of skin. Ruled unconstitutional.

Front 26

Justiciable Dispute

Back 26

A dispute growing out of an actual case or controversy that is capable of settlement by legal methods.

Front 27

Line Item Veto

Back 27

Presidential power to strike, specific items from a spending bill without vetoing the entire package; declared unconstitutional.

Front 28

Literacy test

Back 28

A literacy requirement some states imposed as a condition to vote. Now illegal.

Front 29

Logrolling

Back 29

Mutual aid and vote trading among legislatures.

Front 30

Open Rule

Back 30

A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.

Front 31

Override

Back 31

An action taken by the Congress to reverse a presidential veto, requiring two-thirds majority in each chamber.

Front 32

Pocket Veto

Back 32

A formal decision to reject a bill passed by Congress after it adjourns; if Congress adjourns during the ten days that the president is allowed to sign or veto the law, the president can reject the law by taking no action.

Front 33

Poll Tax

Back 33

Tax required to vote; prohibited by 24th Amendment (national level) and by Harper v. Board of Education (all elections).

Front 34

Precedent

Back 34

A decision made by a higher court that is binding on all other federal courts.

Front 35

President Pro Tempore

Back 35

An officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in absence of the vice president.

Front 36

Rational Basis Test

Back 36

A standard developed by the courts to test the constitutionality of a law; when applied, a law is constitutional as long as it meets a reasonable government interest.

Front 37

Recess Appointment

Back 37

Presidential appointment made without Senate confirmation during Senate recess.

Front 38

Reverse Discrimination

Back 38

A condition in which discrimination against a dominant racial group in a society has taken place.

Front 39

Rider

Back 39

A provision attached to a bill to which is may or may not be related in order to secure its passage or defeat.

Front 40

Safe Seat

Back 40

An elected office that is predictable won by one party so the success of that party's candidate is almost taken for granted.

Front 41

Senatorial Courtesy

Back 41

The presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.

Front 42

Seniority Rule

Back 42

A legislative practice that assign the chair of a committee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee.

Front 43

Separate-but-equal Doctrine

Back 43

Permitted racial segregation, as not being in breach of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which guaranteed equal protection under the law to all citizens, and other federal civil rights laws. Overturned by Brown v Board of Education.

Front 44

Sexual Harassment

Back 44

Bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors.

Front 45

Special Committee

Back 45

A congressional committee created for a specific purpose, sometimes to conduct an investigation.

Front 46

Stare Decisis

Back 46

Rule of precedent, whereby a rule or law contained in a judicial decision is commonly viewed as binding on judges whenever the same question is presented.

Front 47

Strict Scrutiny Test

Back 47

A test applied by the court when a classification is based on race; the government must show that there is a compelling reason for the law and no other less restrictive way to meet the interest.

Front 48

Trustee

Back 48

An official who is expected to vote independently based on his judgement of the circumstances; one interpretation of the legislator.

Front 49

War Powers Resolution

Back 49

A resolution passed in 1973 requiring the president to give advance warning of a military attack or ask Congress for a declaration of war or specific legislation.

Front 50

Writ of Certiori

Back 50

A formal writ used to bring a case before the Supreme Court

Front 51

*** Gerrymandering ***

Back 51

Individual Involved: Massachusetts governer Elbridge Gerry

Definition: Redrawing district lines to create areas that vote primarily for a specific person

Time: 1812

Context: Gerry signed a bill into law that remade districts so that he had a very strong vote base. The districts were shaped like a salamander.

Front 52

*** War Power of the President ***

Back 52

Individual Involved: President Nixon

Definition: The War Powers Resolution of 1973 stated that the Pres. had to give 48 hours notice if he wanted to use the armed forces and forbids the forces from staying longer than 60 days.

Time: 1973

Context: Congress was concerned about their authority over when the armed forces could be used. When news of Nixon secretly using the forces to conduct secret bombings in Cambodia during the Vietnam War, Congress passed this bill. Nixon vetoed it but the veto was overturned.

Front 53

*** Judicial Activism ***

Back 53

Definition: Using the judge's seat to shape laws.

(Use Brown v Board of Education for other aspects of this question.)

Front 54

*** Types of Federal Courts ***

Back 54

Use Brown v Board of Education info, just make mention of lower courts.

Front 55

*** Internment of Japanese Americans ***

Back 55

Individual Involved: FDR,

Definition:

Time:

Context: Executive Order 9066

Front 56

*** Brown v. Board of Education ***

Back 56

Individual Involved: Oliver Brown, Board of Education of Topeka, Chief Justice Earl Warren

Definition: Ruled that "separate but equal doctrine" was inherently unequal, de jure segregation made illegal

Time: 1951

Context: Oliver Brown's daughter had to walk 1 mile to school when white school was only 7 blocks away. Supreme court took case and overturned Plessy v Ferguson in unanimous vote. Warren convinced the judges to be unanimous.