What dilemmas did the framers confront and what intentions did they have when creating our

institutions of government?

Concerns of framers were having a democratic government yet insulated from public passions or

a strong but limited government (national) … constrained in violating liberty

They're intentions were to prevent tyranny by seperation of powers

a.       Pre-eminent branch

b.      Most democratic

1. Bicameral

2. Cup and saucer analogy

 i.      Senate = saucer

ii.      House =cup

Does evidence suggest Congress is democratic?

What are the three criteria applied to evaluate Congress?

How are they related to government of, by,

and for the people?

1. Criteria to judge whether congress is democratic
   1. Representattice equl voice for Americans in govt.
   2. Constitutional requirements

                                                              i.      Equal voce for each state in the senate

                                                            ii.      Equal voice for the house>population

1.      Apportionment: allocating seats to the states based on states

2.      Reapportionment since 1929

3.      Restricting

What are the most important factors influencing legislators’ votes on bills?

What are the categories of sources of presidential policy influence? Within each category, what are the specific sources?

1. Constitutional focus

     -convene congress

     -veto: 2/3 vote override pres.

     -appointment: all cabinet level officials and key agencies

     -grand pardons: federal govs prosecution end if pres signs a pardon

     -negotiate treaties

     -executive agreement: don’t need to be ratified by the senate

     - Commander in chief

2. Popular /electoral leverage

     -national constituency

à mandate

     -political socialization

     -public opinion polls

     -“going public” pres makes a direct appeal usually broadcast on TV.

3. Personal Qualities

     -role

          -constructionist view

          - Stewardship view= pres had important care take role

     -persuasive

          -LBJ: Johnson was a bully

         -Reagan: inspiration to people and congress

     -personality

          -effort and enjoyment= MOST successful president

          -active and negative personality= NOT successful prez.

     - Self-distruct through abuse of power

4. Situational factors (pres doesn’t have all power, shared with branches)

     -crisis (9/11)

     -election cycle

     -institutional allies or adversaries

               -congress: unified or divided gov?

               -courts

à expanded source of influence over policy agenda: list of issue (congress respond to pres agenda)

B. GROWTH in the INSTITUTION of the executive branch.

 1. white house staff-increasing sixe and policy orientation

 2. the cabinet-increasing sixe and range policy

 3. executive office of the pres- pres picks people loyal to his agenda

à within his own branch the pres has policy experts to help in policy formation and implementation.

5. there have been serious abuse of power within executive branch ex: Watergate/ Iran contra

C. Presidential reasons for unkept promises:

-longer campaign have led to unkept promises

-the end of the honeymoon period (about 100 days)

-loss of cottail effects in pres election

-negative cottail in midterm election

Why do some believe the president is too powerful? Why do some believe the president is not powerful enough?

there have been serious abuses of power within the executive branch (e.g. watergate and trancontra scandals) increasing personal and institutional power

Historically, what have been the controversies concerning the Supreme Court?

Judicual review

a.       Declared by S.C.

b.      Not enumerated

c.       American peculairity

S.C. chooses its own cases (1925)

a.       Rule of four

b.      “special and important reasons”

c.       Writ (document) of certiorari

According to the perspectives on the Court, what arguments/evidence suggest the Court is undemocratic? democratic?

o   The court is unchecked and undemocratic

§  No term limits

·         Unaccountable

§  Insulated from the people

·         Unresponsive

§  Judicial activism

o   Seeks to shape society

What factors explain the growth of the federal bureaucracy?

A bureaucracy is a large complex organization, where task and roles are structured to achieve a goal.

     -specialization, hierarchy and formal rules all have potential to improve the performance of a bureaucracy. ß but can cause problems.

-spoils system

The bureaucracy does implementation: act of providing org and expertise to put into action any pilcy that becomes a law and Administrative discretion: an agency or even a single bureaucrat has in interpreting and applying laws.

What was the “spoils system” and why and how was it dismantled?

is an informal practice where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party—as opposed to a system of awarding offices on the basis of some measure of merit independent of political activity.

ended 1972 and 1983?

How did Congress attempt to create greater political neutrality within the bureaucracy during elections?

The bureaucracy does implementation: act of providing org and expertise to put into action any pilcy that becomes a law and Administrative discretion: an agency or even a single bureaucrat has in interpreting and applying laws.

????

What are the public’s chief criticisms of the bureaucracy and are they justified?

"going public"

accountability

Civil Service Commission

a legislative sub-organization in Congress that handles a specific duty. Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction.

amicus curiae brief

appellate jurisdiction

the authority of a court to hear a case on the appeal after it has been argued in and decided by a lower federal or state court.

casework

caucus

meeting of party adherents who gather to discuss, deliberate and give their support to a candidate for president. Then they select delegates who will represent their choices. Their votes are reflected at the national convention itself.

cloture

concurring opinion

constructionist view

a view of presidential power exposed by Taft, who believe president could exercise no power unless he could trace of implied from an express grant in either the constitution or act of congress.

delegate

dissenting opinion

Executive Office of the President

executive privilege

is the power claimed by the Pres and other members of executive branch to resist certain subpoenas and other interventions by the legislative and judicial branches of government. The Supreme Court ruled it to be an element of the separation of powers doctrine, and/or derived from the supremacy of executive branch in its own area of Constitutional activity.

federal bureaucracy

large complex organization, want to achieve a goal.

filibuster

franking

gerrymandering

any attempt during state redistricting of congressional voting boundaries to create a safe seat for one party.

* attempts to create a electoral advantage

o   To protect incumbents

o   Based on partisanship

o   Based on race

iron triangle

informal 3 way relationship that develops among key legislative committees, the bureaucracy and interest groups with a vested interest in the polices created by those committees and agencies.

issue networks

judicial activism

is a philosophy advocating that judges should interpret the Constitution to reflect contemporary conditions and values. Most often, it is associated with (modern) liberalism that believes in broad interpretation of the Constitution which can then be applied to specific issues.

judicial restraint

judicial review

logrolling

is a landmark case in United States law. It formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution. is a landmark case in United States law. It formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution.

Miller v. Johnson

1995 Suprene court struck down districting based predominately on races

was a United States Supreme Court case concerning "affirmative gerrymandering/racial gerrymandering", where racial minority majority electoral districts are created during redistricting to increase minority Congressional representation.

Office of Management and Budget

ombudsman

a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some external constituency while representing the broad scope of constituent interests

omnibus bill

original jurisdiction

oversight

congressional function that involves monitoring the effectiveness of laws by examining the workings of the executive branch.

Pendleton Act

1883 US federal law established the US Civil Service Commission, which placed most federal government employees on the merit system and marked the end of the so-called spoils system.

pocket veto

precedent

a legal case establishing a principle or rule that a court or other judicial body adopts when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.

a process of redrawing voting district lines from time to time and adjusting the number of representatives allotted each state.

Representativeness:

is a heuristic wherein people assume commonality between objects of similar appearance, or between an object and a group it appears to fit into. While often very useful in everyday life, it can also result in neglect of relevant base rates and other errors.

rule of four:

a means determining which cases the supreme court will hear, at least 4 justices must vote to hear a case and grant the petition for a writ of certiorari the for the case to be put on the court’s docket.

salience:

public opinion, the extent to which people see an issue as having a clear impact on their own lives.

senatorial courtesy:

a procedure in which a pres submits the name of judicial nominees to senators from the same political party who are also form the nominees home state from their approval prior to formal nomination.

seniority:

seniority:  unwritten/informal rule of congress that more senior members (those who have served longer) are appointed to committees and as chairperson of committees.

spoils system:

a system in which government jobs and contracts are awarded on the basis of party loyalty rather than social or economic status or relevant experience.

stewardship view:

an approach to the presidential power articulated by Theodore Roosevelt and based on the presidencies of Lincoln and Jackson, who believed that the president had a moral duty to serve popular interest and did not need specific constitutional or legal authorization to take action.

unitary executive:

Pres controls the entire executive branch. The doctrine is based upon Article Two of the Constitution, which vests "the executive power" of the in the Pres

whip:

congress members charged with counting prospective votes on various issues and making certain members have the information they need for floor action.

writ of certiorari: 

Latin term meaning “to be made more certain” this write enables the court to accept cases for review only if there are special and impo7rtant reason therefore.