AP GOV UNIT 2

🏛 The Legislative Branch (Congress)

Unit 2 focuses on the three branches of government and their interactions, starting with the legislative branch, also known as Congress.

Structure of Congress

Congress is a bicameral legislature, meaning it consists of two houses:

1. House of Representatives:

   • Representatives are apportioned by population; states with larger populations have more representatives.

   • Representatives serve two-year terms, making them closely tied to the people they represent.

   • There are 435 representatives.

2. Senate:

   • Each state has two senators, totaling 100 senators.

   • Senators serve six-year terms.

   • Senators represent an entire state and may be less connected to the intimate details of their constituency compared to House members.

Both houses must agree on identical versions of bills before they can be passed on to the President for signing.

Coalitions are formed in both houses to make the legislative process more efficient. Senate coalitions tend to be longer lasting due to the longer terms, while House coalitions can change more often.

Powers of Congress

Congress derives its power from two main types of powers:

1. Enumerated Powers:

   • Explicitly listed in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution.

   • Include powers related to:

     • Federal Funding: Raising revenue through taxation, coining money, and passing a federal budget.

     • Foreign Policy and Military Legislation: Declaring war, raising armies, passing draft laws, and directing funding to the armed forces.

2. Implied Powers:

   • Powers that are not explicitly listed but are necessary to carry out enumerated powers.

   • Justified by the Necessary and Proper Clause (also known as the Elastic Clause) at the end of Article 1, Section 8.

     The Necessary and Proper Clause allows Congress to pass laws that are required to execute its enumerated powers, even if those laws address issues not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution.

   • Example: Alexander Hamilton argued for the establishment of a national bank based on the Necessary and Proper Clause, stating that it was necessary for the federal government to manage the funds raised through taxation.

Leadership Structures in Congress

House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House:

  • Chosen by the members of the House and is always a member of the majority party.

  • Has significant power, including recognizing who can speak, assigning representatives to committees.

• Majority and Minority Leaders:

  • Direct debates and guide their party members on policy-making issues.

• Whips:

  • Enforce party discipline and ensure members of the party align with party goals.

Senate

• President of the Senate:

  • The Vice President of the United States.

  • A non-voting member unless there is a tie.

• President Pro Tempore:

  • The most senior member of the majority party.

  • Acts as President of the Senate when the Vice President is not present.

• Senate Majority Leader:

  • Sets the legislative agenda by determining which bills reach the floor for debate.

• Whips:

  • Function the same way in the Senate as they do in the House.

🧑‍💼 Committees in Congress

Most of the legislative work in Congress is done in committees, which are not required by the Constitution but are a practical necessity. There are four types of committees:

1. Standing Committees:

   • Permanent committees that endure for a long time.

   • Handle work that always needs to be done from session to session.

   • New legislation begins here.

   • Examples: Senate Committee on the Budget, House Judiciary Committee.

2. Joint Committees:

   • Include members from both the House and the Senate.

   • Example: Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.

3. Select Committees:

   • Temporary committees created for a specific purpose.

   • Dissolved once their purpose is fulfilled.

   • Example: Select Committee formed to investigate the Watergate scandal.

4. Conference Committees:

   • Formed to reconcile differences between House and Senate versions of a bill.

🏛 Committees and Rules in Congress

Conference Committee

If the House and Senate pass different versions of the same bill, they go to a conference committee to resolve the differences.

Committee Goals

Committees generally serve the goals of the majority party, which holds a majority of seats on each committee and the committee chair position.

📜 House vs. Senate Rules

House Rules

• Mandate limited debate due to the large number of representatives. Members are typically limited to one hour for debate.

• The House Rules Committee has significant power, deciding which bills make it to the floor for debate. If this committee blocks a bill, it effectively dies.

• The Committee of the Whole is a procedural move that relaxes debate rules, allowing for quicker consideration of amendments. Requires a quorum of 100 representatives.

• A discharge petition can be used to bring a bill stuck in committee to the floor for consideration with a majority vote.

Senate Rules

• Relaxed debate rules with no time limits for representatives to debate bills.

• Filibuster: Senators can use unlimited debate to stall or kill a bill.

• Cloture Rule: Requires a two-thirds vote (60 senators) to end a filibuster and bring the bill to a vote.

• Unanimous Consent: Before starting work, the acting Senate president asks all senators to agree to limit debate to avoid a filibuster.

• Hold: Even one senator can object (place a hold) and stall a bill under consideration.

⚖ How a Bill Becomes Law

1. Introduction: A member from either the House or Senate introduces the bill.

2. Committee Assignment: The bill is assigned to a committee, where it may undergo changes.

   • Riders: Non-relevant additions that benefit a representative's agenda or help pass the bill.

   • Pork Barrel Spending: Funds earmarked for special projects in a representative's district.

     Example: A bill to provide body armor for U.S. troops included $400 million for a bridge in Alaska (the "bridge to nowhere").

3. Markup and Amendment: The bill is marked up and amended.

4. Vote: The whole group votes on the bill.

   • Log Rolling: Representatives agree to vote for each other's bills.

     If the bill gets a thumbs up, it heads to the president's desk for signing.

💰 Federal Budget

Income

Most of the federal government's income comes from income taxes, with additional income from other taxes and tariffs.

Spending Categories

1. Mandatory Spending: Payments required by law, especially for entitlement programs.

   • Social Security

   • Medicare

   • Medicaid

   • Interest payments on debt

2. Discretionary Spending: Funds debated by committees, with the largest portion going to paying federal employees.

   • As mandatory (entitlement) spending increases, discretionary spending decreases.

Increasing Discretionary Spending

1. Raise Taxes: Generally unpopular.

2. Increase Deficit Spending: Borrow money to cover the gap between the budget and available funds.

⏳ Factors Affecting Congressional Efficiency

Ideological Divisions and Political Polarization

• Increased polarization between Republicans and Democrats makes negotiation and compromise difficult, often leading to gridlock.

• Unified government (one party controls both houses of Congress and the presidency) can expedite legislation.

• Divided government (different parties control the presidency and Congress) can slow things down.

  Example:

  In 2016, a Republican-dominated Senate refused to confirm President Obama's Supreme Court nominee.In 2020, a Republican Senate quickly confirmed President Trump's Supreme Court nominee.

Conceptions of Representative Role

• Trustee Model: Representatives vote according to their best judgment, trusting that they have been entrusted with the people's faith.

  Example: Senator Mitt Romney's vote to remove Donald Trump from office, despite it being an unpopular decision for his constituency.

• Delegate Model: Representatives vote according to their best judgment, trusting that they have been entrusted with the people's faith.

  Example: Senator Mitt Romney's vote to remove Donald Trump from office, despite it being an unpopular decision for his constituency.

Congressional Work Efficiency 🏛

One issue that affects the efficiency of congressional work is redistricting and gerrymandering.

Redistricting and Reapportionment

• Census: According to the Constitution, a census must be taken every 10 years to find out how many people live in the United States and where they live.

• Reapportionment: Based on the census information, the number of representatives for each state is apportioned to reflect the population.

• Redistricting: Congressional districts are redrawn to reflect the new apportionment of seats.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

• Background: By 1962, Tennessee had not redrawn its districts for over 60 years. Urban populations had increased faster than rural populations, giving rural citizens more voting power than urban citizens.

• Ruling: The Supreme Court ruled that this situation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

• One person, one vote principle: Districts must be drawn to evenly distribute voting power.

• Justiciability: Apportionment issues are justiciable, meaning the court can rule on them because they are constitutional issues, not political issues.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

• Dealt with the constitutionality of drawing congressional districts based on race alone.

Gerrymandering

• Partisan Gerrymandering: Districts are drawn to ensure that a certain party has the advantage in that district.

• Racial Gerrymandering: Districts are drawn so that certain races constitute the majority in those districts.

  • In Shaw v. Reno, two districts in North Carolina were drawn with strange shapes and created majority-black districts.

  • The court ruled that drawing districts solely based on race, even if it helped historically discriminated people, was unconstitutional.

Executive Branch: Implementing Policy Agendas 📝

Formal vs. Informal Powers

• Presidents implement their policy agendas through formal and informal powers.

• The president's formal powers are laid out in Article Two of the Constitution.

Formal Powers: The Veto 🚫

• If a bill is going to become law, the president must sign it within 10 days of its arrival on the executive desk.

• If a particular law is not in line with the president's policy agenda, then the president can veto it, which means the bill will not become a law.

Veto Process Outcomes

Informal Veto Powers

• Threatening to veto: Sends a signal to Congress that they have to work the bill into something that the president can sign.

• Pocket Veto: If there are less than 10 days left in the congressional session, the president can do nothing with the bill, let the session expire, and the bill is effectively vetoed. If there are more than 10 days left in the session and the president does not sign it, the bill then becomes law.

Foreign Policy Powers 🌎

• According to Article 2, the president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

• The president cannot declare war; that power belongs to Congress.

• The president can enter into executive agreements with other heads of state (more like a contract between a president and another president or monarch).

  • Example: Before the U.S. entered World War II, President Roosevelt made an executive agreement with Britain to provide U.S. destroyers in exchange for 99-year leases on certain UK naval bases.

Informal Powers of the Presidency

• Bargaining and Persuasion: The president has the nation's attention and can use that attention to persuade the people according to the executive policy agenda.

• Executive Order: A directive from the president that has the force of federal law but is not actually a law.

  • Executive orders direct the actions of the federal bureaucracy and the military, which are areas the president has direct authority over.

  • Example: By executive order, the president can move money from one bureaucratic agency to another in order to get done what the president wants to get done.

    • Donald Trump declared a national emergency and moved money from several executive agencies so that work could begin on the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

• Signing Statement: When signing a bill into law, the president can also issue a signing statement, which informs the nation how the executive branch interprets that law and thus how the president intends to enforce it.

🏛 Presidential Power & Politics

Presidential Agenda Conflicts

• The president's policy agenda can often clash with those of other government branches, particularly Congress and the Senate.

• Presidential appointments, including the cabinet, ambassadors, and White House staff, can create tension, especially when Senate confirmation is required.

  • Cabinet appointments are generally approved, but some, like Betsy DeVos, face intense scrutiny.

  • White House staff appointments do not require Senate confirmation.

• Federal court nominations, especially for the Supreme Court, are highly contentious due to the lifetime tenure of judges and their potential long-term impact on policy.

⚖ Federalist 70

• Hamilton argued in Federalist 70 that a single executive is necessary for swift and decisive action.

• A single executive is easier to monitor and hold accountable than a collective body.

• The power of the executive branch can be checked by the other two branches, preventing monarchical tendencies.

  • Anti-Federalists feared the presidency as the "fetus of monarchy".

📈 Expansion of Presidential Power Over Time

• The scope of presidential power has expanded significantly throughout U.S. history.

• George Washington and the early presidents deferred to Congress.

  • Washington stepped down after two terms to avoid fears of an overbearing executive.

• Andrew Jackson expanded presidential power, believing the president represented the people, not just Congress.

  • Jackson defied a Supreme Court ruling regarding Cherokee Indian removal.

• Abraham Lincoln assumed extensive powers during the Civil War, including suspending habeas corpus.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt expanded federal power through his New Deal programs and served four terms.

  • FDR used the veto 635 times.

📣 Presidential Communication: The Bully Pulpit

• Presidents use their unique position to communicate directly with the nation, influencing public opinion and pressuring legislators.

• Bully Pulpit:

  Term coined by Theodore Roosevelt referring to the president's ability to use their platform to advocate for their agenda.

• The effectiveness of the bully pulpit has evolved with technology:

  • Early presidents relied on newspapers.

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt used radio for "fireside chats".

  • John F. Kennedy utilized television for live press conferences.

  • Barack Obama and Donald Trump used social media to communicate directly with supporters.

🏛 The Judicial Branch: Structure

• The federal court system has three levels:

• U.S. District Courts have original jurisdiction, meaning they hear cases for the first time.

• U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have appellate jurisdiction, meaning they hear appeals from lower courts.

• The Supreme Court has both original and appellate jurisdiction.

• The Supreme Court is the only court explicitly mentioned in the Constitution (Article 3).

🏛 The Supreme Court

⚖ Judicial Independence and Review

The Supreme Court's power and independence are protected by the lifetime appointment of its judges, ensuring they are not swayed by the need for reelection.

Federalist 78: Essay by Hamilton arguing that the independence of the judicial branch acted as a protection for its power.

The court possesses judicial review, enabling it to declare laws constitutional or unconstitutional, thus checking the other branches of government. This power is not explicitly stated in the Constitution but was cemented in the landmark case:

Marbury v. Madison (1803): Court case that firmly cemented the power of judicial review in the Supreme Court's purview, significantly increasing the power of the Supreme Court.

📜 Precedent and Stare Decisis

Precedent: A decision that acts as a binding template for future decisions unless there are extreme circumstances.

The court adheres to the principle of:

However, precedents can be overturned, as exemplified by:

Brown v. Board of Education: Overturned precedent.

⚖ Judicial Activism vs. Judicial Restraint

🎯 Ideology's Role

Judges' ideologies play a significant role in court decisions, influencing whether they adhere to precedents or establish new ones. Presidents often appoint judges aligning with their political sympathies.

Roe v. Wade: Landmark case that made abortion legal in all 50 states that conservative presidents have appointed conservative judges in hopes of overturning.

💥 Challenges to Legitimacy

The Supreme Court's exercise of judicial review has led certain groups to question its legitimacy, especially when controversial decisions are made.

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857): Court case where the court essentially ruled that slavery was permissible in all states, leading to abolitionists questioning the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.

✅ Checks on the Court

🏢 The Federal Bureaucracy

🏛 Structure

The bureaucracy, though technically under the executive branch, is sometimes referred to as the "fourth branch" of government.

• Cabinet Secretaries: Leaders of the 15 executive departments.

• Agencies: Subdivisions within departments working together to achieve departmental goals.

  • Example: The Department of the Treasury contains tax-collecting agencies like the IRS.

• Commissions: Regulatory groups operating somewhat independently, run by a board of individuals for specific purposes.

  • Example: The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) regulates media content.

• Government Corporations: Hybrids between businesses and government agencies, offering public goods.

  • Example: PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).

⚙ Functions

1. Writing and Enforcing Regulations: Creating refined rules to facilitate the execution of laws.

   Delegated Discretionary Authority: The authority given to the bureaucracy by Congress that gives them the discretion on how to make the rules and carry out the laws.

2. Compliance Monitoring: Ensuring industries comply with established regulations.

3. Issuing Fines: Penalizing violations of laws.

4. Testifying Before Congress: Agency heads being held accountable or providing updates on their agency's work.

Bureaucratic Agencies & Iron Triangles 🤝

These agencies often collaborate with other entities, notably within a structure known as an iron triangle.

An iron triangle consists of three key points:

• Bureaucratic agencies

• Congressional committees

• Interest groups

These entities work together, relying on each other to shape policy.

• Bureaucrats: Provide expertise to congressional committees, seeking cooperation to secure funding approved by Congress.

• Congressional committee members: Value input from interest groups, who often provide policy expertise.

• Interest groups: Offer funding for congressional races.

This creates a strong, mutually beneficial relationship, hence the term "iron triangle," symbolizing its strength and stability. The professor joked that it's not called an "overcooked noodle triangle" because overcooked noodles are weak and can't hold much weight, making it a poor metaphor.

Key Bureaucratic Departments 🏛

Here are seven bureaucratic departments and their functions:

Presidential Influence & Oversight 💼

Leadership in these departments is appointed by the President. If the bureaucracy doesn't align with the President's policy agenda, the President can replace leaders in cabinet and agency positions. However, regulatory commission heads are protected from this.

Presidents often try to appoint individuals sympathetic to their goals. Commission heads have fixed terms that typically outlast a single presidential term. Therefore, while presidential influence is significant, it's not absolute.

Checks on Bureaucratic Power ✅

These departments, agencies, and commissions serve as the law enforcement arm of the executive branch. However, their power is subject to checks from other branches of government:

• Congress: Ensures laws are upheld as intended through committee hearings and requests for agency reports.

• Power of the Purse: Congress controls agency funding, requiring authorization before agencies can spend money.

• President: Initiates reviews and changes to agencies' missions and objectives, like President Clinton's National Performance Review.

• Judicial Branch: Citizens can challenge bureaucratic decisions in court if they believe them to be unconstitutional.

  • Usually, courts uphold the authority of the agency unless there is a blatant violation of the law.

Bureaucracy and Accountability 🤔

The legitimacy of the bureaucracy has been questioned due to its independence. These agencies create rules and regulations with the force of law, but their leaders aren't elected and are therefore not directly accountable to the people.

Evolution of Bureaucratic Appointments 📜

The method of selecting individuals to work in the bureaucracy has changed over time.

Patronage System

During the first century of U.S. history, jobs were awarded based on the patronage system.

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

The Pendleton Civil Service Act was passed in 1883, which created a merit system for bureaucratic appointments.

This reform aimed to make the bureaucracy more professional, specialized, and neutral.

Civil Service Reform Act (Jimmy Carter)

The Civil Service Reform Act was introduced under Jimmy Carter's administration.