16 July 2026 - Thursday Lecture (read chapter 7, 9, 12)

  • public sector of bureaucracies make the fine details of laws

  • Presidents

  • Presidency was the first office that we ever created (mankind) — no prior models of executives

  • Indirectly elected

  • Electoral college: 50 states select electors on the same day, determines the President/VP

    • Each state holds a popular vote — we vote for a group of people

  • It’s up to the legislature of each state to decide what method to use

  • 2016 election: Clinton had more popular votes, but fewer electoral votes, therefore losing

  • Cert of Ascertainment: shows who was elected as electors, and to see how they voted to elect the President


  • authors of Constitution thought it would be rare for a single candidate to receive majority of the electoral vote

    • thought House would make final decision of who would be President

  • 1824: last time House made decision for President, ONLY time

  • 12th amendment: Senate can make final decision on who is Vice President


  • Electoral College one of the short essays on test

  • A process

  • November: popular vote (currently)

    • Voters elect the electors of their state — see list of names on Cert of Ascertainment. They’re loyal party members

    • Electors are people named by each political party

    • 48/50 states, winner takes all

  • December: the electors vote

    • state capital

    • 2 ballots: one for President, one for VP; some states require the electors to vote as the people did, but not all. Some states allow write-ins

    • Electoral votes counted, recorded on cert of Ascertainment, and sent to Washington DC

  • MI requires voters to vote for the nominee elected by the people

  • January: in Congress, the electoral votes are counted must occur

    • count is overseen by the President of the Senate

  • Majority of electoral votes is required to be elected President

  • Total of 358 electoral college votes, need 270 or more to be elected

  • If no electoral vote majority, House selects from top three vote recipients — 50 votes total, 26 for majority

  • If no electoral vote majority, Senate selects from among the top two vote recipients — 100 votes total, 51 majority

  • President can make treaties, but only with final approval from Senate

  • President has power to nominate high level officials, but only with approval from Senate will they actually take office

  • Washington established these precedents

    • he asked other people for advice on at least two occasions

  • Washington declared neutrality when war broke out between France and Great Britain in 1793 — a decision subject to criticism

    • members of congress felt this was unconstitutional, since the president did not have powers to declare war

  • Whiskey rebellion: western Pennsylvania, President Washington called up state militias into federal service and led them to Pennsylvania to put down this rebellion. By the time they arrived, things had calmed down enough that fighting did not take place.


  • Article 2

  • Section I

    • The executive power shall be vested in a president

      • topic debatable between congress and individual presidents

      • Presidents will justify their actions because they have “executive power”

    • Need to be at least 35 years old

    • Citizen at birth

  • Section II

    • President shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of the US, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the US

      • “commander in chief” is not defined, an ongoing debate is if the president can engage in military actions without the approval of Congress

    • Power of pardons and reprieves

      • pardons: full forgiveness of someone’s crime or imprisonment, removes conviction from record

      • Reprieves: shortening of someone’s prison sentence, stays on a persons record

  • Section III

    • President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.

    • Shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed