Course Unit Summaries
American Government
Mrs. Behm
TOPIC: Political Science
TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
The US is an INDIRECT DEMOCRACY because we elect leaders to make decisions on issues for
us (In a direct democracy, people vote on the issues directly). Democracies are typically the most peaceful
form of government over time, since people can create change through voting or petitioning (signing their
name to show support for a proposal) rather than through violence. A true Democracy rules by majority,
but must also respect the rights of the minority on any issue. For example, in Brown v. the Board of
Education, the US Supreme Court determined that although whites are the majority in this country,
people of any race have a right to the same public education provided for members of the majority.
IDEOLOGIES
People can be separated into ideologies by their opinions on political issues. Most Americans are
MODERATE, or right between LIBERAL and CONSERVATIVE. Liberals, usually Democrats, want the
government to do more to solve society’s problems, especially regarding equality and justice.
Conservatives would like the government to stay out of the way of businesses and individuals, since they
believe in less government, not more. On the fringes are RADICALS, who want to tear down the current
system and replace it with an entirely new structure of government, and REACTIONARIES, who want
to tear down the current system and replace it with something that existed a long time ago.
TOPIC: Federalism
Our nation has separate levels of FEDERAL and STATE Governments. The Federal government
has sole responsibility for things like the Postal Service, war, and relations with foreign countries. Such
powers are EXPRESSED, or directly stated, in the US CONSTITUTION, which is the highest law of the
land. Other powers, such as marriage licenses, driving laws, and education are RESERVED to the states
to handle on their own. Some powers are CONCURRENT, or shared by both the federal and state
governments, such as the power to tax, or to build roads. There also are some DENIED powers that no
government is permitted to exercise, such as regulate religion.
Oftentimes the federal government will help the state governments financially in the form of
grants. BLOCK GRANTS give the states a lot of flexibility in how they spend these grants, where as the
typical grant-in-aid is for a specific purpose.
States are subdivided into local units of government, the largest of which is the COUNTY.
Counties are further divided into MUNICIPALITIES. Counties and municipalities are classified
according to population. SCHOOL DISTRICTS are another subdivision, usually larger than a
municipality but smaller than a county. In all cases of local governments, the state government has
almost total authority over the local unit, and can even take control away from the locally elected
directors. Sometimes the state government grants a HOME RULE CHARTER to the local government,
allowing it a lot of flexibility in how it structures and manages itself.
Although Congressional Districts might look like local governments on a map, they’re not – the word
“Congress” is only used to refer to our federal government’s legislature.
TOPIC: State Legislature
The GENERAL ASSEMBLY is BICAMERAL, meaning it has two chambers, the HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES and the SENATE. The House has 203 members and is led by the SPEAKER OF
THE HOUSE, one of the reps who has the responsibility to assign bills to committees and manage
debates. The Senate has 50 members and is led by the PRESIDENT PROTEMPORE whenever the
Lieutenant Governor is not there, which is most of the time. Typically the Lieutenant Governor only
shows up in order to cast a vote in the event of a tie. For a bill to pass into law, it must pass both
chambers. If the two chambers cannot agree on the drafting of the bill, a CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
is formed to work out the differences.
The people in the General Assembly aren’t an accurate reflection of all Pennsylvanians (they’re
almost all white, male, and middle or upper class), but they are good people to call if you are having
difficulty getting help from nearly any agency of state government. If your driver’s license isn’t being
processed correctly, call your Rep or Senator and they will help things along. Remember – they want
your vote. To find out who your Rep or Senator is you can check the Internet or the blue
PENNSYLVANIA MANUAL.
Most other states have similar bicameral legislatures (not Nebraska -- theirs is unicameral), and some
have more options for citizens to take legislative actions such as PETITIONS, RECALLS, or
INITIATIVES.
TOPIC: State Executive
The GOVERNOR is the individual holding the most control over the state’s government, and
supervises many different departments such as Revenue, Transportation and Education. He even has
some “military” authority in the form of the NATIONAL GUARD (headed by the ADJUTANT
GENERAL), which he calls out during natural disasters or riots. Although Pennsylvania has never had a
female governor, other states have, such as New Jersey. The governor can check the power of the judicial
branch by offering CLEMENCY to convicted offenders, usually in the form of returned fines and
forfeitures, reprieves, or commutation of the sentence (sometimes in the form of a full pardon). The
governor also has checks on the legislative branch, in the form of one of on of his more controversial
powers: the LINE-ITEM VETO, in which he can eliminate specific parts of a bill that has been passed by
the General Assembly.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR must be ready to replace the Governor, presides over the STATE
SENATE as its president, and is the chairman of the PARDONS BOARD, which reviews the governor’s
decisions to grant some form of clemency to convicts.
Voters get to elect three additional offices in the executive branch, which means that the governor has
very little control over their decisions. The ATTORNEY GENERAL acts as the state’s lawyer and makes
decisions that have the weight of actual laws, until the courts or legislature say otherwise. The STATE
TREASURER keeps track of the state’s money and the AUDITOR GENERAL checks the books to make
sure all the money is where it’s supposed to be.
TOPIC: State Judicial
If someone is accused of breaking the law, they will have a CRIMINAL trial. The accused is called
the DEFENDANT and the opposing side is the PROSECUTION, usually run by the DISTRICT
ATTORNEY. If someone is accused of injuring another (financially, physically, emotionally, etc.), that
person will have a CIVIL trial. The accused is still called a defendant, but the accuser is a PLAINTIFF in
this case.
Pennsylvanians elect nearly all their judges. At the local level, MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT
JUDGES (until recently known as DISTRICT JUSTICES), handle very minor civil and criminal cases and
sometimes don’t have a law degree. More serious cases (both civil and criminal) start in the COMMON
PLEAS COURT with an actual JUDGE. Appeals of such cases may be heard at the SUPERIOR COURT
and then at the SUPREME COURT. If the state government is ever a party in a civil action, that case is
held in the COMMONWEALTH COURT.
When an INCUMBENT JUDGE runs for re-election, he or she runs unopposed, meaning they do not
have to endure a primary in the spring and on the fall ballot face only a yes/no vote.
Crimes in PA are classified as FELONIES (most serious), MISDEMEANORS (medium), and
SUMMARY OFFENSESE (very minor).
An INJUCTION is a court order to stop doing something like polluting.
The GRAND JURY is used to review evidence before a criminal trial to make sure that the
defendant isn’t being unfairly accused. It’s an expensive process, however, because the grand jury is
made up of judges, so these days we use a process of CRIMINAL INFORMATION instead.
TOPIC: County
The County is led by three COMMISSIONERS elected by the people. To maintain balance, each
political party can only nominate two. Nine COUNTY ROW OFFICERS are also elected separate from
the commissioners, and therefore make decisions independently. Among them are the CORONER
(investigates unusual deaths), the DISTRICT ATTORNEY (prosecuting criminal cases), the SHERIFF
(carrying out court decisions), and the PROTHONTARY (who has the fun job of keeping records for all
civil cases).
One of county’s jobs is to do ASSESSMENTS of all the properties in the county. Every decade, the
county estimates the market value of each piece of REAL PROPERTY (land and the structures on it). In
some cases, the county will also assess PERSONAL PROPERTY, which includes stocks, bonds, cars, and
jewelry. Assessments are used for local taxes not only by the county but by the school districts and
municipalities as well. Although the ASSESSED VALUES are usually pretty close to, but just slightly less
than MARKET VALUE, they go out of date quickly as the market value goes up each year. The result is
that assessments are often unfair, especially to owners of new homes when neighboring homes haven’t
been assessed in several years.
TOPIC: School Districts
Although they must follow all the rules of the state government, local communities can run their
own schools by electing SCHOOL BOARDS, usually 9 people who hold terms of office of 4 years and
don’t get paid for their service. An 18 year-old student could be on the school board, but a teacher could
not, since he/she would be voting on salary decisions. Board members make a lot of the big decisions like
expulsion, taxation, and hiring/firing. The day-to-day operation of the district (such as declaring snow
days) is done by the SUPERINTENDENT, a professional who has been a teacher and principal in the
past.
TOPIC: Municipalities
Municipalities provide services like neighborhood police and fire protection, sewers, water,
hospitals, and roads. They are classified by population into categories called CITIES, BOROUGHS,
FIRST CLASS TOWNSHIPS, and SECOND CLASS TOWNSHIPS, in descending order of population
size. Each provides essentially the same services such as police and fire protection, zoning, parks,
libraries, and more, but on different scales.
ZONING is one of the biggest municipal activities. Zoning dictates what property can be used
for: commercial, industrial, residential, etc. Developers prefer to have property zoned for high-density
residential use so that they can fit as many homes as possible into a small space. Zoning has a history of
keeping income levels separated: in the past, high-density meant low-income and low density meant
high. Newer luxury homes, however, are often placed very close to one another.
The titles of officials elected in municipalities depend on the type. Cities have a strong MAYOR
and a weak COUNCIL. Boroughs have a weak MAYOR (who supervises the police and represents the
borough at events) and a strong COUNCIL. First class townships have COMMISSIONERS. Second
Class Townships have SUPERVISORS. These officials select the people to sit on powerful boards for
issues like zoning, sanitation, and parks and recreation. Sometimes the municipality is divided into
WARDS before the election so each neighborhood is guaranteed at least one seat.
The municipalities’ financial concerns are handled by some combination of TAX ASSESSOR, TAX
COLLECTOR, and either a CONTROLLER or team of AUDITORS. They are elected separately to
reduce the chance of embezzling.
Sometimes the municipality (or any other level of government) uses EMINENT DOMAIN to seize (and
pay for) private property for some public use such as a road.
TOPIC: Taxes
State and most of the local governments get most of their REVENUE from TAXES. Every level of
government taxes INCOME to some degree, but usually SALES TAXES are only levied by states and
PROPERTY TAXES are only levied by local governments.
The Federal government taxes income on a PROGRESSIVE scale, starting at 10% and going up to
about 38%. This burdens the rich more than the poor. Usually you never miss the money, since most
taxes on income are collected through PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS. PA taxes everyone’s income at a flat
2.8%; this is called a PROPORTIONAL TAX. Local governments often have a 1% tax on income
(Proportional!), and sometimes a $10 OCCUPATIONAL PRIVILEGE TAX. The $10 tax would be
considered REGRESSIVE, since 10 bucks hurts a poor person a lot more than a rich person.
Local governments get most of their revenue through REAL PROPERTY TAXES. Because real
property is impossible to hide, the government finds it easy to collect this tax, thus saving the taxpayers
money. This tax is also justified by the fact that property values are closely tied to the services provided
by local government, so it makes sense that valuable property should generate more revenue. On the
downside, the property tax has nothing to do with your income, so some complain that it is regressive in
nature.