Government and Politics (GOPO) Practice Test 2026 - Free GOPO Practice Questions and Study Guide

Majority opinion is the term for the viewpoint of the justices who form the majority in a Supreme Court decision. It explains the ruling and the legal reasoning that supports it, and it becomes the official statement of the Court’s decision, guiding future cases as binding precedent. The other terms refer to different ideas: original intent describes a way of interpreting constitutional text by considering the Framers’ intentions, not the Court’s actual decision; remand means sending a case back to a lower court for further action; a writ of mandamus is an order directing a government official to perform a duty.