Deck 6: The Electoral Process

Question 1

In Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960), the Supreme Court held that drawing political boundary lines to exclude minority voters violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. _____

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court dismiss as nonjusticiable a lawsuit challenging malapportionment? _____

A) Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960)
B) Reynolds v. Sims (1964)
C) Colegrove v. Green (1946)
D) Flast v. Cohen (1968)

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In Baker v. Carr (1962), the Supreme Court invalidated a 1901 Tennessee law that created unequal state legislative districts. _____

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The principle of "one person, one vote" was first articulated in _____.

A) Baker v. Carr (1962)
B) Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)
C) South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1965)
D) Gray v. Sanders (1963)

Question 5

In Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission (1996), the Supreme Court _____.

A) upheld limitations on party expenditures in Senate races
B) sustained the constitutionality of spending limits on congressional elections
C) declared unconstitutional limitations on political parties' campaign expenditures made in conjunction with a candidates' campaign committee
D) declared unconstitutional limitations on political parties' campaign expenditures made independently of a candidates' campaign committee

Question 6

The principal dissent in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission and the majority opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission were written by _____.

A) Justice O'Connor
B) Justice Stevens
C) Chief Justice Roberts
D) Justice Kennedy

Question 7

The organization called Citizens United initiated litigation because of _____.

A) monetary contributions it wanted to receive
B) monetary contributions it wanted to make to a candidate
C) a documentary video
D) none of the above

Question 8

In California Democratic Party v. Jones, the party preferred _____.

A) blanket primary
B) a nonpartisan primary
C) a closed primary
D) none of the above

Question 9

In Reynolds v. Sims, Chief Justice Warren discussed _____.

A) racial discrimination
B) the federal analogy
C) official corruption
D) South Carolina legislative districts

Question 10

Shelby County v. Holder involved a challenge to the Affordable Care Act. _____

Question 11

Rucho v. Common Cause concerned

A) the commerce clause
B) gerrymandering
C) presidential power
D) the electoral college

Question 12

Chiafalo v. Washington concerned

A) immigration
B) gerrymandering
C) the electoral college
D) none of the above

Question 13

In his dissent in Baker v. Carr, Justice Frankfurter denounced the majority for "asserting destructively novel judicial power" in its decision. What did Frankfurter mean? What alternative remedy did Frankfurter offer in his dissent for those aggrieved voters who had brought this case? Explain.

Question 14

Articulate the holding and rationale in either (1) McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003), as pertaining to Title I, Sec. 323 (a) (ban on soft money), and Title II, Sec. 203 (prohibition of corporate and labor disbursements for electioneering communications), of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act; or (2) Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), as pertaining to Title, II, Section 203, of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

Question 15

Articulate the holding and rationale in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), as pertaining to Title, II, Section 203, of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

Question 16

At least since Davis v. Bandemer (1986), the search for judicially manageable standards in the context of partisan gerrymandering has been elusive. What solution did Justice Souter believe he had developed in Vieth v. Jubelirer (2004)? Explain. Does his approach seem workable to you? Why?

Question 17

In what way does Justice Anthony Kennedy's opinion for the majority in Miller v. Johnson (1995) limit the discretion of a state legislature in drawing district lines? Explain.

Question 18

Explain the crucial threshold questions at issue in Baker v. Carr and Davis
v. Bandemer.

Question 19

Consider Justice Frankfurter's dissent (which Justice Harlan joined) in Baker v. Carr (1962) and Justice Harlan's dissent in Reynolds v. Sims (1964). (Frankfurter retired before Reynolds was decided.) Suppose Harlan and Frankfurter had each been on the Court in 2004 when Vieth v. Jubelirer was decided, and assume that both justices still adhered to the perspective they had expressed in those cases from the 1960s. Would Harlan and Frankfurter have been more likely to join Justice Scalia's plurality opinion in Vieth v. Jubelirer or Justice Souter's dissent? Why? Explain.

Question 20

According to Justice Brennan's opinion for the Court in Baker v. Carr, one of the requirements for justiciability is the presence of "judicially discoverable and manageable standards for resolving" a dispute. Discuss this requirement in the context of Reynolds v. Sims, Davis v. Bandemer, and Shaw v. Reno. To what degree did the majority succeed in making clear the "discoverable and manageable standards" to be applied in those cases?

Question 21

Viewed as landmarks in establishing a cause of action under the Fourteenth Amendment, explain how Baker v. Carr and Shaw v. Reno are analogous? With what objections from dissenters did Justices Brennan and O'Connor have to contend in their respective majority opinions?

Question 22

In Reynolds v. Sims, how did Justice Stewart's standard for determining constitutionally of numerically unequal legislative districts differ from Chief Justice Warren's?

Question 23

Consider justiciability and the political question doctrine. What does the Court do with those self-limiting concepts in Baker?

Question 24

To what extent does the Vieth case suggest that the Court's focus on equal numbers in Reynolds was merely a first step into the waters of representation?

Question 25

Examine the Court's position in Rucho v. Common Cause: what would now constitute an unconstitutional gerrymander?

Question 26

In Buckley, why is the Court's perception of expenditures and contributions critical to the outcome of the case?

Question 27

What is the basis of the Court's extraordinary intervention in the presidential election of 2000?

Question 28

What is the political significance of McConnell v. FEC and Citizens United? How is Buckley reflected in these decisions?

Question 29

Explain the constitutional justifications for the outcome reached in Bush v. Gore (2000). What would the dissenters (both groups) have preferred the Court to do? For what reasons?

Question 30

Beginning in 1960, the Warren Court confronted the issue of malapportionment. Citing selectively appropriate cases and doctrines, trace the evolution of relevant constitutional provisions and their application to legislative apportionment. What standards have been developed and how have those standards been applied by the Supreme Court? Be sure to discuss in detail the Voting Rights Act of 1965. How did the Voting Rights Act prohibit states from disenfranchising minority voters? How did the Rehnquist Court respond when race has been used in redistricting to enhance minority voting strength?

Question 31

What question, not answered by Ray v. Blair (1952), was answered by Chiafalo v. Washington (2020)?