UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN…
OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED”
GPS STANDARD
• 1 What does the legislative branch do?
UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN…
OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED”
GPS STANDARD
• 2 What does the executive branch do?
UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN…
OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED”
GPS STANDARD
• 3 What does the judicial branch do?
UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN…
OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED”
GPS STANDARD
• 4 What is the separation of powers in the
constitution?
HOUSE OF REPS
• 5 How many members?
• 6 How many per state?
• 7 How old you have to be?
• 8 How long do you have to have been a us citizen?
• 9 Do you have to live in state?
• 10 How long is term?
• 11 What is term limit?
SENATE
• 12 How many members?
• 13 How many per state?
• 14 How old you have to be?
• 15 How long do you have to have been a us citizen?
• 16 Do you have to live in state?
• 17 How long is term?
• 18 What is term limit?
PRESIDENT
• 19 How old you have to be?
• 20 Do you have to be born in US?
• 21 How long do you have to have been a us citizen?
• 22 Do you have to live in state?
• 23 How long is term?
• 24 What is term limit?
25 WHAT IS AN INCUMBENT?
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
•26 HOW DOES AN IDEA
FOR A LAW BECOME A
LAW?
27 WHAT IS A CONGRESSIONAL
AGENDA?
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
•28 What are the outside influences on
members of Congress and the
legislative process?
• 29 WHAT IS THE PRESIDENTS CABINET?
UNIT 3: RULES WERE MADE
TO BE BROKEN… OR AT
LEAST INTERPRETED
American Government
Coach Vasilchek
UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN…
OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED”
GPS STANDARD
• SSCG 4- The student will demonstrate
knowledge of the organization and powers
of the national government
• a. Describe the structure and powers of the
legislative, executive and judicial branches.
J
udge whether
laws are
constitutional
and whether
they were
broken
UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN…
OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED”
GPS STANDARD
• SSCG9- The student will explain the
differences between the House of
Representatives and the Senate, with
the emphasis on terms of office,
powers, organization, leadership, and
representation of each house.
THREE POWERS OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
• Initiate revenue (tax) bills
• Choose the President when the
electoral college is deadlocked
(Election of 1800)
• Choose whether to Impeach someone
(choose whether to take it to trial or
not
THREE POWERS OF THE SENATE
•Treaty ratification
•Confirmation or Denial of judicial
and executive appointments
•Impeachment Trials
CONSTITUTIONAL CREATION
• When the constitution was created:
• The small states wanted equal representation
• They wanted this so that they had an equal say in the new government
• The large states wanted proportional representation
• They wanted this so that the states with the larger population would have
more representatives in the new government
• The great compromise gave them both
• The senate= equal representation= small states wants
• The house of representatives= proportional representation=large state wants
HOW OLD YOU GOTS TO BE
• HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES=25 years old
• SENATE= 30 years old
• PRESIDENT= 35 years old
• EMPEROR= 50 years old
TERM PERIODS/LIMITS
Term Periods
• The House of Reps= 2 years
• The Senate= 6 years
• The President= 4 years
Term Limits
• The House of Reps= no term limit
• The Senate= no term limit
• The President= 2 term limit or 10 years total
WHAT IS AN INCUMBENT?
• Incumbent: the current officeholder
• Incumbents have a very high re-election rate (80-90%)
• Yet the public does not hold Congress in very high esteem
• Voters seem only to be satisfied with their own representatives
• SO WHY ARE INCUMBENTS RE-ELECTED SO OFTEN??????
• Because people are familiar and comfortable with the incumbent.
HOW ISSUES GET ON
THE CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA
• Agenda: the schedule of all the issues the Congress
is considering
• Many issues have been on the agenda a long time
• Other issues emerge suddenly, often due to
technological change
HOW ISSUES GET ON
THE CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA
Issues may reach the agenda in many ways
• A highly visible event (like 9/11) draws our attention to a problem
• Presidential support
• Congressional party leaders and committee chairs
• Interest group efforts
UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN…
OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED”
GPS STANDARD
• SSCG 10- The student will describe the legislative process
including the roles played by committees and leadership.
• a. Explain the steps in the legislative process
• b. Explain the function of various leadership positions within the
legislature
HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW
• VIDEO LINK:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0
THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
PRESIDENTIAL VETO
• A Presidential Veto is where the president
votes no on a law which was passed
through the House of Reps and the Senate
• A Presidential Veto can be overridden by
a 2/3 vote in the House of Reps and the
Senate
THE DANCE OF LEGISLATION:
OVERVIEW
AN
• President’s Action
• Sign
• Veto
• Neither sign nor veto within 10 days  Bill becomes Law
• Neither sign nor veto within 10 days but Congress adjourns
(Pocket Veto)
• Content of bill can be changed at any time in legislative process
COMMITTEES:
• Committees develop and use expertise in specific areas
• Committee Types
• Standing: permanent committee that oversees bills dealing with certain kinds
of issues
• Joint: committee of the House and Senate that usually acts as a study group
and reports findings back to each
• Select (or Special): temporary committee formed to study one specific issue
and report its findings to the Senate or House
• Conference: temporary joint committee set up when the House and the Senate
have passed different versions of the same bill
COMMITTEES: THE
WORKHORSES OF CONGRESS
• Congressional Expertise and Seniority-
• Because of more experience and expertise,
people tend to listen to senior congress
persons.
• Influence on committees grows formally with seniority
• Influence on committees grows informally with increased expertise
• Senior member of the majority party usually becomes the
committee chair
COMMITTEES: THE WORKHORSES OF
CONGRESS
• Public policy decision-making takes place in committees
Committees hold hearings: sessions in which committee
members listen to testimony on issues related to a bill
Markup Sessions: the meetings at which committees debate
and amend legislation
COMMITTEES: THE WORKHORSES OF
CONGRESS
• Oversight:
the process of reviewing the operations of an agency to
determine whether it is carrying out policies as Congress intended
• Oversight has become more difficult
• Congress has added resources to perform the oversight function
• Majoritarian and Pluralist Views of Committees
THE LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT
• The President- due to the president’s
popularity, he or she puts a lot of pressure on
the legislature.
• Presidents capitalize on nationwide popular election
• Public expects president to be legislator-in-chief
• Hundreds of legislative liaison personnel work for
executive branch
THE LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT
• Constituents- put pressure on the legislature because
the legislature lives in their district with these
people.
• Constituents: people who live and work in a
government official’s district
THE DILEMMA OF REPRESENTATION
• Trustees or Delegates?
• Trustee: representative who is obligated to consider the views of
constituents but is not obligated to vote according to those views if
he or she believes they are misguided
• Delegate: a legislator whose primary responsibility is to represent
the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of his or her
own view
INTEREST GROUPS IN AMERICA
• Interest Group: a group of people with
common goals who organize to influence
government
• Interest Group Roles
1. Representation
2. Participation
3. Education
4. Agenda Building
5. Program Monitoring
INTEREST GROUP RESOURCES
• Political Action Committees
(PACs): an organization that pools
contributions from group members
and donates those funds to
candidates for office
INTEREST GROUPS AND BIAS
• Citizen Groups: lobbying organizations built around policy
concerns unrelated to members’ vocational interests
• citizen groups: poverty, environmental protection,
consumer protection, family values, good government,
equality for various groups
GPS STANDARD
• SSCG11 The student will describe the influence of
lobbyists (business, labor, professional organizations)
and special interest groups on the legislative process.
• a. Explain the function of lobbyists.
• b. Describe the laws and rules that govern lobbyists.
• c. Explain the function of special interest groups.
INTEREST GROUP RESOURCES
• Lobbyists- people who interact with
policymakers/legislators with the goal of
informing and pushing their organizations
agenda into congress.
• Can be either full-time employees of the
organization or hired from law firms or
public relations firms
• Must register with House and Senate; limits
on gifts; cannot lobby for a government
agency for which they were formerly
employed for two years (“revolving door”)
• Lobbyists can be fundraisers for candidates
LOBBYING TACTICS
• Direct Lobbying: attempts to influence a legislator’s vote
through personal contact
• Grassroots Lobbying: lobbying activities performed by rank-andfile interest group members and would-be members
• Information Campaign: are organized efforts to gain public
backing by bringing the group’s views to public attention
• High-Tech Lobbying: using e-mail, polling and the World Wide
Web to expand an organization’s reach
• Coalition Building: the banding together of several interest
groups for the purpose of lobbying
UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN…
OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED”
GPS STANDARD
• SSCG 15- The student will explain the functions of the
departments and agencies of the federal bureaucracy
• a. Compare and contrast the organization and responsibilities of
independent regulatory agencies, government corporations, and
executive agencies.
• b. Explain the functions of the Cabinet.
GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONS/INDEPENDENT
REGULATORY AGENCIES
• A GOVERNMENT CORPORATION IS A CORPORATION FULLY OR
PARTIALLY OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
• GOVERNMENT CORPORTATIONS-USPS,FDIC
• INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES Independent agencies of the United
States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal
executive departments
• More specifically, the term may be used to describe agencies that, while
constitutionally part of the executive branch, are independent of presidential control,
usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is
limited.
• IRA EXAMPLES: CIA, FBI, DEA
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
ESTABLISHMENT
• The Cabinet
• Cabinet: a group of presidential
advisers; the heads of the
executive departments and a
small number of other key
officials
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH ESTABLISHMENT
• The Cabinet includes the Vice President
and the heads of 15 executive
departments — the Secretaries of
Agriculture, Commerce, Defense,
Education, Energy, Health and Human
Services, Homeland Security, Housing and
Urban Development, Interior, Labor,
State, Transportation, Treasury, and
Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney
General.