AP Gov unit 4

AP Gov unit 4

ch 13: Congress
1. Congress versus parliament
  1. Parliamentary candidates are selected by party. Members of Parliament select the prime minister and other leaders. Party members vote together on most issues. Re-nomination depends on loyalty to the party. Principal work is debating national issues. Very little power, very little pay
  2. Congressional candidates run in a primary election with little party control. Vote is for the man or woman, not the party. Result is a body of independent representatives. Members do not choose the president. Principal work is representation and action. Great deal of power, high pay; parties cannot discipline members
  3. Congress a decentralized institution Members more concerned with their views and the views of their constituents Members less concerned with organized parties and program proposals of president
2. Evolution of congress
  1. Intent of the Framers- To oppose the concentration of power in a single institution
  2. Traditional Criticism: Congress is too slow
  3. Centralization needed for quick and decisive action. Decentralization needed if congressional constituency interests are to be dominant
3. do members represent their voters?
  1. representational view
    1. Assumes that members vote to please their constituents. Constituents must have a clear opinion of the issue
    2. Weakness of representational explanation: no clear opinion in the constituency
  2. organizational view
    1. Assumes members of Congress vote to please colleagues
    2. Problem is that party and other organizations do not have a clear position on all issues. On minor votes most members influenced by party members on sponsoring committees
  3. attitutional views
    1. Assumes that ideology affects a legislator’s vote. House members tend more than senators to have opinions similar to those of the public
4. polarized congress
  1. congress is more polarized
5. How a bill becomes a law
  1. Introduced by a member of Congress: hopper in House, recognized in Senate Public bill vs. private bill
    1. Bill is referred to a committee for consideration by either Speaker or presiding officer
      1. Committee reports a bill out to the House or Senate If a bill is not reported out, the House can use the discharge petition If a bill is not reported out, the Senate can pass a discharge motion
        House floor debate
        Committee of the Whole -- procedural devise for expediting House consideration of bills but cannot pass bills
        Procedures for voting in the House, Voice vote, Division vote ,Teller vote, Roll call vote
        Senate floor debate
        No rule limiting debate or germaneness Entire committee hearing process can be bypassed by a senator
        Senate voting is the same except no teller vote
        Bill, in final form, goes to the president. President may sign it. If president vetoes it, it return to the house of origin
      2. House Rules Committee sets rules for consideration
Ch 14: the presidency
1. evolution of the presidency
  1. concerns of the founders
    1. Fear of the military power of the president, who could overpower the states
  2. electoral college
    1. Each state to choose own method for selecting electors. Electors to meet in own capital to vote for president and vice president. If no majority, House would decide
  3. powers of president
    1. formal powers
      1. Potential for power found in ambiguous clauses of the Constitution, such as power as commander in chief and duty to "take care that laws be faithfully executed"
      2. Increase in broad statutory authority. Expectation of presidential leadership from the public
  4. office of pres.
    1. Contains the president's closest assistants
    2. Staff typically worked on the campaign: a few are experts
  5. executive office of pres
    1. Composed of agencies that report directly to the president. Appointments must receive Senate confirmation. Office of Management and Budget most important
  6. cabinet
    1. Not directly mentioned in Constitution; president may appoint “advisors” President appoints or controls more members of cabinet than does prime minister
  7. popularity and influence
    1. Presidents try to transform popularity into support in Congress Little effect of presidential coattails
    2. Popularity is unpredictable and influenced by factors beyond the president's control.
  8. impeachment
    1. Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon (pre-empted by resignation), Bill Clinton
Ch 15: the bureaucracy
1. proxy government
  1. Bureaucrats have others do work for them: state and local governments, business firms and nonprofit organizations
  2. Examples: Social Security, Medicare, much environmental protection
2. growth of bureaucracy
  1. Constitution made little provision for administrative system, so provides little guidance
  2. service role
    1. 1861-1901: new agencies primarily performed service roles
    2. Wars led to reduced restrictions on administrators and an enduring increase in executive branch personnel
    3. Interstate commerce commission (ICC)- federal government began regulating economy
3. Federal Bureaucracy today
  1. direct/ indirect growth
    1. Modest increase in number of government employees Significant indirect increase in number of employees through use of private contractors, state and local government employees Most federal executive departments have reduced workforce -- major exception being the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the U.S. Department of Justice
  2. Growth in discretionary authority-the ability to choose courses of action and to make policies not set out in the statutory law
  3. firing a bureaucrat
    1. Most bureaucrats cannot be fired (2) Exception: Senior Executive Service (SES) (3) Senior Executive Service (SES) was established to provide the president and cabinet with more control in personnel decisions (4) But very few SES members have actually been fired or even transferred, and cash bonuses have not been influential
4. congressional oversight
  1. appropriations committee
    1. may be the most powerful of all the congressional committees
    2. set money iside don't get what they want or even mess.
Ch 16: The judiciary
1. development of the federal courts
  1. Activists say that judges make the law Believed to be least dangerous branch Has evolved toward judicial activism
    1. john marshall
2. McCulloch v.maryland
  1. Federal law declared supreme over state law Interstate commerce clause placed under federal law; any conflicting state laws void
3. dred scott v sanford
  1. African Americans could not become free citizens of the U.S. One of the causes of the Civil War

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