Gov Quiz Presidency and Bureaucracy Flashcards
President
Executive elected by Electoral College for 4 years and can re-elect for one term
How many electoral votes to win presidency
270
Qualifications for presidency
35 years old
natural born Us Citizen, in US for at least 14 years
Presidents have expanded powers in
Precedential war power
executive privilege
Unilateral powers including executive powers
Checks and balances on presidential power
Congress: appropriations, lawmaking, oversight and impeachment
Judicial: Judiciary review and authority to declare acts unconstitutional
How to become president
- Intend to run
- Primary and caucus debates
- States and parties hold the primaries and caucuses
- Nominating conventions to choose candidates
- Presidential debates
- Election day
- Electors cast votes and congress counts
- Inauguration day
Pros and Cons to electoral college
Pros:
Protects interests of minorities
Gives more power to states
Two-party system
Cons: Can dissuade people from voting
Favored majority candidates may not win
Swing states and small states have more power
What can president nominate
15 available Cabinet positions. Senate confirms or rejects them. Also subordinate administrators
First hundred days
The honeymoon period to get shit done
The first influential technology for presidential campaigns
Movie newsreels
Roles of first ladies
Private advisors
Elanor Roosevelt
Rosalynn Carter established Office of the First Lady
Hillary Clinton
First lady involvement: She was in charge of health care reform
What can the president do without Congress permission
Fire cabinet officers, high-ranking appointees, and members of presidential staff
Issue recess appointments
Pardon without conditions
Issue executive orders, proclamations, and memoranda
line-item veto and signing statements
Executive orders usually are justified through
National security, war powers, foreign affairs
Federal Bureaucracy
Administrative structure staffed by nonelected workers enables the government to function as needed by citizens
Charged with carrying out functions connected to a series of policies and programs
Three historical moments that led to bureaucracy
- Rise of centralized party politics in the 1820s. Party loyalty gets privilege
- Industrialization = more people and economic size = demand
- Civil Service Reform Acts of 1883: hires civil servants through a merit system
Three more historical moments that led to bureaucracy
- Interstate Commerce Commission, federal trade etc.
- During great depression, civil jobs were boosted to help the economy
- More state and federal programs
How are civil servants paid
U.S. federal General Schedule. Grades are given to people based on experience. Higher the grade, more money
The Weberian model
A classic model; agencies are apolitical, hierarchally organized, and governed by formal procedures
Monopolistic Model
The absence of competition provides the greatest insight into how a bureaucracy works.Without money they don’t have motivation
Acquisitive model
Naturally competitive and power hungry. Work to enhance their own status to the detriment of others
Three types of federal bereaucracies
Cabinet departments, independent executive agencies and regulatory agencies, government cooperations
Cabinet departments
Major executive offices that are directly accountable to the president
independent executive agencies and regulatory agencies
Report directly to the president but are assigned more focused tasks. Independent of the regulatory authority of any specific department
