APUSG
Unit 4 Notes
Evolution of Congress
Intentions of founders
House: Conflict over distribution of power
• Centralization v. decentralization
Centralization:
• Quick action at constituents expense
• 1889-1910 Reed, and Cannon
Decentralization:
• Slow (gridlock) down action represent constituents more
• Started in 1910’s, mass movement in 1970’s
• Remember class of 1974
Evolution of Congress continued
Senate
Naturally decentralized only 100 members
17th Amendment: direct election of senators
• Makes senate even more decentralized
Filibusters: unlimited debate used to kill bills
• Passage of rule to kill filibuster with 3/5 vote: called cloture
Recent developments: 110th Congress Democrat
Powers of Congress
Expressed Powers
• Levy Taxes
• Borrow Money
• Regulate Trade*
• Est. Naturalization and bankruptcy law
• Coin money
• Est. weight and measures
• Punish counterfeiters
• Est. Post office
• Grant copyrights and patents
• Create federal courts
• Declare War
• Define piracy
• Raise and support Army/Navy
Institutional Powers
• Senate ratifies treaties with 2/3 vote
• Senate approves appointments w/
majority vote
• House votes for Impeachment, Senate
tries and removes
• *House elects President if no electoral
majority, senate VP
• Proposal of Constitutional
amendments with 2/3 vote in both
houses
• Can seat, unseat, and punish own
members
Powers of Congress continued
• Elastic Clause
Article 1 sec. 8
• Examples
Implied
Powers • Strict v. loose
constructionist
view of
Constitution
• Cannot pass ex
post facto laws
• Cannot pass
Powers
bills of attainder
Denied
Congress • Cannot suspend
habeas corpus
during
peacetime
Leadership in Congress
House:
• Speaker: Boehner
• Majority/Minority
Leaders
• Majority Whip /
Minority Whip
• Vice President
• President Pro
Temp
• Majority
Senate:
Leader
• Minority
Leader
• Whips
Committees In Congress
Most work in Congress occurs here
Majority party controls all committees
Past: Staff/Congressional members made laws
Today: Many interest groups and lobbyist make laws
Senate
House
Incumbency Advantage
Reelection rates: 90% House/ 80% Senate
Advantages:
• Franking Privilege
• Staffers
• Patronage
• Name
• Casework
• Money
Incumbency Advantage con’t
Gerrymandering
• of 435 House seats every Reapportionment
ten years (census)
• Change in pop. change in seats, must
redistrict! State legislatures.
• Mass. Governor Gerry: Created districts that
helped him out
• Districts looked like salamanders: thus,
Gerrymander!
• Packing and Cracking
• Effects of Gerrymandering
Influences on Members of Congress
Constituent Convictions
Own Convictions
Other Congress Members Convictions
Staff Members
Interest Groups/Lobbyists/PAC’s
Congressional Caucuses
Campaign Contributions
President
Media
Party
Bill to Law (see video)
Introduction
Committee Action (Rules Committee)
• Discharge Petition?
• Pigeonhole?
Floor Action
• Senate: Filibusters or 3/5 Cloture
Conference Committee
Presidential Action
• Veto/Sign/Ignore/Override?
Committee System
Intro
Selection of Members
Selection of Committee Chairs
Decentralization of 1970’s
Important Standing Committees
• Senate
• House
Conference Committees
Others
Case Against Congress
Inefficient
Unrepresentative
Unethical
Irresponsible
• Power to diffused
• Gramm-Rudman-Hollings
Gives President too much power
The Presidency
Qualifications
Term of Office
Compensation
• $400,000: Raised By Clinton for Bush
Succession: 25th Amendment
• VP, Speaker, Pro Temp, Sec. of State….
Role of President
Constitutional Roles
•
•
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•
•
•
Chief Legislator
Chief Executive
Commander in Chief
Chief Diplomat
Chief of State
Chief Jurist
Non-constitutional Roles
• Head of Party
• Chief economist
Growth of Presidential Power
Founders wanted strong Congress not Prez.
Non-constitutional Powers of the President
Three Rules of Thumb
• Move it or lose it
• Avoid Details
• Cabinets don’t get much, people do!
Presidential Support Staff
Growth
Isolation of President
Executive Office of President
•
•
•
•
White House Office
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
National Security Council (NSC)
Council of Economic Advisors (CEA)
Cabinet
How do you get appointed?
Vice President
Checks to Prez?
• Congress, courts
• New Checks
• Cabinet
Checks
• Congress
to
Leaders
Weaken
• Parties/Interest
Groups
• Media
Strengthening
• Revitalize
Parties
• Revise
Constitution
Congress v. President
Background
Sources of Conflict
Sources of Presidential Influence on Congress
•
•
•
•
•
•
Media
Mandate from the People
Patronage
Veto/ Veto Message
National Emergency
Personal Lobby
Imperial Presidency
Schlesinger’s, “ Imperial Prez” 1972
• Suggestion of Excessive power
• War Power
• Emergency Power
• Agreements rather than treaties
• Executive Privilege
• Impoundment
• Veto
Ted Lowi: Argues
• Power delegated by Congress and was needed
Congressional Response to Imperial
Presidency
War Powers Act
National Emergencies Act
Investigation of CIA
Budget Impoundment Control Act
Confirmation of Appointees
Legislative Veto
Foreign Affairs
Growth of the Bureaucracy
Development of the civil service system
• Spoils System
• Pendleton Act (1881)
• Today: 90% Federal Jobs civil servants
Size
• About 3 million
• Getting smaller/ States bigger
Power
• Discretionary Authority
Reasons for Growth
Influences on Bureaucratic Behavior
Recruitment and Retention
• ‘Make Jobs’
• Almost impossible to fire
Personal Attributes
• Middle and Lower: Cross-section of America
• Upper: Middle ages white male
• All tend to be more liberal
Legal Constraints
Organizational Constraints
Controlling the Bureaucracy
Presidential Influences
• Powers
• Checks
Congressional Influences
• Powers
• Checks
Interest Groups
• Revolving Door
Media
Courts
Privatization
Evaluation of Bureaucracy
Public
Opinion
Criticisms of
Bureaucracy
• General attitude negative/
Specific better
• Red tape
• Conflicts between agencies
(CIA/FBI)
• Duplication
• Waste
• Growth
In
favor
of
• To fix would cost
more
• Fair
• Some have
shrunk
• Compared to
other nations USA
is good
• Public is
inconsistent
Introduction to the Federal Courts
Types of Law
• Statutory/ Common
• Criminal/Civil
Judicial Power Passive
Jurisdiction of
Federal Courts
Must have Standing
Judicial Law Making
Jurisdiction
• Exclusive/ Concurrent
• Original/ Appellate
Dual Courts
Structure of the Federal Courts
Two types of Courts
• Article I: Special or Legislative Courts
• Claims
• Military
• DC Courts
• Article III: Supreme Court and power of Congress to create
courts
• District Courts: +/- 100 Districts
• Appeals Courts: 12 ‘circuts’
• Supreme Court: 1 with 9 justices
Supreme Court
Background
• Marbury v Madison: Judicial Review
Jurisdiction
How cases reach the Court
The Court at Work
Opinions
• Case decisions
Voting Blocs
Judicial Activism v Restraint
• Courts
should take
active role in
law making
Activism
• Court should
act as
guardian
• Examples
• Court should allow
other branches to
solve problems
and make laws
• Only deal with
Restraint
constitutional
questions
• Court should
interpret not
make law
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Cost: any burden a group must bear due to a policy
• Federal Child Care Program (Taxes)
• School Busing ( Stress, Taxes)
• Tariffs (higher prices)
Benefit: any satisfaction that a group gets due to a policy
• Federal Child Care Program (low cost)
• School Busing ( racial opportunity)
• Tariffs (more jobs)
Cost/Benefit can be:
• Widely-distributed Cost: income tax
• Narrowly-distributed Cost: Capital Gains tax, environmental
• Widely-distributed Benefit: Social Security, clean air
• Narrowly-distributed Benefit: Farm subsidies, tariffs
Types of Policies
Majoritarian
• Wide costs/ wide benefits
Interest Group
• Narrow costs/ narrow benefits
Client
• Wide costs/ narrow benefits
Entrepreneurial
• Narrow costs/ wide benefits
Taxing and Spending
Sources of Federal Spending
Where money is spent
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•
•
•
Individuals 48%
National Defense +/- 25%
Interest Payments on Debt 16%
Grants (federalism remember?) 10%
Entitlements: Uncontrollable
• Automatically spent without review: Social Security, Medicare,
pensions, debt
• Account for 2/3 of federal budget
Budget Process
Executive Branch
• OMB: Agencies prepare budgets and present
• President reviews and submits to Congress
Legislative Branch
• CBO: analysis of Presidents budget
• Budget, Ways and Means, Appropriations
Political Influences
Presidential Action
Deficit-Spending
Managing the Economy
Policies
• Fiscal
• Monetary
Keynesian
Supply-Side
Monetarism
Balanced Budget Amendment
Peace Dividend
Subsidies
Define: Government financial support
Purpose
Politics of
Subsidies that promote commerce
Social Welfare
• Social Security
• Medicare
• Unemployment
• AFDC
• Food Stamps
Regulation of Business
Define: Rules imposed by government on business to achieve a goal
Economic
Social
Development
Debate
• Favor
• Against
Deregulation
Define: Cutting back on government regulation
Airlines
Banking
Sept. 11th?
Evaluation of
• For and Against
Public, Military, Foreign Policy
President
Congress
State Department
Military
Agencies
Ambassadors