Legislative and Executive branch test notes
Representative Democracy
definition- a political system where citizens elect officials to represent their interests and make decisions on their behalf.
synonyms- indirect democracy, electoral democracy, and representative government.
adjectives- accountable, popular, republican, and transparent.
Example- US, UK, Germany, France, and India
Legislative Branch
Two main roles of a Congressperson
working on legislation in DC that can help people back in their state.
serving the constituents very directly and helping them with issues that they may have before government.
House of Representatives:
number of members- 435
rules- isn’t allowed on their cell phones while the speaker of the house is talking, how long a rep can spend debating a bill or how long they have to read that bill before it goes to debate, two year turnover means rules change pretty frequently.
spending bills- they are the people’s chamber, they have the power of the money bills.
impeachments- they bring impeachment charges, could be against any civil officer of the United States.
president- the house gets to choose the president.
Speaker of the house- third in line for presidency, they decide who can speak on the floor and how the agenda is going to be structured and how different information is going to be disseminated or controlled.
Senate:
number of member- 100 (2 for each state)
rules- rules continue throughout the course of the senate. its difficult to “change the rules”
nuclear option- senators are constantly being replaced and the majority party can always flip, majority leader has the power to issue a point of order.
confirmation power- the senate has to confirm all of the money bills
impeachments- gets to act as jury on impeachment cases.
vice president- if no candidate gets an electoral majority, the senate gets to pick the vice president.
president of the senate- the president of the senate is the vice president of the US.
senate majority leader- the most powerful senate leader because they have so much power and are in charge of the agenda.
Caucus
description- basically a club with a focused interest that meets and discusses how to get legislation passed that benefits that interest.
purpose- they receive recognition and funding from the chamber in the senate, get legislation passed.
committees
description- where bills are discussed after they’re introduced.
purpose- to propose and then vote on bills.
Representation
formal representation- anyone who is elected to an institution formally represents a person.
sociological representation- the degree to which people who are elected share features that we have, such as our race, or gender or ethnicity, our heritage, our sexuality, all of these things.
House vs Senate:
founding father intentions
house of representatives- give the people a voice but to make sure that voice can’t actually do anything.
senate- there to make sure that the people can’t actually get anything done.
House of Representatives
nicknames and titles used- lower houses
length of term- 2 years
number of members- 435
general sense of house- to give the people a voice but to make sure that voice can’t actually do anything.
unique constitutional responsibilities- bills must begin in the house, any articles of impeachment for any elected federal officials go through the house.
voting- a majority rule, in order to pass legislation its 50 percent of the votes plus one.
rules- no amendments allowed, closed rules 15 minutes of debate, 15 mins of republicans and 15 mins of democrats then have an up or down vote on the bill.
campaigning- campaigns never end, you don’t stop you win an election then move on to the next elections.
Senate
nicknames and titles used- technically one of the houses in congress
length of term- 6 years
number of members- 100
general sense of senate- to make sure that people can’t actually get anything done.
unique constitutional responsibilities- advise and consent the white house on treaties and so treaty agreed to by the white house has to be approved by senate.
voting- filibuster, frequently requires 60 votes for something to pass, 60 percent.
rules- go to a committee hearing or raising money 5.6 hours a day.
campaigning- you should have been campaigning your entire life, you either have to be rich yourself or know a whole lot of rich people.
All of Congress
Amount of work- work incredibly hard, work from 7 to around 10, then work all weekend, congressional recesses, working back in their state.
human enterprise- how you work with your colleagues, how are your relationships with them.
Efficiency- government is not setup to be efficient, its set up to make sure that no big change can actually happen unless the voters for years on end, are voting in support of this and all branches are in accord.
Senior Senator- Bernie Moreno
Senior Senator- work in committees assigned, help out people who live in the state of ohio
Junior Senator- John Husted
Junior Senator- work in committees assigned, help out people who live in the state of ohio
representative for district 8- Warren Davidson
Speaker of the House- Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House- third most powerful position in all of the government, second in line for president, run the show in the house of representatives, keep things moving and decide what bills will be talked about.
House Majority Leader- Steve Scalise
House Majority Leader- works with the speaker of the house, issues important to republicans is priority, he comes from the majority party.
House Minority Leader- Hakeem Jeffries
House Minority Leader- part of democratic party, helping try to make sure the house goes over things the democrats want to happen also.
Senate Majority Leader- John Thune
Senate Majority Leader- majority party makes sure of republican needs are priority in the senate.
Senate Minority Leader- Chuck Shumer
Senate Minority Leader- making sure any issues and policies that democrats want to prioritize are looked at and prioritized.
Gerrymandering:
What is it
definition- redistricting along party lines (you are dividing the district in a way that advantages you).
Its been going on for- forever, for as long as American elections have been conducted.
the name comes from- elbridge gary was an early governor of massachusetts, driving force behind one of the original partisan maps in american history for massachusetts legislature in 1900d, one of the districts looked like a salamander, salamander got linked with the governor’s name.
new district lines are drawn every 10 years based on- census and population.
this means the next redistricting will be- 2031 after the 2030 census
Why it matters
it can be considered nefarious because- the main goal of our democratic system is that voters should translate fairly and accurately but the whole point of gerrymandering is to give one party an unfair advantage.
especially when in a state one party can have- a single party with compare control of the state government, so the party the gets to choose what the district lines will look like
recently in a wisconsin gerrymandering case, the courts adopted a three part test that includes
plaintiffs have to prove that a map was drawn with intent of benefitting a party.
plaintiffs have to show that a map actually has a big discriminatory partisan effect in favor if the party that drew the map.
there has to be no neutral or legitimate justification for this big partisan discrepancy.
algorithms could potentially- fully take politics out of redistricting.
Powers of Congress:
taxing and spending- to create (or end) taxes for the spending purposes of paying debts, defending, and bettering the nation.
national debt- to take out loans on the reputation of the country.
regulate commerce- to make rules to the larger economy- international, interstate, and with native tribes.
naturalization- to create rules about the process to become a US citizen.
coin money- to print and mint money and set its value and punish those who make and use fake currency.
weights and measures- to establish the standards for various measurements (ex. pound, foot, hour)
post offices- to create post offices and the roads required to deliver mail.
patents and copyrights- to issue patents, trademarks, copyright protections.
war and insurrections- to go to war with foreign nations and to address uprisings or attacks within own borders.
military- to supply and fund the military.
washington dc- to build a national capital and govern it (so no state has influence over it)
necessary and proper- to pass any additional laws beyond those explicitly listed here that are needed and appropriate for congress to do.
How a Bill Becomes a Law:
#1 Writing and Submitting
office of Legislative Counsel- experts on legal language and how to write laws.
co sponsors on bills- bill has lots of support, add their name to the bill, makes bills more likely to become a law.
clerk of the house- a team of people that sit near where the president gives the state of the union address every year.
speaker of the house/parliamentarian of the senate- in charge of deciding what committee it gets assigned to
Who can write bills?- anybody it just has to be proposed by a member of Congress.
#2 Committee Hearings
purpose of committees- formed to have expertise in a particular area so that they can be the first line of review of a particular topic instead of the whole house having to look at every little things.
advantages of majority party- have the ability to set agenda, to set the terms of the debate and to ultimately decide what is voted on and what is in committee and in the full house or the full senate.
actions taken in committee- bills get read for the first time, they get hearings, they’ve discussed, speak on effects of bills.
speaker of the house/ senate majority leader- decides which bills that make it out of committee, gets to the floor for a vote.
percentage of bills that die in committee?- 90 percent
#3 Floor debate and vote
house rules committee- bills being debated go to them, they vote on and determine what the terms of the debate will be, how much time allotted, what amendments might be in order, when votes would be taking place.
senate filibuster and cloture in the past- used to be you hold the floor for the senate and talk until you can no longer talk anymore, cloture stops filibuster if you invoke it your asking to end the debate and have a vote.
in practice today- you declare intent of filibuster something, they are trying to proceed via cloture or just give up entirely to try to convince you might change your mind.
suspension of the rules- if two thirds of the house agrees, you can ignore all the rules and debate and procedures.
after passing in one house- about 60 percent of bills are passed under suspension, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.
conference committee- senior members of the committees in both the house and the senate who worked on that bill, they meet and they talk and they argue and they decide one final version that both houses are happy with.
what’s the record for a filibuster?- Strom Thurmond, 24 hours and 18 minutes in 1957 to block civil rights legislation.
4 options the president can take
can sign it and it becomes a law
can veto it if they don’t like the bill and it doesn’t become a law.
can ignore a bill and if it’s left on the desk for 10 days, becomes a law.
bill ends at the presidents desk
takeaways
committees- determine everything when it comes to bills, have expertise and they know people who work in the industry.
compromise- they are sort of implementing changes that the party leaders want to see in the legislation that have been sort of already agreed upon by the majority.
Executive branch:
formal constitutional powers
laws- the constitution gives the president the power to execute the laws, basically just overseeing it all, includes FBI, department of justice employees, and every member of the civil service.
appointments- president hires appointees to the 15 different departments, there are about 4000 positions that the president appoints.
foreign affairs and military- forming treaties with other nations and being commander in chief of the armed forces.
state of the union- president shall from time to time give the congress information of the state of the union, which they used to call the annual address and used to be a written administrative report on what all the many executive employees had been up to.
how are presidential actions undone?- the two houses of congress came together and agreed.
implied and informal powers
executive orders- can issue executive orders and make a whole lot of changes, need to be signed and recorded in the federal register and each of them gets an official number, they are just the president telling the people of the United States and all three branches of government their instructions, they can still be blocked by the supreme court or by congress if they pass a bill invalidating the order.
executive agreements- agreements that the president enters into with a foreign country, if a president enters an executive agreement rather than into a treaty then its much easier for the next president if he wants to exit the agreement than it is to exit a treaty.
vice president
official duties- next in succession in case anything happens to the president, they serve as president of the senate, break the votes when necessary, preside over nonpresidential impeachment trials.
modern role- shifted a bit more towards domestic and foreign policy and sort of less sitting in that seat in senate as the president.
Entire executive branch
size- millions of people (15 departments)
purpose- carrying out and enforcing federal laws.
15 departments
s- state department (handle foreign relations)
I- interior (manages conservation of land)
H- health and human services (FDA and CDC)
E- education
T-treasury (collect taxes, include the IRS)
A- agriculture (USDA oversee farming food)
H- housing and urban development (address national housing needs)
V- veterans affairs (benefit programs for those who’ve served in the military)
D- defense (largest department)
C- commerce (promote economy and handle international trade)
T- transportation (federal highway)
H- homeland security (prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks with the US)
J- justice (enforce laws or public safety)
L- labor (our workforce)
E- energy (manage energy and research better ways to make it)
Electoral College:
origins
who came up with the idea?- hamilton came up with the idea in federalist number 68
why?- to prevent mischief that would ensue from the masses voting for president.
When is the real presidential election?- in december when the electors vote for president.
electors
who are they?- they are who votes for the president
how do they get picked?- usually chosen by their party at their state’s nominating convention, sometimes its more like an honorific position.
total number of electors- 535
magic number- 270 electoral votes
how are the electors divided up?- each state has as many as they have congressional districts.
winner takes all- all of the electoral votes in that state go to one candidate, even if the candidate won by the barest majority.
main and nebraska- the two electors that represent the senate go based on the state ride popular vote, congressional district 1 and 2 goes for what the district voted for.
faithless elector- an elector who does not vote for the candidate that won in that state, in US history there has been 167 faithless electors, electors don’t always have the choice to be faithless or faithful.
keep it v get rid of it- keeping it leads politicians running for president to not ignore states like New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Wyoming places where populations are smaller, getting ride of it would mean we would scrap it and let the people vote.