Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy

Enlightenment Philosophies

• Framers lived at a time when there were new ideas about government organization/function

  • Challenged systems already in place

• Enlightenment (18th century): a philosophical movement that began in Western Europe with roots in Scientific Revolution

  • Use of reason over tradition when solving social problems

• Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan - 1660): believed that people could not govern themselves and that a monarch with absolute power would protect life best

  • Advocated for rule of law

  • Social contract with government: some freedoms sacrificed (respecting government) in exchange for government protection

• John Locke (Second Treatise on Civil Government - 1690): natural rights must be protected

  • Empiricism: people are born with a tabula rasa (blank slate) on equal footing and everything they do is shaped by experience

  • Natural rights (life, liberty, property) are granted by God and government must protect them

    • Right to revolution if natural rights are taken away

• Charles de Montesquieu (De l’Esprit des Lois/The Spirit of the Laws - 1748): separation of power into three branches of government

  • Checks and balances limited power of each branch

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract - 1762): people are born good but corrupted by society and should act for the greater good rather than out of self-interest

• Philosophers favored democracy over absolute monarchy

• Forms of representative democracy:

  • Participatory democracy: broad participation in politics/society by people at various statuses

  • Pluralist democracy: group-based activism by citizens with common interests who seek the same goals

  • Elite democracy: power to the educated/wealthy, discourages participation by the majority of people

• Republicanism: supports individualism and natural rights, popular sovereignty (people give the government power), encourages civic participation

  • American Republicanism characterized by representative democracy

    • Elected officials representing a group of people

  • Popular sovereignty: government power derives from the consent of the governed (ex. elections, protests)

The Declaration of Independence

• A formal declaration of war between America and Great Britain

• Written by Thomas Jefferson

• List of grievances (“crimes” King George III committed against the colonies)

  • Used to explain why the colonies are declaring independence

The Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

• Outlined the first government of the United States of America

• Predecessor to the Constitution

• Followed from 1776 to 1781; ratified and named in 1781

• Accomplishments:

  • Created federalism: the way in which federal and state/regional governments Interact and share power

  • Ended the Revolutionary War on favorable terms for the United States (Treaty of Paris - 1783)

  • Established the Northwest Ordinance, which created methods through which states would enter the US

• Weaknesses:

  • 1787: trade between states declined, monetary value dropped, foreign countries posed threats, social disorder throughout the country

    • Shays’ Rebellion (1786-1787): 6-month rebellion formed by over 1,000 farmers in which a federal arsenal was attacked in protest of the foreclosure of farms in western Massachusetts

      • Major concern at the Constitutional Convention

      • Exposed issues with Articles of Confederation and showed necessity of a strong central government

  • Could not impose taxes (result of taxation without representation); only state governments could levy taxes

    • National government was in debt from the Revolutionary War had no way to pay for expenses

      • Could only acquire money by requesting it from states, borrowing from other governments, or selling lands in the West

  • No national military; could not draft soldiers

  • No national currency

  • No Supreme Court to interpret law

  • No executive branch to enforce laws

  • No control over taxes imposed between states and could not control interstate trade

  • Needed unanimous votes to amend the Articles

  • 9/13 states had to approve legislation before it was passed

  • Could not control states

  • No enforcement mechanisms/requests from within federal government

  • Needed to be revised

    • Constitutional Convention created Constitution

    • resulted in complete rewrite of the Articles => Constitution

The Constitutional Convention

• Meeting of the framers in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Division over powers, structure, and responsibilities of government

  • Some believed that the government under the Articles was too weak, others believed that it shouldn’t be changed

  • Generally accepted as pragmatists who tried to protect their and everyone else’s property + rights

  • Stronger central gov’t necessary, potential to be corrupted

    • Federal legislature had two main issues:

      • Unicameral (single house) vs bicameral (two house) legislative branch

        • Madison’s Virginia Plan: bicameral legislature based on population size

          • Supported by larger states b/c of better representation

        • New Jersey Plan: unicameral legislature, one vote per state

          • Similar to Articles of Confederation

          • Smaller states worried that gov’t would be dominated by larger states

        • The Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise): a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives (population) and Senate (equal representation)

    • Representation of enslaved people

      • Northerners: enslaved people should not be counted for electoral votes

      • Southerners: enslaved people should be counted for electoral votes

        • Larger population when enslaved people were counted

      • Three-Fifths Compromise: enslaved people would be counted as 3/5 of a person when deciding seats in the House of Representatives

  • Authority to enforce laws

    • Created chief executive (president)

      • Enforcer of the law, could keep the legislative branch in check

      • Presidential approval required before bills become law

      • President can veto acts of legislature

        • Congress can override veto if 2/3 of both houses vote

  • Supreme Court

    • Could mediate disputes between legislative and executive branches, between states, and between state + federal government

  • Acceptance of the Constitution

    • Had to be submitted to states for ratification

    • Federalists: supporters of the Constitution, advocated for a strong central government

      • Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote The Federalist Papers: a collection of articles supporting the Constitution

        • Best reflects original intent of the framers

        • Persuaded states of the superiority of a strong central government plus power kept by the states

    • Anti-Federalists: opponents of the Constitution, preferred smaller state governments (Articles of Confederation)

      • Believed that the Constitution would threaten personal liberties and make the president a king

      • Feared tyranny + abuse of power

      • Wanted a Bill of Rights: protects the rights of citizens from the government

        • Guaranteed by the Federalists and was added immediately after ratification

        • 10 amendments written by James Madison

  • Created the Electoral College: composed of elected officials from each state based on population (each given 2 votes + 1 vote per member of House of Representatives) with a total of 538 electors

    • Originally created because the framers didn’t trust American citizens to be educated enough to choose a good president

    • Thought the Electoral College would protect election against the influence of small groups

    • Would ensure that states with larger populations didn’t completely overpower smaller states

    • The presidential candidate who wins 270 electoral votes wins the election regardless of who wins popular vote

The Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Dissent

Brutus No. 1

• Anonymous author (pseudonym Brutus) asked questions about + critiqued the draft of the Constitution

• The first publication that began a series of essays known as the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers

• National government had too much power, an army could prevent liberty, and representatives may not truly be representative of the people

• Major dissent: The Federalist Papers attempted to answer questions and address concerns posed by Brutus + other Anti-Federalists

Federalist No. 10

• Written by James Madison

• Addresses dangers of factions + how to protect minority interest groups in a nation ruled by majority

• Argues that a large republic keeps any single faction from taking control

• Major dissent: Anti-Federalists thought that Madison’s claims were unrealistic and that a country with multiple factions could never create a good union

  • Believed that no large nation could survive and that states’ separate interests would fracture the republic

Federalist No. 51

• Written by James Madison

• Argued that separation of powers would make the government efficient, dividing responsibilities and tasks

• Major dissent: Anti-Federalists believed that there was no perfect separation of powers and that one branch of government would eventually hold more power

Federalist No. 70

• Written by Alexander Hamilton

• Argued that the executive branch should only have one member: the president

  • Used the British monarchy as an example: the king had power but was checked by the House of Commons

• Proposed term limits as another way to limit the president’s power (not set until the 22nd Amendment in 1951)

• Major dissent: Anti-Federalists believed that only the president’s staff would influence him and disagreed with giving control of the military to one person

Federalist No. 78

• Written by Alexander Hamilton

• Addressed concerns about the power of the judicial branch

• Argued that the judicial branch would have the least amount of power under the Constitution but would also have the power of judicial review

  • Check on Congress

• Major dissent: Anti-Federalists claimed that a federal judiciary could overpower states’ judiciaries and that judges’ lifetime appointments could result in corruption

The Constitution as an Instrument of Government

• The Constitution is vague and only outlines the government structure

  • Written to allow change through amendments

  • Branches of government have evolved since ratification

• Articles I-III: set up the three branches of government (in order):

  • Legislative branch

  • Executive branch

    • “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United states of America”

      • Power to issue executive orders

        • Same effect as law, bypasses Congress in policy-making

        • Not mentioned in the Constitution

        • Used as part of the enforcement duties

        • Ex. Executive Order 9066: FDR ordered people (Japanese and German Americans) from a military zone

      • Executive agreements between country leaders are similar to treaties

        • Bypass ratification power of the Senate

        • Not mentioned in the Constitution

  • Judicial branch

    • Marbury v. Madison(1803): Supreme Court increased its own power by giving itself the power to overturn laws passed by legislature (judicial review)

• Article I, Section 8 - the necessary and proper clause: allows Congress to make any legislation that seems “necessary and proper” to carry through its powers

  • Aka the elastic clause

  • Ex. nothing in the Constitution that creates the Federal Reserve System (central bank), nothing about the executive branch’s cabinet

  • Federal District Courts and Courts of Appeals both created by Congress

• Supremacy clause: supremacy of Constitution and federal laws over state laws

  • “and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof...shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding”

Federalism

• A system of government under which the national and local governments share powers

• Ex. Germany, Switzerland, and Australia

• Confederation: a system in which decisions are made by an external member-state legislation; decisions on daily issues are taken by special majorities, consensus, or unanimity

• Supreme Court cases:

  • McCulloch v. Maryland(1819): court ruled that states could not tax national bank

    • Reinforced supremacy clause of Constitution - issues between state + federal government laws should be ruled in favor of federal

    • Necessary and proper clause - banks were necessary to implement federal powers

  • United States v. Lopez(1995): challenge to the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (banned guns on school property)

    • Held that commerce clause didn't allow regulation of carrying guns

    • New phase of federalism - state sovereignty and local control were important

Powers Under Federalism

• Delegated (enumerated) powers: powers that belong to the national government

  • Ex. printing money, regulating interstate + international trade, making treaties + conducting foreign policy, declaring war, est. post offices, lower courts, rules of naturalization, and copyright/patent laws; raising + supporting armed forces, making all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out duties

• Reserved powers: powers that belong to the states

  • 10th Amendment: include any that the Constitution neither gives to the national government nor denies to the states

  • Ex. issuing licenses, regulating intrastate business, conducting elections, est. local governments, maintaining a justice system, educating residents, maintaining a militia, providing public health, safety, and welfare programs

• Concurrent powers: shared by federal and state governments

  • Ex. levying/collecting taxes, building roads, operating courts, establishing courts, chartering banks + corps, eminent domain, paying debts, borrowing money

• Constitution specifies which powers are denied to national government and states

• Constitution makes federal government guarantee states a republican government and protection against rebellion + invasion

  • Prevents states from dividing or combining without congressional approval

• States are required to accept court rulings, licenses, contracts, or other civil acts of other states

• Changed over time

  • First: federal/state governments were independent

    • Most Americans had contact w/government on state level

• Denied powers:

  • Federal government:

    • Suspend writ of habeas corpus except during a national crisis

    • Pass ex post facto laws or issuance of bills of attainder

    • Impose export taxes

    • Use money from treasury without appropriations bill

    • Grant titles of nobility

  • State government:

    • Enter into treaties w/other countries

    • Declare war

    • Maintain an army

    • Print money

    • Pass ex post facto laws or issuance of bills of attainder

    • Grant titles of nobilities

    • Impose import or export duties

• Federal government programs

  • Most administered through states

  • Paid for by federal government through grants-in-aid

    • Some politicians tie strings to grants (federal government still in control over money)

    • Other politicians want no strings attached (state/local government decides how to spend)

  • Grants:

    • Categorical grants: aid with strict rules from the federal government about how it is used

      • Used by those who favor federal power

    • Block grants: aid that lets the state use the money how it wants

      • Used by those who favor states’ rights

    • Federal government can still use techniques to make states follow federal law

      • Ex. direct orders, preemption

• Advantages of federalism:

  • Mass participation (many can participate on many issues)

  • Regional autonomy (states still have some powers)

  • Multi-level government (local, state, federal; many politicians connected to supporters)

  • Innovative methods (states can experiment with policies)

  • Diffusion of power (no party domination)

  • Diversity in government

• Disadvantages of federalism

  • Lack of consistency (differing policies creates inequality in states)

  • Inefficiency (overlapping/contradictory policies)

  • Bureaucracy (corruption/stalemate through spread-out power)

  • Resistance

  • Inequity (legislation/judicial outcomes)

Separation of Powers

• Borrowed idea from French political philosopher Charles de Montesquieu

• Assigned different tasks to each branch of government

  • Legislative branch makes laws

  • Executive branch enforces laws

  • Judicial branch interprets laws

• Prevents a person from being in more than one branch at a time

  • Has to resign in order to change positions

System of Checks and Balances

• Designed to prevent any branch of government from becoming dominant

• Requires different branches to work together and share power

  • Examples:

    • Nomination of federal judges, cabinet officials, and ambassadors

      • President chooses nominees who must be approved by the Senate

    • Negotiation of treaties

      • President is empowered to negotiate treaties, but they cannot go into effect until approved by 2/3 of the Senate

    • Enactment of legislation

      • Congress passes legislation, but the president can veto (reject) laws

        • Encourages Congress to pass laws that align with the president’s views or negotiate to avoid being vetoed

        • Congress can override veto by passing a law with 2/3 majority in both houses

          • Law becomes law regardless of president

        • Courts can determine constitutionality of law and overturn laws if they are unconstitutional

Amendment Process

• Amendment: the addition of a provision to the Constitution

• Main process:

  • Proposed amendment must be approved by 2/3 of both houses of Congress

  • 3/4 of state legislatures must ratify (approve) the amendment, and the states themselves are allowed to determine the votes required to ratify the amendment

  • Congress can also mandate that each state use a ratifying convention (delegates elected to vote on the amendment)

    • Used once to ratify the 21st amendment (1933) - ended prohibition

• Another process:

  • 2/3 of state legislatures petition Congress for a constitutional convention

    • Never happened before

State and Local Governments

• State governments

  • Can take any form, but must have a state constitution approved by Congress

  • Most structured after federal government

  • Executive branch led by governor

    • Direct state executive agencies (education, roads/building, policing)

    • Command state National Guard

    • May grant pardons and reprieves

    • Most can appoint state judges with the “advice and consent” of a state legislative body

    • Can veto state legislation

    • May use a line-item veto to reject parts of bills

      • Denied to presidents by Supreme Court - would take too much power away from legislature

  • 49/50 states have bicameral legislatures

    • Enact state law

    • Can override the gubernatorial (governor) veto

  • State judiciaries interpret state law

    • Trial courts and appeals courts

    • Hear criminal cases and civil cases (lawsuits)

Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government

Congress

Congressional Structure

• Congress: the bicameral legislature for writing laws

  • Oversees bureaucracy, clarifies and codifies policy, represents citizens, build consensus

  • House of Representatives: a 435-member house, with members apportioned by each state’s population (designed to represent population)

  • Senate: a 100-member house, with 2 members per state (designed to represent states equally)

  • Census: a survey taken every 10 years to count population and determine the number of congressional districts each state has

    • Redistricting: the redrawing of district boundaries to ensure each district has an equal population done by state legislature

      • Gerrymandering: drawing district boundaries to give the majority party a future advantage

        • Does not apply for Iowa; uses an independent commission to draw district lines

        • Helps incumbents

      • Some states have such small populations that the entire state becomes a district

      • Each state is guaranteed one seat in the House

Congressional Elections

• Elections for the House of Representatives are every two years

  • Representatives must live in the district they represent and be a citizen of the state, and must be 25 years old

  • Elections take place within each district

  • Constituencies are smaller than senators’

  • Incumbent election rates are very high (>90%)

  • Less competitive

• Elections for the Senate are every two years

  • Each term is six years

  • Senators must be at least 30 years old

  • More competitive, expensive, and high profile

  • Draw candidates from other offices

• Baker v. Carr(1962): Charles Baker sued Tennessee for not redrawing its state legislative districts because his county’s population had grown but not gained representation

  • Violated 14th amendment (equal protection of the law)

  • Ruled in 6-2 decision that the government can force states to redistrict every 10 years

  • Led to the development of the “one person, one vote” doctrine

  • Gave federal courts the right to weigh in on redistricting

  • Shaw v. Reno(1993): white voters living in North Carolina’s 12th district sued the state for gerrymandering to isolate African Americans into the 12th district

    • Ruled in 5-4 decision that the state was using racial bias in its redistricting

    • Violated equal protection clause

    • Any racial gerrymandering required a compelling state interest

Congressional Districts and Representation

Voting Rights Act of 1965: encouraged states to increase minority representation in Congress

• Initially made little change

• 1982 amended to make states create majority-minority districts (concentrating minority populations into districts)

  • Made it easier for minority candidates to get elected

• Many states redistricted after the 1990 census, resulting in an increase of minority representation

  • District shapes were weird

  • Legislators in NC, GA, TX, and other states have been accused of gerrymandering

    • Black and Hispanic voters are majority Democrat, Republican-controlled legislatures were accused of trying to remove racial minority Democrats from districts to ensure more Republicans get elected

    • Packing: isolating minorities in a district

    • Cracking: dividing minorities across many districts

  • Population shifts gave more seats in the House to Southern states but took away seats from other regions

  • Suburban representation has increased, but both rural and urban have decreased

  • Hijacking: redrawing two districts in a way that forces two incumbents to face each other in a single district

  • Kidnapping: moving an incumbent’s home into another area after redistricting

Congressional Powers

• The Constitution lists out the responsibilities of Congress in more detail than the other branches

• Both houses have unique powers that require them to work together, including taxing, borrowing money, regulating commerce, raising an army, creating/making rules for courts, establishing naturalization laws, creating post offices, building a militia, and making laws

• Taxing and spending clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1): gives Congress much control over budgetary spending

  • “Power of the purse”: gives Congress power to influence others by preventing access to funds or adding conditions

    • Can be used positively to fund programs or negatively to harm an agency

• House of Representatives can start spending bills and tax laws

  • House of Ways and Means Committee: oversees spending laws and taxing

• Senate can approve presidential nominations to court and ambassadors to other countries

  • Must also ratify all treaties the president signs

Non-legislative Tasks of Congress

• Congress primarily writes laws

• Oversight: reviews federal agencies’ work (checks executive branch), investigates charges of corruption, holds hearings (experts and citizens discuss government issues and propose solutions)

  • All committee chairs can subpoena (legally compel) witnesses to show and testify

  • Confirms members of presidential cabinet

  • Approves nominees for federal court

• Public education: floor debates and committee hearings increase awareness of government/social issues and help to focus national attention

• Representing constituents within the government: politicos (representatives of electorates, Congress members) help constituents with the government and vote on laws; can act on complaints about federal services/agencies, sponsor those who seek contracts, and seek suggestions on improvement

  • Delegate Model (representational view): consider themselves delegates who mirror the views of their districts

  • Trustee Model (attitudinal view): some consider themselves trustees who should think about constituents’ views but use their judgement when making decisions

• Constitutional amendments: can propose amendments by 2/3 vote in both houses or by a convention called by 2/3 of state legislatures

• Electoral duties: House can elect next president if neither candidate gets 270 votes, Senate picks VP

• Impeachment: House has power over impeachment; if majority votes to impeach an official, the Senate runs the impeachment trial and convicts/removes the official from office with 2/3 of Senate votes

• Confirmation duties: Senate can approve both presidential appointments and federal officials

• Ratification: only Senate can ratify treaties if 2/3 votes

  • Senate can influence international relations and foreign policy

• Investigation: can be conducted by either a standing or committee and may last months while members gather evidence and witnesses

  • Majority lead to new legislation to address the issue, changes in programs, or officials’ removal from office

Legislative Process

• Slow and complicated

  • Prevents decisions from being made too quickly

  • Facilitates compromise and communication between both sides

• Bills

  • 10,000 bills introduced every year

    • Some written by Congress members and staff

    • Others are written by executive branch and introduced by Congress members

      • Many are written or suggested by interest groups + lawyers

  • Can only be proposed by a Congress member (the sponsor of the bill)

  • Requires two houses to work together

    • Both houses must pass the same bills

    • Different debate and voting processes

    • House of Representatives:

      • Debates about bills are limited in House of Representatives (too many people)

      • Rules Committee: determines how long a bill will be debated and whether open or closed rules for amending bills are allowed

        • Open rules allow amendments

        • Closed rules forbid amendments

        • Republicans (majority) in 1994 promised open rules for most bills

        • Considered most powerful committee in House

        • Can kill a bill by postponing vote or make it easy for an opponent to add killer (poison-pill) amendments

        • Can bring bills up for immediate vote

    • Senate:

      • Does not strictly control debate, no time constraints

      • Filibuster: used to delay bill’s vote and tie up Senate’s work, usually by a senator making a very long speech

        • Can happen without speeches

        • Senate majority may require a traditional filibuster if needed

        • Cloture: the vote which is the only way to end a filibuster, requires votes of 60 members

      • No closed rules

        • Riders: amendments, do not have to be relevant to bill, allow senators to add amendments

          • Pork barrels: “pet project” riders created to get money to a home state

          • Earmark: provisions in legislation that allot money to a project (appropriation and authorization bills)

            • Not allowed by House

    • Conference committee: committee each house’s version of a bill is sent to which come from the committees of each house that wrote the bill

      • Attempts to negotiate compromise bill

      • Compromise bill returns to both houses for voting

      • Failure to pass a compromise bill will kill it

      • Sent to White House if passed for presidential approval

  • President:

    • Bill becomes law after 10 days if president does nothing regardless of signature

    • Bill is pocket vetoed if president doesn’t sign every bill into law and congressional session ends during 10 days

    • President can veto entire bill if congressional session doesn’t end in 10 days and gives reasons for vetoing

      • Both houses can override veto by a two-thirds vote

      • Houses can also make any required changes

      • If house of origin does nothing with veto, bill is dead

    • Line-item veto: given to President Clinton in 1996 by Congress, allowed the president to veto certain parts of a bill

      • Clinton v. City of New York(1998): the Supreme Court struck down the line-item veto as an unconstitutional power of the president

    • Congress has tried to give itself veto power over the president

      • Wrote legislation giving Congress ability to void presidential actions by a vote of the houses

      • INS v. Chadha(1983): Supreme Court declared legislative veto unconstitutional

Legislation by Committee

• Most legislative activities by Congress are in committees

• Committee members are determined by many factors

  • Majority party of each house holds all committee chairs

    • Also holds most seats on each committee (2/3 on important committees)

    • Oldest/most experience member of majority party is chair and senior member from minority party is ranking member

      • Ranking member becomes chair if minority party becomes majority party

  • Assignments determined by House and Senate leaders + both parties’ caucus

    • Try to get on committees that will help them help the constituents the most and with reelection

• Investigate and debate bills that otherwise wouldn’t be considered due to time

  • Call interested parties and expert witnesses (often lobbyists)

    • Congress can subpoena witnesses

  • After investigations committees amend and rewrite parts of bills in meetings known as markup sessions

  • Often first assigned to subcommittee for consideration

    • Often determine how money is spent

    • Most die because of lack of interest

  • Membership of committee and subcommittee is crucial

    • Bills written to appeal to certain committees

  • Can refuse to vote a bill out

    • Pigeonholed: a bill stuck in a committee

    • Discharge petition: the way to force a bill out of committee for a floor vote

• Oversee bureaucratic agencies and departments

• Heads of agencies often appear before congressional committees

• Can subpoena witnesses (legally requires individuals to appear or produce requested documents)

• Can hear testimony from agency heads asking for money or people

• House has more committees and are more specialized because each member serves on fewer committees

• Types of committees:

  • Standing committees: permanent, specialized

    • Ex. House Ways and Means, Senate Judiciary, Senate Armed Services

    • 17 in the Senate, 20 in the House

  • Joint committees: made up of members of both houses

    • Normally used for investigations or communicating with the public

  • Select committees: temporary committees created in each house for a special reason

    • Usually carry out investigations to write special bills

    • Ex. House Watergate Committee, Senate Select Committee on Unfair Practices

  • Conference committee: temporary committees made up of members from committees of both houses who wrote a bill

    • Try to create compromise bills, then submit to both houses

    • Disbanded once a compromise bill is negotiated

Congressional Leadership

The House

• The leader is the speaker

  • Chosen by the majority party in an election

  • Can direct floor debate and has influence over committee assignment and the Rules Committee

  • Can control which bills are assigned to certain committees

• Majority leader is in charge of party members, determines party policy and agenda

• Minority leader is in charge of minority party members, determines party’s agenda

• Majority and minority whips help their leaders keep members loyal to the agenda, coordinate members, and get support for legislation

The Senate

• President of the Senate is the vice president, only official responsibility

  • Only votes to break a tie

• President pro tempore is the temporary president when the VP is absent

  • Mostly honorary position

  • Usually given to oldest member of the majority party

• Majority leader controls agenda and acts as policy initiator and power broker

  • Minority leader is similar, not policy initiator or agenda controller

Why Do They Vote That Way?

• Pressure to influence vote from own party and opposition

• President jawbones (tries to influence) and colleagues logroll (mutual help)

• PACs, constituents, and interest groups donate to try to influence votes

• Judgment can be affected by personal ideology and religion

• Party affiliation is most important factor

Notable Legislation

National Growth, Expansion, and Building Institutions

• Northwest Ordinance (1787, 1789): created by the Articles of Confederation, provided guidelines for settling new territories and creating new states, reaffirmed in the Constitution in 1789

Government and Industry Regulation

• Pendleton Act (1883): got rid of the spoils system for government job selection, set up exam-based merit system for candidates

• Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890): gave Congress the power to regulate and disassemble monopolies in the US, abused to break up labor unions

• Hatch Act (1939): let government employees vote in elections but prevented them from participating in partisan politics

• Freedom of Information Act (1966): let the public view government documents

• Air Quality Act (1967) and Clean Air Acts (1960s-1990s): regulated environmental impacts by establishing standards for factories and cars

• Federal Election Campaign Acts (1971, 1974): created the FEC and required contributions and expenditures to be disclosed, created limits on presidential election expenditures and contributions, created subsidies for presidential candidates

• War Powers Act (1973): put limits on presidential power to use troops overseas, created time limit, gave Congress power to withdraw troops; all presidents have declared act unconstitutional since 1973

• Budget and Impoundment Control Act (1974): created Congressional Budget Office and congressional budget committees, gave Congress authority to prevent president from refusing to fund congressional initiatives

• Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Bill (1985): created budget reduction targets to balance the budget; failed to eliminate loopholes

• No Child Left Behind Act (2001): states must adopt education accountability standards, requires annual progress testing, and sanctions schools that fail to meet the yearly progress goals

• Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (1995): Congressional Budget Office must analyze impact of unfunded mandates on states, must have separate congressional vote on bills that impose them

Rights and Freedoms

• Espionage Act (1917), Sedition Act (1918): greatly reduced rights of Americans during war and increased federal government’s power to control public activity; repealed by Congress in 1921

• Immigration Act (1924): limited number of immigrants entering the US and set strict standards for entry

• Voting Rights Act (1965): eliminated literacy tests, let federal officials register voters, prevented states from changing voting procedures without the government’s approval; let federal officials count ballots and make citizens vote

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967): prevented age discrimination in jobs unless job is affected by age

• Civil Rights Act or Fair Housing Act (1968): Title II prevented discrimination in public places based on race, color, national origin, or religion, Title VII banned employment discrimination based on gender

• Title IX Education Act (1972): banded gender discrimination in federally funded education

• Americans with Disabilities Act (1990): protected disabled Americans’ rights and required accommodations to public facilities; prohibited job discrimination if accommodation could be made, required access to facilities for the disabled, allowed non-paid leave of absence without fear of firing

• National Voter Registration Act (1993): AKA The Motor Voter Act, allowed people to register to vote when receiving driver’s licenses

• Patriot Act (2001): After 9/11, Congress permitted police authority to federal, state, and local governments to interdict, prosecute, and convict suspected terrorists; known as the USA-PATRIOT (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act

Government Aid to the People

• New Deal Legislation (1933-1939): expands role of government in society and the economy; created Social Security, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Securities and Exchange Commission; expanded role and size of government

• Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996): Welfare Reform Act signaled change in national role with states, tried to increase role of personal responsibility in welfare recipients, shifted many responsibilities to state governments for welfare provision, ended federal entitlement status of welfare, replaced with block grants to states; recipients of grants had to work within 2 years and could not get benefits > 5 years

• Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002): AKA McCain-Feingold Bill; banned soft money to national political parties and raised hard money limits to 2,000 dollars; SCOTUS struck down several parts of this law in Citizens United v. FEC, especially parts related to donations made by corporations

The President

The Formal Powers of the Presidency

• Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution

• Responsible for serving as the ceremonial head of state, handling foreign policy, and enforcing laws

• Administrative head of government

• Can force Congress into session, brief Congress on State of the Union, veto legislation

• Must cooperate with Congress (checks and balances)

• Can appoint federal judges, SCOTUS justices, ambassadors, and department secretaries that must be approved by the Senate

• Negotiates treaties that must be ratified by 2/3 of the Senate

• Executive agreements do not require Senate approval, agreements between country leaders

The President as Commander in Chief

• Commander in chief of the armed forces

• Only Congress can declare war, but president can make war

• Can mobilize armed forces

• Chief strategist and director of military

• Relies on Congress for money

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964): gave president broad powers to bring unlimited troops for unlimited time to Vietnam

• War Powers Act (1973): passed in an attempt to make president get congressional approval before making war, limiting president to 10,000 troops or 60 days and 30 additional days to withdraw

The Informal Powers

• Build morale

• Lead legislation and build coalitions

  • Set legislative agenda

  • Important when government is divided

• Chief of party

  • Influence on party’s agenda, issues, policy, strategy, and direction

  • Divided government: when the president and majorities in houses are not from the same political party

  • Unified government: when the house majorities and the president are from the same political party

• Persuade policy and communicate to Congress and the country

  • Bully pulpit lets the president speak with the American people and helps them to pressure Congress

• Theories about how the president chooses to use power:

  • Literalist doctrine: president only has the powers listed in Article II of the Constitution and should not use power that is not granted; not followed by any president 1920s

  • Stewardship doctrine: gives the president the ability to use power in multiple ways and arenas; free to use any power not denied to them by the Constitution; increases power of president

  • Unitary executive theory: gives executive branch nearly unlimited power to develop any policy that is necessary

Executive Office of the President

• Helps carry out president’s administrative responsibilities

• Made up of agencies involved in the White House, divided into domestic, foreign, and military areas

• Chief of staff: top aid to the president; very trustworthy and known for a long time; considered extremely powerful, manages Executive Office, controls access to president (+ information received by president)

• National Security Counsel (NSC): headed by national security advisor, direct access to president in situations related to the military or foreign policy; involved during national emergencies, free from congressional oversight, favored by president

• Domestic Policy Counsel: helps the president create policies related to agriculture, education, energy, natural resources, drug abuse, crime, health, the economy, and welfare

• Office of Management and Budget (OMB): prepares US budget and used to control/manage executive agencies; very powerful because it is able to fund cabinet departments and control the department’s effectiveness

• Council of Economic Advisors: helps the president make economic policy; made of economists to advise president

• US trade representative: negotiates trade and tariff agreements with help from the White House

The Cabinet

• Created through custom and usage, not by the Constitution

• Cabinet departments created by acts of Congress to control executive branch responsibilities

• Cabinet secretaries appointed by president + approved by Senate

  • Able to be dismissed by president

  • Run departments, carry out policies

  • Used to deflect criticism and explain/promote policy

  • Fight for their own department => friction between departments

    • Presidents don’t usually hold full cabinet meetings

• 15 cabinet departments in total (latest: Department of Homeland Security, created after 9/11)

Impeachment

• Gives Congress the ability to remove president for crimes

  • Crimes undefined by Constitution-- up to legislative branch to decide

• House of Representatives impeaches president (brings charges) by majority vote

• Senate holds trial with Chief Justice presiding if impeachment passes w/two-thirds vote to remove president

• Political disagreement over when impeachment should be used

  • Every impeachment has divided Congress between parties

• No president has been removed from office

  • House impeached Andrew Johnson for violating Tenure in Office Act, Senate fell one vote short of removing him from office

  • Watergate scandal caused Richard Nixon to resign before impeachment could begin

  • Impeachment of Bill Clinton for lying under oath was political, slim chance of Senate conviction

  • Donald Trump impeached for abuse and power and obstruction of Congress, but not convicted by Senate

• Federal judges can only be removed by impeachment and have lifetime terms

  • Only 8 have ever been removed

The Judiciary and the Law

American Legal Principles

• Equal justice under the law

• Due process of law

  • Substantive due process: whether laws are fair

    • Bill of Rights, 14th Amendment, Constitution

  • Procedural due process: whether laws are applied fairly

• Adversarial system

  • Both sides must be represented

  • Opposite = inquisitorial system

• Presumption of innocence

  • Innocent until proven guilty

Types of Law

• Most legal cases involve civil law or criminal law

  

• Criminal law involves crimes that harm others

  • Suspect arrested and to be indicted by grand jury (24-48 jurors, decide whether or not trial should begin

  • If accused is indicted they have the option of plea bargaining with the prosecution to agree to a less serious crime and sentence

    • Most cases end in plea bargains

  • State/US opposes accused in criminal trials

    • Prosecution should prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt

    • Held before petit juries (12 people), decision known as verdict

      • Guilty verdict only returned if all 12 jurors vote to convict

      • Split jury = “hung jury”, results in a mistrial

• Civil law solves conflicts over custody, contracts, property, or issue of liability

  • Government is not involved unless it is being sued

  • No prosecution

  • Plaintiff vs. defendant in civil court

  • Case moves forward if judge/jury thinks complaint has merit, settlement is used to avoid trial

    • Settlement = how much each party is willing to give up

  • Plaintiff only needs to show that a preponderance of evidence favors their side (~51% of evidence)

  • Juries can be made of as few as 5-6 members

  • Winning can result in payment of monetary damages or equity (loser forced to stop doing something that was annoying or harmful)

Structure and Jurisdiction

• Federal courts responsible for interpreting/settling disputes from federal law

• State courts responsible for interpreting/settling disputes from state law

• Three levels of federal courts:

  • Federal District Courts: have original jurisdiction

  • Federal Circuit Court of Appeals: hear cases on appeal from District Courts

  • Supreme Court: hears appeals of cases dealing with the constitution from Circuit Courts and suits between states or cases involving foreign ministers

    • No jury

    • Collegial court - decisions made by 9 justices

    • Acts in appellate jurisdiction, can only decide issues of law and not facts of a case

• 94 Federal District Courts

  • Inferior to Supreme Court

  • Civil and criminal cases in original jurisdiction

  • Trial court that determines guilt/innocence is court of original jurisdiction

    • Heat evidence and use juries to decide verdict

  • dDecide liability in civil cases with monetary losses

    • Also have juries

    • Defendant can ask judge to decide a case, but a judge can refuse and force the defendant to have a jury trial

• 13 Circuit Courts of Appeals

  • Hear cases on appeal from Federal District Courts or state Supreme Court

  • Someone has to claim that a federal constitutional right has been violated

  • Decide issues of law and not fact

  • No juries - decisions made by panels of appointed judges

  • Court of last resort, Supreme Court almost never hears cases appealed from the Circuit Courts

  • Origins of most Supreme Court justices

The Politics of the Judiciary

• All judges are appointed by the president for life

• Must go through confirmation process in Senate

• Impeachment is only method of removal

• Appointments have become political

  • Some presidents have required potential appointees to fill out a questionnaire to determine political/judicial ideology

  • Nominees almost always of same party as president

  • In nomination hearings before Senate Judiciary Committee, both parties try to determine how appointees would rule in cases dealing with their issues

  • American Bar Association evaluates nominee’s qualifications and interest groups often show their opinions

  • Senators in a state where an appointee will sit have exercised senatorial courtesy - submit a list of acceptable nominees to president

    • Expected only when president and senators are the same party

  • Ideological changes in Court’s makeup has resulted in new precedents and rejection of old precedents

    • More precedents overturned since 1950s than in 150 years

    • Courts are seen as the least democratic, when they overturn an act of legislature they are overruling the people’s will

      • Judges who are hesitant to overturn legislature practice judicial restraint

      • Liberals see judges as constitutional interpreters who reflect the people’s values

      • Judicial activist: a judge who will readily overturn an act of legislature

Process by Which Cases Reach the Supreme Court

• Not part of the Constitution

• Supreme Court will not grant an appeal until all other opportunities in lower courts have been exhausted

  • Often refuses to hear appeal because it agrees with lower court decision

  • If 4 justices agree to review lower court’s decisions, court issues a writ of certiorari - document used to request lower court transcripts of case

  • Only rules in cases that involve an actual legal dispute (justiciable)

  • Places limits on who can bring cases before it - petitioner must have interest in case outcome (have standing)

Judicial Review

• Not in the Constitution

• Marbury v. Madison(1803):

  • Chief Justice John Marshall established judicial review

  • John Adams commissioned William Marbury as Justice of the Peace in DC in the last hours of his presidency, approved by Senate; President Jefferson ordered Secretary of state to not deliver commission

  • Article III, Section 2 of Constitution - what is the extent of the Supreme Court’s power regarding judicial review?

  • Ruled that the part of the Judiciary Act allowing the Supreme Court to grant the position of Justice of the Peace was unconstitutional

How the Court Hears Cases

• Both sides submit summaries of their arguments (briefs) and legal foundations

• Interest groups affiliated with both side of the case submit their own briefs

  • Amicus curiaebriefs: effort to sway the justices, can be very influential

• From October to April, court hears oral arguments for cases

  • Lawyers for each party have 30 minutes to present their arguments before the justices

  • Federal government will often take one side, solicitor general can argue on the government’s behalf

    • Known as the “tenth justice”

    • Second-ranking member of the justice department

    • Often makes appearances before the high court

  • Justices meet for a secret meeting after the oral arguments, cast votes, and write opinions

    • Four types of opinions:

      • Unanimous opinion: all justices agree, carries most force in future legal cases, ex. Brown v. Board of Education

      • Majority opinion: the opinion with the most votes, decides the case

      • Concurring opinion: justices may vote with majority but take issue with legal reasoning

      • Dissenting opinion: written by justices in the minority, questioning the winning side

• Power of Supreme Court limited through:

  • Constitutional amendments

  • Judicial appointments/confirmations

  • Legislation that changes court jurisdiction

  • Legislation written to counteract Supreme Court decisions

  • President and states refuse to comply with Supreme Court decisions

The Bureaucracy

• Ensures that policies and programs created by Congress and executive branch are carried out

• Considered part of the executive branch

• Supposed to function above partisan politics

• Bureaucrats operate under merit system - hires and promotes people based on skills and experience

• 15 cabinet secretaries and heads of independent agencies appointed by president and approved by Senate

• Most people who work for the government work for one of the executive departments or other “cabinet level” agencies

• Department of Defense: largest department, administered by Secretary of Defense

  • Reports directly to president

• Each military service is led by a uniformed chief of staff

  • Work together as the Joint Chiefs of Staff, carry out defense policy and report directly to president and Secretary of Defense

• Policy implementation: primary role of the bureaucracy, determines the process for implementing policy once passed

  • Must act within constitutional limits and agency jurisdiction

  • Can develop rules to govern policies and procedures

• Secretary of department at head of each “pyramid”

  • Appointed by president, approved by Senate

  • Undersecretary is direct subordinate, appointed by president without Senate approval

  • Both undersecretary and secretary replaced at the end of president’s term

  • Personnel of Senior Executive Service below the secretaries, including appointed and non-appointed

    • Do not need Senate confirmation

    • Responsive to White House policy goals and help bureaucrats implement president’s policy preferences

Government Corporations

• Hybrid organizations, private business corporation + government agency

• Freedom of action and flexibility, produce revenue to support themselves

• Ex. Amtrak

• USPS was originally created as a cabinet position but has become a government corporation

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting produces and airs television and radio

  • PBS funding comes from private and government subsidies

  • Most programming related to public affairs, news, and culture

Regulatory Agencies and Commissions

• Not within 15 cabinet departments

• Two categories:

  • Independent agencies: generally normal bureaucracies with presidential oversight

  • Regulatory agencies/independent regulatory commissions: more independence, act as watchdogs over federal government; Congress and president are not supposed to interfere

• Writing legislation is complex and often beyond lawmakers’ abilities and expertise - often written in general terms with many gaps

  • Quasi-legislative agencies: independent agencies who fill in gaps and write rules

  • Quasi judicial agencies: rule enforcement, punish violators

• Bureaucrats often has answers for Congress

  • Asked for advice and expertise

  • Often ignored because of interest groups’ pressure

  • Write and enforce rules that regulate environment, economy, or industry

• Examples of regulatory agencies:

  • Federal Trade Commission: prevents fraud in marketplace, prevents price fixing and deceptive advertising

  • Securities and Exchange Commission: protects investors by regulating stock markets and preventing corporations from false and misleading claims of profits

  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission: controls how power companies design, build, and operate nuclear reactors

  • Federal Communications Commission: assign broadcast frequencies, license radio/TV stations, regulate use of wireless communication

  • Food and Drug Administration: inspect food supply, regulate sales of over-the-counter drugs and patent medicines

  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: prevent price fixing and price manipulation in energy

  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration: ensures a safe work environment for workers

Who Runs Regulatory Agencies?

• Run by Board of Commissioners (panels of administrators)

  • Appointed by president with Senate approval

  • Terms usually overlap president’s term, intended to minimize White House political pressure

    • Term is 3-14 years

  • Ex. Federal Reserve Board: policies affect public’s buying power - regulates banks, monetary value/supply, and interest rates

  • Policies can conflict with president’s policies

Who Controls the Bureaucracy?

• Political considerations always play a part in the appointment process, but presidents and boards/commissions vary regularly

• Rank-and-file bureaucrats are permanent, but they do not like political interference

• Presidents can promote supporters and use budget to change agency’s influence while in office

• More congressional power over bureaucracy than presidential

  • Senate affirms/rejects appointments

  • Congress can destroy agencies or change jurisdiction

  • Final say over funding

Rule Setting, Alliance Building, and Iron Triangles

• Regulatory agencies set rules and regulations that industry must follow

  • Participatory process, industry involved in determining rules

  • Hold public hearings for testimony and advice

  • Law requires agencies to consult with industry in most cases before rules/regulations can go into effect

  • Iron triangle: informal alliance made of three groups: particular industry + lobbyists, congressional committee dealing with that industry, and the agency that is affected

    • Groups that make iron triangle work together to create and implement policy

      • Lobbyists representing industries promote their agendas by claiming it is in the best interest of the American people

      • Special interests contribute money to congressional campaigns, large donators ask for help from representatives

      • Alliance/issue network: a close working relationship formed when issues affect many groups by pro/con coalitions of interest groups, Congress members, and bureaucrats

      • Regulatory agency writes/publishes rules after input and debate opportunities have been exhausted

        • Industry can sue regulatory agency if it objects to regulation

• Deregulation: removing government restrictions and regulations

  • Those in favor claim that competition of marketplace is all that is needed

    • Regulation is expensive and time-consuming

Civil Service and Maintaining Neutrality

• Civil service system: Office of Personnel Management is bureaucracy’s employment agency, administers civil service examination, publishes job opening lists, and hires based on merit

  • Established in 1883 by the Pendleton Act, which ended the patronage system (giving government jobs for political support)

  • Intended to create a competent, professional bureaucracy

  • Merit Systems Protection Board investigates charges of agency corruption, protects whistleblowers

• Hatch Act (1939): passed to ensure bureaucratic neutrality; permits bureaucrats right to vote but not the right to campaign for political candidates, run for office, or work for parties

  • Revision of 1993 is less restrictive - bureaucrats can join political parties, make campaign contributions, and display political advertising (buttons/bumper stickers)

    • Still cannot run for public office, solicit campaign funds from subordinates, or make political speeches

Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

The Bill of Rights

• December 15, 1791

• First 10 amendments added to the Constitution within three years of its ratification

• Originally written by James Madison

• Civil liberties: protections from the abuse of government power

• Civil rights: protections from discrimination based on race, gender, or other minorities

The Extension of Civil Liberties Through American History

• Barron v. Baltimore (1833): determined that Bill of Rights restricted national government but not state governments

  • Overturned in Gitlow v. New York, citing 14th Amendment restrictions on the states, concerned freedom of speech + press

  • Selective incorporation: court applies Bill of Rights on a case-by-case basis

    • Rights not incorporated and may be restricted by states:

      • Third Amendment, protection against forced quartering of troops in private homes

      • Fifth Amendment, right to indictment by grand jury

      • Seventh Amendment, right to a jury trial in civil cases

      • Eight Amendment, protection against excessive bail and fines

      • All other parts of the Bill of Rights apply equally to state + national government

        • None of the rights in the Bill of Rights is absolute

        • Court has consistently weighed rights of individuals against society’s needs

First Amendment Rights and Restrictions

• Freedom of speech

  • Congress cannot pass a law preventing citizens from expressing their opinions

  • Supreme Court has placed limits on freedoms

    • Clear and present danger test: a person cannot cause panic for a false reason

    • No constitutional protection for slander/libel, obscenity, or speech to incite violence

    • Followed preferred position doctrine since 1940s in determining free speech limits

      • Free speech is fundamental to liberty

      • Any limits must be because of severe/imminent threats to the nation and limited to only constraining those threats

      • Court protects offensive but nonthreatening speech (ex. flag burning)

  • Schenck v. United States(1919): a socialist (Schenck) handing out leaflets telling men not to enlist was arrested

    • Unanimous decision, conviction was constitutional and resulting from violation of the Espionage Act of 1917

    • Speech posed a “clear and present danger” to the US

  • Tinker v. Des Moines(1969): John and Mary Beth Tinker wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War

    • In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects minors at school under certain circumstances

    • 7-2 decision, ruled that children in public schools were protected by the First Amendment if their speech did not violate constitutional, specific regulations and does not cause a “substantial disruption”

• Freedom of the press

  • Few instances in which the government can use prior restraint (crossing out parts of an article before it is published)

  • Media has objected to limitations of news/media - usually go to court: ned to be informed vs. security concerns

  • Media’s responsibility to reveal information sources - Supreme Court ruled that reporters are not exempt from testifying and can be asked to name sources

    • Reporters who refuse to reveal sources can be arrested

    • Some state have created shield laws to protect reporters in state cases

  • Miller v. California (1973) established 3-part obscenity test

    • Would the average person judge the piece as appealing primarily to a person’s sexual instincts?

    • Does the work lack other value?

    • Does the work depict sexual behavior offensively?

  • New York Times v. United States(1971): Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers (about US in Vietnam) to the New York Times, when the Washington Post started to publish the Pentagon Papers, the government sued

    • Said to have violated the Espionage Act of 1917

    • 6-3 decision - Supreme Court ruled that the newspapers could publish the Pentagon Papers because the government had not had the proof necessary to enact prior restraint

    • Established a “heavy presumption against prior restraint” including in cases that involve national security

• Freedom of petitioning the government

• Freedom of assembly

  • Right to assemble peacefully

  • Does not extend to groups/demonstrations that would incite violence

  • Government can restrict crowd gatherings if applied equally to all groups

  • Groups must not interrupt day-to-day life

  • Court ruled that freedom of speech + freedom of assembly implies a freedom of association: government cannot restrict groups people belong to as long as they do not threaten national security

  • Letter from a Birmingham Jail (Martin Luther King Jr.)

    • MLK arrested in Birmingham for organizing marches and sit-ins to protest segregation

    • Wrote a letter to African American religious leaders, outlined key ideas about importance of nonviolent protest through peaceful assembly

• Freedom of religion

  • Free exercise of religion

  • Not absolute - human sacrifice, polygamy, and denial of medical treatment to children are not allowed

  • Ruled that Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot be required to salute the American flag and Amish children may stop going to school after 8th grade

  • Court weighs individual rights to free religion against needs of society

  • Establishment clause: Constitution prevents government from establishing state religion

    • Wall between church and state is not solid

    • Court allowed government money to provide some parochial education

    • Allowed tax credits for non-public school costs

    • Lemon test after Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

      • Does the law have a secular purpose?

      • Is the law neutral towards religion?

      • Does the law avoid “excessive entanglement” between church and state?

  • Engel v. Vitale(1962): families sued their children’s school district for forcing prayer in the classroom

    • Violated First Amendment’s establishment cause

    • 6-1 decision ruled that school prayer violated First Amendment

  • Wisconsin v. Yoder(1972): three Amish families were fined for taking their children out of school after eighth grade

    • 8-1 decision ruled that Amish families were allowed to take their children out of school after the eighth grade (free exercise clause)

The Second Amendment

• McDonald v. Chicago(2010): McDonald wanted to buy a gun for self-defense but couldn’t because of city restrictions on handgun registrations, said it violated 14th Amendment’s due process clause

  • 5-4 decision ruled that states cannot impede their citizens’ rights to keep and bear arms

• United States v. Lopez(1995): Alfonso Lopez arrested for taking a gun to school, convicted for violating Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990

  • 5-4 decision ruled that GFSZA was unconstitutional because it was under the commerce clause but didn’t relate to commerce

The Third Amendment

• Forbids quartering of soldiers and direct public support of armed forces

• Most antiquated amendment

The Fourth Amendment

• Restricts government agencies in criminal/civil procedural investigations, protects a person’s belongings from “unreasonable searches and seizures”

• Police must go before a judge to justify a search of private property

  • Probable cause: judge believes that the search will find evidence of a crime

  • Search warrant: issued by a judge, limits where police search and what they can take as evidence

    • Exclusionary rule: all evidence illegally taken by police cannot be used as evidence

      • Objective good faith exception (1984): established by the Supreme Court, allows for convictions in cases where an illegal search occurred but was performed under the assumption that it was legal

      • Inevitable discovery rule: illegally seized evidence that eventually would have been found legally is admissible in court

    • Police may conduct a search without a warrant

      • May conduct a search of private property after a legal arrest, if the owner consents, if evidence is found in plain view, or if they have probable cause to believe they will find evidence of crime, especially when there are exigent circumstances (reason to believe evidence would disappear after a warrant was received)

• Challenged by how the government can collect citizens’ data, especially digitally (wiretapping, collection of phone records, computer hacking)

The Fifth Amendment

• Does the most to protect a citizen from the broad powers of the federal government

• Guarantee of grand jury when a suspect is held for a capital/”infamous” crime

• Prevents a person from being prosecuted repeatedly for the same crime by prohibiting double jeopardy

• Establishes right of government to seize property for the public under auspices of eminent domain if the seizure can be compensated

• Federal government cannot deprive a person of “life, liberty, or property by any level unless due process of law is applied”

• Rights granted to the accused

• Controversial rights

  • Some say they make it too hard to capture, try, and arrest criminals

• Gideon v. Wainwright(1963): Earl Gideon was accused of breaking-and-entering, theft, and destruction of property but was not given an attorney

  • Unanimous decision that Florida violated 6th Amendment right to an attorney

Protection from Self-Incrimination

• Defendant cannot be forced to testify at a trial

• Jury is not supposed to infer guilt if a defendant refuses to testify

• Defendant must be informed of their right to remain silent, their right to a lawyer, and protection against self-incrimination when they arrested

  • “Mirandized”

The Sixth Amendment

• Allows the accused to be prosecuted by an impartial jury

  • Right to be informed of charges, confront witnesses, subpoena witnesses for defense, and have a lawyer

• Forms basis for habeas corpus

  • Protects against illegal imprisonment, ensures a person cannot be held indefinitely without being charged in front of a judge/in court or without a legal reason to extend detention

• Extended to misdemeanor cases if they could result in jail time

• Right to a speedy trial

  • 100-day limit between arrest and trial start

  • Prosecutors and defense attorneys can request an extension to prepare cases

The Seventh Amendment

• Allows for trial by jury in common-law cases

The Eighth Amendment

• Bans excessive bail/fines and cruel or unusual punishments

• Not required to offer bail to all defendants

  • Bail Reform Act (1984): lets federal judges deny bail to dangerous defendants or those likely to flee the country

    • States are allowed to set bail as high as state law permits

• Cruel and unusual punishment clause is the cause of debate over the death penalty

  • Court has placed limits on its applications

  • Court has upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty when used properly

  • The court has moved to make it easier for states to carry out the death penalty by limiting the nature and number of appeals allowed by convicted murderers on death row

  • Some states have enacted moratoriums on the death penalty - methodology problems, ethical objections, flawed trial processes

The Ninth Amendment

• Limited federal government

• Rights not mentioned in the Constitution are still protected

• Implied right to privacy and other rights

The Right of All Americans to Privacy

• Supreme Court ruled that Bill of Rights contained implied right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut

  • Combination of 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th amendments

Civil Rights

Civil Rights and African Americans

• Most African Americans were denied almost all legal rights before the Civil War

• 1833 - Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights applied to the federal government only

  • States created discriminatory/segregationist

• Civil War (1861-1865) - began over the issue of slavery

  • Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Lincoln declared the liberation of enslaved people in the rebel states

  • Influenced civil rights process - increase in federal government power

• 13th Amendment (1865): made slavery illegal, prohibited indentured servitude

• 14th Amendment (1868): declared that all people born in the US were citizens and entitled to equal rights, protected by due processes

  • Clauses about due process and equal protection later used to apply most of the Bill of Rights to state law by Supreme Court

• 15th Amendment (1870): banned laws that prevented African Americans from voting based on race/history of enslavement

• Civil Rights Act of 1875: banned discrimination in public places, parts overturned in 1883 by Supreme Court

• Jim Crow laws + voting restrictions: passed as the federal government had less influence over the South

  • Supported by the Supreme Court ruling that the 14th Amendment did not protect African Americans from discriminatory state laws and would have to find equal protection from the states

  • Jim Crow laws: segregationist laws

  • Poll taxes (a tax paid to vote) and literacy tests used to keep African Americans from voting, grandfather clauses allowed poor/illiterate whites to vote (removed restrictions on anyone whose grandfather had voted)

• Equal Pay Act of 1963: made it illegal to base pay on race/gender/religion/national origin

• 24th Amendment (1964): outlawed poll taxes

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: increased rights of African Americans + other minorities, gave the federal government more ways of enforcing the law

  • Banned discrimination in public areas and government-funded programs

  • Prohibited discrimination in hiring based on color and gender

  • Required government to cut funding for any program that did not follow the law

  • Gave the federal government the power to sue when schools were segregated

• Voting Rights Act of 1965: designed to counteract voting in the South; allowed to federal government to step in any area using literacy tests or where less than 50% of the population was registered to vote to register voters

• Civil Rights Act, Title VIII (1968): banned racial discrimination in housing

• Civil Rights Act of 1991: designed to address issues in civil rights law that had recently arisen

  • Eased restrictions on job applicants/employees suing employers that discriminated in hiring

Brown v. Board of Education(1954): a group of families from Kansas sued the city’s board of education for enforcing segregation

• Unanimous decision ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional nationwide

Current Issues

• Most public school systems are still essentially segregated because neighborhoods feeding into them are segregated

  • De factosegregation increased by difference in average incomes between white + Black people

    • De juresegregation is segregation by law

    • Lower-income neighborhoods end up with poorly-funded, overcrowded schools

• Discrimination in employment, housing, and higher education

  • Affirmative action programs seek to create special employment opportunities for minorities, women, and other discriminated people, but are controversial

    • Opponents argue that these programs penalize white people and constitute reverse discrimination

Civil Rights and Women

• 19th Amendment (1920): granted women the right to vote

• Equal Pay Act of 1963: (mentioned above)

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: (mentioned above)

• Title IX, Higher Education Act (1972): prohibits gender discrimination by institutions of higher education that are government-funded, used to force increase funding of women-only programs

• Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988: increased Title IX’s power, allowed government to cut funding to schools that violate it

• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009: closed a loophole that limited suits on discriminatory pay based on the timing of the issuance of the first discriminatory paycheck

  • Expanded limits to allow suits based on any discriminatory paycheck

• Sexual harassment at work has gained prominence

  • Difficult to prove legally

  • Efforts to combat it include public-awareness programs, sensitivity training, and increased legal penalties for harassers

• Abortion has remained controversial since Roe v. Wade (1973 - now removed from the AP Exam)

Other Major Civil Rights Advances

• Age Discrimination Act of 1967: prohibits discriminatory hiring based on age with an exception for jobs where age is essential to job performance, amendment banned some mandatory retirement ages and increased others to 70

• 26th Amendment (1971): allowed 18-year-olds to vote

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1975): ensured that children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive an appropriate, free public education

• Voting Rights Act of 1982: requires states to create congressional districts with minority majorities to increase minority representation in House of Representatives

  • Resulted in creation of strangely shaped districts

• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: requires businesses with >24 employees to make their offices accessible to disabled, requires wheelchair-accessible public transportation, new offices, hotels, and restaurants and development of wider telephone services for the hearing-impaired

Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

• Public opinion: how people feel about things

  • Pollsters measure public opinion

  • Not uniform - general public care more about political issues that directly affect their regular lives

  • Political issue does not have to interest the majority of the public to be considered important

    • Issue public: a smaller group to which an issue is important

Characteristics of Public Opinion

• Characteristics:

  • Saliency: the degree to which an issue is important to a certain individual/group

  • Intensity: how strongly people feel about a particular issue

  • Stability: how much dimensions of public opinion change

• Measured indirectly through elections, but hard to translate

• Referendum submitted to popular vote to accept/reject a legislation, measures public opinion on specific issues

• Public opinion polls measure public opinion most frequently and directly

Polls Measure Public Opinion

• Designed to measure public opinion by asking a smaller group questions

  • Achieved by pollsters through random sampling: allows pollsters to find information representative of the public

  • Benchmark polls: conducted by a campaign when a candidate initially announces

    • Provide campaign with baseline data to see if chances of winning election improve over time

  • Tracking polls: performed multiple times with the same sample to track changes in opinion

  • Entrance polls: collected on Election Day as voters go to cast their vote

  • Exit polls: conducted at polling places, targeting voting districts that represent the public and poll random voters leaving the place

  • Stratified random sampling: variation of random sampling; population divided into subgroups and weighted based on demographics

  • Questions must be carefully worded (objectively)

  • Polls cannot be 100% accurate

    • Sampling error: how wrong the poll results may be

      • Ex. 60% with a sampling error of 4% would mean the real percentage could be between 56 and 64%

      • More respondents = lower sampling error

Where Does Public Opinion Come From?

• Political socialization: the process by which a person develops political attitudes

  • Factors:

    • Family

      • Most people eventually are of the same political party as their parents

      • Children get moral/ethical values from parents

    • Location

      • Rural areas develop more socially conservative views than cities

    • Religious institutions

    • Mass media

    • Higher education

      • Large change in political beliefs

Political Ideologies

• Ideology: a coherent set of thoughts and beliefs about politics and government

  • Conservative: less government interference; oppose most federal regulations (laissez-faire economics); social conservatives support government involvement in social issues

  • Liberal: more government assistance to help social/economic problems; government regulation of economy; separation of church and state

  • Moderate/independent: no coherent ideology; common sense over philosophical principles

• Americans have fewer ideological groups

• Strongly ideological Americans tend to be more politically active

  • Political activities/organizations

  • Candidates must appeal to more extreme party members in primaries but be more moderate in general elections

Determining Factors in Ideological and Political Behavior

• Factors:

  • Race/ethnicity: groups with lower income are usually more liberal

  • Religion: Jews and Protestants are more liberal; Catholics lean left but are more conservative on social issues; Protestants are more conservative

  • Gender: women tend to be more liberal

  • Income level: higher income Americans tend to be more supportive of liberal goals but more fiscally conservatives; lower income Americans are more conservative on issues except welfare

  • Region: East Coast is more liberal, South is more conservative, West Coast is the most polarized/mixed; cities are more liberal while rural/small towns are conservative

Public Opinion and the Mass Media

• News media

  • News broadcasts on TV, radio, and the Internet

  • Newspapers

  • News magazines

  • Magazine broadcast programs

  • Newsmaker interview programs

  • Websites, blogs, news aggregators, online forums

  • Social media

  • Political talk radio/podcasts

• Media sets the public agenda by choosing stories to cover and which to ignore

• Media provides Americans with exposure to the government + politicians

  • Question motives of government

  • Exposure to news media has increased, more influence over the years

• Media only affects public opinion when it is volatile or news coverage is extensive and mostly positive/negative

  • Most instances it does not have an effect - media covers many stories simultaneously, Americans choose media that enforce their political beliefs

• Social media has become a tool for grassroots political movements

Are News Organizations Biased?

• There is less ideological bias in news than critics claim

  • News media has become less biased throughout American history

  • Most news organizations want to be objective - consumers from both sides of the political spectrum

  • Impossible for news media to be completely objective

    • Simple stories are faster to run and don’t bore consumers

  • Time and space result in bias

    • Especially with TV news programs

      • Must report many stories in limited time

      • Use short sound bites

  • Can be biased by sources of information

    • Reporters who use politicians/government sources must try not to offend their sources and not become too close but demonstrate independence and credibility

    • Reporters are usually more skeptical about politicians’ motives than Americans are

  • Politicians try to influence news coverage

    • Photo ops

    • Press releases

    • plan appearances based on audience demographics

Unit 5: Political Participation

Citizen Participation

Political Models of Voting Behavior

• Rational choice: what is in the citizen’s individual interest

• Retrospective voting: whether or not a party/candidate should be reelected based on their performance

• Prospective voting: the potential performance of a party/candidate

• Party-line voting: voting for candidates from a single political party for all offices

Political Parties

• Organizations with similar ideologies that try to influence election outcomes and legislative problems

  • Play a formal role in both

• Not mentioned in the Constitution

• Parties formed to unite people who had the same political ideals to elect similar-minded representatives and have similar legislative goals

  • Endorse candidates and help them in elections

  • Parties expect candidates to remain loyal to party goals

• Two major political parties: Democrats and Republicans

  • Two-party or bi-partisan system reinforced by electoral system

    • Difficult for more than two major parties to get on the ballot

Party Characteristics

• Intermediaries between government and people

• Made of activist members, leadership, and grassroots members

• Raise money, get candidates elected, and have positions on policy

• Develop party platforms: list of goals that outlines party’s issues and priorities

• Major purpose is to get candidates elected

  • Since 1960 more states have required parties to choose candidates through primary elections

    • Reduced power of parties - the people must choose candidates

    • Candidates raise their own money and campaign by themselves

Functions of Modern Political Parties

• Three major subdivisions:

  • Party among the electorate: voters identify with and enroll in parties; vote for candidates from their party

  • Party in government: officials belong to parties, pursue goals together (sometimes there are ideological/regional differences)

  • Party organization: group of people, political professionals, who recruit voters and candidates, organize events, and raise money for the party

• Functions:

  • Recruit and nominate candidates: find candidates to run in primaries

  • Educate and mobilize voters: try to persuade voters to vote for party’s candidates; advertisements, rallies, and mailings; target regions with strong support, campaign to persuade voters to vote

  • Provide campaign funds and support: dedicated committees that raise funds for campaigns; state parties raise money for state and national candidates; help candidates (although they mostly rely on their personal campaign staff)

  • Organize government activity: House, Senate, and state legislatures organize leadership + committees along party lines

  • Provide balance through opposition of two parties: each party checks the other; minority party critiques majority party (loyal opposition)

  • Reduce conflict and tension in society: promotes negotiation/compromise: parties encouraged to accommodate voters and voters encouraged to accept policy compromises

• National and state and local party organizations have different functions, not hierarchical

• Party committees organized by geography

  • Local committees coordinate get-out-the-vote (GOTV) drives, canvassing door-to-door, and distribution of leaflets

    • Mostly made of volunteers

    • Work concentrated around election time

  • County committees coordinate local election efforts and committee efforts on the precinct level, send representatives to polling places to monitor voting

  • State committees raise money, provide volunteers, provide support to candidates for offices

    • Senatorial and congressional district committees are part of national party organization; involved in legislative elections when a seat may be lost or gained (incumbents often reelected easily)

  • National party plans national conventions every four years to nominate presidential candidate; sponsors polls

Are Parties in Decline?

• Some believe that parties aren’t as powerful/significant as they were before

  • Before 1968, one party controlled legislative and executive government branches

  • More Americans are voting split ticket than before

    • Consider positions and merits of a candidate than just party affiliation

      • No one party dominates government, officials with different agendas work together

  • Modern candidates control their own campaigns more, appeal directly to public through Internet and television

Party Coalitions

• Political parties of made of multiple groups made of multiple individuals

  • larger coalition = candidate is more likely to win

  • Candidates and positions on policy are made to attract more voters, creating a winning coalition

  • Tend to rely on certain groups as bases of support

Ideological Differences Between Parties

• Both try to be centrist

• Party bases

  • Liberals in Democratic Party

  • Conservatives in Republican Party

Party Realignment

• Occurs when coalitions making up parties split off

  • Ex. groups making up the majority party defect to minority party

  • Rare, occur usually as a result of a major negative event

  • Signaled by a critical election - new party dominates politics

  • Occur over period of time and show permanence

• Trend toward dealignment: results from party members becoming disaffected because of a policy position taken by the party, disaffected members join no party and vote for candidate instead of party

Third Parties

• Form to represent constituencies that feel disenfranchised by major parties

  • Known as splinter/bolter parties, usually united around the feeling that other parties do not respond to their demands

• Can form to represent ideology major parties consider too radical

  • Doctrinal parties

  • Ex. Socialist Party, Libertarian Party

• Single-issue parties formed to promote one principle

  • Ex. American Independent Party

• Can have major impact on elections

• Different from Independent candidates (run w/o party affiliation)

Why Third Parties Fail

• Result of electoral system designed to support two parties

• Campaigns require large amounts of money and large organizations

  • Third party/independent candidates do not have name recognition or support to win majority of votes

• Platform issues of third parties often incorporated into party platforms

• Most states have winner-take-all electoral vote systems

Interest Groups

• Organizations dedicated to particular political goal/goals whose members lobby for the issue, educate voters + office holders, write legislation, and mobilize members to work w/legislators and government agencies

• Often share a common bond: religious, racial, or professional

  • Can also share common interest

• Lobbying: trying to influence legislators

  • Lobbyists are professionals, many are former legislators

• Categories of interest groups:

  • Economic groups: promote and protect members’ economic interests, including business groups and labor groups

  • Public interest groups: nonprofit groups organized around a set of public policy issues, including consumer, environmental, religious, and single-issue groups

  • Government interest groups: localities like states and cities which have lobbying organizations in DC, including mayors, governors

How Interest Groups Influence Government

• Tactics:

  • Direct lobbying: meet privately with government officials to present arguments supporting suggested legislation, often give congress members a great deal of information

  • Testifying before Congress: provide witnesses at committee hearings

  • Socializing: hold social functions and members go to other functions to meet government officials

  • Political donations: donate to candidates and parties, corporations/trade groups/unions form political action committees (PACs) and super PACs

  • Endorsements: announce support for candidates

  • Court action: file lawsuits or class action suits for their interests, submit amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in lawsuits where they aren’t a party so judges can consider their advice

  • Rallying membership: engage in grassroots campaigning by contacting members and asking them to contact legislators in support of program/legislation

  • Propaganda: send out press releases and advertisements promoting their views

Limits on Lobbying

• Most are ineffective

• 1946 Federal Regulation of Lobbying intended to allow government to monitor lobbying activities by requiring lobbyist to register with government and disclose salaries, nature of activities, and expenses

• Laws prohibit certain lobbying activities by former government officials for limited amounts of time

  • Meant to stop influence peddling (using friendships and inside information to get political advantage)

  • Former House members must wait one year and senators must wait two years before directly lobbying Congress but may lobby executive branch immediately after office

  • Law prevents executive officials from lobbying for five years after office

  • Some groups complain of “revolving door” that puts former government employees into jobs as consultants and lobbyists

  • PACs help corporations, unions, and trade associations avoid federal laws prohibiting campaign contributions

Political Action Committees and Super PACs

• Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA - 1974): allowed political action committees (PACs) to be formed by corporations, unions, and trade associations to raise campaign funds

  • Set restrictions on contributions and contributors - must raise money from employees and members and not from treasuries

  • Other interest groups and legislators form PACs

  • Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002(McCain-Feingold Act): regulated campaign finance + PAC donations

    • Prohibited soft money (unregulated donations) to national political parties

    • Limited corporate and union funding for ads about political issues within 60 days of general election and 30 days of primary

    • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission(2010): Supreme Court overturned BCRA limits on PAC funding for “corporate independent expenditures”

      • PACs that donate to certain candidates must have limits on their contributors and donations

      • PACs that do not donate to specific candidates have no fundraising limits as long as they do not coordinate with candidates

        • Unlimited PACs are known as super PACs - generally financed by the rich but can be difficult to locate donors

        • Vague on what coordination is

• Regular PACs: donations from single-candidate committees to individual candidates must be less than or equal to $2500, $5000 for multi-candidate PACs

  • Donations to national political committees must be $15000 or less from multi-candidate PACs and $30800 from single-candidate PACs

527 Groups

• Named after part of tax code

• Tax-exempt organization that promotes political agenda but cannot advocate for/against a specific candidate

• Not regulated by the FEC and not subject to contribution limits

  • Avoid regulations because they are political organizations but not registered as political committees

    • Issue advocacy vs candidate advocacy = disagreed

    • BCRA changed soft money rules to make establishing 527s more appealing than PACs and allowing outside groups to avoid hard money limits of BCRA

Elections

• Run federally every two years

  • New Representative each year

  • Every other allows voters to select president

  • Each Senate seat is elected every six years, state voters choose senator 2/3 of federal elections

• States usually hold their elections at the same time as federal elections to encourage voter turnout and save money

  • Voters choose federal officials, judges, state legislators, governors, and local officials

  • Also may be asked to vote on state bond issues or referenda

• Incumbent advantage

  • Representatives who run for reelection (incumbents) win ~90% of the time

  • House incumbents have a greater advantage than senators

    • House members run in home districts, usually of one party due to gerrymandering

    • Victory in primary election nearly guarantees victory in general election

The Election Cycle

• Two phases:

  • Nominations: when parties choose candidates for general election

    • 39 states use primary elections to select presidential nominees

      • Voters also choose delegates pledged to a presidential candidate

        • Winners go to party’s national convention

      • Some select delegates at state caucuses and conventions

        • Local meetings of party members select representatives to send to statewide party meetings

        • Fewer participants - more informed, more politically active

    • All states use a form of primary to select state + legislative nominees

      • Candidate who receives plurality (greatest number of votes) or majority (more than half) in each primary is the winner

      • Runoff primary held between top two if no candidate gets the required number of votes

        • Most often occurs when many candidates run for an open office

    • Democratic Party grants automatic delegate status to elected party leaders (superdelegates), who generally support the front-runner

    • McGovern-Fraser Commission created in 1968 to promote diversity in delegate pool - recommended that delegates are represented by proportion of population in each state

    • Held between February and late spring of election year (Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary first)

    • Each state has its own rules

    • Several types:

      • Closed primary: only registered members of a political party can vote

      • Open primary: voters can vote in one + any party primary which they choose

      • Blanket primary: voters can vote for one candidate per office of either party

  • General elections: when voters decide who will hold office

    • Held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November

    • Presidential elections: elections when the president is being selected

    • Midterm elections: elections between presidential elections

First Steps Toward Nomination

• Most officials receive the endorsement/nomination of a major party

  • Usually have backgrounds in government

  • Gubernatorial (governor) experience allows candidates to claim executive abilities and are able to run as outsiders

  • Candidates with little-no government experience can be pursued

    • Usually well-respected and popular

    • Ex. military figure

• Must begin up to two years before first primary

  • Most candidates campaign and prepare full-time

  • Presidents running for reelection and vice presidents running for presidency benefit from fame of offices

• Must seek support among party organizations

  • Donors to election/campaign

  • Early stages: meeting w/potential donors, creating PACs, campaigning for endorsements of political groups/leaders

    • “Testing the waters”

• Year before first primaries: attempt to increase public profile

  • Public appearances, media coverage by taking positions on issues and discussing goals of presidencies

  • Vulnerable to media - negative reports or media spin can damage a campaign

• Primary season: raise money, get votes in primaries

  • Those who can’t raise their own money and don’t get enough votes are forced out of the race

  • Begin to assemble campaign staff who will help manage campaign

• Wealthy candidates have tried to run for presidency without needing federal matching funds

Financing Campaigns

• Successful campaign needs large staff, transportation, and resources to hire advertising agencies, pollsters, and consultants

• Raising money is very important

• Presidential candidates who meet certain guidelines may be federally funded

  • Primary candidates who get >10% of votes can apply for federal matching funds

    • Double all campaign donations of $250 and less by matching them

    • Candidates must agree to obey federal spending limits

    • Candidates lose eligibility for receiving <10% of the vote in two primaries in a row until they win >10% of the vote in another primary

• Government funds general election campaigns of two major candidates if they agree not to accept and spend other donations

• Election spending has increased despite campaign finance reform

• No public financing for congressional campaigns, no spending limits

• Many believe that the current campaign finance system corrupts government

  • Hard to change the system

    • Buckley v. Valeo (1976): mandatory spending limits violates First Amendment rights to free expression

  • Benefits incumbents

  • Legislators do not want to make changes because changes could hurt chances at reelection

Primary System

• Candidates campaign widely during the election year

  • Debates, campaign in states by delivering “stump speeches”, plan media events to get positive media coverage of campaigns

  • Earliest primaries provide boost to winning campaign

    • More media exposure, easier to fundraise

    • Major donators usually abandon losers’ campaigns in early primaries

    • Grow more and more important

      • States have pushed forward primary election day to have more influence on which candidates win nominations - front-loading

        • Forces voters to choose early during the election process before they get enough information

      • Many hold primaries on the same day in early March (Super Tuesday)

National Conventions

• Held by both parties to confirm nominee

• Brokered conventions: held when no candidate has received the pledge of a majority of delegates and conventions must decide the nominee

  • Party systems designed to avoid brokered conventions - divides party, can cost election

• Unifies party

  • Primaries can damage/divide a party - candidates attack each other and expose problems within party membership

  • Shows party unity for political gain

    • Nationally televised, covered by news media

• Site of political negotiations

  • Different parts of the party try to win concessions in return for their support during the general election

  • Fights over the party platform (purpose + party goals)

  • Offer political drama - nominees wait until convention to announce running mates

• Greatest impact of conventions on general election results is negative

• Usually help candidates considerably

  • Polls after conventions show approval ratings rise (post-convention bump)

• Changed significantly in the last century

  • Conventions and convention delegates used to select and nominate candidate

The General Election and the Electoral College

• Campaigning for general election similar to campaigning in primaries

  • Rallies, debates, advertisements, positive media coverage

• Differences between general + primary elections

  • Running against members of other parties

    • Primaries - candidates run against own party members, focus on small differences between them

    • Emphasize general policy and philosophical differences between two parties

• Electoral College: created by the framers to insulate government from whims of less-educated public

  • Each state given number of electors = senators + representatives

  • Winner of state wins all of state’s electors (winner-take-all system)

  • Victory is more dependent on winning large states

    • Candidates often devote lots of time to swing states

Media Influence on Elections

• News media provides voters with daily campaign information

  • Report on positions but concentrate on polls

    • Prefer information that changes regularly and can be reported quickly (horse race aspect)

• Campaign advertisements provide more controlled look at candidates

  • Attempt to build a positive image w/public and belittle opponents through negative advertising (especially when public knows little about a candidate)

Election Day

• Voter turnout lower for midterm elections

  • American voter turnout rates are lowers among all Western democracies

• Patterns:

  • More educated, more likely to vote

  • Older Americans have higher turnout rates than younger ones

  • Voters are less likely to vote when they think they know who will win an election

  • Affected by legislation

    • National Voter Registration Act (1993) - made voting easier

      • Allows voters to register at the same time they apply for a driver’s license

    • Photo ID laws decrease voter turnout by requiring voters to show a photo ID before voting

      • Controversial

      • May reduce voter fraud but IDs can be hard to get

• Media also report election results based on age, gender, race, income level, region, and other demographics to analyze the results

  • Mandate: a clear message sent by the voters — a clear winner

  • Split-ticket voting: voting for a presidential candidate of one party and legislators of another

    • Leads to divided government (when one party controls the Senate and/or House and the other controls the executive branch)

      • Creates gridlock: two branches work against each other or can result in the creation of moderate policy

      • Encourages party dealignment because voters do not clearly align with their parties

Policy Making Objectives

• Can have three purposes:

  • Solving a social problem (crime rates, unemployment, poverty)

  • Countering threats (terrorism, war)

  • Pursuing an objective (building highways, curing cancer, space exploration)

• Can be achieved by prohibiting behavior (banning something), protecting activities (ex. granting copyrights), promoting social activity (ex. tax deductions for donations), or providing direct benefits to citizens (ex. subsidies or building things)

• Depends on public opinion

  • Issue-attention cycle: requires policy makers to act quickly before the public gets bored and loses interest

• Involves trade-offs between competing goods

  • Ex. finding more energy resources endangers the environment

• Often has unpredictable results

  • Incrementalism: slow, step-by-step way of making policy

  • Inaction: taking no action to make policy (maintaining the status quo)

Policy Making Process

1. Defining the role of government: left sees a greater responsibility for the government than the right

2. Agenda-setting: identifying problems and changing them into political issues, ranking in order of importance

   1. Can try to address opposing sides’ concerns

   2. Momentous events may set the agenda

3. Policy formulation and adoption: legislative process, executive orders from the president, rules created by regulatory agencies, Supreme Court decisions

4. Policy implementation: enforcement through government agency; includes timetables, rules, and anticipated problems

5. Policy evaluation: is the policy effective? Have consequences created other problems?

Obstacles to Policy Making

• policy can be made at federal, state, and local levels

• Executive, judicial, and legislative branches can make policy, as well as bureaucracy

• Lobbyists try to lobby policy-making areas of the government

• Framers made it hard to make policy by having multiple policy-making centers

  • Causes policy fragmentation: many pieces of legislation deal with parts of policy problems but never address the whole problem

Economic Policy

• Economy is often the most important issue

  • President is held responsible for successes and failures of the economy

• Politicians want to make policies that better people’s standards of living because of the importance of the economy

• Many problems with economy: supply of money, inflation/deflation, interest rates, etc.

Economic Theory

• Mixed economies: made of capitalist free-market systems where government and private industry play a role

  • Private and public ownership of production and distribution of goods and services

    • Price is determined by free-market interplay of supply and demand

    • Profits after taxes are kept by owners

  • Periods of prosperity an economic contraction

    • How much should the government intervene?

      • Laissez-faire economists think that the government should never get involved in the economy

        • Pursuit of profit benefits society

        • Free markets are governed by the laws of nature

        • Readopted by US since the Cold War ended

      • Keynesian economics: the government can smooth out business cycles by influencing individuals’ income amounts and the amounts businesses can spend on goods and services

        • New Deal - 1930s

Fiscal Policy

• Government action of raising/lowering taxes, resulting in more/less consumer spending or enacting of government spending programs

• Keynesians think that government should spend money on projects during economic downturns to inject money into economy

  • Prosperous economy = larger tax base

• Deficit spending: funds raised by borrowing, not taxation

• Supply-side: believe that government should cut taxes and spending on programs to stimulate more production

  • Congress enacted tax cuts and reductions to welfare programs in 1980s, brought inflation under control but budget deficits caused large debt

Monetary Policy

• How the government controls the supply of money in circulation and credit through actions of the Federal Reserve Board

  • Can increase amount of money in circulation by lowering interest rates, which make borrowing money less expensive and inflate the economy (higher prices and wages)

  • Raising interest rates deflates the economy (more stable/lower prices or wages)

• Monetary policy can be implemented in three ways by the Federal Reserve Board:

  • Manipulating reserve requirement: raises/lowers the amount of money banks are required to keep on hand; raising shrinks the amount of money available for borrowing and raising interest rates

  • Manipulating the discount rate: raises/lowers interest banks pay to the Federal Reserve Board to borrow money; lowering lowers consumer loans’ interest rates and more customers will purchase

  • Manipulating open market operations: Federal Reserve buys/sells US government bonds; people withdraw money from banks to get bonds; as bank has less to loan, consumer interest rates rise, slowing consumer spending and economic growth

• Some believe that government should only intervene to manipulate money supply

  • Believe that money supply should be increased constantly to accommodate growth

The Tools of Economic Policy Making

• President receives advice about economy from:

  • Council of Economic Advisors

  • National Economic Council

  • Office of Management and Budget

  • Secretary of the Treasury

• President can influence monetary/fiscal policies through appointment power and policy initiatives

Fiscal Policy Making

• Director of OMB (Office of Management and Budget) initiates budget process, meets with president to discuss policy initiatives

• OMB writes president’s budget and submits it to Congress

  • Budget sent to House Ways and Means Committee (taxing aspects of budget), Authorization committees in both houses (decide which programs Congress wants to fund), Appropriations committees in both houses (decides how much money should be spent for those programs that have been authorized)

• Budget process is complicated and nearly impossible to conclude

  • President’s projected expenditures and revenues conflict with Congress’s

    • Neither trust the other’s numbers

  • Budget Reform Act of 1974: created Congressional Budget Office with budget committees in both houses (set revenue + spending levels); White House and Congress houses negotiate to get one acceptable budget

    • Failure to achieve a budget at the start of the fiscal year could result in government shutting down and employees getting sent home

      • Budget stop-gap bills are passed to temporarily appropriate money to keep the government running

  • Budget Enforcement Act of 1990: tried to streamline budget process and make it easier to compromise; categorizes government expenditures as discretionary or mandatory spending

    • Mandatory spending: required by law to fund programs such as entitlement programs, Medicare, Social Security, payment on national debt, and veterans’ pensions

    • Discretionary spending: not required by law, programs include research grants, education, defense, highways, and all government operations

Trade Policy

• Other countries depend on US as a market for their products

  • Balance of trade: ratio of imported products to exported products

  • Trade deficits: when imports are greater than exports

    • Cause wealth to flow from a nation

    • Nations often put restrictions on imported goods

    • Nation facing restrictions can put high import taxes or unfair regulations on products

    • Trade wars can result

  • Trade surpluses: when more money flows into a country than out

    • Ex. oil-producing nations

  • General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): signed by the US to promote trade; evolved into World Trade Organization (WTO), which account for 97% of global trade, works to lower quotas and tariffs and reduce unfair trade practices

  • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA - 1944): signed to promote trade between the US, Canada, and Mexico

    • Removed tariffs from one another’s products

    • Controversial

      • Opposed by US labor unions, feared that jobs would be lost to Mexican labor

      • Others feared that US industrial capacity would be damaged because factories would move to Mexico

      • Supporters claimed that it would improve US economy and create jobs in Mexico

    • Revised in 2018 and renamed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)

Domestic Policy

• Liberals believe that the government should provide social-welfare programs, conservatives believe they encroach on individual responsibilities and liberties

• Great Society programs (Johnson administration) expanded government welfare programs but were eliminated/reduced by the Reagan administration

• Types of social welfare programs:

  • Social insurance programs: national insurance programs to which employees and employers pay taxes; public believes that benefits have been earned because they pay into them

  • Public assistance programs: not paid for by recipients, result of condition and government responsibility to help the needy

Social Security

• Entitlement program mandated by law in which government pays benefits to all people who meet requirements

Changing law would require congressional action

• Little chance of major changes because the largest portion of the electorate is made of those around retirement age

• Largest federal budget expense

• Originally provided benefits to only retired people beginning at age 65

• Expanded to four categories:

  • Retired workers who are 65+ years old receive payments from the Social Security trust fund monthly

    • Entitled to a COLA (cost of living adjustment) if inflation rate >3%

    • Necause society is aging and ratio of workers to retirees is declining, money now paid into system pays present recipients; workers will have higher taxes to maintain retirees’ incomes

  • Medicare provides assistance to people >65 for healthcare; can pay more doctor’s bills for retirees who pay additional tax on social security benefit

  • Medicaid provides medical/health-related services for low-income individuals; funded by states and federal government and managed/run by states

  • Temporary unemployment insurance provides a limited weekly benefit; administered by state governments but both federal and state governments pay into trust fund to provide benefit

Social Welfare

• First federal welfare programs established by Social Security Act in 1930s; largest and most controversial known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)

• Designed to help targeted groups

  • Public assistance programs (welfare) help families whose total income is below federally determined minimum required to provide for basic needs of family

    • Opposing claim that welfare encourages families to have more children

  • Supplemental public assistance programs (SSI) help disabled and aged living at/near poverty level

  • SNAP benefits provides food stamps to improve diet and buying power of the poor

  • Welfare Reform Act (1996): attempted to reduce number of people living on public assistance; block grants from federal government are the greatest contribution, states also fund some and administer programs

    • Reduces welfare rolls and forces people to find work

      • Abolished AFDC, replacing it with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

      • Requires adults to find work in 2 years or be cut off

      • Places lifetime limit of 5 years for welfare eligibility

      • Prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving assistance

Health Care

• Americans spend more than 17% of gross domestic product (GDP) (total of goods/services produced per year) on health care

• Most expensive health care system in the world

• Most rely on various types of insurance programs to pay for health care costs instead of a national program run by the government

• Electorate divided on how to solve issues of universal health care and health care costs

  • Voters want increased coverage but probably don’t want to pay for it

  • Only taxes paid willingly are “sin taxes” (alcohol and tobacco products), do not generate enough revenue

  • Another issue is whether health benefits should be government or privately administered program

  • Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (2010) (Obamacare): signed by President Obama

    • Most significant health-care legislation

    • Allowed federal government to fine people who do not have insurance (“individual mandate”)