AP UNIT 4 STUDY GUIDE

the roles of the president:

1. controls military

2. law making

3. foreign relations

roles of the vice president:

1. presides over the Senate

2. presidential disability

impeachment process:

1. done by the House/ House impeaches

2. Senate conducts the trial

presidential appointments:

1. Cabinet

2. Federal judges/justices

3. diplomats

The Senate confirms presidential appointments

presidential powers regarding foreign relations:

1. treaty

2. executive agreement

3. military power

formal qualifications for the president:

1. 35 years old

2. natural-born citizen

3. lived in the US for at least 14 years

demographic makeup of Congress:

1. white

2. male

3. around 50 years old

descriptive representation: Senators vote for who the people want

Filibuster rule: talking for a long time to stall a bill (takes 60 votes to sign a bill)

lawmaking process:

1. Starts in the House or Senate

2. Then it crosses over to the other house

3. Conference Committee

4. goes back to the 1st committee (house or senate)

5. Goes to the President (veto, signing statement, do nothing, or pocket veto

oversight function of Congress:

1. Police patrol - (right away)

2. Fire alarm - (waiting for the issues to arise before they do something)

3. appointments

4. money

Gerrymandering - drawing districts to influence voting (Legislative body in the state redraws map)

Offices inside the EOP (Executive Office of the President):

1. Chief of Staff

2. Press Secretary

3. Office of the Vice President

4. Office of the First Lady

Cabinet Departments

House Rules Committee:

1. sends to the right committee

2. schedules a bill for debate

function of the bureaucracy:

1. Helps the Executive execute and enforce laws

2. …

Spoils system:

1. patronage

2. getting jobs based off connections, not experience

Pendleton Civil Service Act

1. started after Garfield’s assassination

2. hire, fire, and promote based off merit

criticism of the bureaucracy:

1. Red Tape: too many rules/procedures that make it hard/slow to get things done in the govt.

2. slow

3. corrupt

4. complacent

5. duplication (2 or more jobs/agencies over the same issue

How the Executive branch interacts with the Bureaucracy → hiring and firing

How the Legislative branch interacts with the Bureaucracy → perfoms oversight (police patrol & fire alarm) and funding (their budget must get approved)

Iron triangle parts: congressional committees, bureaucracy, interest groups

Cabinet Selection:

1. president selects cabinets member (based off experience, party, part of country they’re from)

2. Senate must confirm with a MAJORITY vote

3. If there is a tie in the Senate, the Vice President can confirm

4. President can fire cabinet members whenever he wants