POL 102 EVALUATION QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔Jurisdiction of Courts - ✔✔Determines which kinds of cases a court is allowed to
hear.
✔✔Constitutional Interpretation - ✔✔When the Court decides what the Constitution
allows or prohibits.
✔✔Statutory Interpretation - ✔✔When the Court decides what a federal law means;
Congress can override these decisions by passing new legislation.
✔✔Transaction Costs of Reversing Constitutional Decisions - ✔✔Constitutional rulings
are hard to reverse; requires amendments or a future Court overturning the case.
✔✔Delegation by the Supreme Court - ✔✔The Court sets broad rules but leaves details
to lower courts or agencies.
✔✔Limits of Control over Judges - ✔✔Federal judges have life tenure and are difficult to
influence or remove.
✔✔Rule of Four - ✔✔At least four justices must agree to hear a Supreme Court case.
✔✔Conference Discussion - ✔✔Justices meet privately to discuss a case and vote.
✔✔Judicial Doctrine - ✔✔Rules or guidelines created by the Court that guide future
cases and government actions.
✔✔Stare Decisis - ✔✔The principle that courts should follow previous decisions
(precedent).
✔✔Precedent - ✔✔A previous ruling that lower courts and future cases should follow.
, ✔✔Types of Doctrine - ✔✔Substantive doctrine decides who should win in future similar
cases; procedural doctrine guides how courts operate.
✔✔Lack of the Power of the Purse/Sword - ✔✔Courts cannot enforce their decisions;
they rely on other branches, slowing change.
✔✔Textualism - ✔✔Judges interpret laws and the Constitution based on their plain
meaning (e.g., Justice Scalia).
✔✔Judicial Ideology / Attitudinal Model - ✔✔Theory that justices vote mainly based on
personal ideological preferences.
✔✔ Limited presidential power over lawmaking in the Constitution - ✔✔The Constitution
only allows the president to recommend policies, give the State of the Union, make
treaties (2/3 Senate), and veto bills — giving very little positive lawmaking power.
✔✔Status Quo - ✔✔The current policy that stays in place unless Congress passes a
new law and pivotal actors prefer the change.
✔✔Parliamentary majorities vs. U.S. Separation of Powers - ✔✔Prime ministers always
have a legislative majority to pass their agenda; U.S. presidents often face a Congress
that may not support them.
✔✔Divided Government - ✔✔When the president's party does not control both
chambers of Congress, making lawmaking, confirmations, and spending priorities
harder.
✔✔No Power to Require Congress to Vote - ✔✔U.S. presidents cannot force Congress
to vote on their proposals, unlike prime ministers.
✔✔Pivotal Actors - ✔✔Key decision-makers (median voter, filibuster pivot, president,
veto override pivot) whose preferences decide whether policy can change.
✔✔Median Voter / Filibuster Pivot / Presidential Veto - ✔✔Policy change requires
support from the median member, the 60-vote filibuster pivot, and the president; if any
prefer the status quo, change fails.
✔✔Bush Social Security Proposal / Biden Childcare Proposal - ✔✔Examples where
presidents failed to pass major proposals even with unified government because pivotal
members of their own party preferred the status quo.
✔✔Weak Party Leader - ✔✔U.S. presidents cannot control party nominations because
primaries choose candidates, giving them less leverage over their own party.
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔Jurisdiction of Courts - ✔✔Determines which kinds of cases a court is allowed to
hear.
✔✔Constitutional Interpretation - ✔✔When the Court decides what the Constitution
allows or prohibits.
✔✔Statutory Interpretation - ✔✔When the Court decides what a federal law means;
Congress can override these decisions by passing new legislation.
✔✔Transaction Costs of Reversing Constitutional Decisions - ✔✔Constitutional rulings
are hard to reverse; requires amendments or a future Court overturning the case.
✔✔Delegation by the Supreme Court - ✔✔The Court sets broad rules but leaves details
to lower courts or agencies.
✔✔Limits of Control over Judges - ✔✔Federal judges have life tenure and are difficult to
influence or remove.
✔✔Rule of Four - ✔✔At least four justices must agree to hear a Supreme Court case.
✔✔Conference Discussion - ✔✔Justices meet privately to discuss a case and vote.
✔✔Judicial Doctrine - ✔✔Rules or guidelines created by the Court that guide future
cases and government actions.
✔✔Stare Decisis - ✔✔The principle that courts should follow previous decisions
(precedent).
✔✔Precedent - ✔✔A previous ruling that lower courts and future cases should follow.
, ✔✔Types of Doctrine - ✔✔Substantive doctrine decides who should win in future similar
cases; procedural doctrine guides how courts operate.
✔✔Lack of the Power of the Purse/Sword - ✔✔Courts cannot enforce their decisions;
they rely on other branches, slowing change.
✔✔Textualism - ✔✔Judges interpret laws and the Constitution based on their plain
meaning (e.g., Justice Scalia).
✔✔Judicial Ideology / Attitudinal Model - ✔✔Theory that justices vote mainly based on
personal ideological preferences.
✔✔ Limited presidential power over lawmaking in the Constitution - ✔✔The Constitution
only allows the president to recommend policies, give the State of the Union, make
treaties (2/3 Senate), and veto bills — giving very little positive lawmaking power.
✔✔Status Quo - ✔✔The current policy that stays in place unless Congress passes a
new law and pivotal actors prefer the change.
✔✔Parliamentary majorities vs. U.S. Separation of Powers - ✔✔Prime ministers always
have a legislative majority to pass their agenda; U.S. presidents often face a Congress
that may not support them.
✔✔Divided Government - ✔✔When the president's party does not control both
chambers of Congress, making lawmaking, confirmations, and spending priorities
harder.
✔✔No Power to Require Congress to Vote - ✔✔U.S. presidents cannot force Congress
to vote on their proposals, unlike prime ministers.
✔✔Pivotal Actors - ✔✔Key decision-makers (median voter, filibuster pivot, president,
veto override pivot) whose preferences decide whether policy can change.
✔✔Median Voter / Filibuster Pivot / Presidential Veto - ✔✔Policy change requires
support from the median member, the 60-vote filibuster pivot, and the president; if any
prefer the status quo, change fails.
✔✔Bush Social Security Proposal / Biden Childcare Proposal - ✔✔Examples where
presidents failed to pass major proposals even with unified government because pivotal
members of their own party preferred the status quo.
✔✔Weak Party Leader - ✔✔U.S. presidents cannot control party nominations because
primaries choose candidates, giving them less leverage over their own party.
