heimler

Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy

• Big Idea #1 - Our foundational governing documents are influenced by Enlightenment.

  • Natural Rights

  • Republicanism - Separation of Powers/Checks Against Tyranny

  • Popular Sovereignty – the people have the power in government system

  • Limited government 😛

  • Foundational Documents:

    • Declaration of Independence

      • Unalienable Rights (Ex. of natural rights)

      • People can replace gov if they a turd 💩

      • Consent of Governed

    • United States Constitution

      • Blueprint for Republican Form of Government

• Big Idea #2 - Different models of democracy are visible in our nation and its policies.

  • Participatory.

    • Many people involved as possible

  • Pluralist

    • Groups of people associated with interest groups and they compete to influence public policy

  • Elitist

    • Few people involved in political process

  • Foundational Documents:

    • Constitution

      • All three models are used:

      • Representatives are elected (Elite democracy)

      • Pluralists (states, and/or narrower interest groups)

      • Participatory democracy  where states make their own laws as long as they conflict with federal law

    • Brutus 1 (participatory model) and federalist 10 (competing factions -> more liberties upheld)

      • Brutus 1 Loves them Articles of Confederation with them state power. Argued large republic could not represent all people.

      • Federalist 10 said with so many factions, liberty will be upheld as no group can take over

• Big Idea #3 - Federalists and Anti-Federalists argued over the proper scope of federal power.

  • Federalist Papers encouraged people to go for Constitution 

  • Federalist 10, written by Madison, pertains to how to handle factions

    • Can take away fractions or minimize effects

  • Anti-Federalists favored weak central government and strong state government

    • Didn’t like British tyranny nor necessary and proper clause or supremacy clause

• Big Idea #4 - Articles of Confederation failed because federal power was too weak and state power was too great.

  • AoC failed as no executive branch, no judicial branch and only legislative.

  • Congress couldnt levy taxes

  • In order to change it, you needed unanimous agreement and no one likes Rhode Island (ew)

  • No power in Congress to raise and maintain a national army

    • Shay’s Rebellion:

      • COnvinced people that the Aoc was not sufficient because no national army to put it down

• Big Idea #5 - The US constitution was created and ratified as a result of compromises between Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

  • Great Compromise:

    • Bicameral legislative 

  • Electoral College Compromise (elite democracy)

    • It’s equal to representatives 

  • 3/5ths Compromise

    • Created a process to amend the constitution 

      • Proposal – ⅔ of both House & Senate

      • Ratification – ¾ of state legislatures have to agree

• Big Idea #6 - The US Constitution lays out a system of government characterised by separation of powers and checks and balances

  • Federalist 51 – checks and balances must exist within the government

  • Constitution:

    • Legislative makes laws

    • Executive enforces law

    • Judicial evaluates constitutionality of laws

    • Work independently but check each other 😜

• Big Idea #7 - Our system of government is based on federalism, and the sharing of power is affected by societal needs.

  • Federalism: SHARING OF POWER BETWEEN NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT

    • Exclusive (Enumerated) – explicitly delegated by the constitution in Article I, Section 8.

    • Reserved - Powers that belong to ONLY states and not to big daddy government (Tenth Amendment).

      • Policing, Hospital, Education

    • Concurrent - Powers that both the federal and state government share.

  • Federalism has been largely defined by money… FISCAL FEDERALISM

    • Block Grants - Money given from federal government to states for broad purpose 

      • Ex. Money for crime prevention

    • Categorical grants – Have to comply with specific standards (remember: only a certain “category” of spending)

    • Mandates – laws requiring states to follow federal directives.

      • Ex. Clean Air Act

      • Unfunded mandates – are NOT funded by the fed gov.

• Big Idea #8 - The balance of power between states and the federal government have changed over time, and at the heart of that balancing act are a few constitutional provisions and two scotus cases

  • 10th Amendment – reserved rights to the states.

  • 14th Amendment - Applies federal laws to states (selective incorporation)

  • Clauses:

    • Necessary and Proper Clause - Congress can make any law in which Congress can make any law even if its not explicitly stated

    • Commerce Clause – the fed. Gov. can regulate interstate commerce.

  • Cases:

    • Mcculloch v. Maryland - Ruled that federal law triumphed state law – Supremacy clause

      • More federal power

      • Government can establish National Bank of US

    • US v. Lopez - Opposite tip where congress attempted to use commerce clause to regulate… SC declared unconstitutional

Unit 2: Interactions between Branches of Government

Someone shoutout galvin and his gray area in between 

I SAY EQUAL YOU SAY

I SAY SELECTIVE YOU SAY

JOURNALIST JOURNALIST REPUBLICAN DEMOCRAT 

WAX ON WAX OFF WAX ON WAX OFF

EYEBALLS  EYEBALLS EYEBALLS EYEBALLS 

START CLICKING AND PERUSING THOSE COURT CASES id shoutout glavin if i wasnt unemployed rn

WORDS OF UNWELOME ADVICE #1463644

• Big Idea #1 - The main work of Congress is to make laws

  • Article 1 section 8, enumerated powers

    • Ex: Power of the PURSE, interstate commerce

    • Ability to declare war 

  • Necessary and Proper Clause, Implied powers

    • Wide range of legislation (economic, environmental, social issues) 

  • Bicameral structure

    • House of Representatives – apportioned by population of each state (435 voting reps)

    • Senate – 2 per state. These two represent the whole state.

    • Needed to pass legislation

• Big Idea #2 - The leadership structure of Congress and the committee system are the main avenues through which Congress does its work.

  • House

    • Leader: ⭐Speaker of the House (majority party)

    • Majority and Minority Leaders: direct debate and policy making issues

    • Majority and Minority Whip: make sure party members are in line with party goals

  • Senate

    • President of the Senate (VP) – not powerful. Just tiebreaker

    • President pro tempore 

      • Presides over Senate when VP is away

    • ⭐Senate majority leader – more powerful. Sets the senate agenda, which bills pass to the floor for debate.

    • Whips

  • Committees – smaller groups of representatives that debate.

    • All work is done in committees

    • Standing committee (always there)

      • EX. Budget, judiciary 

    • Joint committee – involve BOTH parts of congress.

    • Select committee - temporary, created for a specific purpose 

      • Ex. To investigate Nixon’s involvement in Watergate

    • Conference committee – resolve changes to bills.

  • Bill Becomes a Law

    • House or Senate introduces/sponsors a bill

    • After its considered in committees, it often changes (non germane riders or non-germane riders aka relevant to the bill and non relevant)

    • These writers add provisions which benefit a members own agenda:

      • Pork Barrel Spending - Earmarks projects in representatives districts

    • Then the bill is assigned to a committee. Steps:

      • Hearings… talking about it

      • Markups

      • Reporting Out - Here's what we came up with

      • Voting - Favor or Against

        • Logrolling - Calling in a “favor” for another congressional member to vote on your bill (you will vote on their bill later) 

  • Congress creates the budget, a very contentious process

    • Mandatory spending  – must be spent BY LAW

      • Ex: Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security.

    • Discretionary spending  - money left over after mandatory spending 

      • Ex: Defense, education, transportation.

• Big Idea #3 - The efficiency with which Congress does its work is affected by ideological divisions, differing concepts of representation, and redistricting/gerrymandering

  • Ideological divisions - Political polarization (ongoing) makes negotiation and compromise exceedingly difficult 

  • Whole system of government relies on compromise, therefore political division makes shit harder

  • Types of Representatives:

    • Trustee – they vote regardless of their constituents’ opinions. The people “trust” that their decision is the best.

    • Delegate - Representative works for the will of constituents (thinking about reelection) even if it goes against their own judgement. This is mostly seen for house of reps

    • Politico - Balance of the other two depending on the situation

  • Redistricting - Census is done every ten years by constitutional mandate

    • Redraw congressional districts based on population

  • Gerrymandering - drawing districts in a way that benefits one group and disadvantages another

    • Baker v. Carr (1962) – ultimately ruled “one person, one vote.” The court had the power to hear cases on redistricting. (14th amendment, Equal Protection Clause). 

    • Shaw v. Reno (1993) – involved Supreme Court in “political questions,” no racial gerrymandering (14th amendment, Equal Protection Clause) 

• Big Idea #4 - Though the president has no constitutional law-making power, the president uses formal and informal powers to get the presidential policy agenda passed. 

  • Formal Powers (Given by Article II of the Constitution):

    • Veto + Pocket Veto – a check on Congress

      • Congress can override veto with ⅔ vote 

    • Commander-in-Chief of the military

      • However, Congress declares war

  • Informal Powers:

    • Bargaining and persuasion (speak to the public; align with policy agenda) 

      • Bully Pulpit – ex: Fireside chats. 

        • Put pressure on their representative to align with their political agenda

    • Executive Order

      • Directive on how the federal bureaucracy should operate. 

      • Has the force of law but is not a law.

    • Signing Statement

      • Says how the president will choose to interpret congress’ law.

    • Executive Agreements

• Big Idea #5 - Exercise of presidential power can often lead to conflicts with the other branches of government, but those other branches have means of checking the president’s power.

  • Presidential Appointments

    • Senate has the power of advice and consent (approve/deny cabinet, federal court (especially Supreme Court), ambassadors, white house staff appointments) 

• Big Idea #6 - Presidential power has grown significantly over time.

  • Federalist 70 - Single executive will have more energy

  • Power of President has grown over time (Washington thought he was a servant of Congress)

  • Andrew Jackson shifted presidential power – believed he was the representative of the people and thus he expanded the power of the executive office (vetoed like crazy 😊)

    • Indian Removal Act (opposed by Supreme Court) 

  • Abraham Lincoln as well – assumed power to save the Union, abolish slavery

    • Suspending Constitutional right of habeas corpus 

  • FDR — so many vetos, New Deal (pushed through Congress), court packing (failed)

• Big Idea #7 - Because of their unique command of the attention of Americans, presidents have often used new communication technologies to appeal to people.

  • President has a unique way to speak to the people

    • Newspaper

    • Radio – Fireside chats

    • TV (JFK)

    • Social Media – Barack Obama loved Twitter 

• Big Idea #8 - The Supreme Court checks the other branches of government through the power of judicial review

  • Federalist 78 - Hamilton argued that independence of judicial branch acted as protection of powers 

    • Lifetime appointment - Therefore are impartial to needing to sway votes. (CAN GET IMPEACHED tho)

    • Court has the right of judicial review (Marbury v. Madison)

      • Marbury v. Madison established judicial review

  • Structure:

    • District Courts -> 

    • Court of Appeals ->

    • Supreme Court

  • ALL APPOINTED BY PRES., APPROVED BY CONGRESS, LIFETIME APPOINTMENT

• Big Idea #9 - The combination of the Court’s exercise of judicial review and the life tenure of judges leads some to question the legitimacy of the Court.

  • Precedents - hard to overturn

    • Stare Decisis - Let the decision stand!

    • If a Court had already decided something, it usually ends up standing (USUALLY)

    • But they CAN be overturned (Plessy v. Ferguson) 

  • Judicial Restraint – the court should uphold the Constitution and written laws.

  • Judicial Activism – the court overturned precedents for social change (ex: overturning Plessy v. Ferguson)

  • Ex: both cases cause people to doubt the Supreme Court’s authority.

    • Roe v. Wade – established the federal right to abortion.

    • Dobbs v. Jackson – overturned this, handing the decision back to the individual states.

• Big Idea #10 - The federal bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of the federal government under the authority of the executive branch

  • “Fourth branch” of government - Very powerful

    • Technically under executive but still has powers

    • On top is Cabinet Secretaries (Leaders of Departments i.e. Energy, Homeland Security, Defense)

      • Departments are divided into agencies which works to accomplish goals

      • Then they are divided into commissions which are independent of executive (work for a specific purpose, ex: FCC – Federal Communications Commission: regulate content on media)

  • Government Corporations - Hybrid of government and agencies (Postal Service)

  • Implement and enforce laws, heads work with other entities IRON TRIANGLE

• Big Idea #11 - The federal bureaucracy uses delegated discretionary authority for rule-making and implementation

  • Delegated Discretionary Authority – congress grants the bureaucracy the POWER to specify and make their own decisions.

  • IRON TRIANGLE

  • Agencies to know: Homeland Security, Transportation, Veterans, Education, EPA, FEC, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

• Big Idea #12 - the bureaucracy can be checked by other branches.

  • Congressional Oversight – Congress has the power to call bureaucracies’ leaders to testify

  • Congress’ Power of the Purse – they get to decide if the bureaucracy gets money at all to do stuff

  • President can go and fire people

  • Judicial can challenge decisions in court

Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Rights

• Big Idea #1 - The Bill of Rights protects individual liberties

  • Bill of Rights originally protected individuals from the federal government

  • However, Supreme Court expanded it to state governments (public interest v. personal freedom)

  • Liberties in Bill of Rights are not absolute

• Big Idea #2 - The Supreme Court has engaged in an ongoing debate over the first amendment’s protection of the freedom of religion, centered on balancing majoritarian religious practices and free exercise. 

  • The first amendment

    • Establishment Clause

    • Free Exercise Clause

  • Cases:

    • Engel v. Vitale – Herricks SD held voluntary prayer, which violated the Establishment Clause.

    • Wisconsin v. Yoder

      • Complaint that compulsory schooling violated free exercise of Amish religion who wanted to keep their kids at home

      • It did violate free exercise as it ruined the kid’s religious beliefs (no public schooling above 8th grade)

• Big Idea #3 - The first amendment’s protection of freedom of speech is not absolute, but in order to restrict speech, the government has a high bar to reach.

  • Cases:

    • Tinker v. Des Moines - admin has violated first amendment of free speech (symbolic speech).

  • Schenck v. US - clear and present danger to societyTime, place, and manner – cannot silence speech, but CAN limit when, where, and how.

  • Obscene speech – can be silenced in some cases.

• Big Idea #4 - The first amendment’s protection of the freedom of the press is essential to the working of a democracy.

  • Cases:

    • NY Times v. US

      • Heavy presumption against Prior Restraint – when the govt. can restrict speech BEFORE it is printed

• Big Idea #5 - The Supreme Court’s interpretation of the second amendment has almost always held an individual’s right to own a gun.

  • Cases:

    • (non-required) DC v. Heller - gun laws made carrying a gun difficult

    • McDonald (old man) v. Chicago 

• Big Idea #6 - None of the rights in the Bill of Rights are absolute. Each right is always a balancing act between individual liberty and public order and safety.

  • Eighth amendment - against cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail

    • Is the death penalty allowed? Heavy contention

  • Second Amendment - 

  • Fourth Amendment - Protect citizens from unreasonable seizures of property.

    • Patriot Act (after 9/11) - Bush passed it (by executive order) and allowed government to peek into cell phones by collecting metadata of conversations

      • Very against fourth amendment 🌚

• Big Idea #7 - Selective incorporation applies the protections of the Bill of Rights to the states through the 14th amendment’s due process clause. 

  • The States are not allowed to abridge due process law.

    • Does not happen automatically, but needs to be case-by-case applied through selective incorporation.

  • 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8

  • McDonald v. Chicago - Heller decision only applies to federal law

    • Argument was that the second amendment should be applied to states via fourteenth amendment

    • Court was like hell yeah!

• Big Idea #8 - In trying to balance personal liberty and public order, the Court has at times ruled to restrict individual liberty and at other times upheld individual liberty.

  • Fifth Amendment - Granted Miranda rights through Miranda v. Arizona

    • Protection against being compelled to witness against yourself

    • Procedural due process - people have to be read their Miranda Rights 

    • 6th Amendment

  • 6th amendment – in Gideon v. Wainwright, the right to legal representation was incorporated to states. 14th amendment DUE PROCESS CLAUSE

    • Poor guy (Gideon) didn’t have a lawyer.

  • Right to privacy (implied in the 4th amendment)

    • Roe v. Wade – substantive due process case. Court argued that her civil liberties were violated.

• Big Idea #9 - Constitutional provisions have inspired and supported social movements.

  • Civil Rights - All citizens are equally protected by liberties (ignore race, gender, sexuality)

  • Civil liberties - freedoms guaranteed by constitution

  • CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT 👍- Equal Protection Clause made black american citizens equal, but it wasn't practiced.

    • Marther Luther King Junior - Letter from Birmingham Jail responded to white clergy of Alabama and said we can’t wait anymore and we need nonviolent protest

      • WE NEED ACTION NOW! (what time is it? now.)

  • Argues for expansion of civil rights: 

    • Women Rights Movement - Title IX

    • Gay Movement

    • Pro-Life v. Pro-choice

    • Chicano Movement

• Big Idea #10 - The Supreme Court has at times allowed the restriction of civil rights of minority groups and at other times has protected those rights.

  • IMPORTANT rulings:

    • Brown v. Board of Education - desegregated schools

    • Civil Rights Act, Title IX

• Big Idea #11 - Heimler loves us and he is the goat Ues

Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

• Big Idea #1 - Americans’ relationship to core American beliefs, which are shared by nearly every American, affects how they think about the role of government.

  • 5 Big Ideas:

    • Individualism

      • Conservatives self-centered individualism, Liberals enlightenment individualism

    • Rule of Law

    • Equality of Opportunity

    • Limited Government

    • Free Enterprise

  • Liberal to Conservative Spectrum

    • Each of these 5 ideas are interpreted differently, based on their political ideology

• Big Idea #2 - Cultural factors influence political attitudes and socialization.

  • Political Socialization – how people come to form their political attitudes and socialization

  • Family (at the top), school, peers/media, religious institutions

  • Generations can influence politics

    • Common shared experiences affect scale nationally.

    • Trend: As each generation passes, we get more liberal

    • Silent Generation - Senior citizens grew up in Great Depression and love religion (hate cultural upheaval of 1960s and 1970s) -> Generally conservative

    • Millennials - Born 1981; Much more liberal; Love diplomacy 

• Big Idea #3 -  Public opinion is measured through scientific polling, and the results influence public policies and institutions. 

  • Poll Types:

    • Opinion polls – get a feel for the public’s opinion on something

    • Benchmark polls – taken at the BEGINNING of a candidate’s run to compare future polls with

    • Tracking polls – taken over time with the same group of people (longitudinal)

    • Entrance/Exit Polls – Pollsters ask how they vote (either before voting or after voting)

  • How do they make sure their polls are legitimate?

    • Sampling – Representative sample, Random 

    • Sampling Error - Best polls acknowledge error (within +/- 4)

• Big Idea #4 - There is a discernible relationship between scientific polling and elections and policy debates.

  • Polls play a large role in how we participate.

  • Voters vote based on polling

  • Major polling errors (i.e. Hillary v Trump) makes people question the validity of polling.

  • Non scientific polls demonstrates support but isn't reliable and makes people mistrust

• Big Idea #5 - Political Ideology is an interlocking set of ideas that form the basis for political decision making.

  • We have become more polarized over time

  • Liberalism - progressive, advocates for having govt. to fix society.

  • Conservatism – less open for government expansion, traditional values

  • Democratic - tend to align with liberal values (love protecting women, equal rights, rights of marginalized groups, healthcare)

  • Republicans - Tend to align with conservatives (love lower taxes, foreign policy, ECONOMY)

• Big Idea #6 - Public policy only reflects the attitudes and beliefs of those who actually participate in the political process.

  • Liberals have Keynesian economics - gov spending to stabilize economy (ex: taxing and interest rates)

  • Conservatives like supply side economics - free enterprise BABY!

    • No government spending

    • Supply and demand

    • Gov get your filthy hands off me! 

  • Libertarians like NO GOV WHATEVER

    • No gov in social movements or economy 

Unit 5: Political Participation

• Big Idea #1 - The Constitution protects voting rights and the diversity of people eligible to vote has expanded over time.

  • Thorough many amendments, voting expanded

    • 15 – black men can vote

    • 17 - direct voting for senators

    • 19 - women can vote

    • 23 – DC people can vote

    • 24 – abolished poll taxes

    • 26 – lowered voting age to 18

  • Rational Choice Voting - Studied platform and votes based on what benefits them

  • Retrospective Voting - Looks into past of politician and votes based on that

  • Prospective Voting - Looks into the potential/promises of the president 

  • Straight-Ticket Voting - voting for all candidates within their party, regardless of anything else.

• Big Idea #2 - Several factors determine voter turnout in any given election/

  • Structural Barriers to Voting:

    • Registration – some states require Gov. issued Photo IDs to vote

  • Political Efficacy – a person’s belief in how much their vote counts.

  • Type of election (presidential with more, lower congressional)

  • Demographics (sex, age, etc.)

• Big Idea #3 - Linkage institutions are societal structures that connect people to their government or the political process and allow individuals to communicate their preferences to policy makers.

  • Political Parties - organization that puts up candidates for elections

    • Campaign managements

    • Party Realignment (i.e. Civil War, FDR made Democrats what it is today 😣)

    • Campaign Finance Laws have changed how much $ can be given to candidates

  • Special Interest Groups

  • Media

  • Elections

• Big Idea #4 - The US operates as a two party system and that makes it very difficult for third parties and independent parties to ever win an election.

  • Winner-take-all districts – whichever candidate gets the majority gets ALL the representation for that region (except Nebraska and Maine).

  • Major parties incorporate 3rd party agendas in their political agendas 😀 (Democrats and Republicans eat them like in agar.io)

  • GTA 6 giggle giggle

• Big Idea #5 - Interest groups are a linkage institution that mostly form around single issues or a certain demographic in order to influence policy making.

  • Lobbying - Interest groups have experts who can help legislators know more about a single issue

  • Interest groups are part of the iron triangle 

    • These relationships are mutually beneficial 

    • Interest groups provide policy information

  • Level of influence does depend on funding

    • Groups with better funding have more influence (NRA)

    • The NRA spends so much money for what. 

  • Free Rider Problem - Larger group benefits from efforts of interest groups (EPA)

• Big Idea #6 - The president is elected through a series of steps and ultimately through the electoral college.

  • First steps:

    • Primary (state level, secret ballot)  elections and caucuses 

      • Closed – voters MUST vote for their declared party.

      • Open – voters can vote for any party’s candidate

    • Caucuses

      • Happen on the local level, voting is more visible/transparent.

  • Incumbency advantage - sitting president more likely to get elected again

  • Electoral College – The number is based on # of congress

• Big Idea #7 - Congressional elections have less participation than presidential elections and there are several factors which determine who gets elected to Congress.

  • All house seats are up for election every 2 years, ⅓ of senate seats

  • Incumbency advantage is greater here

    • Name recognition

  • Gerrymandering is a big issue as the parties draw them to their own advantage

    • Make incumbency advantage larger.

• Big Idea #8 - Running a campaign for office is a complex and exceedingly complicated process and campaign organizations and strategies affect the election process.

  • Campaigns can go on for however long they want, and become more expensive

• Big Idea #9 - Money is at the heart of political campaigns. But there are laws that govern such financial contributions and that has led to debate about the proper role money ought to play in politics.

  • Federal Election Commission (FEC) – enforces contributions

  • Hard money – money directly donated to campaigns. TRACEABLE

  • Soft money – money donated to indirect groups. NOT subject to finance laws, and have no cap.

  • BCRA (Bicameral Campaign Reform Act) – established a higher cap on hard money and tried to limit soft money contribution.

  • PACs – 

  • Super PACs – CANNOT directly coordinate or donate to candidate 

    • Citizens United v. FEC

      • Limitations on donations = limits free speech

      • Corporations are people too 

• Big Idea #10 - The media is a linkage institution, also known as a watchdog agency, which holds the government responsible to the citizens. 

  • Media affects political agenda

    • Newspaper -> Telegraphs -> Radio (FDR’s Fireside Chats) -> Television (Vietnam War) -> Internet/Social Media

    • Ex: Vietnam TV increase distrust in govt. bc people dying

  • Investigative journalism - criticisms on government (e.g. the Jungle by Upton Sinclair)

  • Media outlets have become increasingly narrow and partisan

  • News outlets are for-profit so they report to fit in with their audience