PSC Final exam

In some legal actions, a group or class of individuals with common interests file a suit on behalf of everyone who shares the interest. This is called

A class-action suit

________ are used to express opposition to a Supreme Court outcome or to signal to the losing side that some members of the Court support its position.

Dissenting opinions

An agreement between the president and another country that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate's "advice and consent" is called a(n)

Executive agreement

A(n) ________ benefit is one where potential recipients must document their genuine need.

Means-tested

Suppose a defendant is convicted at trial but believes that the judge made an error that impacted the decision. She would first ask her case be tried again at ________. If she were to lose at that court, she could still try again, if her argument were accepted, at the ________.

Court of appeals; supreme court

When government reduces or eliminates restraints on the conduct of individuals or private institutions, this is known as

Deregulation

The growing use of executive agreements by presidents over time has had the effect of

Diminishing the importance of the Senate's constitutional treaty power

If a defendant is found not guilty in a criminal case, the government is

Not entitled to appeal the verdict

The two primary goals of American foreign policy are

Security and prosperity

Elderly Americans particularly benefit from which two government programs?

Social Security and Medicare

The doctrine of ________ requires courts to follow authoritative prior decisions when ruling on a case.

Stare decisis

Which of the following is a noncontributory program?

Temporary Assistance for Needy FamilieS

Imagine that Canada is threatening to invade the United States over disputed territory. The United States decides to cede some of the territory to Canada in order to forestall the war from happening. This is an example of

appeasement

The housing bubble prior to 2007 was driven primarily by

the increased demand for housing that resulted from a dramatic loosening of lending standards.

________ has the authority to change the number of justices who serve on the Supreme Court.

Congress

The nineteenth-century policy of ________ was based on the geographic distance of the United States from other countries.

Isolationism

What is the role of the State Department in American foreign policy?

It carries out routine diplomatic activities

How does the balance of control over foreign policy between Congress and the president differ from the intentions of the framers of the Constitution?

The president has far more authority and control now than what the framers intended.

The size of the U.S. Supreme Court is set by

Congress

A person, agency, or interest group not directly a party to a case but with an interest in its outcome may file a(n) ________ brief.

Amicus curiae

Congress has assigned federal court jurisdictions on the basis of

Geography

Though used at times by justices on both sides of the partisan divide, which judicial philosophy refuses to go beyond the clear words of the Constitution in interpreting the document's meaning?

Judicial conservatism

Why is Marbury v. Madison (1803) an important case?

In this case, the justices authorized the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review over laws passed by Congress.

Cases ________ are NOT part of the original jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In which more than $1 Million is at stake

What makes the income tax progressive?

The more income people make, the higher a tax rate they have to pay on that income.

What evidence demonstrates that the Social Security and Medicare programs have been effective in meeting their goals?

The poverty rate among the elderly has declined substantially since these programs were introduced.

Which of the following best describes the role of the solicitor general?

The solicitor general is the lawyer who represents the United States before the Supreme Court in cases where the federal government is a party.

Which of the following statements best describes the formal requirements of serving as a federal court judge?

There are no formal requirements to serve as a federal court judge.

The first court to hear a criminal case involving a violation of state law is called a(n) ________ court.

Trial

Which of the following is the strongest factor in predicting which groups in society receive the most benefits from government's social policies?

groups that are the most politically powerful