Unit 4 Vocab Flashcards
About executive branch
Article II
- Orders issued by the President to members/parts of the EXECUTIVE BRANCH that carry the force of law
- Does not pass through Congress
- Not permanent; the next President does not have to follow
Exec. Orders
The ability of the President to draw media attention to any topic he/she chooses.
Bully Pulpit
Passed over Nixon’s Veto in 1973
1.) Requires the POTUS to “consult” with Congress in “every possible instance” before involving US troops in hostiles.
2.) Notify Congress within 48 hours of committing troops to a foreign intervention
3.) If troops are deployed, they may not stay for more than 60 days without Congressional approval.
War Powers Act
Electoral college shall have separate votes for President and Vice President
12th amendment
Inauguration Day: Jan. 20, if President elected dies before taking office, Vice President elect shall become new president
20th amendment
Known as the FDR amendment, no president shall serve more then 2 terms or 10 years in office
22nd amendment
Known as the JFK amendment,
1) when vacancy opens in Vice President office, President may appoint new one w/ consent from both houses,
2) President may temp give up position by written letter to SOTH & Pres. Pro Temp (must write new letter to resume power)
3) Vice President and majority of cabinet can write letter to remove President, or 2/3 of Congress can declare the President unable to rule
25th amendment
Voters are asked which party ballot they want to vote for
Open Primary
Gives power to small states; Check upon illiterate people
Electoral College- Why
- 15 total department of various size, status, visibility, and function
ROLE:
1. PRESIDENTIAL ADVISERS; acts as experts in policy areas
2. carries out broad tasks
3. provides necessary services - Industrial Revolution created economic pressure groups, government responded; demonstrates power of “Clientele Groups”
- Farmers- created Dept of Agriculture in 1889
- Business & Labor- created Commerce and Labor Depts. in 1903
- Each department has smaller, well known units
Cabinet Depts.
Businesses run by government to provide important services or keep them cheap and inexpensive
Govt. Corporations
Direct contributions to candidates; strict limits
Hard money
Contributions to national parties; no limits; for govt; used to indirectly support candidates for issue advocacy
Soft money
The winner of the state popular vote receives ALL ELECTORAL VOTES
Winner Take All
Got rid of spoils system and instituted merit system
Pendleton Act
- Unlimited independent expenditures on electioneering communications
- Cannot directly coordinate with candidates
- Register with FEC
Super PACs
- Written by Hamilton
- The government should be ruled by a single “energetic” executive/president with all the power to ensure an efficient and “good” government
Federalist 70
A system of hiring and promotion based on the merit principle and the desire to create nonpartisan government service
Civil service
- Must be at least 35 years of age
- Must be a natural-born citizen
- Must have lived in the U.S. for 14 years
Requirements
International agreements made by a president that has the force of treaty; does not require Senate approval
Exec. Agreements
If Senate is on break, president can rename someone to a different position (temporary)
Recess Appointment
Statewide vote (44)
- more like a general election
- voters go to polls and cast votes for candidates for party’s presidential nominee
- can be open or closed
- most states use this method
Primary
Statewide meeting (6)
- a closed meeting of local party members in each state
- debate issues, consider candidates, and discuss platform
- delegates select party’s choice for presidential candidate
- used by only 6 states
- delegates are selected at neighborhood precinct level, then sent to county level, then state, then national convention
Caucus
Voters receive the ballot they have registered for. Independents CAN NOT VOTE.
Closed Primary
The winner of the state popular vote receives ALL ELECTORAL VOTES; “WINNER TAKES ALL”; State Electors are to vote for the candidate which wins the state
Electoral College- How it works
Every state is allotted votes based upon # of Representatives and Senators….#Rep + #Sen= E.V. –> 270 electoral votes to win / 538 e.v. total
Electoral College- What
Allows president to veto specific lines of a bill –> president currently doesn’t have this power
Line item veto
- Commander in Chief
- Pardons & Reprieves
- Veto Power
- Treaty Making
- Appointments
- State of the Union
- Calling Sessions of Congress
Powers: formal
Pro: Gives more power to smaller states
Con: Winner of popular vote can lose the electoral vote
Electoral College Pros/Cons
A privilege recognized to protect against the disclosure of Presidential communications made in the exercise of executive power.
Exec. Privilege
Agency employees can’t participate in political activities
Hatch Act
- “money is speech”
- Unconstitutional: ban on independent expenditures of corporations and unions
- Corporations have right to unlimited donations
Citizens United v. FEC
Independent groups that seek to influence political process but are not subject to contribution restricts because they do not directly seek election of particular candidates
527 groups
A decision to move a primary date to the beginning (“front”) of the presidential nomination season
Frontloading
A type of primary election that occurs before the general election to choose candidates to run in the general election
Blanket Primary
Help develop and implement the policy and programs of the President; only people who work with president
Exec. Office of Pres.
Tasked with administering laws and federal regulations that apply to specific areas (narrow focus)
Independent Executive Agency
Banned soft money, increased amount of individual contributions & restricted “independent expenditures” (hard $), and limited issue ads
McCain-Feingold (BCRA of 2002)
About how policy is made- interest groups will try to sway bureaucratic agencies in the executive branch and congressional committees in the legislative branch; interest groups made up of tobacco farmers, cigarette companies, etc.
Interest groups go to congress to plead with them to not ban cigarettes and give info and donate $$ -> same thing for bureaucratic agencies; congress and agencies talk to each other and debate on whether they should ban them or not
Iron Triangle
An elector who doesn’t cast a vote or votes for a candidate other than the one they are pledged to.
Faithless Elector
A system by which appointments and promotions in the civil service are based on competence rather than political favoritism
Merit System
- interest groups <– for issue advocacy
- no public disclosure of donors –> dark money
501c groups
When you are given a job based on your support of the winning candidate (spoils system)
Political patronage
- Limited total candidate spending
- Limited individual contributions ($1000 per election)
- Limited PAC donations - ($5000/election)
- Public disclosure of donations - $200+
- FEC (federal election commission) - regulate federal elections, execute laws 1-4 & regulate agency
FECA (Federal Election Campaign Act)
Q: Is the President’s right to safeguard certain information, using his “executive privilege” confidentiality power, entirely immune from judicial review?
Ruling: Unconstitutional; can’t safeguard information when investigating a crime
U.S. v. Nixon
- 1,2,3 constitutional or unconstitutional?
-Money = free speech (thus 1st Amend protected)
-CONST: #2 & #3 (= playing field)
-UNCONST: #1- Cand. Have right to spend whatever they want; $=speech; can not limit personal $ spent in elections
Buckley v. Valeo
Administration, implementation, and regulation (AIR)
The Bureaucracy Role
Regulate important aspects of our economy and society
Regulatory Agency
