Review of Key Concepts and Terms- #2

Question 1

What are some formal powers of the President?

Answer 1

	Power to veto congress
	Commander-in-chief 
 Can commit troops autonomously
	Executive pardons
	Nominates Justices
	State of the Union address

Question 2

How is the President’s power constrained by other institutions/branches?

Answer 2

 Congress can override the veto
 Senate needs to confirm all of the President’s nominations
 Only Congress can declare war
 A president can propose a law, but it is out of his control that it gets passed

Question 3

What are some informal powers of the President? (Hint: think of the two important clauses)

Answer 3

 Commander-in-Chief  This is a constitutional statement, but in the past 80ish years the President seems to be the one to declare war and commit troops. No war has been declared since WW2
 Take-Care clause states that the president needs to “faithfully execute” the will of congress but “taking care” of a law being enforced is open to interpretation

Question 4

What precedents for future presidents did George Washington introduce?

Answer 4

Executive Privilege- President can withhold info if it affects nat’l security
Executive Order
Executive Agreement

Question 5

What precedents did Abraham Lincoln introduce to the presidency?

Answer 5

The precedent that the President needs to step in and take control during times of national crisis.
Lincoln said his actions were to “save the union”

Question 6

Why has presidential power grown? (Think socially)

Answer 6

o Because the public idolizes the presidency. We blame everything on him when things go bad and praise him when things go well. The president’s newfound powers really come from being able to speak to the public so easily. He has the power to influence us.

Question 7

Why would Congress ever delegate power to the Executive?

Answer 7

Controversial issues- Congress doesn’t want to make them, but will often time refer to the bureaucracy for this
Technical Issues- Congress doesn’t always have the expertise to take care of certain issues (like financials and economical issues)

Question 8

What are a few examples of Congress delegating power to the Executive?

Answer 8

 Financial Crisis of 2008- Congress authorized Sec of Treasury to purchase toxic assets to save financial institutions
 Budgeting and Accounting Act-Gave the Executive increased bureaucratic resources by providing the Office of Management and Budgeting

Question 9

What are some contradictions of the president that hold him back from succeeding?

Answer 9

 High expectations from public, but few formal resources
 We want him/her to be ordinary like us, but extraordinary enough that he got to where he is.
 We expect him/her to listen to us, but still needs to lead by his own ideals/morals
 The president will get criticized for whatever he does.
 The president is viewed as the embodiment of their respective party

Question 10

Who is on the National Security Council (NSC)?

Answer 10

Contains VP, Sec of State, Sec of Treasury, Sec of Defense, Chief of State

Question 11

Who makes up the Council of Economic Advisors and what is their function?

Answer 11

3 individuals nominated by the president.

They advise the president on complex economic issues and specifically advise on monetary and fiscal policy

Question 12

Who are the four most important people on the presidents White House Staff?

Answer 12

• Chief of Staff
• Congressional liaisons
• Press Secretary
• National Security Assistant

Question 13

What is the Rally-Around-the-Flag effect?

Answer 13

People will rally around the president short term and support the president in times of international crisis and war

Question 14

What are some examples of the rally around the flag effect?

Answer 14

• 9/11

- WW2

Question 15

What are the four main bureaucratic types?

Answer 15

• Cabinet Departments
• Independent Executive Agencies
• Independent Regulatory Commissions
• Government Corporations

Question 16

What is the purpose of a cabinet dept and what are some examples?

Answer 16

They are meant to be subsidiaries of bigger departments of government and meant to serve a more specific purpose.
Ex. FBI- Subsidiary of Dept. of Justice
National Parks Service- Dept of Interior

Question 17

What is the puropse of an Independent Executive Agency and what are some examples?

Answer 17

They are meant to be a little independent from government and are designed to report directly to the president
Ex. NASA
CIA
EPA

Question 18

What is the purpose of an Independent Regulatory Commission and what are some examples?

Answer 18

Meant to be almost completely independent of government and tasked with complex technical and/or economic issues.
Ex. Federal Elections Commission (FEC)

Question 19

What is the purpose of a Governement Corporation and what are some examples?

Answer 19

Meant to provide a good/service to the public that a private company COULD do, but won’t do because it is not profitable
Ex. USPS
PBS

Question 20

What are the characteristics of an Ideal-Type Bureaucracy?

Answer 20

• Division of labor is even, and no agency will have the same task as another
• Meritocracy- People get jobs based off their qualifications and not their political connections

Question 21

What is the merit system? (meritocracy)

Answer 21

The system where a person gets a job based off their qualifications, not political ties.

Question 22

What is the spoils system?

Answer 22

The system where a person get a job based off their political ties and the people they know

Question 23

What is “marrying the natives”?

Answer 23

When a person will get appointed to the head of a agency by the president so the agency will do his bidding, but the person appointed eventually starts to conform to the agencies beliefs and disregards the presidents beliefs

Question 24

What is adjudication?

Answer 24

When a bureaucratic agency acts like a court and listens to both sides of an issue and resolves it right there

Question 25

What is Agency Capture?

Answer 25

When an agency is tasked with overlooking business of a certain agency, but the businesses influence the agency and makes it ineffective.

Question 26

What is an example of agency capture?

Answer 26

The Food and Drug Administration

Question 27

What is a legislative veto?

Answer 27

a veto issued by the legislative branch against the executive branch

Question 28

How does the president restrict bureaucratic drift?

Answer 28

The president can restrict nomination power

Question 29

How does congress restrict bureaucratic drift?

Answer 29

Congress can always restrict budgets

Question 30

What is the Federal Register?

Answer 30

A publication of the federal government that contains agency rules and public notices

Question 31

What is Fire Alarm Oversight?

Answer 31

The public/interest groups will alert their MC that the bureaucracy isn’t acting in their best interest

Question 32

What is police patrol oversight?

Answer 32

MC’s will keep the bureaucracy in check by restricting budgets if need be.

Question 33

What three people/groups are included into an Iron Triangle?

Answer 33

MC, Bureaucratic agency, interest groups

Question 34

How is the federal court system structured?

Answer 34

District Courts-low tier
Circuit court of appeals-middle tier
Supreme Court- top tier

Question 35

How many district courts are there?

Answer 35

94

Question 36

How many cirucits are in the circuit courts?

Answer 36

13

Question 37

What is the main limitation of the Supreme Court when it comes to exerting power?

Answer 37

The SC doesn’t have any physical means to exert their power of lower courts. They rely on the bureaucracy to enforce their rules. The SC doesn’t have the power of the purse or the sword, essentially

Question 38

What is judicial review?

Answer 38

When the SC reviews a law to ensure it doesn’t contradict the Constitution

Question 39

Under what SC case was judicial review established?

Answer 39

Marbury v. Madison

Question 40

How does the SC determine which cases to hear?

Answer 40

• Defendants write a petition to get their cases heard
• SC either grants certiorari or not
• If certiorari is granted then the SC will hear the case
• 4 justices need to agree to hear the case

Question 41

What is an Amicus Curiae and what does it mean?

Answer 41

• “Friend of the court”
• Provides helpful ad relevant legal information to the court as to hopefully influence the court to make a decision in their favor

Question 42

How does the supreme court make their decisions?

Answer 42

• Certiorari is granted, and SC has all lower courts surrender their legal info
• Justices hear both sides of the argument
• Justices have their private debates and group debates
• Once a general consensus arrives they announce their decision

Question 43

What are the three types of opinions that the SC can arrive on?

Answer 43

• Majority Opinion
• Dissenting opinion
• Concurring opinion

Question 44

What is precedent/stare decisis?

Answer 44

When the SC makes a decision in the past on a similar court case, so they feel that they should make the same decision so they can look consistent and assert their legitimacy.

Question 45

What is the current composition of the SC?

Answer 45

4 liberal
3 conservative
1 swing