What if we didn't have one another?

Modern government could not function without a large bureaucracy. Through authority, specialization, and rules, bureaucracy provides a means of managing thousands of tasks and employees.

The bureaucracy is expected simultaneously to respond to the direction of partisan officials and to administer programs fairly and competently. These conflicting demands are addressed through a combination of personnel management systems. 

      Personnel Management Systems: the patronage, merit, and executive

Bureaucrats are typically much less visible than the president or members of Congress. 

We also can 'toy' with one another: 

Presidential methods of exercising control over bureaucracies:

• Appointing the right people to head the agency.
• Issuing executive orders.
• Tinkering with an agency's budget.
• Reorganizing an agency.

Measures Congress can take to oversee the bureaucracy:

• Influencing the appointment of agency heads.
• Tinkering with an agency's budget.
• Holding hearings.
• Rewriting the legislation or making it more detailed.

Supreme Courts policy-making process

The Framers envisioned the Courts tremendous policy-making power. Yet, if the President or members of Congress oppose a particular Supreme Court ruling, they can underfund programs needed to implement a decision or seek only lax, not strict or severe, enforcement.

Judicial implementation is how and whether judicial decisions are translated into actual public policies affecting more than the immediate parties to a lawsuit.
   How well a decision is implemented depends on how well crafted or popular it is. In Brown v. Board of Education and the absence of precise guidelines to implement the decision meant that the ruling went largely unenforced for years.

Factors influencing judicial decision making

Judges' philosophy and ideology have a big factor on how they decide cases. They usually base them on: Behavior actions (social background)
Attitudinal (personal preferences about policy)
Strategic (long-term personal and policy goals)

Public opinion is also impacted in the Supreme Courts decision. They read newspapers, watch television, and have knowledge of public opinion-especially on controversial issues.

Judicial decision talk with judge 

Criteria and process to select federal court judges

From the previous page. District court, court of appeals, and Supreme Court justices are nominated by the president and Senate confirmation.

Criteria for selection in the federal court is competence, ideology, rewards, pursuit of political support, religion, race, ethnicity and gender.


Do you agree that Obama should be electing more nominees?

Before the president can confirm a nominee a background check is done by professionals from the white house staff. After a formal nominations is made and sent to the Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee begins its own investigation.

Organization

The federal court system is made up of constitutional and legislative courts.

Federal district courts, courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court are constitutional courts. These are constitutional courts because Article III of the Constitution either established them or authorized Congress to establish them.

Legislative courts are set up by Congress under its implied powers, usually for special purposes. For example, the U.S Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is a legislative court. The judges who preside over these federal courts are appointed by the president.
If you consider yourself a "Dummy."

American Legal System

For starters, a Trial Court is were litigation begins. BUT before a state or federal court can hear a case it must have Jurisdiction, authority vested in a particular court to hear and decide the issues in a particular case.

Original Jurisdiction is when courts that hear a case first. These courts will determine the facts of the case.

On the other hand, Criminal law is codes of behavior related to protection of property and individual safety. in Criminal law it assumes that SOCIETY itself is the victim of the illegal act. So, the government prosecutes on behalf of an injured party.

Lindsay Lohan's Criminal Case

Development of the federal judiciary and the origins of judicial review

The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the basic federal court system that we have today

The Framers viewed the judicial branch of government as little more than a minor check on the other two branches. Keep in mind, the did not care about the Anti-federalists concerts about an unelected judiciary. need more info?

The Marshall court interpreted the constitution to include courts major power.

The Marshall Court. Relate back!