Clark 11-13

How many presidents have been impeached? How many have been removed from office?

2-0

What is a signing statement and how can it be used to give the President power to decide how a law will be enforced?

A "Signing Statement" is a written comment issued by a President at the time of signing legislation The more controversial statements involve claims by presidents that they believe some part of the legislation infringes on the constitutional powers of the presidency, and, therefore, they intend to ignore it or to implement it only in ways they believe is constitutional.

What is a "political question"? What is a "justiciable question"? Of the two major judicial philosophies identified in class, which will be stricter about following threshold doctrines?

A POLITICAL QUESTION is one which under the Constitution "is to be decided by the people in their sovereign capacity, or in regard to which full discretionary authority has been delegated to the legislative or executive branch of the government." It is concerned with issues dependent upon the wisdom, not the validity or legality, of a particular measure or a contested act. No constitutional answer A JUSTICIABLE QUESTION calls upon the duty of the courts to settle actual controversies wherein there are rights (property or personal rights) involved which are legally demandable and enforceable. It is one which is proper to be examined or decided in courts of justice because its determination would not involve an encroachment upon the legislative or executive power. Stricter

What is a bicameral legislature? What are the names of the two chambers of the United States Congress?

A governmental body with two houses or chambers. Senate and House of Representatives

What section in the Constitution lists Congress' enumerated powers?

Article 1 section 8

What are privatization and devolution?

Both attempts to curve the cost of bureacracy, Privatization- pay private businesses to do things, for profit business Devolution- gov takes some powers and give back to states.

Cabinet departments vs. Independent Executive Agencies and Independent Regulatory Agencies

Cabinet picked by president Independent Executive agencies are independent from cabinet, both are line organizations and listen directly to president, no secretary Ind regulatory agencies- independent from congress and president

Be familiar with the following "threshold requirements" that the Court abides by: jurisdiction, standing, justiciability, timing.

Court must have jurisdiction to hear the case Standing- A threshold concern for all federal courts is the presence, or absence, of constitutional standing. The standing requirement, as governed by Article III of the Constitution, permits federal courts to adjudicate only cases or controversies. Standing is the term for the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case. Justiciability-concerns the limits upon legal issues over which a court can exercise its judicial authority. Justiciability in American law seeks to address whether a court possesses the ability to provide adequate resolution of the dispute; where a court feels it cannot offer such a final determination, the matter is not justiciable. Time-When courts talk about ripeness and mootness they are referring to whether it is too early (the case is not yet ripe) or too late (the case is moot) for courts to decide the case. If a case is ripe the court is saying it is the right time to decide the case. Mootness is where the court is not in a position to provide any relief - - it's too late. This can happen if a law changes or if there is a change in a party's status.

Know the three basic levels of the federal court system. What level are District Courts? Circuit Courts? Which level decides questions of Fact and which focus only on questions of Law?

D-The district courts are the general trial courts of the federal court system. Each district court has at least one United States District Judge, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for a life term. District courts handle trials within the federal court system - both civil and criminal Once the federal district court has decided a case, the case can be appealed to a United States court of appeal. There are twelve federal circuits that divide the country into different regions. Supreme Court District-Facts Circuit-Laws

Know express powers, delegated powers, and implied powers of the president. Be familiar with the two implied powers discussed in class.

Delegated: Given to president by congress Expressed:in constitution. Implied: Executive Privilege-privileged information, ability of president to keep secret from court and secrets Executive Orders- a rule or order issued by the president to an executive branch of the government and having the force of law.

What is divided government? o Mayhew reading: be familiar with the two pieces of conventional wisdom about divided government and whether Mayhew finds them to be true or not for the time period he is examining (1946-1990)

Divided Government: 1) Congressional committees, acting as oversight bodies, will give more trouble to administrations run by the opposite party than to those of their own party. 2) Major laws will pass more frequently under unified party control than under divided control.

Be familiar with the Exceptions Clause, as well as the actions of some presidents in refusing to enforce Supreme Court decisions.

Exceptions clause is a clause in the U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the power to make exceptions to the constitutionally defined appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. limit on the power of the Supreme Court Presidential non-enforcement: Jackson, Lincoln

Which branch of the federal government does bureaucracy (mostly) fall into? Which branches will exercise control and oversight over bureaucracies? What is "Non-Delegation Doctrine"? What types of delegation will the courts find unconstitutional?

Executive Legislative and Judicial One branch of government must not authorize another entity to exercise the power which it is constitutionally authorized to exercise itself The principle in administrative law that congress cannot delegate its legislative powers to agencies. Rather, when it instructs agencies to regulate, it must give them an "intelligible principle" on which to base their regulations. If elected members are the ones not making the important decisions.

Be able to identify the filibuster and cloture, and which chamber a filibuster can take place in o Know which distinctive powers are given to one chamber and not the other. Know each branch's role in the impeachment process

Filibuster- applied to efforts to hold the Senate floor in order to prevent action on a bill. The cloture rule-Rule 22-is the only formal procedure that Senate rules provide for breaking a filibuster. A filibuster is an attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter. Under cloture, the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours of debate. Need 3/5 vote The "advice and consent " powers, such as the power to approve treaties, are a sole Senate privilege. The House, however, can initiate spending bills and has exclusive authority to impeach officials and choose the President in an Electoral College deadlock. house vote to impeach majority needed, once impeached senate vote whether to remove or no. impeachment is putting president on trial. 2/3 senate to remove

Differences between treaties and executive agreements (which is binding on future presidents? Which one needs approval by the Senate?)

First, international agreements (regardless of their title, designation, or form) whose entry into force with respect to the United States takes place only after two thirds of the U.S. Senate has given its advice and consent under Article II, section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution are "treaties." The international agreements which are brought to force in relation to the U.S. without the advice and consent of the Senate on a Constitutional basis are called executive agreements.

6 Roles of President

Head of State Chief Executive-watch over laws, nominate officials, pardon/reprieves Commander in Chief- wages war, congress declares Chief Diplomat-foreign, treaties and executive aggreements Chief Legislator-sep of powers Chief of Party

Which chamber has a "Rules Committee" and what role does it play in the legislative process?

House of Representatives Power to determine which bills will be brought to the floor of the House for consideration and whether amendments will be allowed on a bill when it is debated by the entire House.

What is Judicial Activism and what is Judicial Restraint?

Judicial restraint stricter to follow threshold documents, says supreme court has one job which is to operate as court, not worried about other jobs. Judicial activism says other stuff is important such as interpreting constitutional and judicial review

What is Judicial Review? Which Supreme Court case established it? What is the difference between Marshall's conception of Judicial Review and Jefferson's conception of it? Which one has become accepted?

Judicial review is the idea, fundamental to the US system of government, that the actions of the executive and legislative branches of government are subject to review and possible invalidation by the judiciary. Judicial review allows the Supreme Court to take an active role in ensuring that the other branches of government abide by the constitution. Judicial review of the government was established in the landmark decision of Marbury v. Madison Marshall- "It is emphatically the duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret the rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the Court must decide on the operation of each." Jefferson opposed Judicial Review because he thought it violated the principle of separation of powers. He proposed that each branch of government decide constitutional questions for itself, only being responsible for their decisions to the voters.

Which branch of the federal government typically has the lowest approval rating?

Legislative

Article of constitution that outlines branches

Legislative- Article 1, Longest Executive- Article 2 Judicial- Article 3, Shortest

Three major branches of federal government

Legislative- create the laws Executive-enforces the laws Judicial-interpret the laws

Know "Mandatory Review" and "Discretionary Review" and which type of appellate court has each.

Mandatory-appellate courts must consider all appeals submitted. Court of appeals(circuit) Discretionary-appellate courts are able to decide which appeals they will consider from among the cases submitted. Supreme Court

Know different types of judicial opinions and which one is binding as precedent. What is the key difference between concurring and dissenting opinions? Who gets to decide who writes the Opinion of the Court?

Opinion of the Court-A statement that is prepared by a judge or court announcing the decision after a case is tried, binding Dissenting Opinion-disagree with decision, think despondent won, wrong party won Concurring Opinion- agree which party won but had more to say another argument, or disagreed with opinion of court but agree who won The senior justice in the majority, chief justice

What was James David Barber's basic argument about "Presidential Character"? What are the 4 character types and which one was seen as the most desirable and the most undesirable?

Outlook on life and effort put on president, vote on that different personalities 1. active-positive -- adaptive 2. active-negative --compulsive 3. passive-positive -- compliant 4. passive-negative --withdrawn

Types of enumerated powers

Power to regulate interstate commerce, power to tax and spend, power to declare war, power to pass laws "necessary and proper" to the enactment of their other enumerated powers

Be familiar with the role of both the President and the Senate in appointing justices to the Supreme Court.

President nominates them and senate must approve them.

In what primary way does the President keep bureaucracies in check? In what ways does Congress? What is enabling legislation?

President: appointing high level bureaucrats to keep ones below them from exercising too much power, basically can hire and fire all memebers Congress: power of oversight and funding, conduct investigations, and enabling legislation

Leadership positions in each chamber. Which ones are voted on within the party caucus?

Senate- Vice President of the United States, who serves as President of the Senate President pro tempore, the senior most member of the majority, who theoretically presides in the absence of the Vice President.-in caucus House- Speaker of the house, elected by house Majority&Minority Leader-in caucus Majority&Minority Whip-in caucus

Types of congressional committees; role of standing committees and conference committees in the legislative process.

Standing-Permanent committees established under the standing rules of the Senate and specializing in the consideration of particular subject areas. Vote on proposed bills Conference- A temporary, ad hoc panel composed of House and Senate conferees which is formed for the purpose of reconciling differences in legislation that has passed both chambers. Conference committees are usually convened to resolve bicameral differences on major and controversial legislation. Joint- both the House and Senate. Today's joint committees are permanent panels that conduct studies or perform housekeeping tasks rather than consider measures. For instance, the Joint Committee on Printing oversees the functions of the Government Printing Office and general printing procedures of the federal government. The chairmanship of joint committees usually alternates between the House and Senate. A conference committee is a temporary joint committee formed to resolve differences between competing House and Senate versions of a measure. Special/Select-established by a separate resolution of the chamber, sometimes to conduct investigations and studies, and, on other occasions, also to consider measures. Often, select committees examine emerging issues that do not fit clearly within existing standing committee jurisdictions, or which cut across jurisdictional boundaries. A select committee may be permanent or temporary.

What did the War Powers Resolution do?

The War Powers Resolution is a federal law intended to check the president's power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S. Congress.

Which branch of the federal government did the Framers assume would be the strongest? Which did they assume would be the most dangerous to the rights of the people?

The framers thought the legislature(Congress) would be the most powerful and dangerous because of their ability to create laws which the President and Supreme Courts did not have power to do

How was the vice president initially selected? Why did this not work as intended? What amendment changed the process?

The original system for electing presidents provided that the candidate receiving a majority of Electoral College votes would become president, while the runner up would become vice president. The 1800 election resulted in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Under the Constitution, this stalemate sent the election to the House of Representatives, which chose Jefferson. The states soon ratified a twelfth amendment to the Constitution, requiring separate contests for the offices of president and vice president.

What is the constitutional term limit for the president? What amendment establishes this?

Two terms, Amendment 22

Veto process, including pocket veto. Which one can Congress override, and what is required for this?

When presented with legislation passed by both houses of Congress, the President may sign it into law within the 10-day period prescribed in the Constitution,1 let it become law without his signature, or issue a regular or "pocket" veto. Congress can override a veto by passing the act by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. Pocket veto can bot be overridden

Electoral College- what is it and how does it work? What happens if no candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes? Be familiar with the two elections in which this happened.

a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most Electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote. The Senate would elect the Vice President from the 2 Vice Presidential candidates with the most Electoral votes. Each Senator would cast one vote for Vice President. If the House of Representatives fails to elect a President by Inauguration Day, the Vice-President Elect serves as acting President until the deadlock is resolved in the House. JFK and Lincoln

Know the difference between a Declaration of War and the Authorization for the Use of Military Force and the reason why Congress might issue an AUMF instead of declaring war

a declaration of war in itself creates a state of war under international law and legitimates the killing of enemy combatants, the seizure of its property, and the apprehension of enemy aliens. AUMF used instead b/c not fighting the whole country just one aspect. Ex Isis in Syria Article I of the Constitution invests Congress with the authority to declare war and to raise and maintain military forces. Article II of the Constitution establishes the president as commander in chief of the U.S. military and gives that office the authority to lead American military forces and prosecute armed conflicts.

- Know the Instructed Delegate and Trustee views of representation, and how each is represented in one of the chambers of Congress. Which chamber is designed to work quickly, and which one slowly? Know the length of an elected term for a member of each chamber.

a legislator who is an agent of the voters who elected him or her and who votes according to the views of constituents regardless of personal assessments. House The trustee model of representation is a model for how we should understand the role of representatives. Constituents elect their representatives as 'trustees' (or 'entrust' them) for their constituency. Elect because of views. Senate HOR- Lower house. Responds to the needs of the people faster since representatives only have a two year term. Laws dealing with revenue must start in the House. Senate-Upper house. The six year term means the Senate can be slower and consider the long-term effects of laws.

Be familiar with the role of precedent and the principle of stare decisis

abide by past interpretations, word means to stand by decisions the legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent. Stare decisis is Latin for "to stand by things decided."

Why did Alexander Hamilton argue in Federalist 78 that the Supreme Court would be the weakest branch of the proposed Constitution?

because it had "no influence over either the sword or the purse, ...It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment." There was little concern that the judiciary might be able to overpower the political branches; since Congress controlled the flow of money and the President the military

Know Writ of Certiorari, the "Rule of Four", Amicus Curiae briefs

higher court gives order of lower court to send up case file so they can review, The rule of four is a Supreme Court of the United States practice that permits four of the nine justices to grant a writ of certiorari. a person or group who is not a party to an action, but has a strong interest in the matter, will petition the court for permission to submit a brief in the action with the intent of influencing the court's decision.

What is the "two presidencies" thesis? Be familiar with the President's power as Commander in Chief.

president has more power with foreign affairs so choose to focus more on foreign affairs rather than domestic

Be familiar with Stephen Skowronek's concept of presidential regimes in "Presidential Leadership in Political Time." What are the four stages of regime buildup and decline?

shift from a presidential strategy based on interpersonal relationships among elites in Washington, to a public support motivated approach to politics Reconstruction- building a new regime Articulation- Maintaining a regime Pre-emption- Outsider breaks in Disjunction- Collapse of regime

What is jurisdiction? Be able to distinguish between the Original Jurisdiction and Appellate Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. What different roles do we expect the Supreme Court to play and which of these are explicitly granted to the Court by the Constitution?

the authority given by law to a court to try cases and rule on legal matters within a particular geographic area and/or over certain types of legal cases. It is vital to determine before a lawsuit is filed which court has jurisdiction. The Constitution established the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction to provide a tribunal of the highest stature for disputes to which a state was a party and for cases involving the representatives of foreign nations. Expect supreme court to use appellate b/c original rarely used Both expressed in article 3 section 2

What was the "spoils system" and how was it reformed by the Pendleton Act (a.k.a. the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883)?

the awarding of government jobs to political supporters and friends reformed w/ employment based on merit and creation of the Civil Service Commission

What is Executive Privilege? What did the Supreme Court say about it in United States v. Nixon? What is an executive order?

the privilege, claimed by the president for the executive branch of the US government, of withholding information in the public interest. The Supreme Court does have the final voice in determining constitutional questions; no person, not even the president of the United States, is completely above the law; and the president cannot use executive privilege as an excuse to withhold evidence that is "demonstrably relevant in a criminal trial."

What is a bureaucracy? Know the three basic features of bureaucratic organizations identified in class (hierarchical authority structure, strict adherence to procedure, specialization of functions)

the system of civil servants and political appointees that implement or administer laws a system of government in which most decisions are taken by non-elected rather than by elected representatives. H- Organization power structure. The amount of authority increases with each level higher a person or organization is in hierarchy. The ultimate power remains with the person or organization at the very top of the hierarchy, with that position holding the authority to make final decisions in all matters. St-Red tape is an idiom that refers to excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making. Sp-Workers in a bureaucracy perform specialized tasks that call for training and expertise. Trained personnel can accomplish their jobs efficiently. The downside of specialization is that bureaucrats often cannot (or refuse to) "work out of class" — that is, take on a task that is outside the scope of their job description.

What are the three sides of an "Iron Triangle"?

three way relationship of bureaucracy, congressional committee fall to interest group. Group give congressional committee what they want, committee give bureaucracy and both give laws and stuff group want. Problem is not looking at whole country.