Key Terms for American Government Second Exam

Legislative Process Executive Branch Judicial Process
Article I Article II Article III
House of Representatives President Plaintiff
Senate Vice President Defendant
Caucuses Electoral College District Courts
Issue Take Care Clause Circuit Courts of Appeals
Identity Executive Orders Supreme Court
Regional Roles of the President: Jurisdiction
Party Commander in Chief Appeals vs. Trial Court
Committees Chief Executive Question of Fact
Standing Ceremonial Chief Question of Procedure
Joint Chief Diplomat Question of Law
Conference Party Leader Judicial Review
Subcommittees Policy Implementation Marbury v. Madison
Leadership Bureaucracy Certiorari
Speaker of the House Cabinet Departments: Rule of Four
House Majority Leader State Cases and Controversies
House Minority Leader Defense Advisory Opinion
House Majority Whip Justice Standing
House Minority Whip Treasury Justiciable
President of the Senate Agriculture Substantive Federal Question
President Pro Tem of the Senate Commerce Political Question Rule
Senate Majority Leader Labor Jurisprudence
Senate Minority Leader Interior Living Constitution
Senate Majority Whip Energy Original Intent
Senate Minority Whip Health/Human Services Judicial Restraint
House Committees Housing/Urban Development Judicial Activism/Legislation
Ways and Means Transportation Stare Decisis/Precedent
Appropriations Education Opinion of the Court
Rules Veterans’ Affairs Concurring Opinion
Judiciary Independent Agencies Dissenting Opinion
Senate Committees Independent Regulatory Commissions
Finance Governmental Corporations
Judiciary Quasi-Legislative Power
Foreign Affairs Quasi-Judicial Power
Sponsorship/Co-Sponsorship Oversight
Hearings Legislative Veto
Markup Sessions Civil Service
Report Out Political Appointment
Order Out Pendleton Act
Discharge Petition Hatch Act
Pigeon Hole
Closed Rule/Open Rule
Filibuster
Cloture
Veto
Line Item Veto
Veto Override

 

 Important Concepts you should be prepared to discuss cogently

  1. Explain the importance of knowing the institutional rules in addition to the constitutional procedure for policymaking/implementation.

  2. Explain the differences between the House and Senate with respect to qualifications, terms of office, and method of election. How does this make the members of the House "closer" to the people and likewise create a political buffer between the people and the Senate?

  3. Discuss the organizations created inside the legislature and explain the difference between the formal and informal organizations.

  4. Explain the legislative process. Discuss several reasons a Bill that is otherwise favored by a majority of Representatives and Senators might not make it to the President’s desk.

  5. What is presidential prerogative? Through what devices is it used? Why is prerogative vested in the president rather than the legislature, the courts, or the bureaucracy?

  6. Discuss the features of the bureaucracy and distinguish among the four primary components of the bureaucracy.

  7. Discuss the relationship between the legislative and executive branches with respect to policy making and policy implementation. What effect has this relationship had on the concept of separation of powers and checks and balances? Why would the James Madison be weary of this situation?

  8. What legal devices are intended to create a distinction between political appointees and civil servants? How is this useful for preventing abuses of office by the executive branch?

  9. What is judicial review and what is the legal/philosophical justification for its existence?

  10. How does a case get to the Supreme Court? What criteria do the Justices use when selecting cases?

  11. Distinguish between judicial activism and judicial restraint. Relate these concepts to the living constitution argument and the original intent argument respectively.