POLS 2305 Chapter 5 -

Article II: constitutional powers and responsibilities

• chief administrator (chief executive): vesting clause

• cabinet: top-level executive departments (defense, state, treasury, etc.)

• commander-in-chief — foreign policy: negotiates treaties (formal international agreements with other nations, with the approval of 2/3rds of the Senate

legislative power (role)

• state of the union: platform to announce which issues the president thinks Congress should take legislative action on (stated in Article II as one of the required duties of the president)

• the president’s authority to sign a bill into law or veto it is listed in Article I because the Constitution granted Congress sole lawmaking authority

• sign the bill into law (Article I, sec. 7)

• presidential veto (regular veto, pocket veto, also in Article I, sec. 7)

executive order (E.O)

presidential directive issued to the government agencies tasked with executing the law; used to clarify vague provisions, resolve conflicts between agencies

• E.O.s are not law, due to the president’s executive authority granted in Article II, this type of directive has the force of law as long as was is directed does not extend beyond the authority of the office; only Congress has the authority to write laws and the Supreme Court has ruled several presidential E.O.s as unconstitutional

signing statements

remarks made by the president prior to signing a bill into law; either at a bill signing ceremony or issued in writing; signing statements do not have the force of law

Article II power

• appoint federal judges

• tradition of Senatorial courtesy

• pardoning authority

inherent powers

presidential powers that are implied in the Constitution, but not specifically stated

imperial presidency

battles over the scope and exercise of presidential executive authority

constitutional amendments

• 12th amendment (1804)

• 20th amendment (1933)

• 22nd amendment (1951)

• 25th amendment (1967)

working with Congress

• legislative liaison

• divided government

• united government

presidential politics

• expectations gap

• honeymoon period

• power to persuade

• going public

• presidential style

symbolic roles of the president

• head of the state: symbolic representative of the nation as a whole

• head of government: potentially, one of the most influential leaders within the government; leader of their political party

the Vice-President

evolving role of the VP in the modern era

First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS)

• traditional role

• evolving role

bureaucracy

a hierarchical organization characterized by a division of labor and extensive procedural rules

• government bureaucracies are tasked with implementing the laws and decisions of elected officials (Congress, president) and the federal courts

• bureaucracy in a democracy based on neutral competence and accountability

primary function of government agencies

policy implementation: process of putting laws into action;

• executing the laws as written by Congress

• executing the law as directed by the president through E.O. or other type of legitimate directive

• expectation of compliance with court rulings

• policy jurisdiction may be exclusive to one agency or overlap between several different agencies

changes over time to the civil service system

• civil service

• patronage (Spoils System)

• Pendleton Act of 1883

• Hatch Act

organization of the federal bureaucracy

• departments

• independent agencies

• regulatory boards and commissions

• government corporations

bureaucratic accountability and politics

• turf wars

• accountability to congress

• accountability to the president

federal bureaucracy and government transparency

• federal register

• freedom of information act of 1966 (FOIA)

• sunshine laws

• privacy act of 1974

• whistleblowers

Article III (US Constitution)

establishes SCOTUS and the lower federal court system

• Congress granted the power to design the lower federal court system

• federal justices are nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate and serve life terms

courts

the institutions that serve as neutral third parties to resolve legal conflicts

Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS)

highest court in the land; only court mentioned by name in the Constitution and grants it the final say on the legal cases brought before it (Article III, sec. 1)

constitutional laws

stated in the US Constitution and interpretations stated in the judicial decisions

civil laws

regulations regarding the interactions between two or more private parties (ex. property damage); violation of civil law is called a tort

criminal laws

prohibits behavior the government has deemed harmful (crimes)

statutory laws

laws passed by federal (Congress) or state legislatures

precedent

judicial decisions that are used to decide future court decisions on similar cases

state decisis

precedents are the basis for stability in the American legal system; provide continuity in the application of law

• Latin for “let the decision stand”

judicial review

power of the Supreme Court or any lower federal court to examine the actions taken by the Legislative Branch (Congress) or the Executive Branch (president and federal agencies) and decide the constitutionality of those actions baed on the constitutional authority of the office

Marbury vs. Madison (1803)

the landmark Supreme Court case that established this power; the other two branches recognize this authority as legitimate

three tiers of the federal court system

• US Supreme Court (highest court in the US)

• US Courts of Appeals (12 total)

• US District Courts (94 total)

supreme court justices

• selection process

• judicial ideologies: strict constructionism, judicial interpretivism

supreme court: decision-making process

• writs of certiorari

• Rule of Four

• factors that influence whether or not the SCOTUS will hear a case: Solicitor General, Amicus curiae briefs (or just amicus brief)

public policy

the government’s plan of action to address an issue or problem affecting the nation or a state

domestic policy

all laws and governing actions that address issues or problems that occur within the nation’s borders

foreign policy

all laws and governing actions that address issues or problems arise outside of the nation’s borders

5 steps of the policymaking process

1. agenda setting

2. policy formation

3. policy adoption

4. policy implementation

5. policy evaluation

social policies

designed to improve citizens’ lives

social insurance

government benefits for future needs; received in exchange for citizens’ contributions to offset costs

• social security, unemployment benefits, Medicare

social welfare policies

designed to meet basic needs; for individuals who are unable to provide these needs by themselves

Means-tested programs

individuals must demonstrate a need; low income, disability, etc.

subsidies

financial incentives from the government (education, homeownership, disability, etc.)

entitlement programs

benefits the federal government is legally obligated to provide to individuals who meet the eligibility requirements (mandatory spending)

social security

program created in 1935 under the Social Security Act

medicare

medical care assistance for retirees; funded through payroll taxes

medicaid

health care for low-income families, seniors, people with disabilities

other entitlement programs

income tax credits and refunds, child tax credits, most VA programs, military and federal employee retirement plans, unemployment benefits

fiscal year (FY) cycle

12-month budgeting period; federal government’s FY begins on October 1st and ends Sept. 30th

balanced budget

when taxes and other sources of government revenue is roughly equal to government expenditures

surplus

when government revenue exceeds its expenditures

deficit

when government expenditures exceeds its tax revenue within a FY

national debt

the accumulated sum of the government’s yearly deficits

isolationism

Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation; Monroe Doctrine

interventionism

era began after Pearl Harbor attack, Dec. 7, 1941; US joined the U.N. in 1945

intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); United Nations (U.N.); European union (E.U.)

non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Doctors without Borders; Human Rights Watch; Amnesty International

multi-national corporations

Apple, Microsoft, Google, Nike, McDonald’s

non-state actors

ISIS-ISIL; Al-Qaeda; Boco Haram; IRA, etc.