Political question

In United States law

Law of the United States

The law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States...

, a ruling that a matter in controversy is a political question is a statement by a federal court declining to rule in a case because:

1. The U.S. Constitution has committed decision-making on this subject to a coordinate branch of the federal government; or
2. There are inadequate standards for the court to apply; or
3. The court feels it is prudent not to interfere.

Recently, courts have held that Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....

's impeachment

Impeachment in the United States

Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature which allows for formal charges to be brought against a civil officer of government for conduct committed in office...

 procedures and the President's authority over foreign affairs, particularly the President's powers to abrogate treaties and commit troops, are political questions.

The doctrine has its roots in the federal judiciary's desire to avoid inserting itself into conflicts between branches of the federal government.

In United States law

Law of the United States

The law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States...

, a ruling that a matter in controversy is a political question is a statement by a federal court declining to rule in a case because:

1. The U.S. Constitution has committed decision-making on this subject to a coordinate branch of the federal government; or
2. There are inadequate standards for the court to apply; or
3. The court feels it is prudent not to interfere.

Recently, courts have held that Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....

's impeachment

Impeachment in the United States

Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature which allows for formal charges to be brought against a civil officer of government for conduct committed in office...

 procedures and the President's authority over foreign affairs, particularly the President's powers to abrogate treaties and commit troops, are political questions.

The doctrine has its roots in the federal judiciary's desire to avoid inserting itself into conflicts between branches of the federal government. It is justified by the notion that there exist some questions best resolved through the political process, voters approving or correcting the challenged action by voting for or against those involved in the decision. Justice Felix Frankfurter

Felix Frankfurter

Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born on November 15, 1882 in Vienna, Austria, third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter. His forebears had been rabbis for generations...

 was an active and eloquent exponent of maintaining and expanding the political question doctrine. Critics of the doctrine argue that it has little or no basis in the text of the Constitution and is used by courts to shirk responsibility for deciding difficult questions.

Important cases discussing the political question doctrine:

• Luther v. Borden
  Luther v. Borden
  Luther v. Borden, 48 U.S. 1 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States established the political question doctrine in controversies arising under the Guarantee Clause of Article Four of the United States Constitution Luther v. Borden, 48 U.S. 1 (1849), was a case in which the...
  
  , – Guarantee of a republican form of government
• Coleman v. Miller
  Coleman v. Miller
  Coleman v. Miller, is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which clarified that if the Congress of the United States—when proposing for ratification an amendment to the United States Constitution pursuant to Article V thereof—chooses not to specify a deadline within...
  
  , – Mode of amending federal Constitution
• Colegrove v. Green
  Colegrove v. Green
  Colegrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 549 , was a United States Supreme Court case. Writing for a 4-3 majority, Justice Felix Frankfurter, the case's opinion writer, held that the Supreme Court had no power to interfere with issues regarding apportionment of state legislatures.The Colegrove decision would...
  
  , – Apportionment of Congressional districts
• Baker v. Carr
  Baker v. Carr
  Baker v. Carr, , was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that retreated from the Court's political question doctrine, deciding that reapportionment issues present justiciable questions, thus enabling federal courts to intervene in and to decide reapportionment cases...
  
  , – Apportionment of state legislatures in which the court ruled that this was not a political question
• Powell v. McCormack
  Powell v. McCormack
  Powell v. McCormack, was a United States Supreme Court case decided in 1969. It answered the question of whether Congress has the authority to exclude from being sworn in and enrolled upon its rolls a person who has been duly elected or appointed by the people or the executive authority of his/her...
  
  , – Congressional authority to exclude members who have met qualifications to serve
• Goldwater v. Carter
  Goldwater v. Carter
  Goldwater v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 , was a United States Supreme Court case which was the result of a lawsuit filed by Senator Barry Goldwater and other members of the United States Congress challenging the right of President Jimmy Carter to unilaterally nullify the Sino-American Mutual Defense...
  
  , – Presidential authority to terminate treaties
• INS v. Chadha, – Constitutionality of one house legislative veto
• Nixon v. United States
  Nixon v. United States
  Nixon v. United States, 506 U.S. 224 , was a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that the question of whether the Senate had properly "tried" an impeachment was a political question, and could not be resolved in the Courts.-Facts:...
  
  , – Senate authority to try impeachments

A dispute that requires knowledge of a non-legal character or the use of techniques not suitable for a court or explicitly assigned by the Constitution to Congress or the president; judges refuse to answer constitutional questions that they declare are political.

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