AP GOVERNMENT – REVIEW
(revised 4/10/06)
I.
STRUCTURE OF EXAM
TIME
45 min.
100 min.
# QUESTIONS
60
4
TYPE OF QUESTION
Mult. Choice
Essay
%GRADE
50%
50%
The Exam is 2 hours and 25 minutes long. The majority of this is devoted
to writing four mandatory essays (100 minutes).
AP scores range from a low of 1 (No recommended college credit) to a
high of 5 (Extremely well qualified). You need to obtain a 3 (Qualified) in order
to be considered by most colleges for exam credit. To obtain a 3, you only need
to answer 50 - 60% of the multiple choice questions correctly and score in the
middle to upper range on the essay portion of the exam. If you spend the time
preparing for this exam and learning the basics (i.e. at least 60% of the
information), you will have no problem reaching a 3. Good Luck.
II.
6 TOPICS COVERED ON EXAM
1)
Topic:
Constitutional Underpinnings of American Government
Percentage of Exam: 5 - 15%
Objectives:
*Why did Madison fear factions?
*Why was the Bill of Rights adopted swiftly?
1. Considerations that influenced the formulation and adoption of
the Constitution.
2. Separation of Powers
3. Federalism
4. Theories of democratic government (republican gov’t,
pluralism, and elitism)
2)
Topic:
Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Percentage of Exam: 10 - 20%
Objectives:
1. Beliefs that citizens hold about their government and its leaders
2. Processes by which citizens learn about politics (families, school,
media)
3. The nature, source, and consequences of public opinion
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4. The ways in which citizens vote and otherwise participate in
political life (voting, protest, mass movements)
5. Factors that influence citizens to differ from one another in
terms of political beliefs and behaviors (demographics, race,
wealth)
3)
Topic:
Political Parties, interest groups, and mass media
Percentage of Exam: 10 - 20%
Objectives:
A. Political parties and elections
1. Functions
2. Organization
3. Development
4. Effects on the Political Process
B. Interest Groups, including Political Action Comm. (PAC’s)
1. The range of interests represented
2. The activities of interest groups
3. The effects of interest groups on the political process
4. The unique characteristics and roles of PACs in the political
process
C. The Mass Media
1. The functions and structures of the media
2. The impacts of media on politics
4)
Topic:
Institutions of National Government: Congress, Presidency,
Bureaucracy, and Federal Courts
Percentage of Exam: 35 - 45%
Objectives:
*What are the conflicting interests and powers of Congress and the
President which help explain the repeated struggles to adopt a
national budget?
A. The major formal and informal institutional arrangements of
power
B. Relationships among these four institutions, and varying
balances of power
C. Linkages between institutions and the following:
1. Public opinion and voters
2. Interest Groups
3. Political Parties
4. The media
5. Subnational governments
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5)
Topic:
Public Policy
Percentage of Exam: 5 - 15%
Objectives:
*Iron Triangles
A. Policy making in a federal system
B. The formation of policy agendas
C. The role of institutions in the enactment of policy
D. The role of bureaucracy and the courts in policy implementation
and interpretation
E. Linkages between policy processes and the following:
1. Political institutions and federalism
2. Political Parties
3. Interest Groups
4. Public Opinion
5. Elections
6. Policy Networks
6)
Topic:
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Percentage of Exam: 5 - 15%
Objectives:
*Marbury v. Madison -- judicial review
*Terry v. Ohio -- expanded police power to ‘stop & frisk’
*Mapp v. Ohio -- exclusionary rule
*Roper v. Simmons – death to <18 yrs. old violates 8th Amd.
*Lemon v. Kurtzman -- separation of church & state
*Van Orden v. Perry (McCreary County) – 10 commandment cases
*Roe v. Wade (Griswold v. Connecticut) -- right to privacy
*Lawrence v. Texas – Gay sex is ok (‘liberty’ interest)
*McCulloch v. Maryland -- expanded federal power
*U.S. v. Nixon -- limited power of executive privilege
*Bakke v. Regents -- affirmative action/equal protection
*Grutter v. Bollinger – affirmative action ok for diversity (~25 yrs?)
1. The development of civil liberties and civil rights by judicial
interpretation
2. Knowledge of substantive rights and liberties
3. The impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional
development of rights and liberties
III.
HOW TO TAKE THE MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION
The score on the multiple choice section of the exam based on the number
of questions a student answers correctly minus a fraction of the number
answered incorrectly. (No points are deducted or awarded for unanswered
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questions.) You can’t leave them all blank, but leaving those questions about
which you have no knowledge or even a clue is a good test strategy. At least
they won’t count against you. (Generally, you need to attempt about 50 of the 60
questions.)
Each question usually has five possible answers. A one-fourth of point
penalty is assessed for each incorrect answer. If you have some knowledge on
the topic and can eliminate one or more of the answers as clearly incorrect, then
guessing is usually to your advantage. Thus, guess if you can eliminate at least
one answer.
IV.
HOW TO TAKE THE ESSAY SECTION
There is no choice in which essays you write. There are 4 and they are all
mandatory. You cannot skip any!! Each of the essays is weighted equally,
meaning that each of the four essays counts for one-fourth of the total grade on
the essay portion of the test (i.e. You must try them all! Don’t just write a book on
the one or two you know about. Once you get the points, the rest of your
information is just a waste of time. This is not an English paper so no one really
cares about your style and depth of writing!)
One or more of the essays may be data-based (i.e. requiring you to analyze
and respond to information contained in a graph, chart, cartoon, etc.) You
should try to time yourself and spend about 25 minutes per essay depending on
the depth of the question. If you feel that you are about to run out of time,
outline the remainder of your essay putting the key information in bullet form.
Read the question carefully to determine what it wants! Underline the
key parts of the essay question and make sure that you perform all tasks that are
listed in the question. (While this sounds simple, many people are in such a
hurry, they overlook the simple things like giving 3 examples when called for or
taking a position, etc.) The essays are seeking to get you to regurgitate a range of
specific information.
You receive points for hitting those areas. In some
instances, you receive points for even picking to agree or disagree, therefore,
leaving an essay blank proves you are an idiot. Play the system and obtain at
least a few points. Those precious few points could mean the difference between
a 2 and a 3. Although it is not encouraged, if you sort of remember a topic but
are not sure if it represents x or y, beat around the bush in your essay and state
both facts in an eloquent manner. If the reader feels that you knew the
information, they may give you a point. Whatever you do, Never leave an essay
blank.
Because the readers are taking about 90 seconds to read your essay, they
are scanning for key points. To assist them in determining the organization and
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purpose of your essay, always put in a thesis sentence. Use paragraphing to
make it easy for them to find point 1, point 2, etc. Below is a list of the type of
question types you will see:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
To what extent (explain the relationship and role)
Evaluate the claim (determine the validity)
Assess the accuracy (determine the truth of the statement)
Critically evaluate evident that both supports and refutes
(give examples that agree and disagree)
Define and evaluate the contention
(give a definition and analyze the point of view)
Compare the strengths and weaknesses (show differences)
Analyze the effects of (evaluate the impact)
Explain (offer the meaning, cause, effect, influence)
Discuss ( give examples that illustrate)
Although it goes without saying, write neatly. If they can’t read it in 90
seconds, it is not likely that they are going to try to decipher your “unique”
penmanship.
V.
EXAM TOPIC NUTSHELLS
A.
Constitutional Underpinnings of American
Government
Percentage of Exam: 5 - 15%
1.
Defining “Government” and “Politics” and Their Relationship to
Public Policy
Government can be defined as those institutions that create public policy.
Constitutionally, this means the three branches of government (Executive,
Legislative and Judicial). Modern theory of government has added a “fourth
branch of government”, that of the bureaucracy that implements public policy.
A noted political scientist Harold Laswell defined politics as “who gets
what, when, and how”. This definition can be expanded to include “why” some
are able to succeed or fail in obtaining election or implementing public policy.
Politics is not defined in the constitution, but rather evolved out of the writings
of our founding fathers. Politics is characterized by conflict and resolution,
compromise, and the interrelationship of individuals and groups.
In the end: Government + Politics = Public Policy; What the government
does through politics results in public policy.
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2.
Origins of Representative Democracy
Early in our nation’s history, it became evident that the founding fathers
believed that a democracy should rely on the consent of the people. This
emanated from the writings of John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government
which states that men have natural rights in nature such as the right to life,
liberty and accumulating property, and only give up their inherent freedom in
becoming subservient to a government so that the government might protect
them (i.e. police protect life, property, etc.) This is known as Social-Contract
Theory. A necessary corollary, however, is that if the government fails to protect
its citizens in the basics of life, liberty or property, then the citizens have a duty
and obligation to revolt and overthrow the government.
These ideas are
expressed clearly by our Declaration of Independence and also shine throughout
the Constitution.
Under social-contract theory, the focus of government becomes the
individual. In a direct democracy, all citizens have input and the wishes of the
majority become law. In a large society, such a system becomes impractical and
often unfair to the individuals in the minority.
Our nation has adopted a
republican form of government whereby all citizens can vote for representatives
who then temper the often intolerant attitude of the masses. This is called and
indirect-democracy.
One important thing to remember is that our government took two
attempts to get it right. The first government was based upon the Articles of
Confederation. A confederation is a national government whose power
emanates from the individual states that make up the nation. Without their
consent, the national government is essentially very weak.
Our Founding
Fathers set up our new government in this manner to avoid a new tyrannical
King. Thus, our national government consisted of a one-house congress in which
legislation had to be passed by 2/3 majority. There was no Executive or
Judiciary and the only powers of congress were to declare war, make peace and
sign treaties. These powers were limited however because the congress could
not draft for an army or tax individual states to raise revenue to pay for
programs. All of the limitations on the national government led to chaos with
individual states taxing one another to achieve dominance in trade and no army
to defend our fledgling nation. States and individual state legislatures became
the dominant forces. Economic problems took over as our nation tried to repay
its war debts. Ultimately, farmers (who were being taxed to repay war debts and
were losing their farms) who believed that the new government was not
fulfilling the objectives of the Declaration of Independence took up arms. Shays’
Rebellion, a farmer led march/riot led by Daniel Shays, to protest taxation of
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farmers and seizure of lands was quelled by the military, but not before the
message was sent. The laws affecting farmers were changed. Seeing that
government was susceptible to influence by armed factions, many called for
change in the government. Because it took a unanimous vote of the Congress to
amend the Articles of Confederation, there was no easy way to change things.
By 1787, the calls for change were loud. A Constitutional Convention
finally convened in Philadelphia in 1789. Quickly, the delegates determined to
not revise the Articles, but to start drafting an entirely new Constitution. This set
the stage for a debate about how much power to give the national government.
There arose a debate between those favoring a strong national government (The
Federalists) and those favoring maintaining strong state control of national
policy (Anti-Federalists).
The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay
argued that a “tyranny of the majority” would result if states and individuals
simply allowed to run the national government. They believed that there should
be a system of checks and balances to ensure the protection of minorities. Thus,
the three branches of government (new Executive and Judiciary) would practice
separation of powers. Furthermore, there was a representative system in place to
ensure insulation of the government from strong factions (See Madison’s
Federalist #10). (i.e. representative democracy or republican form of government
described above).
The Anti-Federalists, led by the emerging middle-class believed that the
new national government would firmly establish the economic elite in power
and create the potential for abuse, especially in the area of individual liberties.
The Anti-Federalist insisted that a Bill of Rights be attached to the new
Constitution prior to its enactment.
The debate over power led to the creation of a bicameral (2 house)
legislature. The lower House would be popularly elected by the citizens of each
states, while the members of the upper Senate would be elected by the state
legislatures (this was later changed by constitutional amendment to allow for
popular election of Senators). This compromise that allowed for some popular
input into government while allowing a stable upper-house was called the
Connecticut Compromise. Furthermore, the basic powers of the Congress were
detailed in Article 1 of the Constitution. This established the basis concept of
federalism in our government. That is, the division of powers between the
national and state governments. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, however,
this new Constitution stated in Article 5 that the national governments’ laws
were supreme. This is the supremacy clause which means that states may not
pass laws in conflict with those which Congress passes.
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Once the structure of government had been agreed upon, the basic
freedom questions were debated.
Ultimately, the Anti-Federalists were
successful in delaying the approval of the new Constitution until Madison and
Hamilton promised that the new Congress’ first priority would be to draft a Bill
of Rights to send to the states for ratification.
3.
Our Republic in the Age of Initiatives
Our Founding Fathers didn’t trust us!! Remember what Madison said in
Federalist #10 about “men are not angels” indicating what we know is true from
Locke’s Second Treatise on Gov’t: left to our own devices, we will form groups
hell-bent on getting our way and destroying all others. This leads to Madison’s
“tyranny of the majority” from Fed. #10. To defuse the ability of passions of the
day from becoming ruling law, the Founders instituted a system of
supermajorities into the Constitution.
That is, in order to change the
Constitution, it takes almost all of the people’s consent (2/3 Congress; ¾ of
States). Thus, while people “demand” that their Congress pass a Constitutional
Amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade, require a balanced budget, allow prayer in
school, or protect the flag from desecration, these Amendments have thus far
failed to attract the supermajority needed for passage. Closest was the Balanced
Budget Amendment which failed by 1 vote in the Senate in 1995.
4 “FORMAL” METHODS TO AMEND CONSTITUTION
a)
2/3 vote both houses of Congress, and
*
*
Ratified by State Legislatures in 3/4 of States; or
Ratified by Ratifying Conventions in 3/4 of States.
b)
Constitutional Convention
(called at request of 2/3 of states), and
*
*
Ratified by State Legislatures in 3/4 of States; or
Ratified by Ratifying Conventions in 3/4 of States.
That is not to say that our Constitution cannot be changed “informally.” This
occurs all the time as the Supreme Court issues opinions or “Case Law” that explains our
Constitution and interprets its provisions. Also, the practices of our Congress/President
become accepted. For example, the ability of Presidents to use “Executive Privilege” has
become a part of our established doctrine through history.
Unfortunately, while our Founding Fathers knew about human nature being
corrupt at its core (“original sin”), we tend to forget such things and believe that we can
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trust each other. This has led to the rise of Inititiative whereby voters can gather enough
signatures of registered voters on a petition to force an issue to be put on the ballot. This
allows organized groups to put an issue on the ballot and then vote it into law which takes
us right back to “Mob Rule” direct democracy. The self-serving nature of this is
demonstrated in CA where they have limited taxes only to find themselves with no money
to fund schools, roads, etc. Another area where our indirect democracy has been
compromised is where Legislators abdicated their responsibility to make tough decisions
by “letting the voters decide” in a Referendum. This is where the measure is simply put
on the ballot for the voters to decide yes/no. While this sounds nice, how qualified is the
electorate to make technical decisions on complicated issues? If the legislators with their
expertise and staff can’t decide on “Clean Air Legislation”, what makes anyone think that
Grandpa who watches “Wheel of Fortune” can get it right?
These rise of Initiative and Referendum are a threat to our system of indirect
democracy which was implemented by our Founding Fathers to protect us from ourselves.
Only via a republic (indirect democracy) can we isolate the “tyranny of the majority” and
allow our nation to be evenly, equally and fairly governed.
4.
Federalism (Dual, Layer Cake, Marble Cake)
Federalism is defined as the division of power between the state and
national government. Where one draws the line to divide the power is a
constant struggle that has even resulted in a Civil War.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights define a federal system whereby
certain powers are given to the federal government (e.g. Congress in Article I,
Sec. 10 allowing federal control of post offices, monetary policy and the military)
while most others are reserved to the States (e.g. 10th Amendment). A limited
amount of power would be jointly exercised (e.g. courts,etc.) In this structure,
the power of the federal government should be interpreted narrowly. This dual
federalism became the first type of relationship for the United States. Each level
of government was dominant within its own sphere with the Supreme Court
serving as the umpire in case of disputes. Thus, in dual federalism, the powers
and policy assignments of the layers of government are distinct, as in a layer
cake.
Because of this, dual federalism is often referred to as layer cake
federalism.
Even after the Civil War, this layer cake federalism continued with the
states continuing to control things on the local levels. Supreme Court cases such
as Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) allowed for “separate but equal” facilities for
minorities, in spite of federal efforts to pass Civil Rights legislation. This form of
federalism with the federal and state government controlling certain spheres
existed until about the 1930’s when the Supreme Court redefined the relationship
between the federal government and states.
With the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868 and the Supreme
Court’s initial adoption of the Doctrine of Incorporation making the Bill of Rights
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applicable to the States in the 1920’s, the relationship between state and federal
government was changed dramatically. In addition, the political needs of the
nation during the Great Depression brought about a need for cooperation
between the federal gov’t and states to make the New Deal and WWII a success.
Thus, a new concept of federalism evolved whereby a cooperative federalism
existed that functioned as a system to deliver governmental goods and services
to the people and called for cooperation among levels of government to “get the
job done.” This cooperative federalism blurred the lines of distinction between
state and federal levels of control because powers and policy assignments were
shared. Thus, cooperative federalism is often referred to as marble cake
federalism. The major impact of cooperative federalism is that it became
extremely difficult to determine where the responsibility of the federal
government ended and the role of the state governments began. Cooperative
federalism today has three standard methods of operation:
a)
Cost Sharing -- cost of programs that would normally fall
completely within state sphere are partially paid for by
federal gov’t through matching programs (e.g. airport
construction, sewage treatment)
b)
Federal Guidelines -- In order to qualify for most federal
grants, the states must follow guidelines or rules set down
by the federal gov’t. This is the money with strings attached
theory. In order to get federal highway construction money,
states must lower speed limit to 55 and raise drinking age to
21.
c)
Shared Administration -- There exists dual administration
of programs such as Medicaid. Another example is the area
of job training by the Department of Labor. The federal
government gives billions of $ for the job training, but leaves
considerable discretion in spending the money to the state
and local governments which implement the federal job
training programs.
In the early 1970’s, Richard Nixon began an agenda of insisting on giving
power back to the states. This small attempt to reverse the marble cake concept
of federalism was called the New Federalism. It was later adopted by Ronald
Reagan, George Bush and Bob Dole. It calls for the states to be given more
responsibility in dealing with the nation’s fiscal resources and management.
This new federalism essentially amounted to a fiscal federalism whereby
the states benefit from federal money in three common circumstances.
The first method of returning federal tax dollars to the states in the form
of categorical grants of funds for specific purposes (2 types: project grants
awarded competitively such as National Science Foundation grants; and formula
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grants whereby funds are given to states according to a formula such as
Medicaid funding being computed based upon population, per capita income,
etc. Because formula grants are given automatically to states, there is great
debate in Congress over how the formula is determined so as to get ones own
state a larger portion of the pie. :))
Second, large block grants were given to states allowing discretion in how
to spend the money (automatic grants of money from fed to states for support of
broad community and social services such as welfare.)
Finally, there is revenue sharing (no strings attached, just lots of extra
money for states to use as they saw fit. This type of fiscal federalism was cut
dramatically under Reagan’s administration as our government tried to balance
its budget.)
5.
Federalism Today (Its Death & Resurrection & Death Again)
Initially, dual federalism system allowed the 10th Amenmdent to
have full force. That is to say, the States were supreme in those matters not
specifically delegated to the national government. As outlined above, the
amount of power delegated to the States has slowly eroded over time.
The Supreme Court slowly expanded Congress’ power (i.e. national gov’t
power) through McCulloch v. Maryland(1819) in explaining “Necessary &
Proper” Clause to give Implied Powers. Note that this was only a slight
expansion of power as “implied powers” could only flow from those powers
actually enumerated in the Constitution.
More importantly, the Court stated in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) that
Congress could regulate not only interstate commerce but also anything
“affecting interstate commerce”, thereby allowing regulation of intrastate
activity. Combining these rulings with the supremacy clause allows Congress
virtually unlimited authority. This broad interpretation of federal power was at
its apex in Wickard v. Filburn (1942) wherein the Court approved of regulating
wheat grown totally for home consumption (logic being that if he didn’t grow his
own, he would buy it and thereby ‘affect’ interstate commerce). Today, almost
every single law passed by Congress is done so via their Commerce Clause
power! Everything from Civil Rights laws (remember Heart of Atlanta Motel case
whereby S.Ct. upheld Civil Rights laws because discrimination by private
business enterprises affected commerce) to anti-violence measures are based on
their impact on commerce. Steadily, the Supreme Court made rulings that
destroyed dual federalism and gave all power to the federal government via
commerce power (“permissive federalism” where states can only act where
federal gov’t has not). This took place slowly from the 1930’s rise of New Deal
federal control throughout the 1960s rise of Civil Rights and legislation to
“protect” people from evil actions by States.
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During the past decade, a conservative Supreme Court has made some
movement to clarify federal power and resurrect the idea of true federalism and
State’s Rights. Such action first came about in U.S. v. Lopez (guns on schools not
an implied power or commerce) and again in U.S. v. Morrision (2000) (violence
against women was not a matter that affected commerce). While these cases do
reiterate that federalism is still a respected U.S. doctrine, realize that the Supreme
Court is just playing with the fringes and is not about to totally reverse our wellestablished top-heavy (i.e. federal ) power structure. This was proven recently in
Gonzales v. Raich (2005), the ‘medical marijuana’ case from California, wherein
the Court ruled 6-3 in favor of regulating the marijuana because though never
sold, it would interfere/disrupt/destroy enforcement of fed’s regulation of sale
of illegal drugs. For the foreseeable future, the Court might rule 5-4 to
occasionally slap Congress on the hand, but Congress will still continue to
generally win and states lose.
6.
Theories of Agenda Control
(Pluralism, Elitism, Hyperpluralism)
Politics (who get what, how, when and why) is governed by several
theories which focus on who controls the agenda. Theoretically, if you control
the agenda, you will control the outcome of the political game. They three
prevailing theories are pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism.
Pluralism involves different groups all vying for control of the agenda.
No single group emerges, forcing the groups to compromise. This is generally
considered the best theory of politics for all concerned (rich, poor, etc.)
The second theory is elitism (also known as class theory) which holds that
economic forces control and because the wealthy dominate linkage institutions,
they drive public policy agendas.
The third theory is hyperpluralism which is pluralism gone amuck. There
are so many interest groups seeking control that government cannot operate.
There is gridlock which leads to watered down, often ineffective policy by those
that are able to influence officials.
7.
Interest groups and Linkage Institutions
Politics deals with individuals and their needs, values and attitudes, so it
is logical that people with similar feelings will band together to form political
parties.
How candidates are perceived by these groups determine the
candidate’s ultimate success or failure.
A linkage institutions can be defined as the means by which individuals
can express preferences regarding the development of public policy. These
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include a) political parties; b) interest groups; c) elections; and d) the media. The
interaction of these linkage institutions leads to the election of candidates who
form public policy. In a large democracy such as ours, linkage institutions
translate input from the public into output from the policy-makers. By joining
parties or interest groups and voting for a particular candidate, individuals are
making choices that influence which policy will become law. Individuals, of
course, are influenced by the media, and candidates try to attract their support in
“soundbites”.
B.
Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Percentage of Exam: 10 - 20%
1.
NATURE & SOURCE OF PUBLIC OPINION
Some of the things which influence our opinions are:
1)
Age
2)
Race
3)
Income
4)
Occupation
5)
Group Affiliations (e.g. ACLU, Church, etc.)
6)
Family
7)
Schools -- job is to indoctrinate children to be “good
citizens”.
8)
Role Models -- these people have more than usual
influence of others. May be professionals, local community
leaders, activists, or movie stars.
9)
Media -- Radio, T.V., films, newspapers, magazines,
and books all work to influence us. 98% have televisions
and they are on an average of 7 hours a day.
2.
PROCESSES BY WHICH CITIZENS LEARN ABOUT POLITICS
Mass Media include in order of influence: T.V., newspaper, Radio,
magazines. People acquire most of their political information from these sources.
Television is now the principle source of information for an estimated 80% of the
population.
The media’s influence is most visible in two areas:
1) the public agenda; and
2) electoral politics.
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Regarding the setting of the American political agenda, the media focuses
the public’s attention to certain matters. They don’t tell the public what to think,
but they do tell people what to think about . This is important because media is
now driven by commercial concerns. Pure “hard news” does NOT make money.
As such, the “news” is now made up of more and more “soft news” “human
interest” stories that are catchy and attract voters. These tend to include mostly
scandals, blood and violence.
Thus, voters are shown a warped view of the world. They are bombarded
with “Kids killing kids with guns” and “Sharks attacking Swimmers”. Even
though the actual number of kids using guns is actually decreasing, the public
has the perception that gun violence is out of control. Likewise, summer 2001
people thought sharks were going crazy when in fact, the number of attacks was
the same as always (i.e. low). But, importantly for you, realize that when asked
by pollsters what concerned them, voters would respond: Gun violence, sharks,
etc…. Politicians, always eager to please their constituents, then rush to action
filing bills and passing laws to address problems that really don’t exist except
within an editing booth at some media outlet.
As the media has grown to cover political events, it has influenced
electoral politics and to some degree lessened the impact of political parties.
Instead of turning to the party to learn about issues, people turn to t.v. or radio.
Instead of relying on the party to reach voters, a candidate can use television to
appeal directly to the voters. Unfortunately, as people watched more t.v., their
attention span has grown shorter. Thus, candidates must focus on creating
“sound bites” or snappy spots that only last 30 or 45 seconds long. This emphasis
has shifted the focus from substance to style. It no longer matters on content, but
delivery. An unintended consequence of the focus on the candidate and not his
message is that politics has become “candidate centered”. As such, personal
failures of a candidate are fair game for journalists. This has given us tabloid
politics whereby anything in a candidate’s past will be turned into a tell-all
expose. (e.g. George W. Bush’s 30 year old DWI coming to light just 1 week
before the 2000 election; Gary Hart’s affair that ended his hopes for the 1988
Democratic nomination; Gary Condit’s evasiveness about affair with missing
Chandra Levy caused him to lose re-election; CBS’s Dan Rather’s embarrassment
in 2005 upon putting false documents on the air to ‘prove’ Bush was AWOL
during Vietnam Reserve duty)
3.
FACTORS INFLUENCING POLITICAL BELIEFS/BEHAVIORS
(DEMOGRAPHICS SUCH AS RACE OR WEALTH)
a)
Who joins what party?
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Party identification is a psychological link between individuals and a
party. In 1992, 36% said they were Democrats, 25% Republicans and 38%
Independent. Remember: 30% liberal, 40% moderate, 30% conservative.
A persons family is very important in influencing them to join a particular
party. Nearly 2 out of 3 will follow their parents’ allegiance to party. Major
events, however, can also be influential, as can economic status, level of
education, etc.
Membership in political parties is purely voluntary. Members of certain
segments of society tend to align themselves with one or the other of the major
parties. Thus, African Americans, Jews, and Catholics have voted more often for
Democrats. On the other hand, white males, Protestant and business owners
more inclined to support Republicans.
There have been some evolving changes in these “stereotypes” though.
During 1980s, blue-collar workers saw standard of living eroding and went to
Republican party to “protect American jobs.” Also, they went to Republicans to
get “personal responsibility” back into the American agenda. Also, in 2004, a
slim majority of Catholics voted Republican largely on its pro-life platform.
On the other hand, Northern white Protestants not as Republican b/c
employed by government and sympathetic to its role in solving problems. Welleducated voters also growing toward Democrats due to issues such as healthcare and environment.
The 2000 election provides a good snapshot at where Republican and
Democratic voters reside. Bush won 80% of nations counties, but got less than
50% of popular vote. So, where did Gore get his popular vote majority? The
answer is: Big, Urban, Metropolitan cities. Gore won key states with large
populations (i.e. large electoral vote counts) by winning large cities. As such, he
carried New York, California, etc. When looking at a map, he carried all of the
states on the West Coast, states along the Great Lakes (industrial corridor) and
the New England (liberal) states. These areas had sufficient population centers to
give Gore a majority of the votes.
Bush, on the other hand, was able to bring rural, conservative voters to his
side. Looking at the map, Bush looks to have won in a landslide. The areas he
won, however, were sparcely populated and gave him few electoral votes. He
did win in Florida, however. But how? Florida is made up of mostly old people,
right? Mostly, but one has to analyze the cross-cutting cleavages (i.e. issues that
push people to vote one way but other issues push them to voter another).
Florida is a retirement state, therefore lots of conservative Mid-westerners move
there. They are pushed by roots to vote Republican which tends to overshadow
their elderly status and need for Social Security that would otherwise cause them
to vote Democratic. Thus, Bush picked up a large elderly block. Also, he picked
up the Cuban vote. While Hispanics tend to vote Democratic due to minority
status, they have a strong cross-cutting cleavage in political ideology in their
opposition to Fidel Castro’s communist regime in Cuba. Because Republicans
15
have long welcomed Cuban refugees and shunned Castro, Cubans have always
voted for the most part as a Republican block. Together, these blocks gave Bush
just enough to get over the top (with a little help from Ralph!)
It continues to be helpful to know the “Stereotypical” voter for purposes
of the AP exam. They are as follows:
VOTER PROFILES
WHO VOTES REPUBLICAN?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
Education
*College graduates.
Age
*Persons over 50 years old.
*Older voters
Income
*Middle-income to upper-income brackets
Occupation
*Professionals & Business people
Gender(recent phenomenon)
*Men
Religion
*Protestants
Ethnic Group
*Whites
Geography
*Midwest and South (in Presidential elections only)
*Suburbs, smaller cities and rural areas
WHO VOTES DEMOCRAT?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Education
*Less than college
Age
*Younger voters
Income
*Lower-income brackets
Occupation
*Manual workers
*Members of Labor Unions
Gender(recent phenomenon beginning with Clinton)
*Women
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F.
G.
H.
Religion
*Jews
*Catholics (split in 2004 on pro-life issue)
Ethnic Group
*Non-whites(African-Americans, Hispanics)
Geography
*West, North, and East (South still often votes Dem. in local elections)
*Large Cities
4.
WAYS IN WHICH CITIZENS VOTE AND OTHERWISE
PARTICIPATE IN POLITICAL LIFE (E.G. VOTING)
a)
Who can Vote?
The Framers of the Constitution could not agree on specific requirements
to be a voter. Thus, the States control who qualifies to vote. So, other than a few
Constitutional voter qualifications listed below (e.g. 26th Amd. and age to vote)
and the general Constitutional requirement that if someone can vote for state
legislature, they must be allowed to vote for U.S. Congressmen, the states are in
control. Suffrage means the right to vote.
Originally, only white male property owners could vote. Even after the
Civil War, Southern Whites were afraid of black voter activism, therefore they
took measures to stop them from voting by enacting such barriers as literacy test
(Remember Alabama Literacy Test which required extensive knowledge of the
U.S. Constitution; Congress outlawed literacy tests by passing the Voting Rights
Act Amendments of 1970) and poll taxes (eliminated by 24th Amd.).
1)
2)
3)
4)
The franchise was expanded due to the passage of:
15th Amendment allowed black males to vote;
19th Amendment in 1920 allowed all women to vote;
24th Amendment in 1964 eliminated poll tax as a condition of voting, and
26th Amendment in 1971 allowed anyone above 18 years old to vote.
Over time, requirements that served as barriers to voter registration have
disappeared, and now over 200 million people are eligible to vote in U.S.
b.)
What are the general qualifications to vote in most states?
1. Citizenship
Aliens are generally denied the right to vote, but the Constitution
does not forbid them from voting and States may allow them to. As a practical
matter, however, few do so. Texas requires you to be a citizen.
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2. Residency
Most states require someone to live within the state for a certain
period before being eligible to vote. This combats people hiring voters to come
to the state. Originally, these time periods were about one year in the state and
about six months in the county in which you wanted to vote. Today, those time
periods have been shortened. Many states allow you to vote if you have lived
there for as little as one month.
3. Registration
States require people to register to vote in order to prevent
fraudulent voting. Thus, they compile a list of the eligible voters. Generally, one
must register to vote prior to the election day. This gives the elections officials
time to prepare the election poll books for the election judges. Texas requires
that you be registered at least 30 days prior to the election.
c)
What has the Government done to influence voting behavior?
(Voting laws and Civil Rights)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 applied to all elections held in the U.S. This
law moved the government forward to eliminate poll taxes, literacy tests, or any
other discriminatory means. Most importantly, it sent federal voter registrars
into counties where less than half of the people registered and voted in the
election of 1964. (Theory: if so few registered, there must be barriers to
registration.) Thus, registrars were dispatched to all of Alabama, Mississippi,
South Carolina and Louisiana and large part of North Carolina. Further, the law
also stated that those areas had to obtain “preclearance” from the Department of
Justice prior to making any changes to election procedures. (States had to show
clean record of non-discrimination for 10 years to escape supervision.)
Most recently, however, the government has passed legislation called
Motor-Voter Laws. This law encourages states to adopt policies which
automatically register a citizen to vote when they do such tasks as renew their
Driver’s license. This has been a large success in registering voters, but the voter
turnout is still the lowest in decades. You can register them, but getting them to
show up is an entirely different matter!
d)
Are People Voting? The Problem with Non-Voting!
Of the estimated 189 million eligible voters for the 1992 presidential
election, some 85 million did not. Thus, barely 55% of the eligible electorate
decided the presidency.
Off-year (mid-term) elections even worse only 39% of electorate voted in
off-year elections of 1994.
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Primaries are the worst where only 10% of electorate voted in 1986.
Only Switzerland has lower voter turnout!
Turnout in primaries is quite low. In the 1992 presidential primaries,
average turnout for Democratic primaries was 12%, while Republican turnout
was 8%. Voters in primaries are unrepresentative of the public at large. They
tend to have higher incomes and education. Also tend to be older, more
interested in politics and more partisan.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
WHY DO PEOPLE NOT VOTE?
Some reasons nonvoters give include:
Choose not to vote b/c distrust politicians and politics;
Choose not to vote b/c they are convinced that it does not make any
difference (no sense of Political Efficacy, the feeling that they can make a
difference.);
Elections are too frequent and campaigns last so long (often referred to as
“voter fatigue” as presidential campaigns last ~1 -1/2 years);
Simply are not interested (usually woefully uninformed not knowing even
simple facts about upcoming elections.);
Didn’t know eligible? (alien status, mental disability, or felon status [13%
African American men ineligible in March 2001 b/c of felony conviction]);
or
Are satisfied with way it is.
WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCE NON-VOTING?
*
Education
• 80% chance a college graduate will vote
• 50% chance a high school graduate will vote
*
Income
• 2 of 3 non-voters have incomes below nat’l average
• “Class Gap” in turnout is widening
*
Occupation
• Working class voter at lower rate than middle & upper class
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*
Age
• Young people vote much less frequently than older people
(e.g.) 1992 Presidential election: 38% of 18-20 year olds voted
70% of over 65 year olds voted
1994 Mid-Term election:
17% of 18-20 year olds voted
61% of over 65 year olds voted
C.
Topic: Political Parties, Interest groups, and Mass
Media
Percentage of Exam: 10 - 20%
1.
WHAT IS A POLITICAL PARTY?
DEFN:
2.
A Political party is a group of persons who seek to
control government by recruiting, nominating, and
electing their members to public office.
WHAT DO POLITICAL PARTIES DO?
A.
NOMINATING FUNCTION
The major function of a political party is to name candidates for
public office.
B.
INFORMER-STIMULATOR FUNCTION
Parties inform the public and stimulate their interest by taking
stands on issues, criticizing candidates, etc.
C.
SEAL OF APPROVAL FUNCTION
Parties serve as a “bonding agent” to encourage good performance
in its candidates and officeholders.
D.
GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION
Public office holders are often chosen only on the basis of party.
The public believes that certain parties support certain issues. This
is important in that most government business done on partisan
basis.
E.
WATCHDOG FUNCTION
Parties serve to watch over the party in power. The party out of
power plays the “loyal opposition.”
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3.
TWO-PARTY SYSTEM AND ITS EVOLUTION
The Founding Fathers didn’t like political parties.
There were three reasons for this:
1)
Parties created conflicts that undermined consensus.
2)
Small and narrow interests could use parties to impose their will on
society.
3)
Parties stifled independent thought and behavior.
James Madison feared parties like interest groups b/c both pursued
selfish interests. (Very important to remember the ‘factions’ in Federalist #10).
John Adams thought the formation of parties was one of the greatest political
evils. In a bit of irony, by creating popular elections in the Constitution, the
Founders created parties, the very factions which were deemed undesirable yet
necessary in a democracy.
The importance of parties has grown and waned. In late 1800s, party was
very important, but now its importance has declined. At times, one party
dominates. And then, another emerges as the stable “rock of the nation.” The
transition from one stable party system to another is called a realignment. There
have been several in our history.
A. Early 1800s
Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist supported strong, central government.
Thomas Jefferson feared this. He mounted campaign and gathered support of
able leaders. Jefferson won in 1800. By his 2d term, 90% of Congressmen
identified as either Federalists or Jeffersonians.
B. Election of 1828
Jeffersonians split into factions; one of which was the Democratic party.
Andrew Jackson rode the Democratic party to White House in 1828. Jackson
encouraged common people’s participation.
Thus, Jacksonian Democrats
demonstrated the first real use of a mass-population based party.
C. Civil War Era
The Whigs had developed to oppose the Democrats. The Whigs
splintered over slavery. By 1860, a new party, the Republicans emerged. They
represented abolitionist concerns and nominated Lincoln. Northern Democrats
who opposed slavery joined the Republicans. This created a new majority party.
After the Civil War, the Republicans usually won the presidency and controlled
Congress. This represents a major realignment.
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D. Populist Movement
In the election of 1896, the Progressives pushed an agenda to benefit the
commoners. Such items as voter registration and secret ballot, and the direct
primary were enacted. These items weakened political parties.
E. The Depression and FDR
In 1920s, the Republicans ignored immigrants. Big Mistake!! After the
Depression hit in 1929, these immigrants joined the Democratic Party to elect
FDR in 1932. Thus, another big realignment.
F. The Reagan Revolution
Some argue that the South (and indeed, perhaps the nation) is undergoing
a current realignment toward the Republican party. They argue that the
dissatisfaction with Democratic leadership in the ‘70s under Carter
(stagflation in economy; Iranian hostages abroad; Soviet threat) allowed
Ronald Reagan to bring the “silent majority” of conservatives into the
Republican fold. There is some evidence to support such claims.
For example, no Democrat running for President has carried the
South since Jimmy Carter in ’76. Also, many states in South are trending
toward voting Republican even in local elections. Texas, for instance, in
1998 elected Republicans to EVERY statewide elected office. Local officeholders have switched in a wave to the Republican party. Nationally,
there was even a small blurb in the newspaper of summer 2001 that said
more people are identifying themselves as Republicans than Democrats
for the first time since modern polling began.
Those who would argue against a modern realignment point to
local elections in the South where many, if not most, elections are still
solidly controlled by Democrats. Thus, the willingness to vote for a
Republican president doesn’t count as a realignment in and of itself. Also,
there appears to be lots of ticket-splitting today. Voters are trying to find
the “best candidate” regardless of party. This is reflected in the polls that
show a large number of voters describing themselves as “moderates” or
“Independents”.
G. Independents and Third Parties?
Republicans got smart in 1952 and nominated a war hero, Eisenhower.
Although Democrats won in 1960 with Kennedy, the civil rights issue divided
the party. Have not had a really strong dominating party since FDR.
Today, we have lots of ticket splitting where people vote for different
parties depending on the office, etc. Most evident at national level. For long
time (since 1968), Republican in White House, Democrats in Congress.
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Also, people have begun to choose not to identify with a party, instead
identifying themselves as Independents (38% in 1992). Really evident in 1980
and 1990s. These independent voters have led some to believe that the U.S. is
ready to support a third party.
Third-parties” are not really successful. Had a few in history: 1) KnowNothings in 1856 who ran opposing immigrants; 2) Prohibition Party and 3) Ross
Perot’s Reform Party. Generally though, the system is stacked against them.
This is because of several factors including:
a) The major parties tend to take care most ideological perspectives.
Thus, liberals go Dem., conservatives go Rep. Also, the major parties
moderate enough to attract most voters in the General election. This
leaves little room for a third party platform. As such, most 3rd party
platforms are a bit extreme.
For example, Nader’s Green Party
advocated a “living” minimum wage of about $10.00/hour, not to
mention some of their environmental policies. Also, some 3rd parties
are simply aligned on a single issue such as “marijuana legalization”.
Such “extreme” platform ideas limit the 3rd party appeal for a number
of voters.
b) Because of inability to attract a wide spectrum of voters, 3 rd parties
often lack enough cash to promote an effective nationwide campaign.
Thus, a big part of Nader’s 2000 campaign was to get 5% of the
national vote so he could get federal funding. He only got 3%!
c)
The electoral system preserves the major parties by making it
difficult for third-parties to nominate their candidates and get
them listed on the ballot.
d)
Single-member districts (only 1 person elected from a District,
rd
therefore 3 party guy never wins); and
e)
Winner-take-all electoral college system (even if get lots of votes, if
do not get a Majority, you get NOTHING! Even in ’92 when Perot got 19% of
popular vote, he got ZIP as far as electoral votes.)
Each of these tend to favor the major parties who have a real chance of
winning.
H. 3rd Parties as Spoilers
While 3rd party candidates are largely locked out of any chance of winning
the election, that is not to say that they don’t matter. In both the 1992 and 2000
elections, the role of the 3rd party as spoiler was prominent.
In 1992, Ross Perot formed the Reform Party to “give our government
back to the People!” His folksy wit and seemingly straight-forward approach to
solving America’s problems was refreshing in light of the “double-speak” from
many modern candidates. By pushing issues like the balancing of our federal
budget , Perot managed to draw many dissatisfied conservatives away from
23
George Bush. A full 19% of electorate voted for a big-eared Texan. Thus, while
Clinton only won 42% of popular vote, he was able to win the Presidency. Many
are convinced that if Perot had not entered the race, Bush could have managed a
slim victory in 1992.
In 2000, the spoiler attacked the Democrats. Ralph Nader and his Green
Party consistently dogged Al Gore. While the Republicans painted Gore as an
extremist “tree-hugging fool who would get rid of the combustion engine,”
Nader told liberal voters in a loud voice that Gore was not doing enough. By
pushing for broad environmental policies and decent wages for working
Americans, Nader appealed to many idealistic liberals. In the end, Nader
garnered over 98,000 votes in Florida. Bush won the official count by 537 votes!
The end result of these 3rd party campaigns was not just to cost the
Democrats or Republicans the election (which they most surely did), but it also
caused the major political parties to reassess their views and become more
responsive to the electorate. That is a good thing!
I. Do They All Look Alike?
In the end, because of the pluralistic society in which we live, there is
needed a broad consensus. Because of this need, the parties look very much
alike. Both tend to be moderate. (36% of voters in 1990 identified themselves as
moderates, while only 15% said conservative and 11% liberal.)
Overall, while party loyalty may be declining, party unity is on the rise.
Generally, the parties have become more ideologically homogenous (i.e. most
Republicans consider themselves conservatives with agenda to minimize gov’t
intervention in everyone’s lives and institutionalize some morals “religious
right”. Democrats have tended to become the party of civil rights and protecting
basic governmental services such as Medicare and Medicaid for the poor.) Thus,
while the parties do represent some very different basic philosophies of
government, the implementation of those policies has been moderated in recent
years so as to command the most “moderate” voters. This was evident in 2000
election where Bush and Gore both put forth “Saving Social Security” as a part of their
agenda, but the fine details were different (e.g. Bush wanted to privatize 1% of Social
Security withholding.)
4.
ELECTIONS PROCESS
A.
GENERAL NOMINATING FUNCTION
Political parties provide a mechanism to recruit and choose candidates,
and then gather support for them. The nominating process is the process of
candidate selection.
24
Nomination, or the actual naming of those who will seek office can be
done in a number of different ways. It may be done by:
1) self-announcement;
*This is the oldest form of the nominating process in American politics. It
is where a person who wants to run for office simply announces that fact.
2) caucus;
*A caucus is a meeting of a group of like-minded people who meet to
select the candidates they will support in the upcoming election. (Origin of the
word caucus may come from early Boston meetings where the process took place
in a room formerly used by caulker’s in Boston’s shipyard. They used caulk to
make ships watertight.) Originally, only influential people did the selecting, but
over time, the process opened to others and political parties began to nominate
candidates in caucuses. Ultimately, people began to condemn the practice,
however, because of its closed and unrepresentative nature due to so few people
actually participating. In 1820s, the caucus system began to be abolished for use
in nominating national candidates. Today, caucuses may be used to nominate
local candidates for office, but has been abandoned by many states for selecting
state and national candidates.
3) convention;
*As the caucuses were criticized and abandoned, conventions took their
place. Since 1832, all major party presidential nominees have been selected by
conventions.
How do Conventions Work to Select Candidates
1)
Party members meet in a local caucus to select
candidates for local offices and to select delegates to
county conventions.
2)
Party members meet at county convention to select
candidates for county offices and to select delegates to
state convention.
3)
Delegates to state convention meet to select
candidates for state office (governor,etc.) and to select
delegates to party’s national convention.
4)
Delegates to national convention meet to select
presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
In theory, the will of the rank and file members of a party will be passed
up the chain. In reality, this system was corrupted in the late 1800s when people
played with the selection of the local delegates thereby influencing the whole
chain of selection. Thus, decisions often made in “smoke-filled rooms.” In the
wake of this scandal, direct primaries began to be used for nominations at state
level, but conventions are still use to select national candidates.
4) direct primary; or
25
Today, all states use primary elections, sometimes in conjunction with
caucuses or conventions.
* A direct primary is an election held within the party to pick
the party’s candidates for the general election.
The primary comes in two forms:
a) closed primary wherein only declared party members
may vote to determine that party’s candidate (38 states,
including Texas, and D.C. use this format). The voter must
declare their party affiliation either via pre-registration or at
the polling place; and
b) open primary wherein any qualified voter may vote. At
the polling place, the voter gets a ballot with everyone from
the parties on it. At that time, the voter selects one party
and votes for their candidates. (note that this allows
“Primary Raiding” whereby Democrats can go vote in the
Republican primary for someone who polls say would have
difficulty beating the Democratic nominee. This happened
when Dems. turned out in 2000 Republican primary to vote
for John McCain. A very effective technique. It cost Bush
$70 million to defeat McCain for the nomination.)
5) petition.
*In this method, a person is nominated by petitions signed by a certain
number of qualified voters in the election district. This is usually the process for
local elections, or used at state level to nominate independent candidates.
Usually, the higher the office, the greater the number of signatures required.
States sometimes make it purposefully difficult for petition nominations.
B. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
1.
Caucuses and Primaries
CAUCUSES
In 1992, 16 states selected candidates by caucuses. Caucuses are held in
private homes, schools, and churches and all who consider themselves party
members can attend. The candidates receiving the most votes win delegates to
later county and state conventions. The number of delegates is proportional to
the vote that the candidate received at the caucuses (need at least 15%). The
Iowa Caucus is one of the first elections held in the selection of a party nominee.
PRIMARIES
States often use presidential preference primaries. Thus, voters indicated
their preference for a presidential candidate, delegates committed to a candidate,
26
or both. “Beauty contests” b/c often meaningless in terms of winning delegates.
The New Hampshire Primary is the first primary to be held during the crucial
race to be selected the party nominee. The news media focus upon it and the
Iowa Caucus heavily. The winners of these get ‘bandwagon effect’ support
which brings them big $ which can later be used to advertise and volunteers to
promote themselves. This causes a “snowball effect” which allows a relatively
unknown figure such as Bill Clinton to gain national exposure (came in 2nd in
New Hampshire and claimed he was “the comeback kid”) and go on to win the
national nomination.
Please note that the Primary season used to run from March to June. This
4 month window allowed candidates enough time to benefit from the
bandwagon effect with regard to gaining money and volunteers. Over the past
decade, the Primary season has shortened as states move their primaries to
earlier dates. States did this because by the time June came around, there votes
“didn’t matter.” The nominees had already accumulated enough votes to win at
the Convention. Thus, most states moved from June to March. Thus, the
primary season was condensed dramatically. In order for states like Iowa and
New Hampshire to maintain their “first” status, they moved their primary dates
even earlier. Thus, in 2000, the Primary elections started in last weeks of
January! Still, the primary season is now condensed to basically the months of
February and March (about half of the states vote on second Tuesday in March;
Kansas which still holds its Primary election in June, actually cancelled its
Primary in 2000 to save money that would otherwise be “wasted” ).
The effect of moving the Primary season earlier in the year has been
twofold:
1) Because of the condensing of the modern Primary Season, candidates
are now unable to fully utilize bandwagon effect.
2) Campaigns are now much longer and main candidates must wage
expensive television battles for voters from January through
November. This “year-long” campaign causes election costs to
skyrocket! Bush/Gore spent over $500 million between them in 2000.
Positives on Current Nomination System
1)
2)
3)
4)
Campaigning in small states at first allows candidates to come in
contact with voters on personal basis;
Candidates can test popularity without spending millions.
Gives little-known candidates a good method to try election.
Gets us away from “smoke-filled room”
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2.
Electoral College
We do not have popular elections in this country!! The Electoral College
which is made up of members selected by the party hierarchy of the main parties
actually elect the present by casting their votes in December after the November
general election. (The slate of electors getting to actually cast their vote is
determined by the winner of the General Election. As we saw in 2000, however,
if the outcome of the election is uncertain, the State may seek to reclaim its role.)
With the exception of Maine and Nebraska which split their electoral college
votes according to who wins in each congressional district, all of each state’s
votes go to the candidate winning the most votes in that state.
Winner-take-all feature of Electoral College gives advantage to large states
and their urban populations. The 11 largest states have a majority (270) of
electoral votes and candidates concentrate their efforts there.
If no majority in Electoral College, goes to House. This has not happened
since 1824, when John Quincy Adams was chosen.
Criticism of the Electoral College is that it makes it possible for someone
who doesn’t win popular vote to win presidency. This has happened four times:
John Quincy Adams (1824); Rutherford Hayes (1876); Benjamin Harrison (1888);
and George W. Bush (2000).
Main support for keeping the electoral college is that it magnifies the
winner’s margin, thereby giving the President-elect a “Mandate” to govern.
5.
INTEREST GROUPS & POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES
(PACS)
Interest groups are a public or private organization, affiliation, or
committee that has as its goal the dissemination of its membership’s point of
view.
Interest groups seem similar to political parties but differ in the following
ways:
a)
Interest groups seek to influence officeholders, instead of
wanting to become one.
b)
Interest groups are responsible to a very narrow
constituency.
c)
Because interest groups’ major function is advocacy on
specific policy issues, they can attract members from a large
geographic area.
The fear of interest groups goes back to the Founding Fathers when James
Madison referred to them in Federalist #10 as “factions”. One of the finest
examples of such factions was Shays’ Rebellion which led to legislative change in
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Massachusetts via “mob rule.” Madison did not, however, believe that interest
groups (or factions) should be eliminated in a free democracy, but rather checks
should be put in place to limit their influence (e.g. separation of powers, checks
and balances, representative democracy known as republic).
An interest groups’ goals are carried out by special interests in the form of
lobbyists and political action committees. A lobbyist is a person who uses their
special knowledge and expertise to advance the special interests cause and
influence public policy in their favor. The image of lobbyists have been tarnished
in recent years by the revelation that many governmental employees were
engaging in a “revolving-door” politic of becoming Representatives who write
legislation and then going to work for special interests advising them on how to
work through loopholes while also using old connections to influence future
policy. Ultimately, however, lobbyists serve a pivotal role as an informer for our
Representatives and Senators by preparing reports and summaries of legislation
and its impact.
Political Action Committees (PACs) are the political arm of a special
interest. These PACs raise money from special interest constituents and make
campaign contributions on behalf of the special interest. Candidates for
Congress rely on 3 sources of funding: 1) PACS; 2) individual donations and 3)
donations from political parties.
Among the PACS, there are vast differences in fundraising activity.
About 1/3 of the 4,700 PACS do not contribute to any candidate. Less than 10%
of all PACS contribute 3/4 of the dollars. Thus, the number of key PACS is
relatively small.
PAC FACTS
*PACS show a distinct preference for Republicans in the presidential
races.
*They also give disproportionately to incumbents.
*Often give after the election is over to the winner to ingratiate
themselves.
*Majority of PACS are business related therefore sympathetic to
Republicans.
*Women’s PACS, including Emily’s List, focus most of their money on
non-incumbents. Their goal is to get more women elected.
*PACS also target key members of congressional committees.
*One-half of the PAC funds raised are now raised in Washington.
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6. CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND ITS REFORM
In order to limit influence of special interests and appearance of bribery of
politicians, Congress passed the Federal Elections Campaign Act. It limits
contributions directly to candidates by individuals to $1,000.00 and $5,000 for
PACs. These funds donated to candidates are called “hard money” and must be
reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) which polices campaign
finance. This law also allowed presidential candidates to obtain federal financing
of their campaigns in exchange for limits on fundraising/campaign spending.
Thus, ~30 million pre-convention and ~60 million post-convention.
However, funds given by special interests that do not go directly to
candidates but rather to the political parties or are spent for support of issues is
not limited. This is known as “soft money”. Because soft money can be used to
conduct polls and pay for “issue ads”, it has largely turned into a complete
loophole to federal election law. As such, over $500 million was spent by the
presidential candidates in 2000. Mostly fueled by special interests.
Also, the S. Ct. stated in Buckley v. Valeo (1976) that spending to benefit
political campaigns is protected symbolic speech, therefore candidates cannot be
limited in the amount of their own money they spend, nor could people be
limited in making donations to interest groups to support their pet issues. The
Court did, however, uphold the main limits on contributions to a candidate in an
effort to stop appearance of bribery in elections.
In an effort to stop the “special interests” from controlling politics, some
major political figures have adopted Campaign Finance Reform as their personal
mantra. One such figure is maverick, Arizona Republican John McCain. The
McCain-Feingold Bill was introduced and passed in the Senate. While
Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert didn’t want to bring the companion
bill to a vote in the House, he was forced to by Democratic and public pressure.
After passing both houses, President Bush signed the landmark campaign
finance reform legislation into law in 2002.
McCain-Feingold allows individuals to give up to $2,000 per candidate
but limits total contributions to all candidates/parties to $95,000.00 in any
election cycle. The law does allow candidates to receive up to $6,000 per donor if
they are running against a wealthy candidate who is self-financing his campaign.
The real teeth of the law comes in the restrictions on ‘soft money’. Contributions
from the national parties are banned while local parties can still raise up to
$10,000 per donor for voter registration and party building activities. This
severely limits the effectiveness of the national party organization. Furthermore,
the law prohibits the use of corporate or union money to run political ads that
mention a federal candidate within 30 days of a Primary or 60 days of a General
Election.
Republicans immediately filed suit alleging that the law restricts
political free speech by limiting amounts groups can spend to promote
candidates. The Supreme Court ruled in McConnell v. FEC (2003) that these
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stunning limitation on “free speech” (limited giving to political parties/bans on
tv ads) were in-fact constitutional. This just goes to show how deferential the
Court will be toward Congress in its continuing battle to clean up politics. This
battle is ongoing. With the 2004 election, we saw the rise of Section 527
Organizations. These groups are named after a section of the Tax Code that
allows unlimited giving to those advocating on political issues. As such, 527s
have essentially re-opened the door to “soft money”. Perhaps even more
dangerous though because this glut of money is in hands of special interests that
is not controlled by parties or candidates. It got ugly in 2004 with liberal groups
like Moveon.org funding nasty ads about Bush, while conservative groups like
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth savaged Kerry. For the foreseeable future, 527s
will rule political campaigns.
D.
Institutions of National Government: Congress,
Presidency, Bureaucracy, and Federal Courts
Percentage of Exam: 35 - 45%
1.
CONGRESS
a)
CONSTITUTIONAL
REPRESENTATIVES
i.
ii.
iii.
25 years old for House/30 years old for Senate
Citizen 7 years for House/Citizen 9 years for Senate
Members must reside in state in which elected (House
members don’t need to live in district)
b)
“SOCIAL” REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES
i.
ii.
iv.
v.
nearly all have college degrees(majority graduate degrees)
well-off financially
(1/9 of Reps and 1/4 of Senators are millionaires)
not blue-collar workers (most common occupation is lawyer;
40% in House/60% in Senate)
over 1/2 served in State Legislatures
predominately white, Anglo, and male
c)
ADVANTAGES OF INCUMBENCY
i.
CASEWORK-- answering questions and assisting with
problems, staffers help cut through red-tape for “homefolk”.
iii.
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
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ii.
iii.
iv.
d)
PORK BARREL -- bring jobs and business to the
constituents.
FUNDRAISING -- ability to raise money from hundreds of
Political Action Committee (PAC) organizations.
FRANKING -- Members of Congress are allowed to mail
items for free.
PARTISANSHIP
40% - %60 of all votes in Congress are partisan votes (i.e. majority of one
party is against the other). Ideology is very important in Congress. In
fact, party affiliation is the best indicator of how a Congressman will vote.
On the whole, Democrats tend to vote for more liberal measures than do
Republicans.
e)
PASSING LEGISLATION
Bills may be introduced in either the House or Senate (tax measures
only in the House!). Only members of Congress are allowed to introduce
bills. Interest groups must find a sponsor.
After being introduced, a bill is:
1)
referred to a standing committee by the Speaker of House or
Presiding Officer of the Senate.
2)
it is then assigned to a subcommittee, where if approved
goes to full Committee. (This is where most legislation dies!). The
committees screen bills.
3)
Once approved in Committee, the bill is place on one of five
calendars. Grouped by controversy, etc. The House Rules Committee
sets terms of debate by issuing rules thereon. (Members basically chosen
by Speaker and approved by leadership.) If they don’t issue a rule, the bill
dies. This controls and expedites floor action on bills.
The Senate is less formal and does not have a “formal” Rules
Committee. Things done by lots of unanimous votes, thus one Senator
can kill something. Amendments need not be germane to topic. Filibuster
also used. Cloture by 3/5 vote.
4)
After debate, the bill is set for a vote.
5)
If passed by both House and Senate after being ironed out in
Conference Committees, it goes to the President.
6)
P can a) sign into law; b) veto and send back for potential
override by 2/3 vote of both Houses (N.B. vetoes are rarely overridden!
Congress is successful only about 5% of the time); or c) ignore for 10 days
and allow to become law without signature unless Congress adjourns then
it becomes “pocket veto”.
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f)
COMMITTEE CHAIRS AS GODS
After filing, bills are sent to committee where almost all of them
die. This reflects strong power of Committee Chairmen in:
i)
calling hearings;
ii)
setting meeting agendas; and
iii)
controlling committee staff and budget.
You will recall how Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) who was the
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was able to singlehandedly stop President Clinton’s appointment of William Weld to be
ambassador to Mexico, as well as hold up the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and
Kyoto Global Greenhouse Gases Treaty, and delay payment of United
Nations’ dues. A single Chairman can bring the whole process to a halt,
barring extraordinary action by the leadership or a Discharge Petition
which requires a majority of the bodies’ members to sign. This maneuver
is not often tried and is seldom successful.
Becoming Chairman of a Committee rests on:
i)
being a member of the Majority Party; and
ii)
having the most Seniority on the particular Committee.
g)
FEDERAL BUDGET
The Congress decides how to spend more than $1.7 trillion each
year. For years, the budget process was done piecemeal. Agencies would
request funds from multiple subcommittees to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees. Later, all the appropriations were added up
to produce a total budget. Because people never knew what the bottom
line was going to be, what Congress spent had little to do with an overall
assessment of how much it should spend. In large part, this is how we
came to almost expect deficit spending.
The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
was designed to reform the Congressional budgetary process and force
Congress to consider the budget as a whole instead of piecemeal. This law
established:
i)
A fixed budget calendar so that budgets would be timely. Roughly,
the Congress receives the President’s budget outline in February
and the final budget should be completed by June with the federal
government’s new fiscal (i.e. monetary, budget timeframe) year to
begin on October 1st.
ii)
A budget committee in both houses of Congress which is charged
with recommending target budget figures. By April 15th, Congress
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iii)
is to agree on the total size of the budget which will guide
appropriations for the fiscal year.
A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was created to advise
Congress on the probable consequences of its budget decisions and
forecast revenues.
The CBO also serves as a check and
counterweight to the President’s Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) which provides the Pres. With budget data and helps him
prepare his annual budget which is presented in February shortly
after the January “State of the Union” address.
Essentially, the law made Congress organize itself into 13
Appropriations bills which should be for each fiscal year. This was
helpful in getting an estimate of expected spending. But, the 1974 reforms
have largely been ineffective in keeping Congress’ appetite for spending
in check. The budget deficits continued to rise throughout the ‘70s and
‘80’s. During the ‘80s, however, budget reforms began to get some teeth.
The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings (yes, Phil Gramm, our Senator from Texas)
bill enacted in 1985 called for a balanced budget and specified maximum
allowable deficit spending levels. If Congress failed to meet a spending
restriction, automatic, across-the-board spending cuts, were to be
implemented! This was an emergency measure that began to focus
Congress’ attention on the budget.
Gramm-Rudman was abandoned in 1990 in favor of limiting
increases in federal spending. Thus, in 1990s, discretionary spending was
targeted. Any expansion of spending had to be met with a compensating
tax increase or cut to “entitlement” programs such as Welfare. By 1994,
Republicans were really running hard on high taxes and exploding
budgets. Running on a “Contract with America” that emphasized a
Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, the Republicans
promised to balance the budget within 7 years. After taking over the
House and Senate, the Republicans fell 1 vote short in the Senate from
passing the Amendment. Bowing to the public’s call (i.e. trouncing of
Dems in ’94) for balanced budgets and Republican pressure, President
Clinton presented a balanced budget in 1997. It was the first balanced
budget in a generation, but was largely accomplished by exploding tax
revenues from the greatest economic expansion in U.S. history. With the
recession and war on terrorism, it appears that deficit spending has
returned for the indefinite future.
h)
OVERSIGHT FUNCTION
As a part of the checks and balances system, Congress is set up to
serve an oversight function. Basically, they are to watch the Executive
34
branch mostly. Thus, it is the responsibility of Congress to keep the
President “honest”. In exercising “oversight”, Congress has caught both
Republican and Democratic Presidents doing naughty things. For
example, Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office rather than be
impeached and removed over the Watergate break-in and cover-up.
(Please, note that Nixon was never impeached! He resigned before the
full House could vote on the issue.) Likewise, President Clinton was
forced to admit his perjury and endure a Senate trial after being
impeached by the House on issues of perjury and obstruction of Justice
stemming from the Monica Lewinsky affair. While these issues are “highprofile,” it is the day-to-day oversight that earns Congress its money.
In watching the Executive branch, Congress must remain ever
vigilant. Democrats are steadily going after President Bush’s records
regarding his formulation of Energy Policy. This issue even caused Bush
to invoke Executive Privilege for the first time within his presidency.
Sometimes, oversight is seen as intrusion by the Executive. But, more
commonly, oversight is seen in members of the President’s Bureaucracy
being called before Congressional Committees to explain their actions.
For instance, the Secretary of the Interior might be called to explain how
opening national forests to logging is helping save endangered species, or
the Director of the FBI might be called to explain how an extreme, antiterrorism law is necessary to keep our nation safe while eroding the
liberty of American citizens. Furthermore, the Director of the IRS might
be called to explain why his agency is “hassling” innocent taxpayers with
cumbersome audits only to find that they owe “pennies.” It is up to the
Congress to make sure that the Executive and its Bureaucracy stay in line
with the will of the people.
If the President or any government official gets out of line,
Congress can always use impeachment. Impeachment usually simply
means accusation of a “high crime or misdemeanor”. After Watergate, the
Courts pretty much let Congress decide what is or is not a “crime or
misdemeanor.” As such, the Lewinsky affair was fair game. But, as our
Founding Fathers knew of the ill-will in our hearts, they put the bar very
high. In order to remove an official from office, it takes a 2/3 vote of the
Senate.
Only 2 presidents have been impeached:
1) Andrew Johnson, after firing one of his Cabinet members in violation
of a Congressional Act that said he couldn’t fire his own Cabinet
members. The political tug-og-war ended with Johnson surviving
removal by 1 vote!
2) Bill Clinton, after being accused of lying and attempting to cover-up
his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Senate vote not even close. A largely
35
partisan vote with many Senators viewing issue as a personal failure of
character and not an offense for which Clinton should be removed.
2.
PRESIDENCY
Article II -- The Executive Branch
Section 1
Clause 1:
Executive is one man President.
Vice Presidency is created.
4 year term of office.
*22d Amend.: P serves maximum two terms
P serves maximum 10 years
Clause 2:
Electoral College picked by states (no Congressmen).
Each state gets # = to Senators + Representatives
*12th Amend.:
Electors meet in their state (vote for P & V.P., but not same
state).
Electors send ballots to Pres. of Senate.
Pres. of Senate opens before Senate and House.
(President)
High count of electors becomes P.
If not a majority, then House votes from top three choices.
Each state delegation in House gets one vote.
If no P chosen by 3/4, then V.P. acts as P.
(Vice President)
High count of electors becomes V.P.
If not a majority, then Senate votes from top two choices.
V.P. qualifications same as for P.
Clause 4:
Congress picks day electors chosen/day they vote
Clause 5:
Only “natural-born citizen” eligible to be P.
Must be at least 35 to be P.
Must have lived in U.S. 14 years.
Clause 6:
Congress decides who takes charge if P & V.P. gone.
*25th Amend.:
§1 --
If P dies/resigns, V.P. becomes P.
36
§2 -- If V.P. gone, P nominates new V.P. (Congress confirms
the choice)
§3 -- If P sends ltr. to Pres. pro tempore of Senate & Speaker
of House, V.P. takes over as P. P reverses with 2d letter.
§4 -- V.P. becomes P if V.P. and majority of Cabinet send
letter to Pres. pro tempore of Senate & Speaker of House. To
become permanent, need 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress.
*20th Amend.:
P’s term begins/ends on Jan. 20
Senators and Reps. term begins/ends on Jan. 3
Congress must meet at least once/year
If P-elect dies, V.P. takes over.
If P-elect and V.P.-elect gone, Congress decides P.
Clause 7:
P get paid no more/no less.
Clause 8:
P’s Oath of Office.
Section 2
Clause 1:
P is Commander of Military & Nat’l Guards.
P can get opinions from Cabinet.
P has pardon power (federal cases only).
Clause 2:
P makes treaties with 2/3 advice/consent of Senate.
P appoints ambassadors, S.Ct. Justices, high officials.
Clause 3:
P appoints Senator if Senate not in session.
Section 3
P is to give State of Union address to Congress.
P can call special sessions of Congress.
P meets foreign ambassadors.
P ensures laws executed, and commissions officers.
Section 4
P, V.P. and other U.S. civil officers can be removed if impeached and convicted
of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
37
3.
THE JUDICIARY (U.S. SUPREME COURT)
Article III of the Constitution states that the judicial power of the United
States shall be vested in one Supreme Court. It does not define what it is or how
many members but only defines its jurisdiction to hear appeals of cases or
controversies (no “advisory” opinions). The power of Judicial Review was first
established under the leadership of John Marshall in the famous case of Marbury
vs. Madison.
The Court is made of up 9 members (Chief Justice William Rehnquist and
8 others including 2 women, Sandra Day O’Conner and Ruth Bader Ginsberg).
This number, however, is subject to change by Congress. In response to the
Court’s repeated striking down of New Deal issues, FDR attempted to get the
Congress to go along with a “Court-Packing” scheme to appoint additional FDR
loyal members to the Court. Ultimately, adding members wasn’t necessary as
some hostile members resigned and other Court members changed their
positions in light of the threat of being “outnumbered.”
Justices for the Supreme Court serve for life. They are nominated by the
President and must be confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate. The relevant
political characteristics of a Court nominee are:
1)
party identification (i.e. ideological slant as Conservative/Liberal;
Republican presidents nominate conservative, etc…)
2)
issue/policy alignment (pro-life, etc.);
3)
acceptability
underqualified);
to
Senate
(record
show
not
extremist
or
4)
gender (push to replace O’Connor with another woman, thereby
resulting in failed nomination of Harriet Miers); and
5)
race (fill Thurgood Marshall’s seat with another African-American
man, thus get Clarence Thomas).
While the President usually filters any potential nominee through the American
Bar Association (ABA), sometimes nominees make it out that are nonetheless
controversial. In those instances, the interest groups come alive in attempting to
derail the nomination. They do this by lobbying the President to appoint justices
in line with the groups’ views and lobbying influential Congressmen to approve
or block potential nominees. Another way interest groups get involved is early
in the process by giving campaign contributions. They later use this influence to
ask for “friendly” nominees.
38
Four examples of how Interest groups worked to block Court nominations
are found in:
i)
Ginsburg – Once it was revealed that Ginsburg (a man, not
to be confused with Ruth Bader Ginsberg, no relation) had
smoke marijuana, the conservative community erupted.
Reagan was forced to remove his name even before it had
been formally submitted to Senate.
ii)
Robert Bork – Nominated by Reagan in 1987. During his
confirmation proceedings, Judge Bork was questioned
extensively about his previous writings on a variety of
subjects including abortion. Over the term, it became clear
that he was too extreme for many members of the Senate.
His nomination failed 58 – 42.
iii)
Clarence Thomas – Nominated by George Bush in 1991.
While he was nominated as an African American to replace
the “black” seat on the Court vacated by Thurgood Marshall,
Thomas was conservative in ideology. This caused many
Democrats to oppose him, but more importantly, he was
also accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill. After a
lengthy hearing, the Senate narrowly confirmed on a vote o
52 – 48.
iv)
Harriet Miers -- Nominated by George W. Bush in 2005.
Nominated as a woman to fill vacant seat of first female
Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor. Had no judicial experience,
therefore thought by Bush to be ‘safe’ nominee. Right wing
conservatives remembered the last ‘safe conservative’
nominee, David Souter (who later aligned with liberals!).
Thus, the right arose to demand Miers be withdrawn in
favor of a ‘real’ conservative with a proven record. In time,
Miers knew politics was against her and she withdrew her
name. Bush promptly named Samuel Alito, a well-known
conservative judge (voted to uphold abortion restriction in
Planned Parenthood v. Casey as a Circuit Judge).
Because the confirmation process has become so ideologically and
politically sensitive, some nominees have refused to reveal their judicial
predispositions. This occurred in the confirmation of David Souter who refused
to say whether or not he would move to uphold or strike down Roe v. Wade.
Still, the issue of judicial philosophy is important to Senators. Many oppose the
appointment of a judge who will be a judicial activist and merely use the
39
Constitution as a “living document” and vehicle by which to implement social
policy that could not otherwise be implemented into law via the Congress.
Likewise, many are hesitant to confirm a so-called “strict-constructionist” who
proclaims that the Constitution reflects the views of our Founding Fathers and is
not to be “improved” upon via judicial rulings. While they proclaim that they
are not going to be “Kings in Judicial Robes,” many Senators view them as trying
to roll-back society to the “stone-age”. Senators seek to find out which
philosophy is represented and determine whether the person should be
confirmed.
The political make-up of the Court is now generally conservative in its
rulings. The Court does not have to hear or accept for review any particular
cases, but rather votes to grant review. If four members of the Court agree to
hear the case, a writ of certiorari will be granted. This is known as the Rule of
Four.
Writ of certiorari. At least four of nine justices must agree that the case
should be put onto the Court’s docket. (When cert. is denied, it means nothing.
It is of no further legal significance.)
Majority opinion which tells how the Court decided the case and upon
which grounds, or the Justice may write a dissenting opinion wherein he/she
outlines their reasons for not joining the majority. Finally, a Justice might write a
concurring opinion wherein they state that they agree with the outcome by the
majority, but state different reasons or perhaps to clarify a point not addressed in
the majority opinion.
4.
THE BUREAUCRACY (FOURTH BRANCH OF GOV’T)
The federal bureaucracy employs over 3 million civilians (in over 800
occupations in 100 different agencies) and another 2 million military personnel.
To some, it is the Fourth branch of government.
The Bureaucracy’s job is to execute or enforce the policies made by
Congress or the President. People often gripe about how inefficient the
bureaucracy is, but because they are set up to promote the “public interest”, this
may not be as efficient as some would like. Thus, people point to “waste” in 1)
inefficiency whereby more employees are hired to do a job than is necessary or
consultants are hired and 2) narrow-focus programs that tend to serve only a few
people (e.g. small post offices). While some of the criticism of the bureaucracy is
deserved, much is not due to its mission. Under the Freedom of Information Act
of 1966 (Amended 1974), people can request information from agencies that
make up the government bureaucracy. Although such laws were intended for
the public to get in touch with the government, very few members of the public
40
actually take advantage of them. (e.g. over 85% of FOIA requests to FDA were
from companies that it regulates.) Thus, the FOIA has been used as a tool by
special interests to learn more about the function and operation of the
bureaucracy.
By and large, the bureaucracy grows because it can be a source of benefits.
While the public criticizes “big government,” it clamors for roads, airports, job
training, consumer protection and other benefits. Ultimately, every federal
agency within the bureaucracy exists because it is valuable to enough people
with enough influence to sustain it. In actuality though, even with the continued
demand for services, growth in public employment is not increasing at the
federal level. The major growth in public employment has been at the state and
local levels. (only 14% of all governmental workers were federal employees in
1994). This is not to say that the bureaucracy is stagnant! Although its size has
been relatively stable in recent years, its production of regulations has grown
and is expenditure of funds has doubled since 1961.
There are four types of bureaucracy: 1) Departments; 2) Independent
Agencies; 3) Independent Regulatory Boards and Commissions; and 4)
Governmental Corporations.
a)
Departments
Fourteen departments (heads called “Secretaries” except for Justice who is
called “Attorney General”.) The Departments employ over 60% of all civilian
workers within the executive branch.
b)
Independent Agencies
These agencies differ from departments in that they are smaller and their
heads do not sit in the cabinet. Some examples are N.A.S.A. and the General
Services Administration.
c)
Independent Regulatory Boards and Commissions
These groups regulate some aspect of the economy. They are
usually headed by 5 -10 presidential appointees although the Board and
Commission members cannot be removed if they are later disliked by the
President. The appointees are also balanced by political party. Some examples
are the F.C.C., Securities and Exchange Commission and the N.L.R.B. These
regulatory agencies are “independent” because they are supposed to work free
of partisan influences and presidential control.
41
d)
Governmental Corporations
Governmental corporations are supposed to provide services to the
public without seeking to make a profit. Some examples are the Postal Service
and AMTRAK. Their costs and incomes are not counted as expenditures and
revenues in the annual budget. Thus, they are an attractive device to spend
without enlarging the budget. Their activities are “off budget” which makes the
budget deficit look smaller.
The Bureaucracy’s general purpose is to convert the laws passed by
Congress into rules that have an actual impact on people. We call this process
policy implementation. It has two components: 1) making the policies and 2)
administering them.
a)
Making Policy (i.e. how bureaucracy screws up your life!)
This function of the bureaucracy has grown in large part due to the
large number and technical nature of the problems facing society and also due to
Congress’ inability to draft specific policy measures. Congress often enacts only
general statements of goals and leaves the details to bureaucrats. Thus, Congress
gives federal agencies delegated legislative authority, that is, the power to draft,
as well as execute, specific policies. This agency-made policy is just as binding as
acts of Congress because agencies make it on Congress’ behalf.
One particular kind of policymaking is called regulation. These are
acts of a regulatory agency which establish guidelines or standards conferring
benefits and imposing restrictions on business conduct. (e.g. 41,000 regulations
concerning the hamburger. Some good such as meat health inspection while
others useless such as pickle thickness.) It is important to note that while
agencies try to do what the public wants, they are more likely to respond to
those interests which are well-organized, well-funded and which closely monitor
its actions. As a result, agency-made policy is often less responsive to the general
public than to particular interests. Most regulations, however, are based on laws
that direct agencies to take certain actions to accomplish certain goals. (e.g. EPA
set up to tell to reduce pollution by businesses).
b)
Administering Policy
Bureaucracy’s oldest job is to administer the law. To “administer”
is to execute, enforce, and apply the rules that have been made either by
Congress or the bureaucracy itself.
When administering and enforcing the
“law” as expressed in their regulations, the bureaucracy causes considerable
grief for many individuals and business owners.
For example, anti-
42
discrimination laws found in the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) cause
business owners to have to build handicap-accessible doorways, ramps, tables,
booth, bathrooms, etc. Such renovations cost lots of money even if a disabled
person never visits your business. More expensive stuff like implementing the
Clean Air Act are more likely to provoke a response from the business
community. In such an instance where compliance with a regulation might cost
$10 million, Exxon might hire lobbyists (probably former Congressmen) to
complain to Congress and seek redress and relief. (SEE Section E: Iron Triangle)
Ultimately, in return for campaign cash from the special interest (Exxon or
whoever), the Congressman will use his Committee to exercise “Oversight” of
the offending Bureaucracy. Basically, this causes headaches for the bureaucrat
who ends up pleading for continued funding for his agency, etc. This becomes
so much of a “burden” to avoid that bureaucrats learned early on not to “stir up”
the special interest hornets nest of lobbyists. Instead, bureaucrats consult with
the industry to be affected before taking regulatory action. In this way, the
industry gets to help draft the regulation and will not attack the agency
bureaucrats. Of course, this allows Exxon to essentially say how much “Clean
Air” they will accept, which is not very good public policy. But, this is politics…
By consulting with the Special Interests, the Bureaucracy avoid conflict with
Congress over their budget. Special Interests are happy therefore they give big
contributions to the Congressman exercising Oversight over the Bureaucracy.
One big happy family.
c)
Continuity in Government
The bureaucracy also serves to provide continuity in government.
Although the President may change, large portions of the bureaucracy within the
Defense Department etc. will largely stay the same under Civil Service laws.
E.
Topic: Public Policy
Percentage of Exam: 5 - 15%
1.
IRON TRIANGLES
The iron triangle of government is made up of the U.S. Congress, the
federal bureaucracy, and lobbyists representing special interest groups. These
three groups work together to form government legislation for the most part; it
can be said that most federal legislation is a product of the iron triangle. The ties
linking these three groups are quite strong; often former congress members or
bureaucrats become lobbyists.
43
Though the power of the iron triangle originates in the tenets of
factionalism, it can take away from the democratic process. The pluralist view
states that different interests should be able to compete and compromise with
each other to form government policy. However, because lobbyists usually only
represent the wealthy individuals and corporations in the country, the rest of the
public is to a disadvantage and has less influence on policy. The iron triangle
makes voters feel that they cannot make a difference in government, increasing
voter apathy and decreasing voter turnout. Unfortunately, members of Congress
and the bureaucracy can become more concerned with the concerns of lobbyists
representing special interests than with the concerns and welfare of the nation as
whole. (Remember how EPA begins to consult with Exxon on writing Clean Air
regulations, or FDA consulting pharmaceutical industry to determine whether
drugs are safe. Fox guarding hen house.)
2.
PRESIDENT AND IRON TRIANGLES
The President can attempt to influence and control the bureaucracy
via such things as 1) budgeting whereby Bush cut IRS funding to target rich tax
cheats, 2) appointment of those sympathetic to his ideas, and 3) lobbying and
using media to influence agencies not under presidential control such as the
Federal Reserve Board.
One limitation on the President’s ability to influence agency
decisions is the iron triangle relationships which often exist. These exist where
there are strong congressional and/or domestic groups pushing or supporting
an agency decision. Thus, the President’s influence is greater with federal
agencies such as the State Department where there are fewer domestic influences
and Congress generally defers to the President.
3.
CONGRESS AND IRON TRIANGLES
Congress can create and reorganize agencies and tell them what to
do and how to do it. This is very powerful in controlling the bureaucracy. They
also have the power of congressional oversight of these agencies. (e.g. I.R.S.
hearings). Iron triangles often pose a problem in this area though as agencies
ally themselves with certain congressional committees and interest groups for
mutual protection.
4.
PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS
Individual bureaucrats who discover abuse can report it and be
protected if they are retaliated against for being a whistleblower.
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F.
Topic: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Percentage of Exam: 5 - 15%
1.
IMPACT OF 14TH AMENDMENT
The 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause allowed the Supreme Court to
make their interpretation of the Bill of Rights applicable to the States. This was an
incredible extension of the power of the Court and is known as the Selective
Incorporation Doctrine. Not all of the Bill of Rights have been incorporated to
apply against the states. Those NOT incorporated as of less importance than say,
the freedom of speech. They include such things as the 2nd Amd. right to bear
arms, 3rd Amd. against quartering troops, 5th Amd. right to grand jury
indictment, etc.
2.
TEN* SUPREME COURT CASES YOU NEED TO KNOW
*OK, there are more like thirty. Sue me.
*Marbury v. Madison (1803) -- established judicial review
*McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) -explained Necessary & Proper
Clause
(“Elastic
Clause”
giving Congress “Implied
Powers”)
*Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) -- expanded Congress’ Power under the
Commerce Clause to include matters
“affecting interstate commerce”,
thereby allowing regulation of
intrastate activity.
*U.S. v. Lopez (1995) – activity must have ‘substantial impact’ on
Commerce in order to be regulated by
Congress.
*U.S. v. Morrison (2000) – similar to Lopez (violence against women)
*Gonzales v. Raich (2005) – adopts Wickard (1942) expansive view of
Congress’ Commerce Clause power.
*Dred Scott (1857) -- slaves were property
*Plessy v. Ferguson(1896) -- allowed “Separate, but equal”
*Brown v. Board of Education (1954) -- Overruled Plessy
*Bakke v. Regents (1978) -- aff. action factor is ok, quotas are not
*Adarand v. Pena (1995) -- Aff. Action only remedial
*Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) – aff. Action ok to create ‘diversity’ but
Court intimates a 25 yr. limit on need
for such exceptions to 14th equality.
*Baker v. Carr (1962) -- established “one man, one vote”
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*Mapp v. Ohio (1961)-- exclusionary rule
*Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) -- right to appointed attorney
*Miranda v. Arizona (1966) -- created Miranda warnings
*Terry v. Ohio (1968)-- created police power to ‘stop & frisk’
*Tinker v. Des Moine (1969) -- Armband symbolic speech
*Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) -- separation of church & state
*Van Orden v. Perry (2005)/McCreary County v. ACLU (2005) –
Ten Commandments cases. Van
Orden upheld monument/McCreary
struck down display b/c motivated by
religion.
*Employment Div. v. Smith (1990) – Free Exercise of Religion can
be limited by ‘content-neutral,
generally applicable’ law. Gives rise
to R.F.R.A. struck down in Boerne
(1997).
*Furman v. Georgia (1972) – Death penalty can be ‘cruel’ if imposed
without guidance.
*Gregg v. Georgia (1976) – Death penalty doesn’t inherently violate
8th Amd.
*Roper v. Simmons (2005) – Death penalty for under 18 yr. olds
violates society’s ‘evolving standard of
decency’ so as to violate 8th Amd.
*Roe v. Wade (1973) (Griswold v. Connecticut) -- right to privacy
*Webster v. Reproductive Health (1989) -- Limited Roe decision
(can’t place an “undue burden” on
access to abortion)
*Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) – last case to uphold abortion
right, but allows broad state
regulation.
*Lawrence v. Texas (2003) – gay sex is legal
*U.S. v. Nixon (1974) -- limited power of executive privilege
*Texas v. Johnson (1989) -- flag burning is expression
*Buckley v. Valeo (1976) – Contributions to political campaigns is
protected symbolic speech.
*McConnell v. F.E.C. (2003) – upheld political limits on free speech
within McCain-Feingold (ban on soft $)
If you read this packet 5 times and remember its contents,
you will get a 5 on the AP!
slackers only message –
Please don’t make me look bad by doing only the Multiple Choice and leaving the Essays blank. You
could B.S. your way into a 3. At least try!! Please…..
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