ANG Study Guide

Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation

• First, but weak, constitution that formed the basis of the new nation (America’s) government

• Important factors:

  • No executive branch

    • Favored weak central gov with limited power

  • No control over taxes and other financial matters

    • Central gov relied on states to provide money, but they never did; used their own form of currency, which destroyed the economy

  • No power to raise an army or navy

    • Gov could declare war but had to depend on states for soldiers

  • Required 9/13 states to vote on major laws, but all 13 needed to vote unanimously for changing articles

    • States with high populations were less represented and it was hard to change the articles

Virginia Plan

• Proposed a strong central gov

• Called for a bicameral legislature with both houses being based on the state’s population

Great/Connecticut Compromise

• Combination of the Virginia plan (bicameral legislature with number of representatives based on state population) and the New Jersey plan (unicameral legislature with each state having one vote)

• Congress has two chambers

• Each state has two senators and House representation would be based on population

• Congress would have the power and authority that the national gov lacked in the articles

Three-fifths Compromise

• 3/5 of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House

Bicameralism

• Gov system with two separate divisions within the legislative branch of gov (i.e. US Congress)

Expressed (aka enumerated) powers

• Explicit powers granted to the federal gov, including:

  • Declare war, impose taxes, coin and regulate currency, regulate foreign and interstate commerce, raise and maintain an army and navy, maintain a post office, make treaties with foreign nations and with Native American tribes, and make laws regulating the naturalization of immigrants

Necessary and proper clause

• Located in Article I, Section 8

• Aka elastic clause

• Enables Congress to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying out its constitutional responsibilities

Supremacy clause

• Located in Article VI

• Regulates relationships between federal and state govs by declaring that the constitution and federal law are the supreme law of the land

Separation of powers

• Divided the national gov into three separate branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) and assigning different responsibilities to each one

• Legislative makes laws, executive enforces laws, and judicial interprets laws

• Encourages branches to cooperate

Federalism and federalists

• Federalism - creates two relatively autonomous levels of gov, each possessing the capacity to act directly on the people with authority granted by the constitution

• Federalist - someone who advocates a system of gov in which several states unite under a central authority (support a stronger national gov)

“The violence of faction”

• Two ways to cure mischief of factions:

  • Remove causes (don’t let people have different interests)

  • Control the effects

• In Federalist 10, Madison believed that Americans didn’t need to fear the power of factions or special interests, because the republic was too big and the interests of its people were too diverse to allow the development of large, powerful political parties

Robert Dahl’s criticism of the Electoral College

• Criticized the Founding Fathers by saying they didn’t follow the voting qualifications scheme they created, formed political parties, and messed up the design of the Electoral College

• Founding Fathers thought that the electoral college would be a nominating convention

  • If no candidate had an outright majority, the House would choose among the top 5 (later reduced to 3), with each state delegation casting 1 vote

• Dahl believed that “every member must have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, and all votes must be counted as equal”

Unitary vs federal system

• Unitary system - subnational govs are dependent on the national gov

• Federal system - power is divided between the national gov and the state govs

Implied powers

• Powers that are not specifically detailed in the Constitution but were inferred as necessary to achieve the objectives of the national gov

Elastic clause

*Same as necessary and proper clause

Reserved powers

• All powers not expressly given to the national gov and were intended to be exercised by the states

Police power

• The inherent power of a gov to exercise reasonable control over people and property within its jurisdiction in the interest of the general security, health, safety, morals, and welfare except where legally prohibited

Concurrent powers

• Shared and overlapping powers between the national gov and state govs, including:

  • taxing, borrowing, making and enforcing laws, establishing court systems

McCulloch v Maryland

• McCulloch (an agent for Baltimore branch of the Second Bank) refused to pay a tax that Maryland had imposed on all out-of-state chartered banks

  • Raised two constitutional questions: Did Congress have the authority to charter a national bank? Were states allowed to tax federal property?

• Court decided that the national gov had the right and power to set up a national bank and that states did not have the power to tax federal property

Dual federalism vs cooperative federalism

• Dual federalism - states and national gov exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction

  • *like a layered cake*

• Cooperative federalism - both levels of gov coordinated their actions to solve national problems (such as the Great Depression and civil rights struggle)

  • *like a marbled cake*

Commerce clause

• Gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among states, as well as with Indian tribes

Wickard v Filburn

• Filburn was a farmer that was given a quota on how much wheat he can grow, but doubles it since he’s feeding it to his animals and not selling it, so he says Congress’s ability to regulate it isn’t valid

• Wickard argues that Filburn is failing to purchase wheat on the market, which changes the supply and demand of that market → reduces the price of wheat and helps defeat the goal that Congress had of regulating the price of these agricultiral commodities

• Ruling: an activity doesn’t need to have direct effect on interstate commerce to fall within the commerce power, as long as the effect is substantial and economic

Race to the bottom

• State govs would compete to either get more people to move to the state or retain the existing people by strategically lowering taxes

• Scenerios:

  • If both states keep high tax, both states get lots of revenue and no one really moves

  • If State A lowers taxes but State B doesn’t, people will move to A, and property values and tax revenues will rise in A and drop in B (and vice versa)

  • If both states lower taxes, both states will have low tax revenue

Categorical grants-in-aid

• Money (grants) given to states by the national gov that were intended to be used for specific purposes (ex: Medicaid, the food stamp program, the Head Start program)

Regulated federalism

• National gov sets requirements that are then implemented by state and local govs

• Use leverage of federal money to force states to adopt policies they may oppose

New federalism

• National gov provides funding, and states retain great control over how programs are designed

Unfunded mandates

• National gov gives no money, but still imposes rules about what the states have to do (ex: civil rights legislation, environmental protection standards)

Block grants

• Money (grants) given by the national gov to the states that’s intended for general purposes, allowing state officials greater discretion over spending

• Typically used for things like community development, public health, law enforcement, and social services

Incumbency

• The current holding of an office

• Gives an advantage - more likely to continue holding their position

Casework

• Constituents (the people politicians have been elected to represent) routinely reach out to their congressperson for powerful support to solve complex problems (such as applying for and tracking federal benefits or resolving immigration and citizenship challenges)

Standing committee

• Permanent committee established under the standing rules of the Senate and specialize in the consideration of particular subject areas

• fixed jurisdiction (e.g. agriculture), division of labor and specialization, provide info to chamber

Seniority

• Rule in Congress by which the member of the majority party who has served longest on a committee receives the chairmanship

Gatekeeping authority

• The right and power of Congress to decide if a change in policy will be considered

Conditional party government

• Parties united ideologically - members more willing to delegate authority to party leaders

  • Party leaders become “agents” of members

  • Overcomes difficulty of legislating

  • Smaller ideological differences inside party → feelings less hurt

• Parties divided ideologically - members will take power away from party leaders, favor more decentralized committee system

Closed and open rules

• Closed rules - no/few amendments are allowed on the bill

• Open rules - any member may offer amendments to the bill

Filibuster

• Parliamentary maneuver used in the Senate to extend debate on a piece of legislation as long as possible typically with the intended purpose of obstructing or killing it

Credit-claiming, advertising, and position-taking

• Ways to increase probability of reelection

  • Credit-claiming - a Congressman improves the relationship with constituents through specific casework or pork barrels

  • Advertising - the use of mass communication (e.g. signs, articles, flyers, TV) for the purpose of appealing for votes or some other kind of support

  • Position-taking - taking stands on issues and responding to constituents about said issues

Three goals of members of congress

• Reelection

• Reaching policy goals

• Gaining influence in Congress/Washington

delegated powers

Powers not expressed in the Constitution, but given to the president by Congress

inherent power

Powers not expressly delegated by the constitution but that are intrinsically held by the president and Congress

commander in chief

President’s role in armed forces of the US; negotiating treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, and receiving representatives of foreign nations

the president as clerk

• President is sometimes referred to as the “chief clerk” because they were originally not expected to initiate or guide national policy (were meant to have little initiative or independent power)

• President’s powers can’t go far without the other branches working alongside

the modern presidency

• Greater power in foreign affairs (delegated and inherent)

• Greater executive power, as national gov has grown (expressed and delegated)

• Legislative powers (informal, disputed efficacy)

• Increased legal claims under the Constitution

executive privilege

Right to withhold info from Congress, the judiciary, or the public

veto

Constitutional right for a president to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body

line-item veto

Veto power that allows the executive to cancel specific parts of a bill (usually spending provisions) while signing into law the rest of the bill

executive order

A rule or order issued by the president to an executive branch and having the force of law

cabinet

Group of advisors that help the president administer duties, consisting of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch

power to persuade

President can’t accomplish much by just issuing orders - getting things done requires persuading others that acting to advance the president’s goals is in their own best interest

going public

• President uses things such as televised speeches, town hall meetings, lectures, travel, etc

• Go over heads of Congress, directly to public, to build support for the POTUS’s position

• Hope that such public pressure will result in legislators supporting the president on a major piece of legislation

divided gov

Executive branch and legislative branch are controlled by two different parties

the two presidencies

• Theory/book by Aaron Wildavsky

• US has one president but two presidencies

  • one concerned with domestic policy

  • one concerned with foreign policy

• Generally, presidents have had greater success with controlling foreign policies than dominating domestic policies