In its earliest days in England, it might be a court's order (or "writ") to someone acting as the sheriff to prove the king had actually appointed him to that office (literally, "Who made you the sheriff?"). In the U.S. today, quo warranto usually arises in a civil case as a plaintiff's claim (and thus a "cause of action" instead of a writ) that some governmental or corporate official was not validly elected to that office or is wrongfully exercising powers beyond (or ultra vires) those authorized by statute or by the corporation's charter.