examen 2 Flashcards
U.S. President
- the expectation is higher than the resources and powers they have
-campaign promises
-public assumptions and expectations
-expectation steadily grown over U.S. political history and can vary according to political capitol
political capital
1- election mandate
2- approval rating
-power to set agendas and persuade others within and outside the government
president political capital
1- honeymoon period (short lived) -public + media + congressional benefit of doubt
2- national security- crisis events- rally around the flag effect
(“two presidencies”- domestic vs foreign policy)
3- scandal
4- state of the economy
5- presidential crisis
presidential power
historical- limited resources- cabinet, more advisors than administrators- execute the law
vs
modern presidency- larger bureaucracy and more policies to execute
presidential role 1
head of state
- national figure head, diplomatic (includes foreign policy advisor), ceremonial
presidential role 2
chief executive
- president is atop of the bureaucracy to execute the law, managerial, politicized implementation of the law (includes presidential memorandum and execution orders)
-vesting clause and take care clause
-EOS are not necessarily permanent
-can be overturned by courts
Dream Act
-failed bill in congress
-intended to build upon 1996 immigration act
-can be overturned by subservient EOS
presidential role 3
commanding chief
-C-in- C clause (C-in-C role over the military “when called into the actual service of the U.S.)
-congressional delegation of national security authority to the president since WWII
-ex. War Powers Act of 1973 (enabled congressional authorizations of the use of force (AUF)
presidential role 4
Legislator- in- chief
-President has no vote in congress, except to sign or veto bills
-veto threats and campaign promises and presidential communication give president a first-move advantage (SOTO)
presidential role 5
head of party
-president as focal point of power in U.S. gov
-political responsibilities, which affect other politicians in their party
-double-edge sword (president’s party’s fortunes depend on presidential political capital)
U.S. elections
- presidential years
-coattails (surge and decline)
-presidential and congressional elections - midterm years
-congressional but not presidential election
-were likely in the house - odd-numbered-years
some states and local elections but no congressional or presidential elections
presidential leadership strategies 1
bargaining
-“presidential power is the power to persuade”
-without others in government, often behind closed doors
presidential leadership strategies 2
going public
-using modern mass communications (radio) to engage with the public and media and try to assert power over the others in government
-double-edge-sword
-FDR (radio, fireside act)
-JFK (TV)
presidential leadership strategies 3
unilateralism
-power with persuasion
-heavily reliance on EOS to accomplish goals
-“presidential action”
partisan context of presidential leadership and power
- unified government: partisan trifecta
- divided government: the president’s party doesn’t have majority in either or both the house (majority rule) and senate
bureaucracy
-federal departments, agencies, and commissions
-appointees and unpointed civil servants in the executive branch (civilian and military bureaucracy)
bureaucratic hierarchy
- president
- appointees (temporary appointment at the pleasure of the president- presidential/nomination and senate confirmation)
- career civil servants (unpointed through merit-based civil service)
career civil service
-merit based hiring
-tenure protections
-grade/rank
civil service reform
-Pendleton act of 1883
-reformed the spoils system (political loyalty)
spoils system
-civil service reform
-Pendleton Act of 1883
-merit-based bureaucracy
-range jobs
politics-administration dichotomy ideal
execution, implementation and enforcement of laws
government shutdown
-failure to renew federal appropiations
-“deep state conspiracy”
president appointment criteria
-senate confirmability
-experience (expertise in policy jurisdiction, managerial competence)
-loyalty (personal, partisan vs “team of rivals ideal)
who controls de bureaucracy 1
president
-appointment powers
-budgetary powers (appropriations flexibility) {budget act of 1921: OMB, central clearance, annual budget plan (first mover advantage), executive orders, veto powers}
who controls de bureaucracy 2
congress
-senate confirmation of appointments
-budgetary resolutions/powers {congressional budget and impoundment act of 1974 (nixon watergate scandal): CBO, budget resolutions reconciliations, house senate budget committees, president can’t impound appropriated money}
-congressional oversight of the executive branch (includes oversight hearings and red tape)
Types of bureaus 1
executive departments and agency
-cabinet-level with one head who serves in the discretion of the president
types of bureaus 2
independent executive agencies
-not part of the cabinet
-one head who serves at the discretion of the president
types of bureaus 3
independent regulatory commissions and board
-intended to be independent of political pressure
-more than one head who serve long staggered terms
public opinion
-those opinions held by private persons which the government finds prudent to heed
-the public vs publics
-ex: issue publics partisan publics (desegregate: separate into smaller groups)
representation
2 ideals: delegate vs trustee ideal
town hall meeting
-opened meeting to the public
-public meeting of a community
-anyone can attend
-protesters
-NIMBY (opponents policy change)
-politically knowledgable activists
-interest at state
-political awareness and knowledge
survey research
-scientific tools to measure public opinion
-random sampling to avoid selection
-polling
-aims for objectivity
polling
attitudes/mental
-vs non-attitudes
-preference with or without intensity/strength of preference
vs
opinions/expressed
-thoughts (cognition), feelings (affect), values, beliefs, ideologies: organized belief system
party identification
-information filter
-cognitive shorten
-party preference or lack there of
-strength of preference
opinion leadership
-trusted and knowledgeable
-deference to an opinion, leaders opinions to overcome rational ignorance
rational ignorance
-cost>benefits of information
issue salience
-publics priorities
-political groups, specially partisan
-agenda setting (government official’s priorities)
close ended vs open ended
-limited response options
-responses categorized afterwards
framing vs priming
framing of a question or message that elicits an evaluation of political figures or groups
candidate centered voting
ballots with office, candidate name, and party label
types of voting behavior
-party voting
-performance voting
-issue voting
-ideological voting
-valence voting
party voting
partisan votes vs partisan detectors
performance voting
-retrospective voting
-evaluations of the party in power (presidential approval rating, state of the national economy)
issue voting
-prospective voting
-based on campaigning promises
-single issue vs multi issue voters
-issue ownership/advantage
-campaign message emphasis
ideological voting
organized political belief system with issue constants
valence voting
-voting by personal characteristics of candidate
-candidate personal qualities
beliefs about the role of the government
laissez fair
vs
regulatory state
vs
social welfare state
exit polls
fielded at election locations after the respondent vites
voter turnout
-individual decision to vote or not
-collective participation of an electorate
-free rider problem with voting in representative government
-presidential vs midterm election years
P x B - C + D > O
P
probability that one’s vote will make a difference in who wins
B
candidate or party differential in benefits to the voter
C
costs to voting
-registration regulations
-voting regulations
D
sense of civic duty or personal satisfaction from voting regardless of who’s running or likely to win
-age education level
-developed through political solicitation (childhood vs adult)
presidential electoral college
-electors cast votes
-states and DC pass laws to chose the method of electing electors
-winner take all popular plurality vote in 48 states and DC, Maine and Nebraska split electors by congressional district
-majority rule vote of electors to win >270
-if no candidate receives a majority of elector’s votes then a contingent election is held in the US House, where each state delegation gets 1 vote. las occurred in 1824-1825 “Era of good feelings”
electors 535
each state has a number of electors equivalent to the # of reps and senators (DC has 3)
political parties
-a group that seeks to control the government
-often through participation in elections (candidate recruitment, candidate nomination)
-power goals> policy goals
types of party nomination of candidate 1
caucus
-small gathering of party leaders and/or activities
-“king caucus”: presidential nomination, members of congress of a party in a “smoke-filled room (secret)”
-1790s-1820s
types of party nomination of candidate 2
convention
-large gathering of party leaders and/or activists
-small smoke filled room from 1850s-1960s vs national political party rally
types of party nomination of candidate 3
primary election
-direct primary reform of the Progressive Era 1880s-1920s
-closed, open, jungle
party machine
-relied on the spoils system
-hierarchical power led by party basses that was locally extracted
party systems
varied by the content of issue conflict, relative predominance of one major party over the other and by relatives importance of any component of the structure of the parties
party system 1
federalists vs democratic republicans 1790s - 1820s
-slavery minimized as a source issue conflict
party system 2
democrats vs national republicans/whigs 1830s-1850s
-universal free male suffrage (poor white male voters)
-challenged antislavery 1840 + 50 (liberty and free soil party)
-national party convention
-slavery minimized as a source issue conflict
party system 3
democrats vs republicans 1850s-1890s
-conflict over slavery (civil war)
party system 4
democratic vs republican 1890s-1930s
-panic of 1893
-progressive era
party system 5
democratic vs republican 1932-1968
-great depression
-economic issue conflict
party system 6
democrat vs republican 1970s-present
-economic and social issue conflicts
structure of political parties
- party-in-gov: nomination and election
- party-as-organization
- party in the electorate
progressive era reforms
-civil service reform
-direct primary
-australian ballot
-direct election of senators by registered voters
-woman’s suffrage
australian ballot
secret ballot administered by loval government that enables split ticket voting
presidential primaries
from beauty pageants to means of selecting national party convections
why does the US have a 2-party-system?
- institutional factors (elections institutions, duverger’s law)
- issue conflict
duverger’s law
-single membered districts with plurality rule voting tends towards 2 party system
-alternative system with majority rule runoff elections or party list proportional representation result in > 2 parties
