president qualifications
35 yrs, natural citizen, 14 yrs resident
president responsibilities
carry out and enforce laws and court decisions
presidents other title
Chief executive of federal bureaucracy
succession order
2) VP, 3. Speaker of the house, 4. Senate President Pro Tempore, 5. Cabinet secretaries
Presidential disability
25th amendment, VP becomes the president or VP informs congress in writing that they’re unable to discharge duties
Electoral College
270 votes out of 538 in order to win
Criticisms
Winner of popular might not win EC and winner-takes-all
Alternative Plans
direct popular election, proportional plan, district plan, etc.
Informal powers of president
Persuasive powers, access to media, etc.
Measure Presidential success
approval rating tend to decline over term except for rally round the flag
formal checks on presidential power
court decisions, veto overrides, and impeachment
informal checks on presidential power
interest groups, traditions, elections, etc.
The cabinet
group of advisors to president, heads of 14 cabinet departments
Executive office of the president pyramid
assistants report through hierarchy to chief of staff
executive office of the president circular
cabinet secretaries and assistants report directly to president
veto message
statement president sends with the bill he want to veto outlining why
pocket veto
president ignores bill for 10 days, essentially vetoing it silently
imperial presidency
president inherently should direct national agenda as symbol of nation
imperial congress
congress constitutionally should direct national agenda and president should stick to connotational powers
divided government
pattern over last 4 decades, led to power struggle between congress and president
war powers act of 1973
president must report in writing withing 48 hrs of sending troops
Congress must provide continuation withing
congress may remove at any time with majority vote a signal to ensure congress involved in military decisions
congressional budget impoundment and control act of 1974
Outlaws impoundment and requires president to spend all appointed funds unless he tells congress and/or congress agrees within 45 days
bureaucracy
agencies that want to maximize power and budgets
federal cabinet departments
defense, state, treasury
independaent agencies
EPA, NASA, Peace corps
Gov Corporations
FDIC, TVA, USPS
Independent Regulatory Boards/Agencies
SEC, FTC, Fed, FCC, FAA, NTSB
Iron Triangles
mutually beneficial relationship, coordinated policies
HOR qualifications
25 Reps, 7yrs citizen, 2yr terms
Senate Qualifications
30 yrs old, 9 yrs citizen, 6yr terms
reapportionment
assigning by congress of house seats after each census
redistricting
redrawing congressional and other legislative district lines after the census to accommodate population shifts
baker v carr
voters have the right to challenge how state legislatures are drawn
gerrymandering
partisan redistricting, drawing election principle to state legislative districts
majority minority districts
racial gerrymandering
wesberry v senders
extends one man one vote principle
shaw v reno
voters have the right to challenge based on equal protection
swing districts
close elections, winner recieves less than 56%
incumbent advantages
name recognition, franking privilege, media access, fundraising
majority party and minority party
historically dems control congress, every committee is controlled by majority party
Party caucus
held at the beginning to approve committee assignments, elect comm. leaders, etc
House leadership speaker
presiding officer, recognizes speakers and appoints committee chairs
senate leadership
VP= little power and votes as tie breaker, President Pro tempore= senior member of the majority party and acts as chair when VP is gone
Committees
where real work of Congress is done, most important organizational feature
Standing committees
permanent, proposes legislation by reporting bills out of full House or Senate
Select committees
limited purposes, temporary
Joint committees
both reps and senators to work out bills
Seniority rule
most senior member of majority party on committee usually becomes chair
CRS
congressional research service, pros and cons about policies
GAO
General accounting office, audits executive branch agencies
CBO
Congressional budget office, cost of proposed policies
HABBAL
introduced in one house, sent to subcommittee for hearings and markup
Ways for a bil to die
pigeon hole, table, filibuster, riders
reforms
tried to include discharge petition in HOR to get bill out of committee
Legistlation process
authorization
appropriation
delegate model
representational, based on constituent opinion
trustee model
attitudinal, ideological
partisan model
institutional, party whip
politico model
combo, whatevr wins reelection
pork
legislation benefiting one congressional district paid for by entire country
logrolling
vote trading on pork