U2: Interactions Among Branches and Government

Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches and Government (25-36% Exam Weight)

2.1 Congress: The Senate and House of Representatives

Important Documents

● Article I of the Constitution

○ Established bicameral legislature

Main Topics

2.2 Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress

Main Topics

● Legislative Process

○ Process is slow by design to ensure that compromises are made

○ Bills can only be introduced by a member of Congress

● Roles/Organization of the Senate vs. House of Representatives

● Types of Committees

○ Allows Congress to perform oversight to review work of the bureaucracy

■ Can also check the executive branch

○ Majority power holds committee chair position

■ Party in power controls the committee

○ Most proposed bills die in committee

○ Committee of the Whole = all representatives of the House of Representatives serve to review details of a proposal

○ House Rules Committee = schedules and manages the flow of legislation for the House of Representatives

■ Dictates how easy/ difficult to pass a bill

2.3 Congressional Behavior

Important Cases

● Baker v. Carr (1961)

○ Established “one-person, one-vote” principle

■ One person’s vote is equal to another’s in the same state

○ Established that the Court has the power to review state redistricting issues

● Shaw v. Reno (1993)

○ Ruled that redistricting on the basis of race violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Main Topics

● Models of Representation

● Divided Government

○ Gridlock = no compromise can be made on an issue

○ Gerrymandering = changing the boundaries of a district to favor a specific party

○ Redistricting = process of adjusting electoral districts

2.4 Roles and Powers of the President

Important Documents

● Article II of the Constitution

○ Established the formal powers

○ Established the executive branch

■ Stated the power of the federal government

Main Topics

● Veto

○ Constitutional power of the President to reject a bill passed by Congress

○ Congress can override a veto w/ a ⅔ vote from both houses

○ Pocket Veto = an indirect veto, where if the president neither signs or vetoes the bill within 10 days it will not be signed into law

● Signing Statement

○ The President can fill out a statement of how they interpret the law after signing the bill

● Treaties v. Executive Agreement

○ Treaties = formal power of the President; required ratification by a ⅔ Senate majority

○ Executive Agreement = informal power of the President, requires no Senate ratification

■ International agreement between the US and another nation

● Executive Order

○ Implied power which allows the President to make an order that carries the weight of the law

○ Does not have to be ratified by Congress, but the Supreme Court can rule an order unconstitutional

● Formal v. Informal Powers of the President (Not All)

2.5 Checks on the Presidency

Main Topics

● Presidential Nomination

○ A President’s formal power to nominate someone to a position

○ Requires Congressional approval

● Cabinet & White House Staff

○ Cabinet = Composed of the heads of the 15 executive departments

■ Requires Congressional approval

○ White House Staff = A group of people that work for the President

■ Does not require Congressional approval

● Senate Confirmation

○ Senate has the power to confirm a President’s nomination

2.6 Expansion of Presidential Powers

Important Documents

● Federalist No. 70

○ Written by Alexander Hamilton (federalist)

○ Argued for a strong, singular executive

■ Able to be more decisive and secretive

■ Less damaging to democracy than a council

■ Easier to find a singular corrupt person

● Twenty-Second Amendment of the Constitution

○ Followed Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms in office

○ Establishes that a President is only able to serve two full terms

Main Topics

● Examples

○ War Powers Act (1973) = Limits the President’s power to to deploy US armed forces

○ Civil War = President Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus

■ Under Habeas Corpus, people have the right for the government to prove their arrest was warranted

2.7 Presidential Communication

Main Topics

● State of the Union Address

○ President’s annual message to Congress required by the Constitution

○ President can set policy agenda and/or recommend legislation

● Bully Pulpit

○ Theodore Roosevelt proposed that the President can promote their agenda directly to the public

● Social Media Influence

○ Social media has allowed for the President to address the people more quickly in regards to political issues and other events

2.8 The Judicial Branch

Important Documents

● Article III of the Constitution

○ Established the judicial branch of the government

○ Established Supreme Court, but give Congress the power to create inferior courts

○ Judges are guaranteed lifetime appointments and Congress cannot lower their salaries

Important Cases

● Marbury v. Madison (1803)

○ Established judicial review by declaring a law passed by Congress as unconstitutional

Main Topics

● Judicial Review

○ Supreme Court has the power to review and declare laws passed by legislative branch, executive branch, or state governments as unconstitutional

● The Judiciary Act of 1789

○ Established three levels of the federal court system

○ District Courts = first level of the court system, each state has at least one

○ Circuit Courts of Appeal = second level of the court system that does not hold trials, but rather reviews laws

○ Supreme Court = highest level of the court system that is protected from Congress, reviews cases from state Supreme Courts and circuit courts

● John Marshall

○ Early Chief Justice that wrote the court decision for Marbury v. Madison and McCulloch v. Maryland

○ Increased the power of the judicial branch and helped established supremacy clause

2.9 Legitimacy of the Judicial Branch

Main Topics

● Judicial Appointment

○ President has the power to nominate judges to the Supreme Court and federal court

○ President’s lasting legacy

● Confirmation Process

○ Senate must approve nominees by a simple majority

● Precedent

○ A legal decision that sets the rule for similar cases in the future

● Stare Decisis

○ “Let the decision stand”

○ Principle of following precedent

○ Note that courts don’t always abide by stare decisis

■ In Plessy v. Ferguson, the concept of “separate but equal” was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education which determined that separate was not equal

2.10 The Court in Action

Main Topics

● Court-Curbing

○ Methods of reducing the power of the Supreme Court and its rulings

■ President can appoint judges that share their ideology

■ Congress can establish or abolish inferior courts

■ Congress can prevent the Supreme Court from hearing appeals for certain cases

● Enforcement of Rulings

○ Supreme Court relies on the President to carry out its rulings, but the President can decide the level of effort it will put into enforcing

● Partisanship

○ Though the Court is independent of parties, they aren’t completely unswayed by conservative, liberal, or other ideologies

2.11 Checks on the Judicial Branch

Main Topics

● Judicial Activism v. Judicial Restraint

● Presidential Checks

○ Presidential nominations

● Legislative Checks

○ Changing court’s jurisdiction

○ Court-Curbing

○ Amending the Constitution in regards to the Court

2.12 The Bureaucracy

Main Topics

● Bureaucracy

○ System of administrations composed of non-elected officials

○ Implement policies from other branches

● Civil Service

○ Government administration based on merit rather than patronage

○ Nonpartisan

● Iron Triangle

○ Relationship between congressional committees, federal bureaucracy, and interest groups

○ Mutually beneficial

■ Maximizes gain over similar issues

● Issue Networks

○ Group of people, interest groups, and public official that rally around a specific issue/subject that they intend to support or defeat

● Types of Bureaucracies

2.13 Discretionary and Rule-Making Authority

Main Topics

● Discretionary Authority

○ Bureaucracy's ability to determine what actions to take when implementing laws

● Rule-Making Authority

○ Bureaucracy’s ability to create regulations regarding how organizations operate

○ Forces states and corporations to follow these rules as if they were law

● Important Agencies to Know

2.14 Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable

Main Topics

● Accountability by Branches

Congressional Oversight

● Establishes agency’s mission

● Controls funding

● Confirms presidential appointments

● Conducts audits/ holds hearings

Executive Direction

● Nominates agency directors

● Issue executive orders

● Office of Management and Budget can control funding

Judicial Ruling

● Support or overturn rules made by the bureaucracy

2.15 Policy and the Branches of Government

Main Topics

● Review of Branches