What form of political organization grants supreme state power to a single individual?

The Office of the Attorney General was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, sec. 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92-93), as a one-person part-time position.  The Act specified that the Attorney General was to be "learned in the law," with the duty "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the President of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments, touching any matters that may concern their departments."

However, the workload quickly became too much for one person, necessitating the hiring of several assistants for the Attorney General. As the work steadily increased along with the size of the new nation, private attorneys were retained to work on cases.

By 1870, after the end of the Civil War, the increase in the amount of litigation involving the United States had required the very expensive retention of a large number of private attorneys to handle the workload.  A concerned Congress passed the Act to Establish the Department of Justice (ch. 150, 16 Stat. 162), creating "an executive department of the government of the United States" with the Attorney General as its head.

Officially coming into existence on July 1, 1870, the Department of Justice was empowered to handle all criminal prosecutions and civil suits in which the United States had an interest. To assist the Attorney General, the 1870 Act also created the Office of the Solicitor General, who represents the interests of the United States before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 1870 Act remains the foundation for the Department’s authority, but the structure of the Department of Justice has changed over the years, with the addition of the offices of Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, and the formation of various components, offices, boards and divisions.  From its beginning as a one-man, part-time position, the Department of Justice has evolved into the world's largest law office and the chief enforcer of federal laws.

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The most sacred of the duties of government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.”  This sacred duty remains the guiding principle for the women and men of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Learn more about the mission of the Department of Justice and how it functions.

Primary matching funds

Only candidates seeking nomination by a political party to the office of President are eligible to receive primary matching funds. A presidential candidate must establish eligibility by showing broad-based public support. He or she must raise more than $5,000 in each of at least 20 states (that is, over $100,000). Although an individual may contribute up to a specific limit to a primary candidate, only a maximum of $250 of each individual’s contribution is counted in determining whether a candidate has met the $5,000 threshold in each state. This means that a candidate must receive contributions from a minimum of 20 contributors in each of at least 20 states in order to establish eligibility for primary matching funds.

Presidential candidates also must agree to:

  • Limit campaign spending for all primary elections combined to $10 million plus a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). This national spending limit was $48.07 million in 2016.
  • Limit campaign spending in each state to $200,000 plus COLA, or to a specified amount based on the number of voting age individuals in the state (plus COLA), whichever is greater. In 2016, state limits ranged from $961,400 in Wyoming to $23,092,100 in California.
  • Limit spending from personal funds to $50,000.

The campaign finance law exempts the payment of some expenses from the spending limits. Certain fundraising expenses (up to 20 percent of the expenditure limit) and legal and accounting expenses incurred solely to ensure the campaign's compliance with the law do not count against the expenditure limits.

Even if they no longer campaign actively in primary elections, candidates may continue to request public funds to pay off campaign debts until the first Monday of March of the year following an election. However, to qualify for matching funds, contributions must be deposited in the campaign account by December 31 of the election year. Eligible candidates may receive public funds equaling up to half of the national spending limit for the primary campaign.

General election funds

Public funding for major party presidential nominees in the general election takes the form of a grant of $20 million plus the COLA. To be eligible to receive public funds, the presidential nominee of a major party must agree to limit spending to the amount of the grant and may not accept private contributions for the campaign. Candidates may spend an additional $50,000 from their own personal funds, which does not count against the expenditure limit. In 1976, each major party nominee received $21.8 million. By 2008 (the last year a major party candidate chose to accept a general election grant), that amount had grown to $84.1 million. (In 2020, the general election grant would have been $103.7 million.)

Minor party candidates and new party candidates may become eligible for partial public funding of their general election campaigns. A minor party candidate is the nominee of a party whose candidate received between five and 25 percent of the total popular vote in the preceding presidential election. The amount of public funding to which a minor party candidate is entitled is based on the ratio of the party's popular vote in the preceding presidential election to the average popular vote of the two major party candidates in that election. A new party candidate receives partial public funding after the election if he or she receives five percent or more of the vote. The entitlement is based on the ratio of the new party candidate's popular vote in the current election to the average popular vote of the two major party candidates in the election.

The $3 tax checkoff

Once the FEC determines that a candidate has met the eligibility requirements, it certifies the amount of public funds to which the candidate is entitled. The U.S. Treasury then makes the payments using funds from the $3 tax checkoff.

The 1040 federal income tax form asks taxpayers whether they'd like to designate $3 of their taxes paid to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. When taxpayers check "yes," three of their tax dollars are placed in the Fund. Checking the "yes" box does not increase the amount of tax that taxpayers owe, nor does it decrease any refund to which they are entitled. The tax checkoff is the sole source of funds for the public funding program.

Mandatory audits

The FEC audits all campaigns that receive public funds for either the primary or general election. Candidates may owe a repayment to the Treasury if they used public funds to defray non-campaign related expenses, exceeded the expenditure limits, maintained a surplus of public funds, or received more public funds than they were entitled to receive.

Reports and resources

How did Spanish monarchs enforce religious orthodoxy?

King Philip II of Spain used the Inquisition to enforce orthodoxy, and suspected Protestants were accused of heresy.

Did Ming China and the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula shared similar views about private merchants and maritime trade?

Did Ming China and the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula share similar views about private merchants and maritime trade? No. Portuguese and Spanish leaders supported and encouraged their peoples' involvement in maritime trade, while Ming leaders generally distrusted it.

How were the Ottoman Devshirme system and the Ming establishment of village level hierarchies similar to and different from one another?

How were the Ottoman devshirme system and the Ming establishment of village-level hierarchies similar to and different from one another? They both amplified the power of their governments by extending imperial influence, but the devshirme system created an isolated, powerful sub-community within the empire.

How did the Ottoman sultans role change in the latter fifteenth century quizlet?

The sultan was the supreme and absolute ruler. He was responsible for all laws, could dismiss any official, was the commander of the army and was the Islamic religious leader. Overtime, the sultan's role changed as diplomacy became more important than military.