AP Gov (Unit 2)

House of Representatives

• The lower chamber of Congress with proportional representation, with 435 Representatives total.

• Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms

Senate

• The upper chamber of Congress, equal representation, with 100 senators total

• Senators serve six-year terms, with one-third of them running for reelection every two years.

• Originally appointed by state legislatures, but popularly elected since 17th amendment

constituents

Voters in a legislative district.

coalition

An alliance of political groups pursuing a common goal

Differences in responsiveness and style in both House and Senate

• Since senators have longer terms, they are less likely to pay close attention to constituents and more likely to form bipartisan coalitions

  • Smaller, less formal (Like a MUN Cabinet)

• Representatives have shorter terms, and thus pay closer attention to voters and are more partisan, less likely to form bipartisan coalitions

  • Larger, more formal (Like a MUN GA)

Senate v. House powers

• Senate

  • More powerful

  • Ratify treaties (foreign relations)

  • Weighs in on presidential nominees

  • Confirms cabinet and court nominees

  • Conviction (after Impeachment)

• House

  • Impeachment

  • Taxation

Describe the general policy making process and what each step is

• Agenda setting

• Policy formulation

• Policy legitimization/adoption

• Policy implementation

• Policy Assessment

• Repeat

cloture

• Senate procedure

• 3/5ths of senators (60) can vote to limit the amount of time spent debating a bill and cut off a filibuster

• Can be achieved with a simple majority only during non-SCOTUS appointments

Committee of the Whole

A committee of the House on which all representatives serve in order to consider the details of a proposal

• Basically just the HOR functioning as if it was one large committee

Discharge petition

When members of the House vote to bypass the committee process and send a bill straight to the House floor for voting

requires a simple majority

filibuster

When a bill is blocked from leaving debate, usually by the minority bloc that supports it

Holds like these can be broken with cloture

House Rules Committee

• schedules and manages the flow of legislation on the floor of the House of Representatives in order to make the process more efficient and manageable

• The committee can also make it easier or more difficult for a bill to pass depending on the rules they create.

• Examples: Whether the bill goes to debate or straight to vote, whether its voted on by the Committee of the Whole or the HOR, etc.

logrolling

When two legislators agree to trade votes for each other’s benefit

“If you support mine I’ll support yours”

pork barrel legislation (Earmarks)

The use of federal funding to finance localized/specific projects

typically bringing money into a representative’s district in order to please constituents and boost the representative’s chances of winning reelection

Comprise of less than 1 percent of the federal budget, argued that they can streamline legislation or that they are unnecessary as its the exec. branch’s job to do this

Who leads the House and the Senate

• President of the Senate (Vice President of USA)

• Speaker of the House (de facto leader of the majority party)

List important House committees

• Ways and Means Committee

  • Taxation, how gov. raises revenue

• Budget Committee

  • Decides on the budget that Congress votes on

• Appropriations Committee

  • How budget is spent, fund allocation

• Rules Committee

  • (see card)

List important Senate committees

• Appropriations Committee

• Foreign Relations Committee

• Armed Services Committee

Policy process in House

• More centralized (easier to get things done)

• Bills go to Speaker, who sends them to the corresponding committee

• After passing committee, goes to Rules Committee (unless it’s thrown in limbo/tabled, then a discharge petition must happen)

• Rules Committee processes bill and sends to House

Policy process in Senate

• Harder to pass due to the unanimous and less formal nature

• Introduced to the appropriate committee (usually through hearings, where professionals (like generals in the case of the Armed Serv. Com.) can be called in to help)

  • Debates and then sends to Senate floor

• Senate floor debates (which can ONLY end with a UNANIMOUS VOTE, or else filibuster) and then votes

• Votes only need a simple majority to pass

gridlock

When the government is unable to reach compromises or make policy decisions due to partisan divisions

gerrymandering

The act of changing the boundaries of an electoral district to favor one party over another

divided government

When one party controls one or more houses in the legislative branch while the other party controls the executive branch

lame duck

An elected official who continues to hold political office during the period between the election and the inauguration of their successor

what are the differences between a delegate, trustee, and politico?

• Delegate: Purely votes by the will of their constituents

• Trustee: Ultimately votes by own their personal beliefs, what they believe will benefit their constituents (even if it is not what they want)

• Politico: Changing between a delegate and a trustee depending on the situation

Baker v. Carr (1961)

• Congressional districts in states, including Tennessee, decided by geography instead of population, often leading to rural districts have more say than city districts

• Baker leads a group to sue on the grounds of unequal districting which violated equal protection clause of 14th amendment

• The Court ruled that Tennessee had acted unconstitutionally by not redistricting since 1901; establishing both the "one-person, one-vote" principle - that districts should be proportionately represented - and that the Court had jurisdiction to review state redistricting issues.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

• DOJ demands that North Carolina add another minority district (there was only one)

• A group of white voters led by Shaw sues on the grounds that this was unconstitutional racial gerrymandering that violated 14th amendment’s equal protection clause

• SCOTUS rules mostly in favor of Shaw

  • While redistricting does have to be weary of race and comply with Voting Rights Act of 1965, it cannot exceed what is reasonably needed to avoid racial imbalance

where are you more likely to find trustees? delegates?

• Delegates are found in more contested districts, in general the HOR as a whole, due to the representative needing to keep the vote of their constituents

• Trustees are found in safer districts (where victory is certain) and in the Senate in general, as they can be more flexible with policy due to campaigning not being much of an issue

cabinet

president’s appointed advisors, heads of executive departments, etc.

executive order

• Presidential directive that carries the force of law

• Can be ruled unconstitutional

executive agreement

• agreement with a foreign government that doesn’t need Senate approval

Signing Statement

President’s non-legally binding notes on a bill that can

• provide their interpretation

• declare parts of it unconstitutional (the exec. branch will not completely adhere to these parts)

• provide explanations as to why they signed it (extra promotion, basically)

Formal powers of the President

• In Article II

• Executive

  • Appointment (with Senate consent)

  • Ensure faithful execution of laws

  • Request opinions from officials

• Foreign Affairs

  • Treaties (with Senate consent)

  • Commander in chief

• Judicial

  • Grant pardons for federal offenses (minus impeachment)

  • Nominate SCOTUS

• Legislative

  • State of the Union

  • Convene and Adjourn Congress during special situations (such as when both houses can’t agree)

  • Veto

Informal powers of the President

• Implied powers justified by Section 3 (president ensures laws are faithfully executed) and Section 1 (executive power is vested in a POTUS)

• Bargaining and Persuasion

  • Attempting to get Congress to follow the President’s agenda

• Executive orders

• Signing statements

• Executive agreements

Federalist No. 70

• Alexander Hamilton

• A safe and secure republic requires a strong, single executive

• An executive made of multiple people risks disunity, difference of opinion and is therefore inefficient

  • Also diminishes the court of public opinion or responsibility, as it’s harder to pin the blame with many people when a mistake is made

• Also advocates for the executive’s right to secrecy

22nd Amendment

President limited to two terms

War Powers Act (1973)

• Limits President’s power to deploy US Troops without congressional approval (attempts to limit undeclared, unapproved wars)

• Presidents argue it limits their constitutional role as Commander-in-Chief

How has the president’s powers been increased and how has Congress addressed this

• Political parties have willingly granted more power to the President to execute the will of the party faster (they have relied more on the President as a central authority, thus limiting role of Congress)

• Presidents have increasingly relied on the informal powers as expansions of authority (I.E Executive Orders to bypass congressional dissapproval)

• Congress has passed legislation such as War Powers Act or 22nd Amendment to preserve their own role in gov.

bully pulpit

• Teddy Roosevelt’s idea that the presidency itself is a great platform with which the president can use to influence the public directly

• Mass media and the State of the Union are two large uses of this bully pulpit

• Boosted in modern age with technology

  • Social media, youtube, TV, etc.

  • Allows president to “go public” and speak quickly (rapid response) and directly to the people

inferior/lower courts

• All non-SCOTUS federal courts

• Can be created by Congress at will

• Courts of appeals, district courts, and federal tribunals

John Marshall

• Chief Justice of SCOTUS from 1801-1835

• Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch vs. Maryland

• Enhanced power of SCOTUS and affirmed supremacy of federal law over state law

judicial independence

• Factors that prevent the executive or legislative branch from influence the Supreme Court

• Lifetime terms, no salary decreases, etc.

judicial review

• The power of the SCOTUS to rule acts by the executive or legislative branches unconstitutional

Supreme Court

• Supreme federal court, established in Article III

• 9 Judges

• Unlike other federal courts, has judicial independence and therefore shielded from influence of Congress, who cannot change its jurisdiction or salaries

Federalist No. 78

• The Judiciary is the least dangerous branch

  • Has neither the force nor will to enact power

  • Has no army, no money

  • Only has judgement

• Judicial independence (given they have “good behavior”)

• Should have the power of judicial review

  • The final “bulwark” defending the people’s will (which is the Constitution)

  • Meant to act when the will of legislation opposes the will of the Constitution (the people’s will)

Article III

• Establishes Judicial Branch

• SCOTUS

• Congress has the power to create other federal courts as needed

• Judicial independence, lifetime appointments

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

• Federalist directly sues Jefferson admin. over rejected judicial commission

• Affirms judicial review

  • SCOTUS (led by Marshall) rules that they do not have the power to decide this case as the law that granted them jurisdiction over this case was unconstitutional and therefore void.

  • First instance of the Court striking down legislature it deems unconstitutional

confirmation process (of appointment)

simple majority in Senate

stare decisis

• “let the decision stand”

• Precedents: Using previous decisions as examples for current cases

How can SCOTUS precedents change?

• Lifetime appointments (and other factors of judicial independence) by different presidents leads to ideological change within the Court

court-curbing measures

• Usually taken when the Court issues unpopular rulings

• Limiting jurisdiction (what cases they can hear)

  • SCOTUS can overturn this though

• Refusal of implementation

  • Court relies on executive branch to enforce laws, and they can just refuse to do so

• President can appoint judges that shift the ideology of the Court in their favor

• Congress can change the amount of justices

• Congress can pass legislation which is reworded or revised in order to bypass an unconstitutional ruling

• Constitutional Amendments

• States can pass their own legislation which counters the implementation of rulings

Supreme Court Legitimacy

Belief that the Court is an impartial body; Court strives to maintain this image, sometimes by rejecting the will of the government

This boosts public trust in the Court

judicial activism

• Incorporating personal beliefs in rulings

• Belief that the role of a justice is to defend individual rights and liberties, even those not explicitly stated in the Constitution

• “Legislating from the bench”

• increases judicial power

judicial restraint

• Belief that the role of a justice keep legislating to the other branches of government and stay focused on a narrower interpretation of the Bill of Rights

• Strictly bases rulings on Constitution, not belief

• Limits power of judiciary

the federal bureaucracy

• agencies of non-elected officials (appointed mainly by merit; merit system) tasked with implementing policy, day-to-day governance

• Usually devoid of patronage (promotions and hiring based on political favors)

civil service

• The permanent, professional (hired, not elected) branches of government administration

• nonpartisan, promotions and appointments based on merit

iron triangle (be able to explain how each point influences each other)

• The mutually beneficial relationship between interest groups, Congress, and the Bureaucracy

• Example: A retirement interest group, a House committee on retirement, and Social Security Administration have a close relationship

issue network

• informal group of individuals, interest groups, and public officials that form around a particular issue

bureaucracy: what are the two authorities they have in implementing laws?

• Rule-making authority

  • ability to make rules and regulations to implement policy which have the force of law (can be enforced on states)

  • Can be based on the agency’s interpretation of the law at hand

• Discretionary authority

  • An agency’s ability to decide whether or not to take certain courses of action when implementing existing laws

  • Can take the form of decisions made by certain bureaucrats when these choices of action present themselves

    • Non-gov. example: cop either giving someone a ticket or a warning, because they have the ability to make that choice and don’t have to give a ticket

  • Allows for a degree of bureaucratic independence

Name and describe the role of some bureaucratic agencies

• Federal Elections Commission

  • Enforces federal campaign finance law

• Securities and Exchange Commission

  • Regulates stock market and protects investors from fraud

Compliance monitoring

the responsibility of bureaucratic agencies to ensure that actors in their jurisdiction obey all regulations they set

primary revenue sources for government

• Income tax (employees)

• Payroll tax (employers)

• Corporate tax

• Excise tax (gas, airplane tickets, alcohol, etc.)

Types of allocations of the federal budget

• Mandatory (social security, healthcare, etc.)

• Discretionary/Elective (earmarks, certain types of defense spending, controlled by legislation)

• Net Interest (on debt, also mandatory)

where can the federal budget plan start outside of Congress?

• The president, with help from the rest of the executive branch (bureaucracy), can draft a budget proposal and submit to Congress