AP US Government: Unit 5

UNIT FIVE: 

PRESIDENCY

Presidency Basics:

• Selection: 

  • Electoral College disagreements based on small states fearing lack of effect, mistrust of the American people. Indirectly selected by electors apportioned to each state based on representation in Congress. 

• Term: 

  • Four years; no term limits. Two-term precedence was begun by Washington; 22nd Amendment made official.

• Qualifications: 

  • Three formal: Citizen (natural-born); 35 years old; live in US for 14 years prior to running.

INFORMAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE PRESIDENCY:

Powers Of The Presidency:

• Formal V Informal: 

  • Those given to the president explicitly (enumerated) v those necessary to carry out expressed powers. 

  • POTUS exhibits five key roles when executing powers:

    • Chief Executive, Chief Diplomat, Commander-In-Chief, legislative leader, and party leader.

Chief Executive: 

• Head of the executive branch - carries out the laws of the nation. 

  • Oversees bureaucracy.

  • “Vesting Clause.”

  • Oath of office - take care the laws are faithfully executed.

  • 15 Cabinet members oversee agencies.

    • Connection between the president and the bureaucracy.

    • Executive orders direct agencies.

Chief Diplomat: 

• Guides US foreign policy.

• Treaty-making power.

  • Treaty requires ⅔ of the Senate ratification.

• Symbolic head of the US.

  • As the head of state, makes deals with other heads of state.

• Has an advantage on the international state because they’re one person.

Chief Legislator: 

• Role as policy maker has expanded over time.

• State Of The Union Address: The annual speech from the president to Congress updating that branch on the state of national affairs. Lays out legislative agenda to mobilize public support.

• Veto: Formal rejection by the president of a bill.

• Pocket Veto: Informal veto caused when the president chooses not to sign a bill within ten days, during a time when Congress has adjourned at the end of session. 

Commander-In-Chief: 

• Top of the entire military chain of command, but a civilian.

  • The President protects the nation.

• Framers limited the war-making power.

  • Congress declares war.

• The President can respond to a threat more quickly than Congress.

LIMITS ON PRESIDENTIAL POWER:

LIMITS ON PRESIDENTIAL POWER:

• Presidents cannot accomplish most of their objectives without Congress. 

  • Congressional approval needed:

    • Pass laws and fund programs.

    • Confirm appointments (ambassadors, federal judges. Cabinet secretaries)

    • Treaty ratification (⅔)

    • Override veto (⅔ both chambers)

• Judicial review can overturn executive orders. 

WAR POWERS RESOLUTION:

• A law passed over President Nixon’s veto that restricts the power of the president to maintain troops in combat more than sixty days without congressional authorization. 

• Congressional attempt to reassert control over national security.

• Presidents have largely ignored, asserting the act is unconstitutional.

IMPEACHMENT:

• The process of removing a president from office, with articles of impeachment issued by a majority vote in the House Of Representatives, followed by a trial in the Senate, with two-thirds vote necessary to convict and remove.

  • “Treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors”.

  • House Of Representatives: article of impeachment charges the officeholder.

  • Senate: holds trial and convicts to remove. 

COURT DECISIONS:

• US v Nixon (1974) - the Supreme Court affirmed the power of Executive Privilege, but forced President Nixon to hand over audio recordings.

• Privilege balanced with rule of law in criminal investigations.

• SCOTUS can block executive orders.

• SCOTUS can uphold some parts of executive orders, and block others. 

INTRO TO BUREAUCRACY

Modern Presidency:

• Single person, but does not act alone.

• Oversees a large executive office.

• Presidential decision-making and execution of policy can be helped or hindered by lower-level bureaucrats, Congress, and public opinion.

Vice President:

• 12th Amendment - President and Vice President elected together. 

  • Amended original language, which made the highest second vote-getter in the election Vice President.

• Constitutionally: 

  • President Of The Senate.

  • Breaks a tie in the Senate.

• 25th Amendment - Vice President first in line in order of succession.

  • Overwhelmingly an unimportant post unless the president is unable to discharge the powers of the office.

Executive Office:

• The Modern Presidency:

  • (1) Initiates legislation.

  • (2) more delegated powers granted by Congress.

    • Trade policy; war-making.

  • (3) now the focus of public attention.

  • (4) large staff directly working for the president.

    • Executive office of the president (advisors)

      • OMB; Economic Advisors; National Security Council.

      • President’s Staff - loyal to him and his agenda. 

The Prez & The Congress:

• “Chief Of Party” = unofficial leader of political party.

  • Choose the leader of the party (DNC, RNC).

• The President must bargain and persuade with Congress to effectively execute the agenda.

• Work with party leaders on both sides.

• Serve a variety of constituencies.

• Can expand or constrain presidential power.

• Going public - a strategy where the president promotes himself and his policies in Washington by appealing directly to the people for support.

  • One of the greatest tools in mobilizing other branches to support an agenda.

• Bully Pulpit - appeal to the public to pressure other branches of government to support their policies.

  • State Of The Union; press events, social media.

• Singular figure can dominate airwaves.

Evaluation Of Presidential Performance:

• Approval rating: Pollsters take the national pulse on Americans’ view of how well their presidents are doing.

• Higher rating = more powerful persuasion.

• Strongest - 

  • Honeymoon Period (when first elected).

  • National economic or military crisis (“rally around the flag”).

THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY:

How The Bureaucracy Is Organized:

• Federal Bureaucracy: the departments and agencies within the executive branch that carry out the laws of the nation.

  • Simply meant to be an organization that carries out tasks.

• Americans have contact with the bureaucracy.

• Bureaucrats: officials employed within government agencies.

  • Are more involved with what Americans interact with in their daily lives.

  • Create regulations, demand safe products, fair labor practices, and environmentally conscious factories.

Development Of The American Federal Bureaucracy:

• Growth has been steady and gradual from a few departments and employees to thousands.

  • Increase in population, boundaries, demands.

  • Responses to crises increased size and scope.

• Constitutional basis - Article II.

  • The President must “execute”, bureaucracy created for that purpose.

  • “Require the Opinion, in writing of the principal Officer in each of the executive departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices.”

The First Administration & The First Cabinet Departments:

• George Washington administration had three cabinet departments:

  • State: Jefferson

  • War: Knox

  • Treasury: Hamilton

  • Attorney General

• Meant to be advisory bodies to the president.

• Now there are 15 cabinet departments - created by Congress over time.

The Jacksonian Era & The Rise Of Political Patronage:

• Political Patronage: filling administrative positions as a reward for support rather than merit.

  • Meant to help standardize procedures with a constant rotation of office.

• Replaced with merit based system: a system of hiring and promotion based on competitive testing results, education and other qualifications, after the passage of the Pendleton Act Of 1883. 

The Structure Of The Modern Federal Bureaucracy:

• Complex web of organizations.

• The President appoints (with Senate confirmation) top level bureaucrats tasked with directing agencies, departments, bureaus.

• Main administrative units are fifteen cabinet departments.

  • Responsible for major areas of public policy.

  • Congress sets funds.

  • Pulled in multiple directions.

    • Appointed by the President, funded by Congress, pressure from interest groups and citizens.

Federal Bureaucrats:

• Executive Political Appointees (Cabinet Secretaries: deputy secretaries).

• Senior Executive Service (SES) (Expected to use their authority to achieve concrete results).

• Career Civil Servants: (Job rank clearly defined according to GS levels. Hired based on merit. Job protection from political processes). 

Iron Triangles & Issue Networks:

• Consists of three parts - the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups - each of which works with the other two to achieve their shared policy goals.

• Issue Network: the webs of influence between interest groups, policymakers and policy advocates.

  • Temporary, address a specific problem.

THE BUREAUCRACY AND POLICYMAKING:

• Key implementer of policy, but getting to the policy is complex and ever-changing.

• Defining the problem.

  • Getting on the policy agenda.

  • Getting policy debated and passed.

  • Discussion of finance.

• A long series of events take place before bureaucrats can do their job effectively.

Implementation, Rulemaking, Advising, & Representation

• Bureaucracy’s main function = implementation - putting into action the laws that Congress has passed/

• Implementation is complicated.

  • New policies are introduced into a body of existing policies.

  • New policies might be vague.

    • Leads to bureaucratic discretion: bureaucrats have some power to decide how a law is implemented.

  • Regulation: process through which the federal bureaucracy fills in critical details of a law.

Independent Regulatory & Independent Executive

• Over 100 agencies of the national government with regulatory powers.

  • Environmental Protection Agency.

  • Top officials serve at the pleasure of the president.

• 20 independent regulatory agencies, commissions.

  • Federal Communications Commission.

  • Commissioners serve for set terms.

  • More insulated from political influence.

  • Cabinet, Commissions, Executive Agencies, Corporations.

Bureaucratic Politics:

• Bureaucracy acts as a court to settle disputes between parties.

  • Bureaucratic adjudication.

• Restricted from engaging in political campaigns.

  • Hatch Act - can’t raise money for campaigns, prohibited from participating in federal campaigns or holding elected office.

  • Meant to separate official authority from partisan politics.

Presidential Checks On Bureaucracy:

• Authority divided among different branches, federal agencies answer to more than one overseer.

• The President

  • Formal Control

    • Appoint and remove individuals at the top layers

      • Based on ideology and willingness to to carry out administration’s goals.

    • Write an annual budget.

    • Harder to control the lower level.

Congressional Checks On Bureaucracy:

• Senate confirmation of presidential appointees.

• Legislation terminates or creates agencies and programs

  • Sets goals, priorities and an organizational structure.

• Oversight

  • Congressional hearings 

    • Members of bureaucracy may be required to testify before Congress, justifying their actions.

  • Government Accountability Office (GAO) - Monitors if funds are being spent appropriately.

  • Serves as a safeguard against future mistakes, and holds bureaucrats accountable for actions.