AP Government/U.S. Politics Unit 2 Notes  

UNIT 2

Legislative Branch

• Proportional Representation (No. of representatives depends upon the population of state) | 2 / state
• Equal Representation |   | Term Length | 2 years *no limit | 6 years *no limit   “Continuous body” - 3 classes; every 2 years, ⅓ is up for re-election. |   | Special Powers   To become law, identical bills must pass both houses by a simple majority vote & then signed by the president. | • Power of Impeachment   • Revenue bills (taxation etc.) must start in the House. Everything else can start in either of them.   • Rules Committee    • Has the privilege to select a president if no candidate wins a majority in E.C.   • Focuses on revenue & spending   • Powerful Speaker of House | • Convict Impeachments (Conducts them)   • Appointment Confirmations           (advice & consent power)   • Cabinet Positions   • Judges   • Ambassadors   • Approve Treaties (not only war treaties, other too)   • Focuses on foreign policy. It must approve w ⅔ votes any treaty the president enters w/ a foreign nation before it becomes official.   • Powerful Majority Leader |
• Defined in Article 1 of the Constitution.
• Women are the most under-represented group in terms of population.
• The President is limited to only 2 terms (4 years).
• The Senate has more constitutional responsibilities than HOR. Also, the Senate is more powerful since each senator represents more than each member of the HOR, (due to its proportional representation)
• HOR can initiate impeachment of president/federal officers, if only the majority of the House agrees on - treason, bribery, or other high crimes. HOR levels impeachment charges. The Senate gives out the final decision for the impeachment & is the sole court for impeachment, also if found guilty, removal from office with ⅔ vote.
• During a session, in the HOR – Speaker of the House, Majority Leader & Minority Leader can speak as long as they want, while the remaining speak for less than an hour.. But in the Senate, everyone has unlimited debate time & can ∴ stall/kill a bill by this method, aka filibuster.Eg: DREAMers Act - Nancy Pelosi spoke for 8 hours straight.

Senate - how re-election works!

2020         2022           2024           2026           2028           2030         2032

2                 4                 6   (#3 Term)

2                 4                 6   (#1 Term)

2                 4                 6  (#2 Term)

Term – 2 yrs / odd-to-odd year (2021-2023)

Session – 1 yr period with a term(x2) ie. each term - 2 sessions & each session lasts a year.

Currently, 2nd Session of 117th Congress.

Powers of Congress

• Power of the Purse

*HOR has power on everything, except current pay (27th Amendment) ∴ Goes into effect in next term!!

Power of the Purse - To put out a budget and allocate funds; spend federal money

Power to Raise Revenue - Raise revenue is for tax collections and trade between states and nations. Also, Article 1 states that money cannot be drawn from the treasury unnecessarily i.e. without approval from the Congress.

Power to coin money - Allows for control of inflation and other monetary policies. Foreign debt and the debt of the nation also falls into this.

• Regulating Commerce - Commerce Clause (Article 1, Section 8)

Obamacare / Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) - Requires Citizens to purchase health insurance & requires insurance companies to accept more clients

• Foreign & Military AffairsForeign & Military Policy determined by both Congress + President

Reapportionment (Reapportionment Act of 1929)

• Redistribution of seats in the HOR is based on changes in population.
• States will gain, lose, or maintain # of seats based on it.
• Always in relation to population changes
• Every 10 years after the census.

Redistricting - Done by state legislature

• Redrawing of districts (435)
• Every state is guaranteed 1 seat. (Their entire state is a district)
• Shifts in population within a state → will need to redistrict. (Required to do anyway; also/since every district must have pretty similar amount of people/population)
• All districts must be of “substantially equal populations” - Wesberry vs. Sanders (1964)

“One man, One vote”        *Baker vs. Carr (1962)

Formula - How many seats each state will get!

State population          x        (435-50)         =       ________     +      1

Total US pop.         Each State guaranteed at least 1

Gerrymandering - Done by Political Parties           *Shaw vs. Reno (1993)

P.I.P - Party In Power

P.O.O.P - Party out of power

• Drawing of districts by the P.I.P to favour themselves

Incumbent - Current Officeholder

Cracking - Spreads P.O.O.P into numerous districts (P.I.P is majority in all districts)

Packing - Packs P.O.O.P into as few district as possible (Since, P.I.P has a majority & has more districts → P.O.O.P is packed into as many less districts as possible)

Kidnapping - P.I.P “draws”  incumbents house out of their election

Incumbents - Current Office Holder

Single Member Districts

• Elections are conducted by individual districts within a state
• Cause 2-Party system; ∴ no chance for 3rd parties

At-Large Voting

• Statewide elections for party representation
• 90 won = 90 of seats

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/wdW4vIfUr8Bf1sR8bwwenxvo5qKJvYYKjuyHVk7dBuzSiizrv2e4oFxtnlo792dbMwHNouX8q_d02AwH-JFPJ77Cy4-P-jxjkGcUFBZEZtcs-EzCF7qZdMAudv1GLcDiUkZm8nUHaBXaWb3O1Sp0d93AIwc9w_dv3bCF8sItF4KsYaXgl7o3GZ2Ic2lRqg

Models of Representation

How do members of Congress vote?

Delegate

• Act as agents of their constituents
• Often vote against personal views, party leadership, Special interest groups(SIGs) if counter to constituents

Trustee

• Believe their constituents trust their judgement & will make the best decision
• Vote based on merit of the issue

Partisan

• Follow party leadership
• Party loyalty is leading factor in how votes are met

Politico

• Try to combine all 3
• Try to balance own view w/ those of constituents & nation as a whole

Divided Government — When different parties control the executive and legislative branches, or each house of Congress is controlled by a different party. Gridlock occurs.

Gridlock — The “congestion” of opposing forces that prevents ideas from moving forward — within each house & b/w Congress and the President; due to intensifying partisanship.

Congressional Committees (Not mentioned in Constitution)

Standing (Permanent)  *21 in House, 17 in Senate – Handles most of the work

• Continue from 1 congress to the next
• All bills related to specific policy areas
• Membership allows members to become experts around specific policy areas, i.e specialised.
• Lawmakers seek appointments with committees in fields in which they have expertise, or have special interest for the state/district.Eg: Almost 100 members of Congress = Military expertise (Armed Forces) → Qualifies in shaping Congress’s military policy. Lawmakers with high-level business experience = Influences commerce regulations/ international trade law.
• Majority Party - Always holds a majority of seats in each committee → controls the flow of legislation, because a bill must clear committee with a majority vote before it proceeds to the House/Senate floor for a vote.
• Committee chairperson - Senior members from the Majority Party in that committee.Vice Chair/Ranking member - Senior committee member from minority party
• Senate’s advice & consent role - Standing committees hold confirmation hearings for presidential nominations. Eg: Nominated secretary of defence must appear before the Armed Services Committee & only then, the majority can recommend the nominee for the full Senate approval.

Eg: Agriculture, Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Armed Fires, Budget,

House Energy & Commerce - Authority of utilities, gasoline & business matters

Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure - Oversees the creation & maintenance of US highways, regulates airports.

House Judiciary Committee - Drafts crime bills that define illegal behaviour & appropriate punishments & handles impeachments

*Ways & Means Committee Exclusive to House - Determines tax policy, first to outline details when proposals are put forward to raise or lower income taxes

Appropriations Committee - *Along with the above committee, influences & controls purse strings.

Subcommittees

• Specialised divisions in Committees
• Divides work for/in efficiency

Joint (permanent)

• Includes House + Senate
• Limited Authority
• Informs congress, but no legislation
• Mostly does routine management & research

Eg: Joint economic Committee, Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation

Conference (temporary = formed for a short period of time)

• Members from both chambers meet to reconcile different versions of the same bills. It’ll rarely be identical so they meet to form the final draft of the bill, and they again need to be passed by both Houses before receiving the President’s signature.

Like 2 bills are introduced in each house, goes through ratification, comes out as 2 different bills usually, a conference formed to find the middle ground, then passed by both houses again, before the president's signature.

Select/Special (temporary)

• Issues & Investigations (i.e. study on it)
• Rarely works on legislation
• Often focuses on data collection
• Can be exclusive to one house or can be joint committees.

Eg: Watergate Select Committee, House Select Committee on Energy – Independence + Global Warming (2007-2011), Select committee for a bill (1989, H.R.40 - Reintroduced in 2019) to study the effects of slavery & possible reparations for decedents of the former enslaved.

Unique Committees of the House

*Amendments to bills must 1st be approved by the committee overseeing the bill

The Presiding Officer controls the chamber debate, i.e. Speaker or anyone he/she appoints.

Rules Committee

• Traffic Cop of the House Floor i.e. disposes a bill or defines the guidelines for debate; sees which bills should be allowed to discuss or not. ∴ It holds great power in determining what issues/bills the members will vote on.
• Impacts every bill since it assigns bills to the appropriate standing committee, schedules bills for debate & decides when voting takes place.

Committee of the Whole

• Doesn’t require all members, only 100.
• Rules are more relaxed allowing longer debates among few people.
• Voted as a group rather than individual roll call, when finished committees reports the bill to the House

Discharge petition - Brings the bill out of the committee if it’s reluctant.

A majority vote required to bring & put on the House floor.

∴ 218/435 members sign it → no chairperson/reluctant committee can stop the public discussion of the bill. This might not help in the passing of the bill, but it prevents a minority from stopping a majority on advancing the bill.

Rules & Procedures Unique to Senate

Senators can speak for as long as they want, and have fewer restrictions. The Presiding Officer has little control of who speaks when.

Senate uses measures such as –

• Filibuster - Attempt to stall/kill a bill by speaking for an extremely long time.
• Unanimous consent - the approval of all senators
• Hold - a measure to stall a bill
• Cloture Rule (Rule 22) - ⅗ = 60/100 senators majority required to stop a debate on the bill → stopping filibuster → Allowing for a vote Once a cloture is reached, each senator has the privilege for speaking for upto 1 hour on that topic/bill.
• Foreign Policy Functions
  • More foreign relation duties
  • Has the power to ratify/deny treaties with other countries
  • Chair of the Senate foreign relations committee works closely often with the president & secretary of state to forge US foreign policy.

How Bill becomes Law

https://kids-clerk.house.gov/grade-school/lesson.html?intID=17#:~:text=The%20Bill%20Is%20a%20Law,is%20enforced%20by%20the%20government.

https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/How-Bill-Becomes-Law

https://proquest.libguides.com/congressionalhelp/process

Introducing & Amending Bills

Only House/Senate members can introduce a bill. Once introduced, several events take place which drastically changes the bills along the way. Additional ideas/programs are added

• Riders/Nongermane Amendments — Added to benefit a member’s own agenda or enhance the political chances of the bill.
• Omnibus Bill —
• Pork Barrel Spending — Insertion of funding for local projects into bills.

Assigning Bills to Committees

The Senate Majority Leader & House Rules Committee assign bills to committees. Sometimes, multiple committees work together & subcommittees are involved.

For example, a Military Spending Bill is examined by both the Armed Services Committee & Appropriations Committee.

• A bill may be given multiple referral status allowing both committees to address it together simultaneously.
• In other instances, a sequential referral status is given. This allows one committee priority to review it before others.

In committee, a bill undergoes 3 stages: hearings, markup & reporting.`

• If the committee “orders the bill”, then hearings & discussion takes place.
• The committee chair calls for a published summary & analysis w/ view from other participants; this can be from outside of Congress including interest groups.
• The bill undergoes markup where committee members amend the bill till satisfaction.
• Once the bill passes committee vote, it’s reported to the House or Senate floor for Debate. Voting takes place — For OR Against the Bill.
• Further Amendments are likely added → Sent to other House → Process Repeats → Conference Committee → President
• Passage of Bill or Failure due to other factors.

Pigeonhole — The committee chair can decide not to move it forward for debate until a later time.

Voting on Bills

Members consider various factors when deciding how to vote.

• They hold meetings, examine public opinion polls & read stacks of mails & e-mails to determine the idea of their constituents' desires.
• Logrolling — Trading votes to gain support for a bill. By agreeing to back someone else’s bill, members can secure a vote in return for a bill of their own.

Types of Bills

Public Bills - Matters of general concerns & application

Eg: Civil Right Act of 1954

Private Bills - Specific, private, personal, local matters

Eg: Person seeking special permission to become naturalised citizens

Appropriation Bills - Authorises government to spend $$

Eg: Defence, spending to support troops in Afghanistan

Generating a Budget

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) — President’s budgeting arm

• Considers many different factors to arrange the annual budget

Congressional Budgeting & Impoundment Control Act (1974)

• Established budgeting process & defines the stages in reconciling the budget.
• This act calls for Congress to set up the overall levels of revenues & expenditures, size of the budget surplus or deficit, and spending priorities.
  • Each chamber has an Appropriations committee that allots money for federal projects.
  • Senate Finance Committee — A strong entity in Federal Spending.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – Congressional agency of non-partisan accountants

• Professional experts who examines and analyses the budget proposal & acts as a check on the president's OMB

Sources of Revenue & Types of Spending

Every year, government revenue come from 5 main sources –

• Individual Income Taxes – taxes paid by workers on the income made. Different people pay different tax rates depending on their level.
• Corporate Taxes – taxes paid by businesses on the profits made during the year
• Social insurance taxes (aka payroll taxes) – taxes paid by both employers & employees to fund programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment insurance etc.
• Tariffs & excise taxes – taxes paid on certain imports & products. → done to make US made goods more affordable.Excise taxes done on specific products, such as luxury products, or products which cause health risk, such as tobacco and cigarettes
• Other sources – taxes that include interest on govt holdings or investments & estate taxes paid by people who inherit a large amount of money.

Spending falls into 3 categories - mandatory, discretionary, & interest on debt.

Discretionary spending is where Congress and the President get involved and pass the budget plan for the year. The government chooses to allocate a certain amount of funds for programs. Discretionary spending are money left over after mandatory spending which is then spent over other things

Eg: Student loan forgiveness by Biden; The military, education, and other spending that can be changed by Congress every year

Mandatory spending is the stuff that the US govt has to pay and we can't vote on that. Ie. on necessary things. This payment is required by law, or mandated, for certain programs.

Eg: Like our trillion dollar debt interest payment or social security, Medicare, Medicaid etc.

Deficit – Difference b/w spending & revenue

Executive Branch

Federalist 70 (1 person vs Multiple people)

“Energy” Ingredients -

• Unity, duration, adequate provisions for it support, competent powers

“Safety” Ingredients -

• Dependence on the people, responsibility

One person? Efficiency with -

• Decision Making
• Activities
• Ability to be secretive (“Top Secret”)
• Dispatch (deal with issues quickly & efficiently)

Legislative - More people (good)

Executive - More People (bad)

• Plurality destroys responsibility → Makes it harder to find who to blame.

Roles of the President

Chief of State

• Living symbol of the nation
• Should be inspiring example for the nation to follow

Eg:  White House reception for National Science Fair Winners, Super Bowl Champs.

Chief Executive (kinda like CEO of company)

• “Boss” of workers in executive branch
• Enforce & executive laws and rulings from other
• Hires EOP (Executive Officers of the President) & cabinet officials

Eg: Appointing new secretary of State, accepting resignation of Attorney General

Executive Orders

• Carries weight of a treaty
• Does not require Senate confirmation, but SC can rule it unconstitutional.
• Easily Implemented - Easily undone

Signing Statements — A written comment/interpretation issued by a President at the time of signing legislation. It can also tell the executive branch how to enforce the law.

Executive privilege — The right to withhold information or their decision making process from another branch, especially Congress

Chief Diplomat

• Creates US foreign policy (with help from advisors)
• US’s main spokesperson to the rest of the world.

Eg: Signing a treaty (or executive agreement) {Treaty requires approval of Senate, it requires additional treaty to undo the previous one while executive agreement doesn’t need approval from the senate}, hosting a state dinner for the Prime Minister of Japan.  Treaty = Formal Power, Executive Agreement = Informal Power

Commander-in-Chief

• Head of Armed forces
• Admirals & generals take orders from President
• War Powers Act - Limits the President in the ability to wage war.

Eg: Sending/removing troops to & fro a foreign country, discussions with another country regarding troop movement.

War Powers Act (1973)             * In response to Vietnam War

• Congress passed to ensure congressional involvement in decisions committing military forces to hostile situation overseas

Included Provisions:

• President must notify congress within 48 hours of troop deployment
• President must bring troops home from hostilities within 60-90 unless congress extends time

Chief Legislator

• POTUS can influence Congress
• Large # of bills come from White House or Executive agencies
• Show support for bills or veto bills they disagree with
• Bully puppet - uses media to influence the public to pass or kill a bill.

Eg: talking about “Build Back Better” on TV - Biden’s Bill

Power of Persuasion: President uses it to win support for policy agenda.

Chief of Party

• de facto head of party
• Help campaign for members of party

Eg: President holds rally to garner support for a local candidate

Chief Guardian of Economy (that’s why president is held responsible for it)

• President concerned about: taxes, stock market performance, unemployment, business growth, etc.

Eg: President negotiates a trade deal to help US farmers.

Presidential Powers

Appointment Powers

All of these are subject to Senate confirmation.

• Cabinet members & their top aids
• Heads of independent agencies (15 agencies at present; Latest - Department of Homeland Security)
• Ambassadors & other diplomats (represent the country)
• All Federal Judges, US Marshals, US Attorneys
• Senatorial Courtesy - Senators will not approve a presidential appointment opposed by a majority party senator from the state in which the appointee would serve.

The senate won't confirm a presidential appointee, if the person from the majority party doesn’t confirm it.

CONGRESS determines the funding for all the departments.

Removal Process/Power

• Power to dismiss most officials they appoint
• Cannot dismiss the federal judges OR commissioners of independent regulatory agencies

Veto Power

• 4 options when President gets a bill from the Congress
  • Sign into law
  • Veto (Reject a bill) - Congress can override veto if ⅔ each chamber approves the bill. (very rare; <10% override)
  • Waits 10 days - If Congress in sessions → becomes law without signature.
  • Pocket veto - Wait 10 days → Congress not in session (adjourns) → at the end of 10 days, bills killed (doesn’t go back to Congress for override vote)
• Threat of veto - Congress may modify the bill
• Congress will insert provisions the president wants into an objectionable bill to reduce chances of a veto.
• Vetoed bills often revised & passed in another form
• State of the Union Address - Annual Address to Congress & people know his/her legislative agenda “from time to time”

Pardoning Power

Pardon: Legal Forgiveness of a crime

Reprieve: Postpones executions of a sentence   *not common

Commutations: Abolishes Sentences

Amnesty: Allowed to stay out of jail/prison - not changed

Formal Powers

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/C-HuJd97UlnPv1YjVwsGcbqIsIxdlBXIu4GOjOfWtpKhme_sSZTw3A8HsATH7g7n2AfV67shUvYRnbqjT3umjF8wgaTrtT_QjZCSdFuJbTLw9-VVYApiFZaLzENXN4yFMAqAx9e-RSIY83eR7gcKvPYxrIHMFpnHpGZCP1b4r1YLfrJNmyHspvO6xY_iXQ

Informal Powers

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/bePcpls3MRg6C3IeXaFItV4s_4-bCJY4DOVElBsc_aTqYz7VevhZR7zeQJ4KpQMmk7Oar_rffp3PMk1cMeY74Lb2jDyXE_d8niypqajiBLYlimaAM5fnXky4BxTTtqZ1eVqtEnqz8LCnV6_s_yLGxHLEUPqJglPXXGqLK6nvpMn8rTWg2UJX_Eesi2p1iA

The President’s Team & Bureaucracy

The Cabinet

• 14 executive departments & attorney general
• Presidential difficulties in controlling cabinet
  • SIGs form close ties with cabinet departments
  • Career Officials - Strong loyalty to departments (Since, they might have served under different presidents or can be from the opposing party/bipartisans; not dependent on president)
  • Congress competes with the president over influence
• Not directly mentioned in the constitution
  • Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1, allows the President to assemble a group.
  • Group of advisors from each executive department.

Cabinet Today

Secretary of State

Secretary of Treasury

Secretary of Defence

Attorney General (Justice)

Secretary of Interior

Secretary of Agriculture

Secretary of Commerce

Secretary of Labor

Secretary of Health & Human Services

Secretary of Housing & Urban Development

Secretary of Transportation

Secretary of Energy

Secretary of Education

Secretary of Veterans & Affairs

Secretary of Homeland Security

Succession Act of 1947

VP of US

Speaker of the HOR

President Pro Tempore of the Senate

Cabinet

Department of State      *Falls under Secretary of State

• Deals with foreign policy
• Staffs embassies
• Analyses data

Eg: American interest in Other Nations

• Speaks for the US at United Nations
• Employs ambassador – Diplomat appointed to represent US with a foreign nation

Department of Defense

• Protects security of US
• Oversees armed forces through Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Pre-1949 — Dept. of War
• Includes Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines

Department of Justice

• Oversees nations’ legal affairs
• Supervises agencies that serve as nation’s police & prison systems (eg: FBI, DIA)
• Enforces antitrust laws

Department of Health & Human Services

• Programs health & social services
• Federal Medicare & Medicaid

Department of Education

• Coordinates federal assistance programs for public & private schools
• ELL, 504s, IEP etc.

White House Staff

• Key Aids
• Chief of Staff - Highest ranking of EOP
  • Selects & supervise key WH Staff, manage flow of people & information to President (President can choose & fire them; no Senate involvement)
• Personally Loyal to the President
• Appointment & Dismiss without the Senate
• Provides President with policy options & analysis

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

• OMB - Office of Management & Budget
  • Largest office within EOP - Staff of over 500 career officials
  • Primary responsibility: Assist President in overseeing preparation of federal budget (Proposed by President; Congress passes)
• NSC - National Security Council
  • Principal foreign & military advisors
  • Includes - Vice President, Secretary of State, Treasury, Defence, National Security Advisor, others as necessary.
  • Advise & assists President on national security & foreign policy
• CEA - Council of Economic Advisors
  • 3 leading economists
  • Advises President on economic policy
  • Prepares annual Economic Report of the President

Independent Regulatory Agencies / Regulatory Commissions

• Regulates specific activity or interest
• FAA: Federal Aviation Administration
• OSHA: Occupation, Safety, Hazards Administration
• FCC: Federal Communications Commission
• EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
• FDA: Food & Drug Administration

Government Corporations

• Cross b/w government agency & private business
• Free charred for service
• USPS: Postal Service (Stamps)
• Amtrak: Train

Independent Executive Agency

• Narrow area of responsibility
• Services rather than regulatory
• NASA

President Approval level

50 years - Gallup poll has asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way pres. (name) is handling his job as president?”

Increases:

• “Honeymoon” periods at beginning of administration *highest → then decreases
• Positive media average
• Foreign policy successes
• Foreign crisis that produces “rally around flag” effect
• Strong economic growth & low unemployment

Decreases:

• Scandals involving president &/or top aids
• Gap b/w high expectations & poor job performance
• Foreign wars that go badly over long periods of time
• Weak economic growth & high unemployment

President & Media

• Plays a key role in influencing public perception of the president.
• President is generally more successful than congressional leaders in using the media to set policy agenda.
  • Represents entire nation vs state/district/member of congress
  • President - “leader of free world”
  • President is more powerful than individual members of congress.
  • President is 1 voice vs. 535 competing voices.

Iron Triangles mutually beneficial relationship to create public policy

• Special Interest Groups
• Bureaucratic Agencies
• Congressional Committees

Why “Iron Triangles”?

• Incredibly hard to remove once set → all 3 components need each other.
• Does not benefit the interest groups of any part to break

SIGs

• Prompt policy goals by supporting members of congressional committee overseeing its interest area with campaign contributions & other forms of political stuff (i.e pass legislation in favour of them, help in fundraising, campaigns, etc)
• Lobbying efforts (attract in favour & vice-versa) & congressional connections to influence policy made by committees to align with the desires of the agency

*Bureaucratic Agencies        middle link b/w Congress & Congressional Committees

• Gives congressional committees information about policy choices & implements that policy
• Delivers low or limited regulation & special favours for SIGs

Congressional Committees

• Gives funding (budget) & political support to the federal bureaucracy
• Provides friendly legislation & oversight to SIGs

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Q4NJovh7sGANGEkZm5FQn6FSPfIvJ-QkUDVcKMHQ0EXtQ6ZjuS1T12rmmkc4WYEyoSfpAbnLTO7ncIPVeenRGTd1NT1KCh7sOBC1pDw4jWsDLbkB_63Nz6UoT329pl4ZuDFIRT0mKhBTSXU0kTFDYXc6mcymmDRqwyHavWw-pXATurvN9JJoDJA96hZBlA

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/hYI-l6qUNxwz_5Asznr32ICssEGeq37Fin1XzPVt4vonR5EtHJ81WXcmyxz79sAg0Cfr7uBRGHoE9CJtJAyDUHYWWBIHufoHvhKjLjftoA2IPOG7DHWV5XYGb3vjW4Kmtrz-aDew-RVKKe6QkKDP5VluHL0rMIu3UzIk9XAF3g3fLUao-qUDP_ruL65SnQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emMnFMiEEWU

https://sites.google.com/eanesisd.net/jeffantoon/ap-gov-review

https://www.rcboe.org/cms/lib/GA01903614/Centricity/Domain/2849/AP%20Government%20Review%20Packet.pdf

Problems with Iron Triangles

• Bureaucratic organisations may prioritise the desires of powerful SIGs over their “consumers” marginal is or politically weaker communities they serve)
• Revolving door – movement of individuals between points on triangle

Issue Networks

Connected group of individuals that may include lobbyists, experts from universities & think tanks (certain beliefs/political spectrum, pretty much everything), the media, members of congress & bureaucrats who regularly discuss & advocate public policies .

• Deals with narrower/specific issues rather than broad policy areas/iron triangles.
• Relates to specific issues
• All interest & active players
• Short term, as long as the issue exists (Iron triangles → permanent) *both pluralism