Unit 2 content check review

clause of the Constitution could the Supreme Court have used when deciding the case Marbury v. Madison (1803) ?

"The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made."

Explain how the exercise of judicial review in conjunction with life tenure can lead to debate about the legitimacy of the Supreme Court's power.

*Precedents and STARE DECISIS play an important role in judicial decision making. *Ideological changes in the composition of the Supreme Court due to presidential appointments have led to the Court's establishing new or rejecting existing precedents. *Controversial or unpopular Supreme Court decisions can lead to challenges of the Court's legitimacy and power which Congress and the president can address only through future appointments, legislation changing the Court's jurisdiction, or refusing to implement decisions. Political discussion about the Supreme Court's power is illustrated by the ongoing debate over judicial activism versus judicial restraint. baker vs carr case

Description of House of Representatives

- The Speaker of the House leads the House of Representatives. - initiates all revenue bills introduced into congress -can pass articles of impeachment (or charges) against a president or a federal judge -has a rules committee that decides how long debate will be on most bills

description of the senate

-smaller -longer electoral cycle (6 year term) The majority leader is the leader of the Senate. -ratifies treaties; confirms presidential nominees - passes resolutions to ratify treaties -confirm Cabinet appointments -the vice president breaks tie votes in the Senate -has use of the filibuster and cloture, helps minority defeat bill

Explain how presidents have interpreted and justified their use of formal and informal powers.

1. Chief Executive - the President oversees the vast powers of the United States government. Ultimately the President takes responsibility for governing. When times are good the President receives praise but when they are bad he is left with the blame. The President's closest political and policy advisors are to be found in the White House Office, sometimes called the Executive Office. Members of the White House Office are generally drawn from the President's campaign. As chief executive the President is called upon to make the final decisions in all public policy matters facing the nation. 2. Commander-in-Chief - The constitution created a military that would be lead by a civilian. The Framers hoped that such a set up might make war less common. The President of the United States, a civilian, is in charge of our entire military. Congress declares war but the President mobilizes troops at his command. First strike capabilities are not checked or balanced by any other branch of government. The President of the United States can launch a nuclear strike at any time, for any reason. He is the commander-in-chief. 3. Chief of Party - Chief of Party is an informal power. There is no mention of this role in the United States Constitution. Though political parties are not mentioned in the Constitution, they undeniably play an important role in our government. As Chief of Party the President oversees electoral strategies, issues, agendas and public policy priorities. The President also plays a major role in raising campaign money for candidates from his party. When the majority of Congress shares the same party as the President it is called a unified government. When the two are different it is called a divided government. 4. Chief of State - This may be the President's most esoteric role. Yet some would call it the most important. This role is primarily ceremonial. As Chief of State the President serves as the embodiment of America. When there are important occasions around the world to attend our President goes. When important visitors come to America our President serves as host. When we honor our heroes, the President awards them. If there is a solemn event our President speaks to the nation to console us. Throughout history the King played this role. We have no king. The stand in for Chief of State is our President. Our president is "first citizen." 5. Chief Legislator - Though the Congress is given primary responsibility for writing laws our president serves as Chief Legislator. The power of veto, the power to reject laws, is given solely to the president. Fewer than 4% of presidential vetoes are overridden. In addition, the constitution requires the president to give annually a State of the Union address. Often this is a legislative agenda for the year. Through his bully pulpit no single person in our government is situated better to influence the legislative process then the president of the United States. 6. Chief Diplomat - One of the clearest powers granted to the president is his authority in foreign policy. Appointing ambassadors, receiving foreign guests and designing treaties with other nations is a fundamental part of a president's term. The State Department along with the Secretary of State completes much of this work. However, the president conducts the highest levels of negotiations. The president makes agreements with foreign powers. Formal treaties require Senate approval but executive 3 agreements do not. As globalization spreads more and more around the world the role of Chief Diplomat takes on greater and greater importance.

When deciding Marbury v. Madison (1803), which of the following excerpts from The Federalist No. 51 could best be used to help Chief Justice John Marshall write the argument in favor of judicial review?

Chief Justice John Marshall could use this excerpt from The Federalist No. 51 to argue that the proper role for the federal courts is to review the constitutionality of the laws that are brought before the courts, as a check on the other branches.

Explain the extent to which governmental branches can hold the bureaucracy accountable given the competing interests of Congress, the president, and the federal courts.

First and foremost, the executive branch tries to control itself. The President of the United States is the manager-in-chief. The Oath of Office assigns the President to "faithfully execute" the laws. This has meant that every presidency concerns itself with reinventing how the federal bureaucracy works. President Bill Clinton initiated a National Performance Review. This program required each federal agency to carefully reevaluate its mission statements and objectives. President George W. Bush went even further and tried to inject more of a business model to government services. He went so far as to introduce more and more privatization into the Federal Bureaucracy. This is one reason why the numbers of people directly working for the federal bureaucracy appears to be flat. Our government has increasingly out sourced its responsibilities. President Barack Obama, through Executive Orders, encouraged federal agencies to use "behavioral science" methodology in attempts to become more efficient. Reinventing government has always been well intentioned but realizing intended results are much more difficult to come by. The legislative branch also plays an important role in controlling the federal bureaucracy. The U.S. Congress is given oversight authority of the federal bureaucracy. This involves holding public hearings in which various levels of the bureaucracy are asked to account for themselves. In addition to writing the legislation that creates federal agencies in the first place the Congress also controls the bureaucracy through its budget. The power of the purse is an important tool when disciplining the federal bureaucracy. Invariably, however, iron triangles are formed which reduce the impact of congressional oversight. Iron triangles are particular issue networks made up of congressional committees, federal agencies and special interest groups. Since they all share the same goals these respective iron triangles are protected from any serious reform. 2 The Supreme Court is our final arbitrator when exercising control over the federal Bureaucracy. Court cases arise that help to define the Federal bureaucracies' rights and responsibilities. For instance, in the Supreme Court case of Wilder v. Virginia Hospital Association (1990) the justices ruled that those eligible for federally assisted health care must have "reasonable access" to facilities of "adequate quality." Rules such as these help the Federal Bureaucracy shape policy in accordance to the law. Holding the federal bureaucracy accountable in the twenty-first century is confounded by a number of challenges including the rule of law, political conflicts and improbable crises. When combined with unrealistic expectations one can clearly see that the federal bureaucracy can hardly win. New challenges demand new solutions. Political science suggests, The best candidate for creating this new accountability layer is information. Government will need to learn and operate more like the Internet. Problems can appear on any node, and solutions need to be wired across multiple agencies. Answers need to appear as quickly as questions, and the questions and answers rarely repeat themselves. Not only does the existing rule of law fail to fit emerging policy problems. Government's emerging and inescapable problems require collaborative solutions that cut across organizational, sectoral and international boundaries. Government will need to connect with and solve these problems with boundary crossing strategies. Just as the Internet allows individuals with shared interests to connect, a problem driven/information based strategy can help government. It can help identify the resources that government needs to solve problems and plug the gaps in the government's regular organizational structure and its standard operating procedures - and in the existing rule of law.

Which of the following best describes the holding in Baker v. Carr (1962) ?

In Baker v. Carr, the Supreme Court established the right of federal courts to review redistricting, rejecting the argument that redistricting was a political question and outside the courts' jurisdiction.

Which of the following was the ruling in Shaw v. Reno (1993) ?

In Shaw v. Reno, the Supreme Court ruled that racial gerrymandering may violate the concept of equal protection under the law in the Fourteenth Amendment if it does not meet the standard of strict scrutiny to achieve a compelling state interest. While states may consider race when re-drawing Congressional districts, race cannot be the predominant factor in creating those districts.

Explain how other branches in the government can limit the Supreme Court's power

Is the weakest and can be checked by... Congress can pass legislation to attempt to limit the Court's power: by changing the Court's jurisdiction; by modifying the impact of a Court decision after it has been made; or by amending the Constitution in relation to the Court.

Explain how the federal bureaucracy uses delegated discretionary authority for rule making and implementation.

Laws may lack clear, concrete details on how they should be enacted, so the federal bureaucracy has discretionary authority to make decisions on what actions to take—or not take—when implementing laws, as well as rulemaking authority to create regulations about how government programs should operate.

The role of interest groups in the iron triangle ?

One role for interest groups in the iron triangle diagram can be to work with members of Congress and the bureaucracy to create regulatory policies.

Explain the principle of judicial review and how it checks the power of other institutions and state governments.

The Supreme Court's power to review whether acts of the legislative branch, the executive branch, and state governments are consistent with the Constitution, and to strike down acts it finds unconstitutional

appellate jurisdiction

The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts

Explain how the bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of the federal government.

The federal bureaucracy performs three primary tasks in government: implementation, administration, and regulation. The federal bureaucracy makes regulations (the rules by which federal and state programs operate) through an administrative process known as rule making.

Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda.

The president can influence congress to implement a policy agenda. He does this through a "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" method. The formal powers are veto, signing laws into act, commander in chief. Informal powers are executive agreements, and signing statements.

Which of the following correctly describes the facts in Shaw v. Reno (1993) ?

Which of the following correctly describes the facts in Shaw v. Reno (1993) ?

Explain how the exercise of judicial review in coexistence with life tenure can lead to debate about the legitimacy of the Supreme Court's power

Working for life could mean they favor older views then with the modern population

Describe the different structures, powers, and functions of each house of Congress(house)

house of reps- people house, rep based on population, each member represents a distrcit within a state, reelection every 2 years, As per the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives makes and passes federal laws. The House is one of Congress's two chambers (the other is the U.S. Senate), and part of the federal government's legislative branch. senate- decisions based on experience, staggered elections, rep is equal, each state has two senators, elected directly The Senate takes action on bills, resolutions, amendments, motions, nominations, and treaties by voting. Senators vote in a variety of ways, including roll call votes, voice votes, and unanimous consent.

Prior to his confirmation, Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions questioned a Republican president's Secretary of Health and Human Services about the ethics of some of their investments. The nominee was eventually confirmed with support of Republicans in the Senate. This check on presidential power illustrates that A the process of selecting Cabinet members is usually negotiated by making concessions to the minority party in the Senate B the process of confirming members of the president's Cabinet can lead to conflict with members of the Senate C presidents rely on the bully pulpit to get members of Congress to act on confirmations D even when an executive order is issued, members of the opposing party in the Senate can work to block

the process of confirming members of the president's Cabinet can lead to conflict with members of the Senate

Explain how the structure, powers, and functions of both houses of Congress affect the policy-making process.

:The enumerated and implied powers in the Constitution allow the creation of public policy by Congress, which includes: Passing a federal budget, raising revenue, and coining money Declaring war and maintaining the armed forces Enacting legislation that addresses a wide range of economic, environmental, and social issues based on the Necessary and Proper Clause

Explain how Congress uses its oversight power in its relationship with the executive branch. Explain how the president ensures that executive branch agencies and departments carry out their responsibilities in concert with the goals of the administration.

Congressional oversight refers to the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs and policy implementation, and it provides the legislative branch with an opportunity to inspect, examine, review and check the executive branch and its agencies. Oversight and methods used by Congress to ensure that legislation is implemented as intended are represented by: ▶ Committee hearings ▶ Power of the purse b: As a means to curtail the use of presidential power, "congressional oversight" serves as a check of executive authorization and appropriation. The communication impact of the presidency can be demonstrated through such factors as: ▶ Modern technology, social media, and rapid response to political issues ▶ Nationally broadcast State of the Union messages and the president's bully pulpit used as tools for agenda setting

Explain how congressional behavior is influenced by election processes, partisanship, and divided government.

Ideological divisions within Congress that can lead to gridlock or create the need for negotiation and compromise Gerrymandering, redistricting, and unequal representation of constituencies that have increased partisanship and decreased accountability, partially addressed by such Court decisions as the "one-person, one-vote" ruling in Baker v. Carr (1961) and the no- racial-gerrymandering decision in Shaw v. Reno (1993). Elections that have led to a "divided government," including partisan votes against presidential initiatives and congressional refusal to confirm appointments of "lame-duck" presidents of the opposite party.

what case would most likely derive the basis of its decision from the argument presented in The Federalist No. 78 that states: "that, accordingly, whenever a particular statute [contradicts] the Constitution, it will be the duty of the judicial tribunals to adhere to the latter and disregard the former"?

Marbury v. Madison established the power of the Supreme Court to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional and the argument presented in The Federalist 78 is consistent with this decisio

One key interaction that Congress has with the bureaucracy as part of the iron triangle is to

increase the budget and authority of the bureaucracy to regulate industry

Explain how the president's agenda can create tension and frequent confrontations with Congress.

A salient example of this would be the inherent tensions over presidential appointments. The constitutionally required Senate confirmation process has become routinely messy. 2 Political science has studied this tension with great interest. The consequences to our democracy are both real and immediate and, in many ways, quite new. A recent study has suggested:

Explain how communication technology has changed the president's relationship with the national constituency and the other branches.

How technology has changed presidential communication — Presidents have leveraged changes in communication technology to enhance their power by appealing directly to the American public. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcast his fireside chats over the radio, keeping the public informed of his policy goals aimed at righting the economy after the Great Depression. In the twenty-first century, presidents have used social media to reach large audiences of Americans and to respond rapidly to political issues. How the president communicates to the national constituency and Congress — When setting a policy agenda, presidents have taken advantage of contemporary technology and social media to influence the national constituency, promoting presidential policy goals via the president's bully pulpit. The State of the Union is an opportunity for presidents to inform Congress and the American public of policy goals, and to signal which legislation they may veto. The communication impact of the presidency can be demonstrated through such factors as: ▶ Modern technology, social media, and rapid response to political issues ▶ Nationally broadcast State of the Union messages and the president's bully pulpit used as tools for agenda setting