AP Government Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government
Topic 2.1: The Senate and the House of Representatives
Congress is bicameral
divided into senate and house in Article 1 of the Constitution
Senate
2 senators/state
each senator must be at least 30 years old
six year terms in order to be more insulated from public pressure
less connected to their constituents
considered the “higher” house —> older age required
unlimited terms
9 years of citizenship
3rd of them up for reelection every 2 years
made to prevent an American electorate from too quickly voting its wishes into policy
live in their state
can fillibuster
House
number of reps dependent on population; but every state is guaranteed one representative
capped at 435 representatives
2 year terms —> spend most of their terms appealing to their constituents in order to be reelected
terms are like this so tht they are closer to the issues that people in their districts care about yet have enough time to become competent at their job
25 y/o
resident of their state
citizen of US for at least 7 yrs
unlimited terms
debate restricted to an hour per member
Topic 2.2: Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress
⭐Powers of Congress
lawmaking authority
pass laws in areas of national policy
create/collect taxes, coin money, borrow money, regulate value of currency, regulate interstate and foreign commerce
declare war, raise and support armies and naval force
implied power from the necessary and proper clause
budgeting
sets a federal budget; which sets which agencies and programs get what amount of funds (power of the purse)
they also must authorize creations of bureaucratic agencies and fund its activities
Types of Spending
mandatory spending: funds that are required to be allotted by law
discretionary spending: everything else left over —> Congress debates a lot on what this money should be used on
deficit spending: when we spend more money than we have
in order to accommodate for this, we borrow money or raise taxes
pork barrel spending: legislation that directs specific funds to projects within districts or states
narrow interests prioritized over everyone else
logrolling: trading of votes on legislation by members of Congress to get their earmarks passed into legislation
exercising oversight of the federal bureaucracy and other public officials and checks
oversight: efforts by Congress to ensure that executive branch agencies, bureaus, and cabinet departments, as well as their officials, are acting legally and in accordance with congressional goals
congressional committees and subcommittees may conduct hearings and investigations into the actions of the federal bureaucracy to ensure that funds appropriated for progress are being spent efficiently, legally, and in accordance with the law’s intent
also has oversight responsibilities over elected and appointed officials in other branches
Senate has the power of advice and consent
Senate ratify treaties —> forces executive branch to work with legislative branch on foreign policy
Congress can impeach the president, VPOTUS, members of the bureaucracy, and federal judges
House issues articles of impeach
if majority of members of the House votes to impeach, a trial takes place in the Senate
Congress ratify treaties (2/3rds vote in Senate) that President negotiates with foreign governments
⭐structure
House leadership
speaker of the house: chosen by house members —> will always be in the majority party
parliamentary procedure: elaborate system of rules of when someone can speak, and that the speaker can recognize who can speak
makes committee assignments —> ppl try to be on their good side to be on a more desirable committee
majority and minority leaders: guide own party members on what to vote and help direct debate
majority and minority whips: render party discipline; make sure ppl stay in line
Senate leadership
president of the senate: VPOTUS, non-voting member of the senate (only comes in to break a tie)
president pro tempore: Senate members choose, traditionally given to the most senior member of the majority house, sets the legislative agenda (calendar assignments of bill)
committees: smaller groups of legislatures who draft and discuss precise legislation that would otherwise be impossible in a large group setting
standing committee: remains from session to session, dealing with issues that are always present
i.e appropriations (Senate), ways and means committee (House) both very prestigious
joint committee: has members of both Congress and House; can be short term or long term
i.e joint committee on the library, joint committee on printing
select committee: for a specific purpose and is temporary
conference committee: formed if both Houses can’t agree on an identical version of a bill
they basically negotiate and hammer out their differences
house rules committee: decides when votes take place and assign bills to committees for debate and revision
“gatekeeper for all legislation”: if they dont let a bill through for debate, it dies
so, they open the “gate” for bills up for debate and shut out bills that are not
committee of the whole: relaxes some of the rules for debate to make it quicker so amendments for bills can be debated quicker
“whole” supposed to represent the whole House but only 100 of the House needed for a quorum
⭐Functions
How is a bill made?
a bill can be sponsored by members of Congress
it is often debated and amended in committee(s) based on topic
the committee may reject the bill by vote or table the bill with no further action
discharge petition: a motion filed by a member of Congress to a move a bill out of committee and onto the floor of the House for a vote
is majority of reps agrees, it goes on the floor
non-germane riders, provisions added to bill that have nothing to do with the subject in order to push for policy that might benefit a Rep’s district or state, sometimes added to the bill
major bills, however, may bypass the committee process, with almost no hearings or analysis by non-partisan staff b4 votes are held
House Rules Committee determine when a bill will be subject to debate and vote on the House floor, how long the debate will last, and whether amendments will be allowed on the floor
the House resolves itself into a new Committee of the Whole to consider a particular bill. a specific Committee of the Whole is dissolved when it reports with a recommendation to the House
ppl vote yaaaasss or naurrr
senators can delay a bill a lot
they may place a hold, a delay placed on legislation by a senator who objects to a bill, on the legislation and communicate to the majority leader their reservations on the bill
majority leader does not have to honor the hold request, but it does indicate the possibility of a filibuster, which nobody wants
unanimous consent agreements: an agreement in the Senate that sets the terms for consideration of a bill usually proposed by the majority lead or floor manager of the measure
may limit time available for debate
you know what a filibuster is
cloture: 3/5ths of Senate votes to stop filibuster
Topic: 2.3: Congressional Behavior
What factors affects how well Congress can do it’s job?
ideological division: liberals and conservatives disagree a lot
increased polarization —> more gridlock and partisan fighting
so when both Houses are dominated by same party, it’s ez
divided government: can be like prez and Congress diff parties, or Houses diff
models of representation
delegate model: believes they must vote with the will of the ppl and that they are there to represent the ppl’s beliefs and desires, not their own
trustee model: believes they have been entrusted with the ppl’s faith, and therefore must vote according to their own conscience
politico model: hybrid of the other two models; acts like a trustee mostly unless their constituents feel super strongly about a certain issue
redistricting: redrawing district lines
gerrymandering: district lines drawn to help a certain group
Required Cases: Baker v. Carr
Tennessee had grown a lot in population size and the district lines had not been edited in a long while
so now more populated counties had less representation than rural counties and that was unequal
14th amendment: “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
citing the 14th’s due process and equal protection clauses, they decided there is a basis for the court to tht it might violate the equal protection clause to make one person’s vote less valuable than another’s
the Court at the time had priorly ruled that they had no business making decisions on redistricting as that was a political thing
another thing to note is that districts were organized by geography rather than population
Baker was part of group of Tennesseeans who objected to the districting in tennessee and the apportioning cuz it seems rather unfair
decision: Court ruled tht issues of reapportionment were justiciable and the Supreme Court did have authority to rule on questions of legislative reapportionment
established the foundation of the one person, one vote doctrine: states required to apportion their representatives in a way that equally represented all the people so that no votes counted any more than any other vote
fundamentally altered the nature of political representation across the United States— caused many states to reapportion
got Supreme Court involved in political questions
est 6-part system in order to determine whether or not is completely political and therefore not justiciable
Required Cases: Shaw v. Reno
gerrymandering: when congressional districts are drawn to favor a certain group over another
this is specifically about racial gerrymandering
none of North Carolina’s reps were black, and since they felt that was unrepresented of their population, they created 2 districts that were majority black in order to make it more likely that black reps would be elected
Shaw argued equal protection clause was violated because districts were drawn only with race in mind
Reno’s group argued equal protections clause was not violated because districts were drawn with the intention of helping black residents who had been the object of historic discrimination\
Shaw argues for the colorblind interpretation of the Constitution while Reno argues to not
decision: Court ruled against Reno and the Justice Department
while these districts may have been drawn with noble intentions, districts drawn only based on race were unconstitutional cuz it set a dangerous precedent
the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment was violated by this reapportioning
Topic 2.4: Roles and Powers of the President
The President always has a policy agenda, their campaign agenda full of their goals in their presidency. How can they push their policy agenda?
formal powers: powers given to the president in Article 2
veto: president has 10 days to sign a bill once it arrives on their desk
but it can be overridden by 2/3rd's vote in both Houses
will usually veto what doesn’t follow their policy agenda
the president is commander in chief of the military
informal powers: exists due to the nature of executive power
pocket veto: president refuses to sign a bill, and instead waits for Congress to adjourn before the 10 day time period they have to sign the bill
persuasion: president is well the president —> can talk to Americans and push them to vote for certain legislation
bargaining w/ Congress to pass legislation they want
but Congress will only listen as long as the President is popular
executive order: a directive from the President that has the force of a federal law, but is not actually a law
a way for the President to direct the bureaucracy, move money around, etc to accomplish policy agenda
signing statement: statement about the bill the President signs, how they interpret the law, and how the President will enforce it
executive agreement: agreeement between president and another head of state, not a formal treaty (remember on Congress can do that!) and only exists for as long as the President is in power
i.e Paris Agreement
Topic 2.5: Checks on the Presidency
advice and consent: Presidential appointments have to be approved by Senate
ambassadors (easily approved), cabinet (traditionally easily approved under the assumption that the President should be allowed to choose who works most closely with them since they won the election) federal courts (most controversial appointments)
borked: when the Senate goes ham on a nominee for SCOTUS
impeachment by Congress
House proposes; majority vote to impeach —> trial
Senate holds trial
2/3rds vote in Senate for impeachment
override vetoes
Topic 2.6: Expansion of Presidential Power
presidential power has increased over the years
prez thinks that prez should do whatever they whatever they deem necessary for the country as long as it’s not unconstitutional —> increase in presidential power
Lincoln expanded with the Civil War and suspending habeas corpus and basically conducting a war saying it was an insurrection and not a war and kinda like yeah
FDR expanded more with New Deal policies and serving 4 terms and vetoing the most out of any president
the 22nd amendment did limit the president to 2 terms though
Foundational Documents: Federalist 70
Hamilton argues for a single executive
a single person can act more decisively when required (energetic)
multiple presidents would require debate and therefore would be less energetic
a single executive will actually be a protection against expansion of executive power
if the prez is shit, everyone knows who to blame —> prez is under a lot of scrutiny and will act more carefully
Topic 2.7: Presidential Communication
⭐prez is very recognizable and famous —> people will listen
bully pulpit: presidential communication in a coercive way to push policy agenda to pass
state of the union address: required persuasion that happens every year to Congress updating the Legislative Branch on the state of national affairs
How has technology changed the way presidents address the country?
fireside chats through the radio from FDR
television —> prez is able to speak to ppl visually and audioably
looking nice now matters
filtered by third party mediators
social media —> prez now can speak directly to the populace
Topic 2.8: The Judicial Branch
⭐3 tiers of courts
SCOTUS established in Article 3
Court of Appeals: 12 of them, appellate jurisdiction, makes sure that law was applied correctly, only has 3 judges and no jury
district courts: 94, only original jurisdiction, judge & jury, each state has at least one
original and appellate jurisdiction
Foundational Documents: Federalist 78
by Alexander Hamilton
⭐on the Judicial Branch in the Constitution
lifetime appointments as long as they have good behavior
insulation from needing to be reelected
also will have less training constantly of less able justices
judicial review: if the law is already unconstitutional, then they are already void + it balances and checks the legislative branch
Topic 2.9: Legitimacy of the Judicial Branch
precedents: whenever the SCOTUS establishes a decision, it will become a template for future similar cases
follows the principle of stare decisis, or “let the decision stand”
but precedents can be overturned
loose constructionism: consider the Constitution as an evolving document
strict constructionism: interpret how it’s literally written
Topic 2.10: The Court in Action
judicial activism: when a court acts to establish policy and in its deliberative work, considers the broad effects of a decision on society
i.e Dred Scott v. Sandford because it struck down the Missouri Compromise —> establishing some kind of policy and big win for slave states
legitimacy of Court questioned
judicial restraint: believes judges are not appointed to make policy and always should be struck down only if it violates the Constitution literally
emphasis on stare decisis
i.e Korematsu v. US cuz it upheld a previous precedent
Topic 2.11: Checks on the Judicial Branch
passing laws that modify the impact of prior decisions
constitutional amendments that reverse decisions
passing legislation that impacts the Court’s jurisdiction
restricting appellate jurisdiction
judicial appointments
executive branch not upholding Court’s decision
Topic 2.12: The Bureaucracy
bureaucracy: people employed to carry out the responsibilities of the executive branch
⭐structure
cabinet made up of 15 departments
agencies: work together to accomplish the goals of the their department
independent regulatory commissions: regulates some aspect of society but not directly connected to the president
government corporation: hybrid between government agency and a private business i.e postal service
bureaucratic organizations
write and enforce regulations+fines for not complying (compliance monitoring)
iron triangle
lessened due to increasing number of interest groups
Topic 2.13: Discretionary and Rule-making Authority
given a directive, but way to execute it it kept vague
they have experts in their field —> they know how it should be done
delegated discretionary authority: power delegated to bureaucrats to enforce law
rulemaking authority: given the authority to well, make rules to execute their directive
Topic 2.14: Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable
committee hearings: call directors of agencies to report on progress and testify
power of the purse: Congress is responsible for the federal budget —> can defund agency if they flopping
budget and impoundment control act; gave Congress a lot more power over budgetary decisions at the expense of the prez’s power
Topic 2.15: Policy and the Branches of Government
remember the President has a policy agenda he wants
can reappoint heads of agencies that would follow the policy agenda mostly at will
can use executive orders to direct the bureaucracy
bureaucracy also responsible to Congress —> inefficiencies in execution of the law
compliance monitoring takes a lot work to check that ppl are following the bureaucratic rules, but it is necessary
judicial branch checks
ppl can appeal to court to use judicial review to check the bureaucracy’s rules