unit 3 : rules were made to be broken… or at least interpreted

UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED” GPS STANDARD

•1 What does the legislative branch do?

UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED” GPS STANDARD

•2 What does the executive branch do?

UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED” GPS STANDARD

•3 What does the judicial branch do?

UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED” GPS STANDARD

•4 What is the separation of powers in the constitution?

• 5 How many members?

• 6 How many per state?

• 7 How old you have to be?

• 8 How long do you have to have been a us citizen?

• 9 Do you have to live in state?

• 10 How long is term?

• 11 What is term limit?

HOUSE OF REPS

• 12 How many members?

• 13 How many per state?

• 14 How old you have to be?

• 15 How long do you have to have been a us citizen?

• 16 Do you have to live in state?

• 17 How long is term?

• 18 What is term limit?

SENATE

• 19 How old you have to be?

• 20 Do you have to be born in US?

• 21 How long do you have to have been a us citizen?

• 22 Do you have to live in state?

• 23 How long is term?

• 24 What is term limit?

PRESIDENT

25 WHAT IS AN INCUMBENT?

•26 HOW DOES AN IDEA FOR A LAW BECOME A LAW?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

27 WHAT IS A CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA?

•28 What are the outside influences on members of Congress and the legislative process?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

•29 WHAT IS THE PRESIDENTS CABINET?

UNIT 3: RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST

INTERPRETED

American Government

Coach Vasilchek

UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED” GPS STANDARD

• SSCG 4- The student will demonstrate knowledge of the organization and powers of the national government

•a. Describe the structure and powers of the legislative, executive and judicial branches.

Judge

whether laws are constitutional and whether they were broken

UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED” GPS STANDARD

• SSCG9- The student will explain the differences between the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the emphasis on terms of office, powers, organization, leadership, and representation of each house.

THREE POWERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

• Initiate revenue (tax) bills

•Choose the President when the electoral college is deadlocked (Election of 1800)

•Choose whether to Impeach someone (choose whether to take it to trial or not

THREE POWERS OF THE SENATE

•Treaty ratification

•Confirmation or Denial of judicial and executive appointments

•Impeachment Trials

CONSTITUTIONAL CREATION

• When the constitution was created:

• The small states wanted equal representation

• They wanted this so that they had an equal say in the new government

• The large states wanted proportional representation

• They wanted this so that the states with the larger population would have more representatives in the new government

• The great compromise gave them both

• The senate= equal representation= small states wants

• The house of representatives= proportional representation=large state wants

HOW OLD YOU GOTS TO BE

• HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES=25 years old

• SENATE= 30 years old

• PRESIDENT= 35 years old

• EMPEROR= 50 years old

TERM PERIODS/LIMITS

Term Periods

• The House of Reps= 2 years

• The Senate= 6 years

• The President= 4 years

Term Limits

• The House of Reps= no term limit

• The Senate= no term limit

• The President= 2 term limit or 10 years total

• Incumbent: the current officeholder• Incumbents have a very high re-election rate (80-90%)

• Yet the public does not hold Congress in very high esteem

• Voters seem only to be satisfied with their own representatives

• SO WHY ARE INCUMBENTS RE-ELECTED SO OFTEN??????

• Because people are familiar and comfortable with the incumbent.

WHAT IS AN INCUMBENT?

•Agenda: the schedule of all the issues the Congress is considering

•Many issues have been on the agenda a long time

•Other issues emerge suddenly, often due to technological change

HOW ISSUES GET ONTHE CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA

Issues may reach the agenda in many ways

• A highly visible event (like 9/11) draws our attention to a problem

• Presidential support

• Congressional party leaders and committee chairs

• Interest group efforts

HOW ISSUES GET ONTHE CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA

UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED” GPS STANDARD

• SSCG 10- The student will describe the legislative process including the roles played by committees and leadership.

• a. Explain the steps in the legislative process

• b. Explain the function of various leadership positions within the legislature

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW

• VIDEO LINK:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0

THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

• A Presidential Veto is where the president votes no on a law which was passed through the House of Reps and the Senate

• A Presidential Veto can be overridden by a 2/3 vote in the House of Reps and the Senate

PRESIDENTIAL VETO

• President’s Action

• Sign

• Veto

• Neither sign nor veto within 10 days Bill becomes Law

• Neither sign nor veto within 10 days but Congress adjourns (Pocket Veto)

• Content of bill can be changed at any time in legislative process

THE DANCE OF LEGISLATION: AN OVERVIEW

• Committees develop and use expertise in specific areas

• Committee Types

• Standing: permanent committee that oversees bills dealing with certain kinds of issues

• Joint: committee of the House and Senate that usually acts as a study group and reports findings back to each

• Select (or Special): temporary committee formed to study one specific issue and report its findings to the Senate or House

• Conference: temporary joint committee set up when the House and the Senate have passed different versions of the same bill

COMMITTEES:

• Congressional Expertise and Seniority-

•Because of more experience and expertise, people tend to listen to senior congress persons.• Influence on committees grows formally with seniority

• Influence on committees grows informally with increased expertise

• Senior member of the majority party usually becomes the committee chair

COMMITTEES: THE WORKHORSES OF CONGRESS

• Public policy decision-making takes place in committees

Committees hold hearings: sessions in which committee members listen to testimony on issues related to a bill

Markup Sessions: the meetings at which committees debate and amend legislation

COMMITTEES: THE WORKHORSES OF CONGRESS

•Oversight: the process of reviewing the operations of an

agency to determine whether it is carrying out policies as Congress intended

• Oversight has become more difficult

• Congress has added resources to perform the oversight function

• Majoritarian and Pluralist Views of Committees

COMMITTEES: THE WORKHORSES OF CONGRESS

•The President- due to the president’s popularity, he or she puts a lot of pressure on the legislature.• Presidents capitalize on nationwide popular election

• Public expects president to be legislator-in-chief

• Hundreds of legislative liaison personnel work for executive branch

THE LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT

• Constituents- put pressure on the legislature because the legislature lives in their district with these people.

• Constituents: people who live and work in a government official’s district

THE LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT

• Trustees or Delegates?

• Trustee: representative who is obligated to consider the views of constituents but is not obligated to vote according to those views if he or she believes they are misguided

• Delegate: a legislator whose primary responsibility is to represent the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of his or her own view

THE DILEMMA OF REPRESENTATION

INTEREST GROUPS IN AMERICA

• Interest Group: a group of people with common goals who organize to influence government

• Interest Group Roles

1. Representation

2. Participation

3. Education

4. Agenda Building

5. Program Monitoring

INTEREST GROUP RESOURCES

•Political Action Committees (PACs): an organization that pools contributions from group members and donates those funds to candidates for office

INTEREST GROUPS AND BIAS

• Citizen Groups: lobbying organizations built around policy concerns unrelated to members’ vocational interests

•citizen groups: poverty, environmental

protection, consumer protection, family values, good government, equality for various groups

• SSCG11 The student will describe the influence of lobbyists (business, labor, professional organizations) and special interest groups on the legislative process.

• a. Explain the function of lobbyists.

• b. Describe the laws and rules that govern lobbyists.

• c. Explain the function of special interest groups.

GPS STANDARD

INTEREST GROUP RESOURCES

• Lobbyists- people who interact with policymakers/legislators with the goal of informing and pushing their organizations agenda into congress.

• Can be either full-time employees of the organization or hired from law firms or public relations firms

• Must register with House and Senate; limits on gifts; cannot lobby for a government agency for which they were formerly employed for two years (“revolving door”)

• Lobbyists can be fundraisers for candidates

• Typical interaction between lobbyists and policymakers is transmission of information

LOBBYING TACTICS• Direct Lobbying: attempts to influence a legislator’s vote

through personal contact

• Grassroots Lobbying: lobbying activities performed by rank-and-file interest group members and would-be members

• Information Campaign: are organized efforts to gain public backing by bringing the group’s views to public attention

• High-Tech Lobbying: using e-mail, polling and the World Wide Web to expand an organization’s reach

• Coalition Building: the banding together of several interest groups for the purpose of lobbying

UNIT 3 RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED” GPS STANDARD

• SSCG 15- The student will explain the functions of the departments and agencies of the federal bureaucracy

• a. Compare and contrast the organization and responsibilities of independent regulatory agencies, government corporations, and executive agencies.

• b. Explain the functions of the Cabinet.

GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONS/INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES

• A GOVERNMENT CORPORATION IS A CORPORATION FULLY OR

PARTIALLY OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

• GOVERNMENT CORPORTATIONS-USPS,FDIC

• INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments

• More specifically, the term may be used to describe agencies that, while constitutionally part of the executive branch, are independent of presidential control, usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is limited.

• IRA EXAMPLES: CIA, FBI, DEA

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH ESTABLISHMENT

•The Cabinet

•Cabinet: a group of presidential advisers; the heads of the executive departments and a small number of other key officials

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH ESTABLISHMENT

• The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.