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Question 1

What is executive primacy?

Answer 1

At times it is important for the president to get information and to be able to act on it quickly and in secret regarding foreign affairs. In these circumstances the president can act without congress’ authorization. This is an expansion of presidential powers away from Congress

Question 2

The president cannot exercise any power that cannot be fairly or reasonably traced to what?

Answer 2

A specific grant of power or justly implied from an express grant as proper or necessary, coming from either the constitution or an act of Congress

Question 3

Can the president constitutionally act to repel invasions and attacks against the US without waiting for an action by Congress?

Answer 3

Yes, and he can take emergency action to protect the lives and property of the United States and its citizens. This is still true if the place or the citizens are overseas. The president should eventually get authorization from Congress though

Question 4

What is the war Powers act?

Answer 4

The president must notify Congress if he is committing military forces and engaging in actual military operations against a hostile force. Congress must approve of use of the troops within a certain time, and if they do not, the president must withdraw

Question 5

What is the rationale behind the war Powers act?

Answer 5

The president needs broadly construed powers to respond to threats to act in emergencies and to use military when necessary, but it’s possible for these to be abused

Question 6

The executive is the predominant power in what sphere?

Answer 6

Foreign affairs

Question 7

Is it possible for the president to usurp lawmaking powers of Congress by asserting an unspecified aggregation of his powers?

Answer 7

No, so for example he cannot take private property to prevent a strike. The president’s powers are limited to proposing new laws to Congress or vetoing laws he thinks are inadvisable

Question 8

What are things that count as Congressional powers?

Answer 8

Providing for common defense, regulating foreign commerce, raising/maintaining/regulating armies or navy, declaring war, making rules of war, making laws, taxing and spending, defining and punishing piracy committed on the high seas, governing the territories, etc.

Question 9

Congress is in charge of budgeting and appropriating money to do what?

Answer 9

Carry out all wars

Question 10

What are some of Congress’ implied powers?

Answer 10

To make all laws that are necessary and proper to carry into execution the powers vested by the constitution in the government of the United States. Congress can stymie executive international policy by refusing to give the needed funds

Question 11

What are shared powers between the branches of government?

Answer 11

• Foreign relations power is given to both.
• Presidential initiatives usually get congressional acquiescence and courts often avoid judicial review of executive actions
• The executive usually prevails when there is a conflict, but the supreme court makes these decisions

Question 12

How do you elect the president?

Answer 12

The president is the person that gets the most electoral votes and the VP gets the next largest number. Electors meet in their states and they cast ballots for one of two people. Ballots are sent to the president of the Senate to open each state certificate in front of the Senate in counts the votes.

Question 13

If there is no majority once the president of the Senate is counting each state’s certificate of votes in front of the Senate for the election of the president, what happens?

Answer 13

The house of representatives chooses someone by ballot. Each state gets one vote. If they still cannot agree, the house names someone to act as the president

Question 14

What is a treaty?

Answer 14

The president makes treaties with the advice and consent of 2/3 of the senators present, but he alone negotiates them and the Senate ratifies them. Treaties prevail over state law and state constitutions, but they are subject to constitutional limits. The treaty does not become binding domestic law unless Congress enacts implementing legislation or the treaty is self-executing.

Question 15

What is the Vienna convention?

Answer 15

The US signed this, saying anyone that is arrested in a foreign country can request assistance from that country’s consulate. The ICJ said that nationals that are not informed of this can have their state convictions reviewed, even if they didn’t raise the issue in conformance with state law.

George Bush issued a memo saying the US would discharge its international obligations by requiring state courts to give effect to Avena. The Supreme Court said contrary to Avena, Vienna doesn’t preclude application of state default rules, because neither ICJ Avena decision nor presidential memo are directly enforceable law that preempt state law restrictions. Not a self executing treaty so power to turn it into domestic law lies with Congress

Question 16

All international agreements are subject to what?

Answer 16

Constitutional limitations

Question 17

What kind of things can a treaty not do alone?

Answer 17

Appropriate money, impose new taxes or tariffs, declare war. There needs to be congressional help to do these things

Question 18

If there is a conflict between treaties and congressional acts, what happens?

Answer 18

Treaties and legislative acts are equal because both are supreme laws of the land.
- If a treaty and a statute relate to the same subject: courts try to give affect to both
– if they are inconsistent: the one that happened last controls the other

Question 19

Can treaties be repealed or amended?

Answer 19

Yes

Question 20

What are the two different types of treaties?

Answer 20

Executory and self executing

Question 21

What is an executory treaty?

Answer 21

These treaties have no effect until the necessary legislation is enacted. Congressional legislation is needed to make them effective domestically.

Ie: if the US is a signatory to a treaty that makes an international commitment, it doesn’t become domestic law unless Congress enacts statutes to implement it or conveys an intention that it is self executing and ratifies it on that basis

Question 22

What is a self executing treaty?

Answer 22

This is a ratified treaty that takes effect as domestic law immediately upon ratification.

Question 23

How do you know if a treaty is not self-executing?

Answer 23

• The agreement says it won’t be domestic law without implementing legislation
• the Senate when ratifying the treaty requires implementing legislation
• the Constitution requires implementing legislation

Question 24

What is an executive agreement?

Answer 24

An agreement with a foreign nation that is binding on the US and entered into by the president without Senate approval. These are usually upheld as necessary incidents to resolve major foreign-policy disputes.

Ie: Reagan made an agreement with Iran for the release of embassy members that were being held hostage, and he ordered transfer to Iran of all the frozen assets in the US. The court found specific congressional authorization for this action