U.S. Government & Politics

In the lesson:

• The Enlightenment
• The Articles of Confederation
• Compromises & Principles of the Constitution
• The Constitution
• Federalism

The Enlightenment:

• Big Ideas
  • Reason
    • The opposite of predominant European societal values of intolerance, bigotry, and superstition
    • Could be used to solve social problems and improve society as a whole
  • Natural Laws
    • A natural and/or divine order of things regulates the human experience and societies that we develop
    • By using reason, humans can discover that these fundamental laws exist
  • Progress
    • We can do better! In fact, over time we can better society and the world
    • By incorporating natural laws into government, society will make progress
  • Liberty
    • European citizens were ruled by absolute monarchs who oppressed them by limiting speech, religion, and free trade
    • Freedom of thought is a natural right to make progress, people must think freely
  • Toleration
    • While enlightened thinkers were confident in the philosophical means, they also believed in the tolerance of all beliefs, thoughts, people
    • Part of this belief was full religious tolerance and freedom
• Thinkers and Contributions
  • John Locke: believed in limited government because people are good
    • Locke’s 2nd Treatise on Government:
      • Natural Rights: “inalienable rights” - universal moral entitlement to life, liberty, property
      • Social Contract: people form governments to maintain/protect their natural rights; government is a social contract where rulers are given power with promise of protecting people’s rights
      • Consent of the governed: if social contract is broken/betrayed by rulers, then people can revolt and replace them
  • Montesquieu
    • Ideal government separates powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches
    • Protect people by preventing one branch from gaining control of entire government
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau
    • Power of state rests within community, not its ruler
    • Rulers are public servants, if they fail to carry our people’s will then they should be removed
• Common Sense and Declaration
  • January 1776 - Thomas Paine's Common Sense
    • Putting Locke’s ideas into something easy to read that everyone could understand as “common sense” - most read publication in America
    • Demands that Americans come together to declare independence from corrupt/brutal king
    • July 1776 - Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence 
      • Came to bring the PAINE to the English king and his government with the declaration
      • Outlined America’s vision for itself, why Locke was right about government, and why specifically their relation had to end (#breakupletter)
• The Revolution: Enlightenment Ideas lead to revolutionary actions
  • 1st Continental Congress: Late 1774, Philadelphia
    • Delegate meeting to respond to intolerable acts, sent petition to King George III
  • Lexington & Concord: battle in New England
  • 2nd Continental Congress: Spring 1775
    • Try to get independence, King George calls them traitors
  • Declaration of Independence: formally starts war from 1776-1781

Articles of Confederation:

• Basic Information
  • America’s 1st government from 1781-1789
  • 13 independent states form a “League of Friendship”
  • Each state retained their own sovereignty, freedom, and independence
  • Formed a confederacy: the national/central government gets authority from states
  • Contrasted to England’s unitary structure where the national government has all power
• Weaknesses
  • Didn’t give Congress powers; just denied to Parliament
  • Lacked power to create taxes; no army
  • Can’t enforce laws (no executive, judicial branches)
  • Congress couldn’t regulate/promote trade
  • Can’t pass laws (getting a ⅔ majority is hard)
  • Small population states  = large population states (unfair)
  • Amendments = impossible because all 13 states had to agree
• Powers of the Central Government
  • Unicameral Congress (1 body): each state had 1 vote
  • Laws required 2/3rds majority to pass through Congress
  • To change Articles (amendment), you needed a unanimous vote (all 13 states agreeing)
  • No executive (president) branch or judicial (courts) branch
• Quick/Painful Death
  • Shay’s Rebellion
    • Led by Daniel Shays - mob took over courts, occupied, closed them in MA
    • Demanded to end foreclosures, relief from high taxes, more paper money
    • Congress couldn’t fund army; rich people end up paying
    • Leaders announced Articles were too weak, need to be revised
  • Constitutional Convention
    • Congress proposes new meeting (Feb. 1787) to revise Articles
    • Madison/Hamilton had planned to replace them and create a brand new government
    • Importance: need to create a strong government that can maintain order, protect property, promote commerce = NEW CONSTITUTION
    • James Madison: Father of the Constitution

Compromises & Principles of the Constitution:

• Problem #1: Representation - Big vs. Small States
  • Big States’ Idea: Virginia Plan
    • 2 house legislature
    • Both houses represented based on population
    • 1 house elected by the people
    • 1 house elected by state legislatures
  • Small State’s Idea: New Jersey Plan
    • 1 house legislature
    • One vote for each state
    • Doesn’t allocate representatives based on population
  • Solution: Great (Connecticut) Compromise
    • Bicameral legislature: 2 houses, where all bills must pass through both houses to become law
    • House of Representatives: based on population
    • Senate: based on statehood (2 votes per state)
• Problem #2: Representation - North vs. South (Slavery)
  • Southern States’ Point of View
    • 30% of the southern states’ population was slaves
    • Wanted to count slaves as people when determining congressional representation in the House (more power)
  • Northern States’ Point of View
    • Northern delegated to the convention opposed slavery (in general)
    • Question how can “property” also be a person
    • Wanted south to have less power
  • Solution: 3/5ths Compromise
    • Slaves count as 3/5ths of a person when determining a state’s population
    • Result: more representation for southern states
• Problem #3: Federal vs. State Power
  • Federal Power
    • The federal/national/central government
    • Federal government needs power to promote economic growth and protect property
  • State Power
    • Concern: government would have too much power
    • States that are closer to the people need to maintain some power
  • Solution: Federalism
    • Supremacy Clause: National laws are supreme to state laws
    • Commerce Clause: federal government regulated interstate commerce
    • Delegated/Enumerated Powers: specific powers given to the federal government
    • Reserved Powers: Specific powers given only to states
• Problem #4: Factions and Power
  • James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton: The Federalist Papers
    • Publications to convince the public that the Constitution is a good idea
    • Serve as an examination of the Framers’ thinking
  • Federalist No. 10
    • Idea: Factions - number of citizens with some passion/interest
    • Problem: Factions are unavoidable
    • Controlling Factions: create a large republic where public elects representatives (pure direct democracy is bad because factions have no check)
  • Solution: Limit on Majority Rule
    • Insulated Senate: originally chosen by state legislatures
    • Independent Judiciary: free of factional influence
    • Indirectly Elected President: electoral college
  • Federalist No. 51
    • Idea: Separation of Powers (3 equal branches)
    • Judicial - lifetime appointments
    • Legislative - 2 houses
    • Executive - electoral college
  • Solution: Separation of Powers
    • Federal government: 3 equal/independent branched with specific responsibilities and can’t infringe upon other branches
  • Solution: Checks and Balances
    • Each branch has powers over the other
    • Ambition - ambition of other 
    • 3 way competition for power

The Constitution:

• Preamble
  • We the people - government by us, for us, we create it
  • Republic exists to both serve/protect us
• Amendments: 27
  • Change the Constitution when people see fit
  • First 10: Bill of Rights (protect individual rights)
• Articles: 7
  • Separate the branches
  • Outline government powers
  • Set up rules, checks, and balances
  • “Chapters” of constitution
  • Every broad subjects
    • I - Legislative Branch
    • II - Executive Branch
    • III - Judicial Branch
    • IV - Relation among states
    • V - Provision for amendments
    • VI - Public debts, supremacy of natural law
    • VII - Ratification of the Constitution
  • Sections: sub sections of each chapter
  • Clauses: individual paragraphs of each section
• Principles
  • Popular Sovereignty
    • Because the government is created by and for people, power is with the people, not leaders
    • In a representative democracy, people vote to elect leaders to represent their interests
  • Rule of Law
    • People and government must abide by laws
    • The Constitution sets limits to government power and established how leaders who overstep their power can be removed
  • Separation of Powers & Checks and Balances
    • Prevents ⅓ having too much power
    • Allow each bench to monitor/check other to prevent abuse of power
  • Independent Judiciary
    • The judicial branch is established as an independent entity, free of pressures and influences from the other 2 branches
    • Supreme Court is the highest authority
  • Federalism
    • Power is divided between the federal government and individual state/local governments
  • Individual Rights
    • Individual Rights and liberties are protected against government encroachment
• Ratification
  • Fall of 1787: Approved by all Constitutional Convention delegates
  • Sent to states in 1787 - 1788: Article VII says you need 9 states to ratify
  • 2 sides form
    • Federalists: land owners, merchants led by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton
      • Believed power to elites, strong central government
    • Anti - Federalists: farmers, laborers, common fold led by George Mason and Patrick Henry
      • Believed “common man” knows what is best, prefer state governments
  • Anti-Federalist Response: Brutus No. 1
    • Idea: Decentralized Republic - popular small scale Democracy, wanted power with states
    • Worried about: Large centralized government would endanger their rights/liberties
  • Got 9 state conventions to ratify but were missing Virginia and New York (40% of US Population)
  • Solution: Bill of Rights 
    • Additional fundamental changes to the Constitution to safeguard personal rights from powerful federal government encroachment
• Amending the Constitution
  • Formally…
    • Proposal: approved by ⅔ of House & Senate
    • Ratification: ¾ of state legislature approve
  • Informally…
    • Congressional Legislation
    • Presidential acts
    • Judicial Decisions
    • Party Practices
    • Unwritten Traditions

Federalism:

• Federalists:
  • Alexander Hamilton and John Adams
  • Wanted a strong federal government
  • Federal government should more power than states
  • Expansive federal powers
    • Favored a broad interpretation of powers of federal government by Constitution
• Democratic Republicans:
  • Thomas Jefferson
  • Wanted a weak federal government
  • States should have more power than federal government
  • Limit federal powers
    • Favored a limited constitutional interpretation of powers of federal government
• Enumerated/Delegated/Expressed Powers
  • Powers specifically granted to the federal government by Constitution
• Necessary & Proper Clause/Elastic Clause
  • Article I, Section 8, Clause 18
  • Gives government necessary power to carry out enumerated powers, confront future problems
• Implied/Implicit Powers
  • Powers not specifically granted to federal government by Constitution (probably because Framers couldn’t anticipate)
• Powers Denied to Government
  • Bill of Attainder
    • Law declaring an act illegal without a trial or hearing
  • Ex Post Facto Law
    • Law that makes act punishable even before enacted, committed crime
• Relation between States
  • Full Faith & Credit Clause: all decrees in one state are applicable in other states
  • Extradition Clause: accused must be transported to state where they’re accused
  • Privileges and Immunities Clause: citizens have the same rights in all states
  • Interstate Compacts: federal government mandates, created compacts between states
• Intergovernmental Relations
  • Dual Federalism: 1790-1930s
    • Nations and state governments remain separate and supreme in their own spheres of assigned duties
  • Cooperative Federalism: 1930s - Present
    • National and state government work together to complete projects; fed and state government share responsibilities
• Fiscal Federalism
  • System of spending, taxing, and giving grants in the federal system
  • Categorical Grants: federal money given to states for specific purpose
  • Block Grants: federal money given for a broadly defined purpose rather than specific ones
• Mandates
  • Rule telling states what they must do to comply with federal guidelines
    • Unfunded Mandate: federal government forces state/local governments to provide services without providing money to fund
• New Federalism
  • Devolution: transferring responsibilities of governing from the federal government to state/local governments
  • Deregulation: removing rules and regulations, usually from economic sectors or industry
• Advantages of Federalism
  • Experimentation at lower level
  • Prevents factional control
  • Participation everywhere
• Disadvantages of Federalism
  • Inequality
  • Too much minority power
  • Confusing
  • No accountability

In this lesson:

• The House & Senate
• Legislative Committees
• Big Ideas about the Budget
• Federal Expenditures
• The Budgetary Process

The House & Senate:

• Operational Differences
  • The House of Representatives
    • Centralized, formal, strong leadership
    • Restrictive debate rules
    • Rigid parliamentary procedure
    • Power concentrated on party leadership
    • Members specialize in one or a few fields
    • Emphasis on tax and revenue
      • Power concentrated in speaker and their rules committee
      • Turnover is high...but incumbents always win
  • The Senate
    • Less centralized, less formal, weak leadership
    • Few debate rules, need 60 Senators to end debate
    • More personal, polite, less rigid
    • Parties less powerful, equality for members
    • Members have general expertise
    • Emphasis on foreign policy
    • Changes
      • Difficult to pass legislation
      • Filibuster: need 60/100 votes to pass laws
• Constitutional Differences
  • The House
    • 435 members (apportioned) serving 2 year terms
    • Requirements: must be at lead 24 years old, citizen for 7 years, resident of state elected from
    • Power of the Purse: House is responsible for initiating all revenue bills
    • Impeachment Power: voted on whatever or not to have trial for a public official (to investigate treason, bribery, high crimes, and misdemeanors)
  • The Senate
    • 100 members (2 per state) serve 6 year terms (⅓ of seats up for election every 2 years)
    • Requirements: be at least 30 years old, citizen for 9 year, resident of state elected from 
    • Confirm executive appointments (cabinet heads, judge)
    • Ratify (approve) treaties
    • Impeachment trial officials by vote: if found guilty by Senate they can be removed from office
• Important Members
  • House
    • Speaker of the House: decides what bills are considered by whole House through Rules Committee, decides committee assignments, leadership posts, runs House
    • Majority Leader: supports Speaker on floor, helps with tasks
    • Minority Leader: minority voice, tries to control party and organize opposition to majority
    • Majority Whip: counts party votes; tries to get members to vote with party:
    • Minority Whip: same as majority whip
    • Rules Committee: “speakers committee”; can decide date of bill vote, can choose to allow debate, amendments to/for all
  • Senate
    • Presiding Officer - Vice President: president of Senate; tie breaking vote in Senate
    • President Pro Tempore: presiding officer when VP isn’t president (not tie breaking vote); honorary title for longest serving member of majority party
    • Majority Leader: voice of majority tries to shape majority party positions/policy
    • Minority Leader: voice of minority; tries to shape minority policy/positions to oppose majority
    • Majority Whip: counts party votes; tries to get party members to vote with party
    • Minority Whip: same as majority whip

Legislative Committees:

• Both Senate & House divide work into committees (review bills, change bills, hold hearing)
• Main Type (Standing Committee)
  • Permanent working groups that continue from one Congress to the rest
  • Focus on a particular area of legislation (Ex. foreign affairs, agricultures)
  • All bills are referred to the appropriate standing committee
  • Members develop expertise in field
  • Divided into subcommittees to work finer details
• House Rules Committee
  • Speaker’s Committee/ Rules: through the Rules committee, Speaker controls all house business/if bills will be voting on
  • Closed rule: strict time limits on debate and no amendments can be offered
  • Open rule: less strict time limits, permits amendments to be proposed
• House Committee on Ways & Means
  • Power of the Purse: deals with taxation and revenue (funding for government functions)
  • Appropriations: all other committees use this revenue as budgeted appropriations ($ for a specific purpose)
• Other Types of Committees:
  • Select Committees: special groups for a specific purpose and limited time; usually to conduct an investigation into a current meter
  • Joint committees: include both House and Senate members; similar to joint committee but focus attention on major/long term issue
  • Conference committee: temporary to resolve differences between House & Senate versions of the same bill; appointed by Party leadership from original committees
• Committee Leadership
  • Committee Chair: elected member of majority party who runs the committee
  • Ranking member: longest serving member of minority party; voice of minority party
  • Why chair a committee:
    • Responsibility: call meetings, schedule hearings, hire staff
    • Power: select subcommittee chairs; money from PACs
    • Pork: bring home the bacon, benefits to state/district
• Oversight: Congressional investigation and review of activities of executive branch officials

Big Ideas about the Budget:

• Budget: a financial plan for use of money, personnel, and property
• Balanced Budget: when expenditures equal revenues in a fiscal year
• Budget Deficit: when expenditures exceed revenues in a fiscal year
• Federal Debt: total amount owed by the federal government
• How Federal Government Influences Economy:
  • Monetary Policy
    • Controlled by the Federal Reserve Board
    • Includes regulating money supply, controlling inflation, adjusting interest rates
    • Not influenced by public opinion/voting/elected representatives
  • Fiscal Policy
    • Controlled by executive/legislative branches
    • President proposes budget, Congress passes it
    • Includes raising and lowering taxes/rates and government spending programs
    • Subject to public opinion
• Sources of Federal Income
  • Individual Income Tax (46% tax revenue)
    • 16th amendment made this possible
    • Progressive tax: proportionate to income; tax rate increases as taxpayers income does
    • Regressive tax: flat rate, regardless of ability to pay
  • Payroll (Social Insurance) (36% tax revenue)
    • Employers and employees each pay social security tax of 6.2% of the first $106,800 of earnings
    • Medicare: 1.4% tax on total annual income (employers match)
    • Social insurance taxes are regressive because they’re at a fixed rate
  • Corporate Taxes (12% tax revenue)
    • Corporations pay a tax rate from 21% to 21% on all income
  • Excise Tax (3% tax revenue)
    • Tax on manufacturing, sale, or consumption of a good or service
    • Fed taxes gas, alcohol, tobacco, airline tickets, etc.
  • Estate & Gift Taxes (1% tax revenue)
    • Levy on assets of someone who dies on anything they pass to others if it totals more than $11.2 million
  • Custom Duties (1% ta revenue)
    • Duties and tariffs are taxes levied on items brought into the US from abroad
    • Most tax comes from here before income tax

Federal Expenditures:

• Non discretionary/Mandatory Spending (60% of federal spending)
  • Congress and President have no power to change this type of spending
  • Most of it is spent on entitlement programs
• Entitlement Programs
  • Federal entitlement: program that guarantees a specific level of benefits to people who meet legal requirements 
    • Ex: social security, medicare, medicaid
  • Social security, medicare, medicaid make up 44% of all federal expenditures
  • Entitlements make it very hard to achieve a balanced budget
• Borrowing and the Debt
  • Federal debt exceeds $19 trillion (as of 2020)
  • About 5-9% of federal expenditures go to paying interest on the debt
  • Amount is dependent on interest rates
• The Social Security Program
  • In 1935, FDR signed the Social Security Act into law
    • SS is designed to help Americans retire with certainty and age with dignity
  • In 1965, Congress added Medicare to SS
    • It is designed to assist the elderly with medical costs
• Demographic Trends
  • SS and Medicare are funded by current/younger taxpayers; the retired generation relied on today’s workers to finance their requirements and medical treatment
  • The Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964) include 76 million people
  • As these people retire, the number of workers who fund SS will decrease while people eligible for benefits increase
  • Improvements in healthcare - exponentially increasing life expectancy
  • Strains SS program
• Discretionary Spending (30% of federal spending)
  • Non required by law
  • Funding changes year to year
  • More than half goes to the military
    • Ex.: education, highways, agriculture, research

The Budgetary Process:

• President & the Budget
  • President starts budgetary process by submitting a proposed to Congress
  • The Office of Management and Budget has the primary role in creating and preparing the federal budget
  • The budget is a way for the President to articulate his priorities/goals
• Congress & the Budget
  • Congressional Budget & Impoundment Act - designed to retake budgetary power back from executive branch
    • Created a fixed budget calendar; est/ budget committees in both houses; created Congressional Budget Office to advise Congress & forecast future revenues
  • President’s budget sent to Appropriations Committee
  • Tax proposals referred to House Ways & Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee
  • Congress required to pass appropriations (spending bills)
• Why can’t Congress balance the budget?
  • Entitlement Spending: is 60% of budget which severely limits what President and Congress can do
  • Incrementalism: federal agencies assume their budgets will grow by a smaller regular amount each year; these small increases make spending cuts hard
  • Interest Groups: this process makes it easy for outside groups to lobby Congress, resist tax increases, and preserve favorite spending programs
• Consequences of Budget Deficits:
  • Deficits require huge interest payments
  • Deficits place big burden on future generation
  • Deficits make it hard to fund important policy goals

In this lesson:

• Presidency/Roles
• The Bureaucracy

Presidency/Roles:

• Different Roles:
  • Chief Executive
  • Shaper of Public Policy
  • Leader of Party
  • Chief Legislator
  • Commander in Chief
  • Head of State
• Chief Executive
  • According to Constitution:
    • Enforce federal laws: make sure that laws that Congress passes are followed/enacted
    • Manage federal bureaucracy: number 1 government boss of State Department
  • Appointment Power - can appoint…
    • Cabinet heads: people who run bureaucratic agencies/aides
    • Independent commissioner: leaders of independent agencies (EPA, FCC)
    • Diplomats/Ambassadors: representatives to foreign countries
    • Judicial Appointments: all federal judges/attorneys/US Marshals
  • Removal power
    • Most appointees “serve at pleasure of President” if he wants them to resign, they will
    • The President can’t remove…
      • Federal judges: Judicial branch is independent, free of outside influence
      • Commissioners of Independent Agencies: they are independent after apportionment
  • The White House Staff
    • Made up of key residential assistants
    • Job is to provide president with policy options and analysis
    • Chief of Staff
      • Highest ranking member
      • Manage flow of people and information into Oval Office
    • No Senate Approval needed for President to hire/fire staff members
    • These people need to have loyalty to President
  • The President’s Cabinet
    • 14 executive department heads & attorney general: the people who run the bureaucratic agencies
    • These 15 departments employ 2/3rds of the federal government civilian employees
    • Diversity: modern presidents look to fill their cabinet with people who represent a diverse America
    • Potential Problems with Cabinet - members’ loyalty to Department instead of the President
    • President’s problems with controlling cabinet representatives
      • Interest groups: influence Cabinet representatives
      • Long careers: Department > President
      • Congress: compete for influence on Cabinet
  • Executive Office of the President
    • Office of Management and Budget (OMB): the largest office within the Executive Branch with 500 career officials; assist the President in preparing Federal Budget
    • National Security Council (NSC): comprised of foreign & military advisors; advise President on issues of national security/foreign affairs
    • Council of Economic Affairs (CEA): made up of 5 leading economists who advice Presidents on economic policy; prepare annual Economic Report of the President
• Chief Legislator
  • Formal (Constitutional) Presidential Legislative Powers:
    • State of the Union: recommend measures and issues that Congress should address
    • Veto Power: reject laws Congress passes
    • Line-item Veto: reject specific “line items” on an appropriation bill while allowing the rest (rejected by Supreme Court in 1997)
  • Informal Presidential Legislative Powers:
    • Party Leader: sets party agenda; has very strong influence in Congress
    • National Leader: especially in crisis, President recommends Congress what to do
    • Agenda Setter: FDR - present; the President initiates major legislation to Congress
  • Working with Congress: how to influence Congress
    • Use legislative liaisons: President has members of WH Staff who will lobby Congress for President; assist legislators in writing bills how President wants; keep track of vote counts
    • Work with leadership: work directly with majority/minority leaders
    • “Bully pulpit”: President’s media attraction power used to focus public attention on issues he wants (more important than any Congressman)
    • Popularity: more popular President = more pressure on Congress to support agenda
    • Offer Pork: win legislators by offering pork/ideas for vote
  • Divided Government: when President/Congress or House/Senate  = different parties
    • Consequences: increases partisanship, gridlock (slowed down legislative process), unpopularity
    • How to overcome it? Bully pulpit, veto threat, make deals, alliances
• Chief Diplomat
  • Treaties
    • How does it become a law?
      • President negotiates with foreign leaders
      • Senate ratifies it with ⅔ vote
    • Advantages
      • Permanent arrangement with broad support of Congress and public
    • Disadvantages
      • Difficult to get Senate approval
  • Executive Agreements
    • How does it happen?
      • President negotiates with foreign leaders
    • Advantages
      • No Senate needed
    • Disadvantages
      • Not official by US Law
      • Can be overturned by future Presidents
• Judicial Powers
  • Checks on Judicial System
    • Reprieve: postponement of a sentence; results in…
    • Pardon: President forgives crime (no punishment)
  • How does President choose a Supreme Court Justice
    • Judicial Philosophy: sees eye-to-eye with President
    • Diversity: recently Presidents pick people that represent the US as a whole
• Commander in Chief
  • Formal Powers: 
    • Deploy troops: power as commander in chief to respond to threats or carry out war declared by Congress
    • Recognize Nations: has the sole power to decide which government the US recognizes as legit
    • Receive Ambassadors: welcome, meet with, and certify other country’s ambassadors
  • Informal Powers:
    • Recognized Global Leader: most powerful and recognized leader in world/expected to promote democracy, freedom, and human rights
    • Resolve International Crisis: because of military/economic strength, people look to President to solve urgent international crises
  • Presidential Increase in War Powers:
    • Only Congress can declare war but there have been times where the President has deployed troops barely approved and it has failed (Korean War, Vietnam War, Iraq War, Afghanistan War)
    • 1973: Congress passed War Powers Resolution
      • President must notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops
      • President must bring troops home within 90 days unless extended authorization of use of force by Congress
    • War Powers Act = unsuccessful
      • Authorization of use of military force is always renewed by Congress
      • President uses CIA to carry out military action overseas without Congressional oversight
• Federalist No. 70: written by Alexander Hamilton outlining his position on presidency; proposed having
  • String executive leader: Argued for powerful singular presidency
  • No weak presidency: warned that a weak president/council would weaken the nation

The Bureaucracy

• Large and complex organization of appointed (unelected) officials
• Common features
  • Hierarchical Authority: a chain of command where power/authority flows from top to bottom
  • Job Specialization: every employee has specific duties/responsibilities
  • Formal Rules: all employees must follow all procedures and regulations
• Federal Bureaucracy Structure: 
  • The Cabinet Departments
    • All 15 departments led by a secretary except Department of Justice (has Attorney General)
    • All 15 heads picked by President and approved by Senate
    • Treasure: prints currency
• Non Cabinet Level Bureaucratic Institutions:
  • Independent Regulatory Agencies: protects public by regulating important parts of economy (Federal Communications Commission - FCC)
    • Led by small commissions appointed by President, approved by Senate
    • Commissioners can’t be removed by president 
  • Government Corporations: provide service that can’t be provided will privately/profitably (US Postal Services)
    • Goal isn’t to make money but to support public good
  • Independent Executive Agencies:Resemble full cabinet departments but have smaller areas of responsibility/authority (EPA, NASA)
    • Mini cabinet agency
• Bureaucratic Implementation: 
  • Policy Implementation: this is eft up to the designated bureaucratic institution that will be overseeing/enforcing the law (decided by Congress passing, enabling legislation)
  • Administrative Discretion: when Congress passes laws to create a new program, it doesn’t establish all of details about how to carry out (implement) its law
  • Rule making: when a bureaucracy makes rules that affect how legislation operates through administrative discretion granted by Congress; rules that have to be followed
• Bureaucratic Regulation, Adjudication, and Problems:
  • Regulation: use of government/bureaucratic authority to control/change practice in private sector economy
  • Deregulation: lifting of restrictions on business industry (popular efforts)
  • Administrative Adjudication: executive agencies function like Courts: hold hearing so agencies settle disputes
  • Problems?
    • Conflicting goals
    • Bad design
    • Lack of funding
    • Fragmentation of responsibilities
• Interest Groups & the Bureaucracy
  • Iron Triangles: alliance among
    • Bureaucratic agency
    • Interest group
    • Congress (committee)
  • Each member provides key services, information, and beneficial policies for others
  • Basically permanent
  • So powerful, often called sub governments
• Issue Networks:
  • Temporary web that develops over the debate of major policy decision or legislative act while being debated
  • President often chooses people from an issue network who support their views to fill agency positions
  • Can include: policy experts, media pundits, congressional staffs, interest groups, big businesses, and bureaucracies

In this lesson:

• Judicial Branch Basics
• The Supreme Court
• Civil Rights

Judicial Branch Basics:

• Criminal Law: felonies, misdemeanor, prosecuted by the state against you
• Civil Law: money lawsuits between people and/or corporations-prosecuted by private lawyers, usually settled out of court
• Both Civil and Criminal Cases
  • Trial and verdict by a jury of peers
  • The Judge runs the trial, sets punishment
• Jurisdiction
  • Original Jurisdiction: authority to hear a case for 1st time; must be heard by an original jurisdiction court before moving onto appellate (90% cases not appealed)
  • Appellate Jurisdiction: authority to hear cases that have been brought onto them on appeal from a lower court; can review court’s findings and affirm their decision or reverse it
• Court System #1: State Courts
  • State Trial Courts: has original jurisdiction in state system
  • Appellate/Intermediate Courts: has appellate jurisdiction over trial courts
  • State Supreme Courts: can choose to initiate appellate jurisdiction
  • US Supreme Court
• Court System #2: Federal Court
  • Constitution and Early Federal Court History
    • Supreme Court is the only court mentioned in Constitution
    • Gives Congress power to create all other federal courts
    • Judiciary Act of 1789: established the idea of 3 tiered structure of the federal courts
      • Size of Supreme Court - 6 justices
      • 1869 - expanded to 9 justices
  • Selection of Lower Court Judges: all federal judges appointed by President and confirmed by Senate
  • District Courts
    • There are 94 district courts staffed with 700 total judged
    • Every state has at least 1 district court
    • District courts handle 300,000+ cases per year; only 2% decided by trial because most settled by plea bargain
  • Appeals Court (Circuit Courts)
    • Appellate courts that review district courts decisions; also can rule on decisions of regulatory agencies (no trials/testimony)

The Supreme Court:

• Basics: 9 total justices, chosen based on no constitutional requirements, life serving
  • 1 Chief Justice, 8 Associate Judges
• Chief Justice
  • Assign origin of opinion
  • Presides over meeting
  • Shapes court’s direction (ideology)
• Justice Selection
  • Considerations
    • Competence: nominees expected to have really impressive legal accomplishments (like prior appellate court judicial experience or governmental experience)
    • Ideology: nominees will share the most important policy preferences and government philosophies/ideas with the President
    • Diversity: recent Presidents want to create courts that look like America
  • Process Begins:
    • President nominates judges
      • Potential justices investigated by FBI for personality, ratings, rulings, scandals
      • Interest groups weigh in, oppose justices bad for interest
      • President selects favorite
    • Senate Confirmation Process
      • Senate Judiciary Committee hold hearings, ask question about judges philosophy and rulings
      • Committee makes recommendation
      • Senate confirms with a majority vote
• Journey to a Hearing:
  • Why does a case get heard by SCOTUS?
    • Federal government asks for appeal
    • New civil rights/liberties
    • Case has conflicting appeals court decisions
    • Significant social/political urgency
  • Writ of Certiorari:
    • An order by court directing lower court to send up the record and documents pertaining to a lower ease so that the court can review it
    • Allows court to control/limit its caseload = cases must have serious issue/need interpretation
  • Habeas Corpus:
    • Issued to determine if the person’s detention in prison is lawful; basically used for person to know what legal justification is for their imprisonment
  • Rule of Four:
    • For a case to be heard on appeal at least 4 of the 9 judges must agree to hear the case
  • Amicus Curiae Brief
    • Submitted by interest groups who argue for a decision and give legal reasoning as to why the court should rule that way
• Hearing a Case
  • Filing of Briefs: 
    • written arguments for one side of the case; cite legal precedents, ideas, arguments; each side uses their briefs as a written argument to convince justices of your position on the case
  • Oral Arguments
    • Each attorney has 30 minutes to speak and answer questions from justices
  • Conference and Vote
    • After the case is heard, the justices meet privately/discuss/vote-majority wins
  • Writing of Opinions
    • After vote is taken, each side writes an opinion to be released to argue their viewpoints and why they are correct
• Majority Opinion: officially the “opinion of the court” viewed as the law of the land; legal reasoning given
• Concurring Opinion: justices sides with majority but had different reasons for doing so, articulates them here
• Minority/Dissenting Opinion:articulated disagreement with majority and why; have no legal standing but can be examined later 
• Factors that Influence SCOTUS decisions:
  • Precedent: refers to rule/interpretation of the law that all other lower courts use to decide their cases
    • Stare decisis: principle that all courts should respect precedent
  • Judicial Philosophy: general interpretation of how courts should function in 3 branch system
    • Judicial Restraint: court should rely on precedent/tradition
    • Judicial Activism: courts should correct injustices other government branches ignore or cause
      • Promote social justice and progress
  • Public Opinions: how public feels about certain case; can be important but courts are protected
    • Supreme Court is protected from political pressures and public opinion because…
      • Lifelong terms: the Constitution stipulates justices serve for life, so they’re independent and unafraid of criticism  or political repercussions
      • Can’t decrease pay: Constitution says salary can’t be reduced so Congress can’t control through power of the purse
      • Certiorari process: they get to grant Writs of Certiorari (pick cases) regardless of politics
      • Limited access: public can only listen to records, not televises, to constituents, town halls, etc
    • Supreme Court is aware of/sensitive to the forces of political opinion because…
      • Political process: elected officials appoint and confirm judges so viewpoints of judicial branch is kept in mainstream of politics
      • Propose amendments: If Congress hates SCOTUS interpretation of Constitution, they can propose amendments to the Constitution
      • Add justices: Congress can pack the court by increasing the number of justices, minimizing current political preferences of the Court (FDR)
      • Impeachment: Congress can impeach/remove judges (extremely rare)

Civil Rights:

• Civil War/Reconstruction Amendments:
  • 13th Amendment: banned slavery/involuntary servitude
  • 14th Amendment: 
    • Due Process Clause (civil liberties): people are due legal/constitutional rights that protect them from certain government actions
    • Equal Protection Clause (civil rights): policies protecting people against discriminatory treatment by government/private individuals
  • 15th Amendment: banning voting discrimination by race/color
• Early Problems
  • Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws: laws that limited African Americans freedom and equality, created in South to oppress African Americans after Civil War
  • Voting Discrimination & Restrictions
    • Literacy Tests: Jim Crow laws that required people to take tests to prove they were educated enough to vote
    • Poll Taxes: required tax that people had to pay to get to vote
    • Grandfather Clause: can fail these tests and not pay taxes but still vote if your grandfather voted (mainly for whites)
• Equal Protection Clause and Civil Rights
  • Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail
    • Background: Arrested for unlawful protest
    • Argument against him: He should wait; problems will be solved without protests, marches
    • Goal: Create nonviolent tension in society to draw attention to inequality/create change
    • Problems: Lynching, police violence, poverty, segregation, discrimination
    • Main Idea: 14th Amendment, Equal Protection Clause must be followed; the state is one carrying unequal treatment of citizens
    • Effect: Inspired the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Legislation to battle racial inequality/discrimination
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964
    • Ended Jim Crow segregation by making racial discrimination illegal in hotels, motels, restaurants, and other public places
    • Prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, and gender
    • Created the Equal Employment Opportunity to monitor and enforce protections against job/hiring discrimination
    • Gave power to Department of Justice to initiate lawsuits to force the desegregation of public facilities/schools
    • SCOTUS review: upheld outlawing of segregation of public places via the Interstate Commerce Clause
• Legislation to battle racial voting inequalities/discrimination
  • 24th Amendment (1964)
    • Banned poll taxes in federal elections; SCOTUS banned poll taxes in state elections in 1966 by applying amendment to states
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965
    • Outlawed literacy tests and other tactics that disenfranchised African Americans since the end of the Civil War
    • Called for federal oversight of voter registration in areas that had a significant history of discriminatory practices & laws
    • Greatly improved voter registration disparity which resulted in increase in number of elected African Americans
• Women’s Civil Rights
  • Early Status
    • Women were considered citizens, but lacked political rights
    • Male created system of law; women lack power to divorce, sell property
    • Denied educational/career opportunities
  • Early Political Organizations
    • Seneca Falls Convention (1848): Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others
      • Called for abortion of legal, economic, and social discrimination against women
    • 19th Amendment: women get suffrage (right to vote)
    • Equal Rights Amendment (1972)
      • Called for “equality of rights under the law; shall not be denied or abridged by the US or any state on account of gender”
      • Fell 3 states short of 3/4ths necessary for ratification
• Affirmative Action
  • Policy applying to most federal agencies/universities/employers to take positive/active steps to remedy discrimination 
  • President Johnson’s executive order for affirmative action in hiring minorities
  • Also amended to women
  • Can create a reverse discrimination
• Federalist No. 78: The Judicial Branch is the weakest of the 3 branches
  • Judicial Branch doesn’t have the enforcement or purse of the other branches
  • Justices should serve life terms to preserve court’s independence
  • Judicial Review: court’s role is to decide whether a governmental action is constitutional
• Incorporation: Due Process Clause of 14th Amendment extends most of the protections of the Bill of Rights to the states
• Selective Incorporation: gradual process where SCOTUS has made several decisions that incorporate the Bill of Rights into the Due Process Clause

In this lesson:

• Political Ideology
• Political Socialization
• Public Opinion and Polling
• Voting and Participation

Political Ideology

• Whole set of values and beliefs about purpose and scope of government
• The groups in the General Political Spectrum from Left to Right:
  • Communism
  • Socialism
  • Progressivism
  • Liberalism
  • Conservatism
  • Far right
  • Alternative right
  • Facism
• Economic Regulation/Control of Economy:
  • Left: want less market freedom, more government regulation, pro labor (workers)
    • Liberalism: higher taxes, pro union, more business and environmental regulations, regulate Wall Street
    • Socialism: Democratic control of workplace, worker ownership of the means of production, seizure of private property (factories)
  • Right: want more market freedom, less government regulation, pro ownership
    • Conservatism: lower taxes, pro corporation, favor private enterprise solutions, remove government regulations
    • Fascism: Merging of corporation and state, control of economy and government by big business
• Social Freedom:
  • Left: want more independent freedom, less government regulation, less emphasis on tradition
    • Liberalism: legalize gay marriage, pro-choice with limits, decriminalize marijuana, allow flag burning, “secular values”, pro immigration
    • Socialism: tax payer funded health care, abolish borders, free college, legalize drug use, legalize prostitution
  • Right: want less individual freedom, more government regulation, and more emphasis on tradition
    • Conservatism: preserve traditional marriage, pro-life, tough on crime, some speech restrictions, “judeo-christian values”, limit immigration
    • Facism: return to male dominate household, criminalize non traditional sex and gender practices, imprison/deport minority
• Liberals: “The Left”, “Left Wing”, progressive, Democratic, Blue States
  • Believe
    • Equality
    • Political and social reform
    • Government regulation on economy
    • Expand help for poor, minorities, women
    • Abortion rights
    • Higher taxes on right
  • Oppose
    • Increase in military spending and involvement
    • Cutting welfare spending programs
• Conservatives: “The Right”, “The Right Wing”, traditional, Republican, Red States
  • Believe:
    • Liberty
    • Expansion of military
    • Free Market solutions to economic problems
    • Less government regulation of business/lower taxes
    • Religious issues tradition
  • Oppose
    • More money to welfare programs
    • Obamacare/national health care
• Moderates/Independents:
  • Most Americans identify as a mix of Liberal and Conservative
• Leftists 
  • political/social revolution
  • Basic needs met for all
  • Replace market based economy
• Libertarians:
  • Far right on economic issues
  • Far left on social issues

Political Socialization:

• Process by which one develops political opinions
• American Democratic Values:
  • Majority Rule: democracy functions through an idea of “majority rule”
  • Minority Rights: those not in the majority should be protected
  • Equality: every person is treated equally under the law & political processes
  • Private Property: what is yours is yours under the law/capitalism
  • Individual Freedom: every person has civil liberties and is protected
  • Compromise: different people/interests can combine to form policy addressing all
  • Limited Government: the government is restricted through will of people and law
• Forces of Political Socialization
  • Family (THE MOST IMPORTANT)
    • Kids mimic parent’s views
    • 60% of adults carry same party ID as parents
    • Weekly Reader Poll: children answer as parents would
  • School and College:
    • Teach American values of democracy, equality, love of country, pledge
    • College = more liberal/open-minded
    • No significant effect on party ID from BA
    • More years in higher education - more liberal voters
  • Media
    • Informs public about issues
    • Sets political agenda (focus on certain issues)
    • Biased media = public use to confirm their beliefs
  • Religion
    • More often people go to church - more likely to vote
    • Evangelical Christians - conservative Republicans
    • Catholics - moderates
    • Jews - liberal Democrats
  • Race & Ethnicity
    • Shapes our basic understanding of political events based on historical/modern events
    • African Americans - democrats
    • Latinos - little more liberal
    • Asian Americans - little more conservative
    • Whites - most conservative 
  • Gender
    • Gender Gap = women (liberal); men (conservative)
    • Women favor more welfare, closing wage gap, addressing women’s health issues, maintain abortion rights
  • Age
    • Younger = more liberal and less likely to vote
    • Older = more conservative and more likely to vote
  • Geography/Location
    • Northeast/West Coast = liberal
    • South = conservative
    • Urban = liberal
    • Rural = conservative
  • Recent Events
    • Events create positive/negative voter attributes
    • Watergate - distrust in government
    • 9/11 attacks - increases patriotism
    • Iraq War - anti war sentiment

Public Opinion and Polling:

• Public Opinion: how people think or feel about certain things (issues, candidates, etc.)
• How polls should be set up in order to properly gauge public opinion:
  • Sample: subset of population selected to predict opinion of whole group
  • Timing: polls are most accurate right before election
  • Phrasing of questions: ask neutral questions
  • Random sampling: every person has the same chance of being selected
  • Stratified sampling: groups specifically chosen to accurately represent groups
  • Contacting Respondents: best way - random digit dialing
• Types of Political Polls:
  • Push poll: “fake polls” - act like polls to hurt opposing candidate by planting idea
  • Tracking poll: daily poll to measure impact of short term campaign developments
  • Exit poll: conducted as voters leave; measure actual voters and turnout, used to predict results
• Problems with polling:
  • Margin of Error: + or - % points that show inaccuracy of polling
  • Sampling Error: accuracy depends on quality of sample
  • Limited Respondent Options Intensity : Yes or No questions that can’t measure passion of opinion of if person will vote
  • Lack of Respondent Knowledge: polls don’t really work with issues when people surveyed don’t know about them

Voting and Participation:

• Political Efficacy: 
  • High Efficacy: the belief that you can influence government and that your vote matters; likely to participate
  • Low Efficacy: belief that you don’t have any impact; unlikely to participate
  • Popular ways to politicize:
    • Voting (most common and easiest)
    • Form interest groups
    • Contact public officials
    • Campaigning
    • Donating
    • Running for office 
• Expansion of Voting
  • Suffrage: right to vote, determined by law
  • U.S. Trends
    • Suffrage has been expanded as restrictive requirements have been eliminated
    • Authority over suffrage has transferred from the states to the federal government 
• Low Voter turnout
  • Voting in the U.S. has decreased compared with other nations (50% or less)
  • If election is considered important = higher turnout
  • Still, presidential election have more voter turnout (more than 50%) than others
  • Reasons for low turnout
    • Failure to mobilize voters
    • No perceived difference between candidates/parties
    • Mistrust of government
    • apathy/low political efficacy
    • Tuesday Elections
    • Registration & voter ID laws (Motor Voter Laws)

In this lesson:

• Roots & History of the American Party System
• 3rd Parties
• Presidential Elections: The Electoral College

Roots & History of the American Party System:

• Political Parties: members/groups joining together to achieve common goals by gaining power (goal: to win office, exercise power)
• Linkage Institution: channel by which people’s concerns become political issues
• Birth of American Politics:
  • Federalists: Federal (Nat.) Government
    • John Adams
    • Alexander Hamilton
  • Democratic Republicans: State Government
    • Thomas Jefferson
    • James Madison
  • 1816 - 1830’s: Era of Good Feelings
    • Post war of 1812 (Monroe): Dem-Rep party dominant
    • Expansion of suffrage, transition to popular election of electoral college members by states
• Rise of Popular Parties (1832):
  • Whig Party: 1832, Henry Clay
    • Rise to power: “Corrupt Bargain” of John Quincy Adams, hatred of Andrew Jackson
• Republican Party: 1860, Abraham Lincoln
  • Rise to Power: Abolition of slavery, split of Democratic Party
• Democratic Party: 1832 (1st convention); Andrew Jackson
  • Rise to power: Popularity of Jackson, idea of “Common Man” presidency, taking into account “will of the people”
  • Jacksonian Democracy: suffrage to all white males
    • Spoils System: patronage; rewarding supporters with jobs and favors
• 1874 - 1912:
  • Political Machine: party organization that recruits members by dispensing patronage (job, promotion, contract given for political reasons rather than merit)
  • Effects of this political machine:
    • Immigration: European immigrants = new voters
    • Benefits: jobs, housing, food, alcohol: help to new Americans
    • Voter Turnout: 75% (Golden Age); participation was all for self interest
• Era of Democratic Dominance (1933 - 1953):
  • Great Depression: Rise of Franklin Roosevelt
    • President from 1933 - 1945
    • New Deal = party shouldn’t give perks, government should; economic and political reforms
    • Realignment: groups shift; new coalitions of party supporters from lasting changes in party preferences
    • Critical Election/Realigning Election: dramatic change in political system, party control shifts, many terms of one party control
  • New Deal Reforms & Political Changes
    • Direct Primary: party candidates selected by public vote NOT by party bosses
    • Civil Service Laws: ended patronage; government jobs awarded based on merit
    • New Deal Coalition: rules politics from 30s to 60s; made up of urban workers, ethnic groups, catholics, jews, poor, southern, intellectuals
• The Modern Era (1960s - Present):
  • Dealignment
    • Gradual shift of people away from political parties = shrinking party ID
    • Most people are “independent”
    • Most “independents” still vote as Democrat or Republican
  • Ticket Splitting
    • Vote for candidates from different parties for different offices in same election
  • Issue Oriented Campaigns
    • Focus on specific issues rather than party or candidate’s personality
  • Candidate Centered Campaigns
    • Elections based on candidates, their personal qualities, who is the best person for this job
• Structure and Organization of Parties:
  • National Convention: Party’s national voice; members (delegates) meet to select President and Vice President candidates; write/adopt platform - document that describes policy beliefs of the party
  • National Committee: manage business, select convention stie, establish rules, distribute literature, raise money
  • National Chairperson: picked by nominee/committee, direct committee, help party win
  • Congressional Campaign Committee: D/R committees in Congress that work to reelect their parties by raising/distributing funds
  • State & Local Party: organized like national party, volunteer, activities, door to door, get out the vote, nominate local candidates
• Functions of the Party System:
  • Recruit Candidates: find candidate interested (especially if there is no incumbent)
  • Nominate and Support Candidates: help raise money, run campaigns with help of party structure
  • Educate the Electorate: inform voters about their candidates, encourage participation
  • Create a Policy Agenda/Organize Government: organization of Congress and state legislatures is based off of the 2 major parties and who has control (majority vs. minority); political appointments are often made based on party affiliation

3rd Parties:

• Why a 2 party tradition?
  • Single member districts/first past the post: only one top vote getter is chosen from district 
  • Ballot access: election laws vary by state, minor parties lack resources to get on ballot in more than a few states ($$$)
  • Strategic voting: since 3rd parties are unlikely to win, voters are unlikely to support/vote
• Types of 3rd Parties:
  • Ideological: based on broad social, economic, and political beliefs
  • Splinter: personality based,  factional; split away from major party because of candidate
  • Single Issue: concentrate attention on single public policy matter
  • Protest: correlated with economic discontent
• Importance: 
  • “Spoil elections”: taken voters away from major parties; possibly changed winner
  • Introduce New Ideas: bring different ideas into public view
  • Change Major Parties: they adopt 3rd party positions
  • Expose corruption: attention to problems with political system
  • Trouble getting Elected: success at local level, not presidential
• Why can’t they win?
  • Winner take all states in the electoral college (10% doesn't really matter)
  • People don’t want to waste/throw away their vote
  • Lack of money and nation/statewide organizations get on ballot
  • Fear of being a spoiler and being the reason some bad is elected
  • 3rd party candidates are usually excluded from presidential debates

Presidential Elections: The Electoral College:

• How does it work?
  • Each state gets votes based on population; 2 per Senator, 1 per House of Representative member
  • Reapportionment: changed based on census data every 10 years, reallocation of House Reps. based on changed in population (some states gain, lose, stay same)
  • Winner take All: getting most votes in state gets you all of the electors 
  • Originally electors were chosen by state legislatures and meant to be independent, smart people
  • Today electors are selected by state’s winning party and are expected to vote for the party’s candidate
• Electoral College Pros:
  • Usually agrees with winner of the popular vote
  • Candidates may focus on moderate message to appeal to swing states (toss up)
  • Candidates can’t ignore the smaller population states
  • Stable system: has always produced a winner
  • “Mandate”: electoral college makes the margin of victory look wider, which empowers the president to pursue campaign promises
• Electoral College Cons:
  • Can tie or have no majority
  • Winner of EC can lose popular vote
  • Candidates ignore safe states
  • People’s votes aren’t equal based on the state they live in
  • Sometimes, electors don’t vote for who they say they will
  • Swing and small states get too much attention
  • Voter turn off: people think it’s too weird, complicated, unfair, etc.
• Why do we still have the electoral college?
  • Requires a constitutional amendment to change (really hard to do)
  • Collectively benefits small states - guaranteed at least 3 votes
  • No consensus on how to reform electoral college (all systems have drawbacks)

In this lesson,

• Types of Elections
• Presidential Nominations: Party Differences
• Congressional Elections & Incumbency
• Redistricting
• The Media

Types of Elections:

• General Election: contests between opposing candidates of different  parties and independents (local, state, national)
• Recall Election: special election to remove incumbent from office (rare)
• Primary Elections: choice of who will be party’s candidate in general election (Ex. R - Trump, Cruz, Rubio in 2016)
  • Open Primary: any voter (regardless of party) can participate in the party’s primary election
  • Closed Primary: only registered/pledged party members can vote in their party’s primary
  • Problems:
    • Crossover Voting: voting in primary when you aren’t a member (common)
    • Party Raiding: organized effort to crossover by opposing party to pick weakest candidate (rare)
• Ballot measures: public gets to directly vote on laws, amendments, etc. (direct democracy)
  • Initiatives: proposed by citizens, voted on by citizens
  • Referendums: proposed by legislature, voted on by citizens

Presidential Nominations: Party Differences

• Objective of the nomination game: get a majority of delegates
• Democratic Party System:
  • Proportional delegate allocation: award delegated based on proportion of votes received in each state (pledged)
  • Super delegates: party leaders; establishment elites, elected Democrats unpledged (free) delegates can vote for whoever they want at Democractic National Convention
• Republican Party System
  • Winner Take All: person who gets most votes gets ALL of state’s delegates at convention
  • Hybrid Delegate Allocation: combination of winner take all and proportional allocation
• Who Votes First?
  • Iowa Caucus & New Hampshire Primary
    • 1st states who vote in presidential nomination
    • Draw media attention and candidate travel
    • Winning one = serious contender
    • Special interests of early states (farming, ethanol) get big promises
  • Caucus
    • Like primary but requires more time
    • In depth, tailored to party activities 
    • You stand around and vote by raising your hand for a candidate
  • Front loading
    • All other states changing their primaries to earlier dates because they see attention that IA and NH get
  • Super Tuesday: many primaries on one day; in 2016, it was on March 1st

Congressional Elections & Incumbency:

• Approval Rate of Congress: about 10-15%
• Reelection Rate of Congress members: more than 90%
  • People hate Congress, but love their Congressperson
• Advantages of Incumbency:
  • Open Seat: general election where both candidates don’t currently hold the seat
  • Incumbent: current office holder (faces a “challenger” for their seat)
  • Incumbency Advantage: incumbent almost always wins re-election!!
    • This is the most important factor in determining the outcome of an election
  • Advantage #1: Money
    • Incumbents are able to raise more money than challengers (because they’re already in office and more likely to win)
    • Political Action Committees (PACs) give more money to incumbents
    • Incumbents outspend challengers 2 to 1
  • Advantage #2: Visibility
    • Name recognition: incumbents are well known
    • Media covers positive activities of office (grand openings)
    • Incumbents get to use public tax dollars for transportation costs
  • Advantage #3: Constituent Services
    • Elected officials help constituents with their needs
      • Military benefits, social security checks
    • Incumbents can bring money/jobs home
      • Pork: legislation allowing elected officials to “bring home the bacon”
    • Officials sit on committees that deal with constituent wants/district needs
      • Earmarks: provisions in laws that designate specific projects for funding for their districts
  • Advantage #4: The Franking Privilege
    • Members of Congress get to mail newsletters to constituent’s at government’s expense
  • Advantage #5: Scare Off Effect
    • All challengers know the incumbent will win, so why bother?
    • Established incumbents scare off qualified challengers
    • Many seats in Congress/state legislatures go unchallenged
  • Consequences of Incumbency Advantage:
    • Congress is made up of experiences members/leaders
    • Maintains continuity of leadership/policy
    • Continuity discourages radical change or reform
    • Continuity encourages close relationships between members and interest groups
    • Incumbents benefit from existing rules and advantages so they have no reason to change them

Redistricting:

• House of Representatives:
  • Size, Apportionment, and Constitution
    • Constitution doesn’t set exact size for House of Representatives
    • Constitution states House’s size shall be apportioned (distributed) among states based on respective population
    • The Constitution guarantees each state gets 1 rep.
  • Reapportionment
    • Reallocation of House seats after a census is taken every 10 years; requires House reps. be reorganized based on population changes
    • Reapportionment Act of 1929: set House size (435 members)
    • Each House member represents 700,000 people
  • Why Reapportionment?
    • increases/decreases number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives
    • Increases/decreases number of electors a state has in electoral college
    • As state’s representation increases, its potential influence increases
• Redistricting & Gerrymandering:
  • House Districts & Redistricting
    • Each seat is filled from single member districts: 1 person represents entire district (top vote getter)
    • State legislatures draw congressional district lines
    • Redistricting: states take census data and redraw district (every 10 years)
  • Gerrymandering: legislative process where majority party in state legislature redraw lines for their own benefit
  • Consequences:
    • Protects incumbents/discourage challengers
    • Strengthens majority party/weakens minority
    • decreases/increases minority representation
  • Types of Gerrymandering:
    • Fair: rep is close to actual population preferences
    • Sweetheart: districts designed to protect incumbents with easy elections
    • Cracking: hide minority in majority districts increases majority party power
    • Packing: put majority in easy districts, dilutes their power overall
• Supreme Court: Limitations on Redistricting
  • Wesberry v. Sanders (1964): set force the principle of “1 person, 1 vote” in drawing congressional districts (gave cities/suburbs more reps)
  • Other SC limitations
    • Districts = equally populated
    • Must be compact: normal shape
    • Lines must be common bordered and connected
    • Cannot dilute minority voting strength
    • District lines can’t be drawn based on race
      • Can be one of several factors considered
    • SCOTUS has not eliminated gerrymandering for political purposes

The Media

• Mass Media = newspapers, radio, TV, internet, etc.
• What are the media’s functions?
  • Entertainment (big emphasis): popular shows are continued while low rating shows are cancelled
  • News Reporting:
    • Yellow journalism (late 1800s): focusing on useless news (original “fake news”)
    • Muckraking (early 1900s): focus on exposing gov corruption & industry
    • Today: media provides varying amounts of “news”
  • Creating Political Forums:
    • Politicians use media to promote themselves and draw public attention to their favorite issues
    • President has special media power: set policy agenda (what the country/Congress should focus on)
• How is the Mass Media a Linkage Institution?
  • Mass media connects people to their government officials by 
    • Interviewing citizens
    • Presenting poll results
    • Covering protests
  • Mass media connect government officials to the public by
    • Interviewing political leaders
    • Reporting on government actions
• How does Mass Media affect politics:
  • Agenda setting
    • Policy agenda: consists of issues that attract serious attention of public officials
    • Huge role in drawing public attention to certain topics/issues
    • Gatekeeper: if media doesn’t address certain topic, then it is not part of the policy agenda
  • Candidate Centered Campaigns > Issues
    • Campaigns now centered more on candidates than issues (more entertaining)
    • Sound bites (7-8 seconds): short, easily understood phrases that politicians repeat an that media will air
    • Media focuses on day-to-day campaign activities: rallies, scandals, negative ads, etc.
    • Gaffes: linguistic errors.bizarre behavior of candidate that gets a lot of attention
    • Horse race journalism: focus on how candidates are doing in the polls
• How do voters decide their vote?
  • Prospective voting: evaluating candidates’ positions on issues in relation to what they’ll do
  • Retrospective voting: declaring whether to vote for incumbent based on 1st term performance
  • Rational choice voting: vote for who you want
  • Party-line voting: voting based on party
• Using media to win a campaign:
  • Paid media: ads purchased for campaign
  • Spot ads: TV ad on behalf of candidate (short)
  • Free media: coverage of candidate’s campaign in news

In this lesson,

• Interest Groups
• Lobbying
• Campaign Finance Rules

Interest Groups:

• An organization of people who members share policy views on specific issues and attempt to influence public policy to their benefit
• Operate at all levels of government (local, state, national)
• Public policy: the course of action the government takes in response to an issue (Ex. Not passing gun regulations)
• Goals
  • Gain access to policymakers 
  • Influence public policy
  • Support sympathetic policy makers
• How are they linkage institutions?
  • Express members’ preferences to government
  • raise/spend money to influence policymakers
  • educate/inform members about government policy
• Government Money & Regulation = Lots of Interest Groups
  • President and Congress control billions of dollars and choose regulation to have
  • Most industries, corporations, professions, unions have interest groups to have their interest represented
  • 1959 - 6,000 interest groups
  • Today - 22,000 interest groups
• Political Party vs. Interest Groups:
  • Nominate, compete, try to gain power vs. support officials ($$$) to influence public policy
  • Have positions on wide range issues vs. focus on members’ issues, represent them
  • Public, accountable to voters vs. private, accountable to members

Lobbying:

• How interest groups try to influence decisions of policymakers
• Lobbyists: people who attempt to persuade policymakers for group
  • There are over 30,000 spending $2B a year lobbying
• Lobbying Congress:
  • Provide expertise: give members of Congress information, technical issues, small changes to bills
  • Testifying before Congress: in front of committees
  • Meet with Congressional aides: staff, people who actually write bills
  • Bring like minded, influential constituents to DC: talk policy with members of Congress
  • Provide gifts, favors, special treatment: to gain access, favors, etc.
• Executive Branch:
  • Present P.O.V. to While House aides 
  • President has staff for talking to lobbyists
  • Try to gain access to regulatory agencies to influence regulations
• Courts:
  • No direct access
  • Last resort, if fail in Congress
  • Amicus Curiae Briefs: “friend of the court” brief, written arguments supporting interest groups side in Supreme Court
• Shaping Public Opinion
  • Public relation campaigns: try & bring an issue to public’s attention
  • Grassroots organizing: organizing members to contact reps. about issue
  • Advertisements: to promote their image as “good citizens”
  • Demonstrations: raise awareness, express viewpoints
• Interest Group Theories:
  • Pluralist Theory: Many groups compete, all balance each other and force compromise, no domination
  • Hyper-pluralist Theory: Too many interest groups resulting in conflicting policy
  • Power Elite Theory: policy decisions are dominated by small number of super rich groups, policy reflects the preferences of these groups at the expense of everyone else
• What makes an interest group successful?
  • Size
    • Large membership: more emails, bigger protests, more volunteers
    • Small membership: more passion
    • Free riders: people who benefit from interest group without making a contribution
  • Intensity
    • More passion = more successful
    • Single issue interest groups - most passionate
  • Financial Resources
    • More money = more lobbyists, PACs, amicus curiae briefs, events, etc.
    • Money compensated for low size/intensity
    • Astroturfing: makes your group look like real grass roots but is actually fake
  • Access to lawmakers
    • Campaign donations, fundraisers, support, buys access to lawmakers - have influence over legislative process

Campaign Finance Rules:

• Purpose
  • Disclosure of financial activity
  • Limits on contributions & disclosure of who gives and how much
  • Limits on expenditures, especially by outside groups pushing self interest agenda
• Contributions: money given
• Expenditures: money spent
• Historical attempts at controlling campaign finances:
  • Federal Election Campaign Act (1972):
    • Public financing: system where election is funded by taxpayers for agreeing to rules
    • Disclosure of dominoes
    • Limits on contributions & expenditures
    • Federal Elections Commission: police
      • Disclose information to public
      • Enforce contribution limits
      • Oversee public finance system
  • Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
    • Challenge to FECA
    • Contribution limit was okay
    • Expenditure limit was not okay
      • It violate the 1st amendment
  • Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act aka McCain-Feingold (2002)
    • Limit attack ads/close loopholes
    • Limit soft money
    • “Stand by your ad”
    • Stop non candidate ads before 6- days before general election
  • McConnell v. FEC (2003)
    • Prohibition on PAC and 527 ads is violation of 1st amendment
  • Citizens United vs. FEC (2010)
    • BCRA/FECA are unconstitutional
    • Disclosure of contributions is fine
    • Can make independent expenditures (don’t coordinate with campaign)
    • Corporations are people (1st amendment)
• Types of Contributions:
  • Hard Money
    • Donation directly to candidate
    • $5,000 to each candidate max
  • Soft Money
    • Donation to party committee
    • $30,800 limit per party
  • Dark Money
    • Donations made to Super PACs 
    • Unlimited $$$ per year
• Ways to contribute
  • Political Action Committees (PACs)
    • Formed by interest groups to raise money and contribute to campaigns
    • Get hard money
    • Support incumbents
    • Special interest join together to make contributions to candidates
    • Can also make independent expenditures by lobbying and creating ads
  • Super PACs
    • Result of Citizens United case
    • Independent expenditure only committee
    • Can’t coordinate with campaigns
    • spend/raise unlimited amount of money
    • Most disclose donor
    • BUT THERE IS A LOOPHOLE!
  • 501(c)4
    • Non-profit, tax exempt interest group
    • Must represent public welfare issues
    • Don’t have to disclose donors
    • If you don’t want your name attached to a Super PAC, just donate to a 501(c)4 and they give money to the Super PAC
      • You don’t have to give name because the 501(c)4’s name will show up