POLI 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Lyndon B. Johnson, Judicial Restraint, Nonpartisan Blanket Primary
22 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
I. Supreme Court
a. What is the role of a court?
i. Activist court.
1. Court makes a new policy
2. Court went against another institution
ii. Judicial restraint
1. Sticking with decisions of the past
iii. Any court can be activist or restraint. Depends on what the decision is.
iv. When a court overturns standing policy, it is an activist court.
v. Question is not is a particular court activist? The question should be: should the
court be allowed to be activist?
b. What is the role of the courts in the big picture?
c. Common law vs civil law
i. Common law: comes from British systems
ii. Civil law: less interpretation. Just go to legal code
d. Typically, most judges think about a decision as standing. Like to lean on past decisions.
Tendency in common law is to lean on how things were done in the past.
i. Stare decisise
ii. Let the decision stand
e. Until there is the moment you have to change (turns into activist)
II. Campaigns, Voting and Elections
a. Elements of Campaigining
i. Nominations: types of primaries (open, closed, blanket), front loading
1. Open:
2. Closed:
3. Blanket:
4. Front loading:
5. To get nominated, have to win primaries. In the past, it came from the
elders in the party. Elders of the party: smoke filled rooms. Nominees
used to be chosen by old white men smoking cigars and deciding who
the nominee was. Wanted to have a fairer way to pick nominees. This is
why we have primary election process. A 3rd party called progressives
said that ordinary people needed more say. This is where direct
elections and recall elections come from.
6. Primaries went out of fashion as soon as they came in. Untill the 76.
7. Why did primaries come back in 70s?
a. 1968 in Chicago event. In 1968 there was rioting at the DNC in
Chicago. Right after MLK JR assassinated. The sitting president
decided not to run (Lyndon Johnson). Then, person who
basically had secured the nomination (Robert Kennedy) got
shot. So, going into the convention, they need to find someone
to run for president. Most of the people rioting were people in
the 20s and 30s. They were angry that they were shut out of the
nominees. During Vietnam.
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Document Summary
Supreme court: what is the role of a court, activist court, court makes a new policy, court went against another institution, judicial restraint, sticking with decisions of the past, any court can be activist or restraint. The question should be: should the court be allowed to be activist: what is the role of the courts in the big picture, common law vs civil law, common law: comes from british systems, civil law: less interpretation. Just go to legal code: typically, most judges think about a decision as standing. Tendency in common law is to lean on how things were done in the past: stare decisise, let the decision stand, until there is the moment you have to change (turns into activist) Campaigns, voting and elections: elements of campaigining, nominations: types of primaries (open, closed, blanket), front loading, open, closed, blanket, front loading, to get nominated, have to win primaries. In the past, it came from the elders in the party.
