Deck 15: The Judiciary and the Democratic Debate

Question 1

Why is precedent so important to the Supreme Court? Explain what a nominee's opinion about precedent tells us about how he or she will rule on the Court?

Answer 1

Students' answers may vary.

Question 2

Explain the role of senatorial courtesy.

Answer 2

Students' answers may vary.
Senatorial courtesy is the Senate's withholding of consent to the nomination of a district court judge if the senior senator of the president's party from the nominee's state objects to that nomination.

Question 3

Explain the history of the major shifts in the Supreme Court from the founding to the present.Discuss the main constitutional changes or innovations from each period.

Answer 3

Students' answers may vary.

Question 4

Explain the difference between original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction.

Question 5

Congressman X attacks judicial activism and says that federal courts should fit their decisions to the precise words found in major laws and the Constitution.He is advocating a judicial philosophy of _____.

A)constitutional adaptation
B)textualism
C)judicial review
D)judicial activism

Question 6

Explain the federal judicial selection process.Why is this process so important for both the president and the Senate? What has become of the process in recent years?

Question 7

What is the importance of precedent to the judiciary?

Question 8

Explain the decision in Gibbons v.Ogden.

Question 9

Explain the differences between concurring and dissenting opinion.

Question 10

What does the rule of four mean?

Question 11

What was the purpose of the court-packing plan?

Question 12

Explain the decision in Marbury v.Madison.

Question 13

Explain the decision in Dred Scott v.Sandford.

Question 14

Is the Supreme Court an elite democratic or popular democratic institution? In what ways does it have features of or provide impetus for each theory?

Question 15

Explain the importance of judicial review.

Question 16

A major debate in American politics is between advocates of "original meaning" and those of a "Living Constitution." What are the essential features of this debate? Which philosophy do you find more appealing? Why?

Question 17

What is a writ of certiorari ?

Question 18

Explain the role of oral argument in the Supreme Court.

Question 19

What is an ideological bloc on the Court?

Question 20

Explain the decision in McCulloch v.Maryland.

Question 21

If you were predicting President Obama's nominee, you would be safe in saying he or she would be a(n)_____.

A)Republican
B)Democrat
C)African American
D)woman

Question 22

Supreme Court decisions are final

A)because other political actors automatically abide by them.
B)as they cannot be checked by other political institutions.
C)but depend on the support of other institutions to be carried out.
D)because they are always clear, thereby leaving little room for discretion in implementation.

Question 23

Presidential nominees to the Supreme Court are

A)very rarely denied confirmation.
B)never chosen to represent important political groups.
C)judged solely on the basis of their judicial qualifications.
D)rejected more often when partisan conflict is greater.

Question 24

The Taney Court's most notorious decision was

A)Wickard v.Filburn.
B)Dred Scott v.Sandford.
C)Marbury v.Madison.
D)Brown v.Board of Education.

Question 25

The vast majority of federal court decisions are made by

A)district courts.
B)the Supreme Court.
C)courts of appeals.
D)state courts.

Question 26

Which of the following is the most potent factor affecting decisions of the Supreme Court?

A)The position of the chief justice
B)Strategic action
C)Current public opinion
D)Ideology

Question 27

According to the text, FDR

A)was successful in pushing his court-packing plan through Congress.
B)wanted the Supreme Court to get into the business of regulating economic policy.
C)had tremendous public support for his court-packing plan.
D)lost the battle over court packing but later achieved the judicial Roosevelt revolution.

Question 28

Presidents have taken a strong interest in federal district court nominations because

A)senatorial courtesy is not a factor in judicial selections at this level.
B)they need to make more careful selections now that the number of these positions is declining.
C)they can best change the ideological direction of the federal courts at this level.
D)they do not need the Senate's "advice and consent" for these positions.

Question 29

Justice Breyer argued that textualism

A)is a vehicle for the values and preferences of modern conservatives.
B)is the only legitimate standard of interpretation.
C)was the hallmark of the Warren Court.
D)is the essential basis for judicial activism.

Question 30

In the late nineteenth century, the Supreme Court

A)redefined the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process to protect corporate interests.
B)began to chip away at the doctrine of laissez faire.
C)was hostile to state, but not to national, regulation of the free market.
D)was the strongest national proponent of popular democratic principles.

Question 31

Before Justice Marshall arrived, the Supreme Court was

A)a coequal branch.
B)relatively weak.
C)headed by Thomas Jefferson.
D)praised by Anti-federalists.

Question 32

Although Americans express strong support for the Supreme Court, public opinion polls also show they

A)fail to abide by most of its decisions.
B)do not rate it as highly as the presidency.
C)do not know much about the Court as an institution.
D)are overwhelmingly opposed to its conservative direction.

Question 33

U.S.appellate courts have significant influence because they

A)have the power to retry cases from lower courts.
B)have the same functions as the Supreme Court.
C)handle only a very small number of important cases.
D)actually determine policy in several legal areas.

Question 34

The _____ blazed a strong path in support of individual liberties.

A)Rehnquist Court
B)Warren Court
C)Burger Court
D)Marshall Court

Question 35

The number of concurring and dissenting opinions has

A)stayed roughly the same over time.
B)declined now that the Court has a conservative majority.
C)increased in the face of ideological conflict among the justices.
D)dropped due to an increase in summary judgments.

Question 36

The Supreme Court's ruling in Gibbons v.Ogden

A)made it easier for state governments to regulate private business.
B)was overruled by the Taney Court.
C)enhanced national authority and the protection of property rights.
D)sharply restricted the national government's ability to promote economic development.

Question 37

Federal district courts and courts of appeals were established by

A)Article III of the Constitution.
B)acts of Congress.
C)decisions of the Supreme Court.
D)executive orders of the president.

Question 38

The power of judicial review was established by Chief Justice John Marshall in the case of

A)Dred Scott v.Sandford.
B)Lochner v.New York.
C)Marbury v.Madison.
D)McCulloch v.Maryland.

Question 39

Progressive skeptics believe that lawyers in general

A)are advocates for the disadvantaged.
B)are the appropriate leaders for democratic reform movements.
C)are trained in law schools to critique corporate capitalism.
D)form an aristocratic class.

Question 40

The Court decides whether to hear a case

A)by the rule of four.
B)by a majority decision.
C)through unanimous consent.
D)if the solicitor general so recommends.