Exam 2 Study Guide F23 - Answers

POLS 1101: American Government (Fall 2023) Study Guide for Exam 2 (Chapters 7, 10, 11, 12, 13) Ch. 7: Voting, Elections, and Political Participation Section 2: Elections in Georgia and the United States: Key Features and Concepts  Authority to Establish and Administer Election Laws o To which level of government (local, state, national) does the U.S. Constitution give primary responsibility for regulating and administering elections for federal office? ○ State. o Are election laws mostly the same from state to state or do they tend to vary markedly across states? Why? ○ They vary across states. States decide how to run their own elections. o In Georgia, are elections administered by a single centralized agency, or are they administered by each county in the state? ○ Elections are administered by each of the 159 counties in the state.  Types of Elections in Georgia o What is a primary election? What is a general election? ○ Primary elections – held to determine political parties’ nominees. ■ Aimed at selecting party nominees, there is a separate ballot for each party. ○ General elections – where parties’ nominees run against each other to determine who serves in office. o When (in even-numbered years or odd-numbered years) do elections occur for the following offices?  Georgia Senate – Every even numbered years (2 year terms).  Georgia House of Representatives – Every even numbered years (2 year terms).  U.S. House of Representatives – Every even numbered years (2 year terms).  U.S. President – 4 years.  Major Georgia executive branch offices, such as Governor and Lieutenant Governor midterm election years – even numbered years that are not presidential election years  Atlanta Mayor - every 4 years during odd-numbered years (next one is 2025).  Atlanta City Council - every 4 years during odd-numbered years (next one is 2025).  Types of Ballot Items o What is a referendum and how is it different from a citizen ballot initiative? Does Georgia have both kinds of ballot items? If not, which does it have? ○ Referendum – (legislative referral) a proposed law placed on a ballot by a legislative authority. ○ Citizen ballot initiatives – are like referenda, except instead of being placed on ballots by a legislative authority, they are placed on ballots by citizens who gather a required number of signatures on petitions. ○ GA only has referendum; does not have a citizen ballot initiatve.

o What, according to your textbook, does Article X of the Georgia Constitution require for an amendment to the Georgia Constitution to be ratified (i.e., does it need to be a general or primary election, even or odd year, referendum or other)? ○ A proposed constitutional amendment can be ratified only after being placed on a ballot as a referendum item in a general election in an even-numbered year. Most states allow for referenda, and nearly all are like GA requiring referenda for constitutional amendments.  Convenience Voting in Georgia and Other States o What is convenience voting? ○ Convenience voting – flexible opportunities to vote besides traditional in-person voting at the polls on Election Day. ■ Early in-person voting and absentee voting are types of convenience voting. o What are the two primary forms of convenience voting? ○ Absentee voting – voters receive ballots via mail/electronically and send them back through the mail. ○ Early in-person voting – (advance in-person voting) GA allows voters to voters to vote in-person at special polling locations up to three weeks before Election Day. o How does Georgia compare to other states in the extent to which it provides voters with convenience voting options (below average, average, or above average)? ○ Georgia has a no excuse absentee voting – everyone is eligible to vote absentee – you do not need an excuse. Voters have the option of mailing their ballot back to their county government using USPS or delivering it back in person. ○ Several states have adopted all-mail voting – all voters automatically receive ballots through the mail instead of needing to request them. A voter can then return the ballot through the mail or by personally delivering it to a designated physical location. ○ If voters want to vote in person, they need to take steps to have their mailed ballot cancelled. GA does not have all-mail voting. o What is no-excuse absentee voting? Does Georgia have this? ○ Georgia has a no excuse absentee voting – everyone is eligible to vote absentee – you do not need an excuse. Voters have the option of mailing their ballot back to their county government using USPS or delivering it back in person. o How many weeks prior to Election Day does the early voting period last in Georgia? Do any states have longer early voting periods than this? ○ 3 weeks. Monday – Friday, at least 2 Saturdays and some counties, on Sundays. ○ 40 states and Washington DC allow for early voting. Section 3: Voter Turnout by the Numbers  Trends and Patterns in Voting Turnout o Is voter turnout generally higher or lower in Presidential election years or in midterm election years? Is it generally higher in federal elections or in local elections? ○ Voter turnout tends to be much higher in presidential election years than in midterm election years. ○ Voter turnout tends to be lower in local elections.  Differences in Voting Rates Between States and Groups o Over the past decade, have African American citizens tended to vote at higher, lower, or approximately the same rate as white Americans (i.e., non-Hispanic whites)?

○ If you do not convey your views to elected officials through voting, your views will likely be ignored.  The Impacts of Voting and Nonvoting o According to the textbook, is there evidence to suggest that governments tend to systematically serve the interests of those who vote and deserve those who do not vote? Or does the government seem indifferent to who votes? ○ These are elected officials who actually do check to see if the ones who reach out to them are registered active voters. They usually only pay attention if you are an active registered voter. Section 5: Factors Influencing Voter Turnout Rates  The Political Science of Voting o Be sure to know and understand the rational choice model of voting.  Rational choice mode of voting – an influential political scientific that predicts citizens will vote if the benefits of doing so exceed the costs.  The prediction of this model is that an individual will vote if the expected benefits from voting exceed the costs.  How does it create the “paradox of voting”?  Paradox of voting – despite the fact that the probability of casting a decisive vote is nearly zero, people still incur costs to cast a vote.  When expressed as a formula, what does the D-Term variable represent? What does the C-Term variable represent? Why are these thought to be the two most important variables influencing voter turnout?  D-Term – represents all the direct benefits from voting that are independent from whether one’s vote is the decisive factor in the election.  C-term – the cost incurred by voting  What is the resource model of voting and how does it relate to the rational choice model?  it is a model that emphasizes how inequalities in resources can lead to inequalities in the cost of voting  How Election Laws Can Influence Voter Turnout o According to the textbook, on what basis have over five million American citizens over the age of 18 been disenfranchised? ○ Felony disenfranchisement/ felony convictions. o What is meant by “compulsory voting”? What impact has it been shown to have on voter turnout? ○ Compulsory voting – system in which citizens pay a fine or receive some other punishment if they abstain from voting. ○ Voter turnout will likely be high. o What impact has same-day registration had on voter turnout? How does the rational choice model of voting explain this? ○ Same day voter registration - voters can register to vote at polling places on Election Day and then vote at the same time. ■ Voter turnout increased from average 5% to 7%. ○ GA requires registration prior to Election Day. And then you can vote in person or absentee.

■ Lower turnout rate. o What impact on voting rates did Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act have among Latino citizens who speak Spanish as a first language? ○ For citizens who do not speak English well, voting can be prohibitively costly if official documents and ballots are printed only in English. Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act requires localities to provide material in a non-English language if more than 10,000 or over 5% of the total voting age citizens are members of a single language minority group, have depressed literacy rates, and do not speak English. ○ Increased Latino representation in government by increasing turnout amount Latino citizens who speak Spanish as a first language. o What are some potential strategies provided by the textbook for reducing the costs of voting related to election timing and location? ○ (1) Reliance on convenience voting – GA allows for both early voting and no-excuse absentee voting . ○ (2) Move all state and local elections to even-numbered years so that the elections coincide with federal elections. ○ (3) Election Day should be a national holiday so that as many citizens as possible can vote without needing to take time off work. Section 6: Political Action Outside the Conventional Political Process  The American Tradition of Civil Disobedience o What is civil disobedience? Be sure to know examples of civil disobedience. ○ Civil disobedience – intentional breaking of the law to make a political point. Does not include directly harm individuals. Assassination, bombing a building are not acts of civil disobedience. Can involve damage to property. ■ Trespassing on government or corporate property. ■ Minor crimes against public disorder, such as disturbing peace, disorderly conduct, unlawful assembly, or obstruction of vehicular traffic. ■ Refusal to pay taxes or perform military service. ■ Interference with public officials’ performance of official duties. ○ Examples: Boston Tea Party, Henry Thoreau refusing to pay taxes to protest American involvement in the Mexican War and institution of slavery, college students protesting the Vietnam War on campus and refusing to leave, antinuclear activists trespassed on the grounds of power plants and government research facilities, members of Operation Rescue violating court orders forbidding them interfering with operations of abortion clinics, Ghandi promoting nonviolent resistance by the masses to win India’s independence from British, Martin Luther King Jr. ■ People broke the law on the grounds that they were obeying a “higher law”, whether it was the law of God or their own moral codes.  Demonstrations, Marches, and Mass Protests o According to the textbook, demonstrations, marches, and protests are often used not only to make a point about a public policy issue, but also for something else? What else are they used for? ○ To gain public recognition for a group that has been ignored. It is likely to capture the attention of the mass media, especially TV, and thereby have some effect on public opinion.

 Minority party and majority party  Majority party – political party that controls over half the seats in a legislative body at any given time.  Minority party – political party with less than half the seats in a legislative body at any given time.  Either of the two major parties can be a majority party or minority patry.  Political Parties Compared and Contrasted with Interest Groups o What are the main differences between political parties and interest groups as discussed in the textbook? What do they have in common? Political party Interest groups Organizations that seek to influence government by getting members elected to office and by coordinating the actions of elected officials in government.  Democrats/Republicans Associations that seek to influence government to benefit members of the association or advance a cause they share a belief in. Seek to get their own members elected to office and then, once they are elected, coordinating how legislative business is conducted within government. Do not focus on getting their own members elected to office, but instead work from the outside to influence elections and government officials. Commit to policy positions and principles that pertain to all issue areas – party platforms Have a narrower set of goals; Tend to focus on small number of issues. Formed to resolve practical problems confronted by ambitious politicians seeking to win office and govern effectively. o What is meant by “party platform”? What does it typically include?  Party platform – a document expressing a political party’s principles, goals, and policy positions on domestic and foreign affairs.  Six Democratic Functions of Political Parties o (1) Candidate Nomination – Parties help to choose and groom possible candidates for elections and provide them with resources needed to help them successfully run for office. Accomplished through party conventions, primaries, and caucuses. o (2) Electoral Mobilization – Parties get people motivated and excited to get to the polls to vote. They help to facilitate active participation in the political process and give people a reason to show up on election day. o (3) Issue Structuring – If there is not a limited set of issues on an agenda to focus on, every possible issues can be raised, and no constructive debate can proceed. Parties help get around that problem by deciding what issues are important and what are not and thereby focusing attention on a digestible set of problems. o (4) Societal Representation and Social Integration – Parties bid for various social groups’ votes, allowing them to represent different sections of society. Parties provide effective representation for all groups in a diverse society. This empowers citizens to engage in the

democratic process and gives them a vested interest in the continuance of democratic governance. o (5) Interest Aggregation – A party brings multiple interests and stakeholders together under a single organizational framework. Allows all interests to gain representation and thereby prevents any group from dominating the system. o (6) Forming and Sustaining Majority Governing Coalitions – Operate by the principle of majority rule. To become law, proposed legislation requires at least a majority of members to vote in its favor. Legislation is so complex, it would be nearly impossible to form legislative majorities in a large legislative chamber without organization and discipline created by political parties. Section 3: Electoral Rules and Why the United States has a Two-Party System  Two-Party vs. Multiparty Systems o Does the U.S. have a two-party system or multiparty system?  Two-party system – has only two major parties that routinely win legislative seats.  US does not have a multi-party system because of election rules.  Single-Member District / Winner-Take-All Elections versus Proportional Representations (PR) Systems o What is a Winner-Take-All election system? How does it differ from a Proportional Representation election system? Which system is used in America?  Single-member district / winner-take-all – candidates compete for votes within a district and the candidate who gets the most votes represents the entire district.  US House of Representatives elections go by this.  If party candidates do not win elections, the party gets no power in government.  Parties must focus on nominating candidates and supporting their campaigns.  Appeals to broad range of voters.  Proportional representation (PR) – number of legislative seats a party receives is a function of the share of votes it receives in an election.  Instead of voting for a candidate to represent one’s district, every voter in the state would cast a vote for a party. Then each party would be allotted a quantity of seats in Congress proportionate to the number of votes cast in the state.  The parties pick the individuals who fill the seats. The voters decide the party’s share in government, and the parties pick the party members who serve in government.  Dominant system in most industrial democracies.  Party can get members elected to office without getting the most votes in any election.  Why the United States Has a Two-Party System o Duverger’s Law offers a social scientific explanation for why some countries have two-party systems and others have multiparty systems. What is that explanation?  Duverger’s Law – single-member district/winner-take-all elections tend to favor two party systems while PR tends to favor multiparty systems.

 What does the term “party-in-the-electorate” mean? o Party-in-the-electorate – those members of the voting public who consider themselves to be part of a political party and/or who consistently prefer the candidates of one party over the other.  Basic level: voter – called party identifiers because they represent themselves in public as being members of a party, and may attend some party events or functions.  Provide financial support for candidates for their party during election season.  Make up majority of the voting public.  A lot of people say they are “independents,” but the textbook points out that this is somewhat misleading. Why is this misleading? (Hint: it has something to do with the concept of party “leaners”.) o The overwhelmingly majority admit to leaning in the direction of one party or the other, suggesting they behave as if they identify with a party during elections even if they prefer toa void picking a side publicly. o Appear neutral publicly.  What is meant by “mega-identity”? Be sure to know and understand the discussion in the textbook around this term, specifically why party identification is best thought of as a social identity that overlaps with many other aspects of social identity. o Mega-identity – Form of partisan identity one through which multiple social identities reinforce and magnify each other.  Contributed to an increased party polarization – increasing differences between two major parties based on both ideology and social group identities.  Also increased feelings of animosity between partisans – negative partisanship or affective polarization. Section 7: The Party Organization  What does the term party organization mean? Why is it important (according to the textbook)? o Party organization – the formal structure of political party and the active members responsible for coordinating party behavior and supporting party candidates.  Bears most of the responsibility for building and maintaining the party “brand”.  Key role in helping select, and elect, candidates for public office.  The local and state level party organizations are much less visible than the national level. Why is this? o Many Americans are more interested in topics discussed at the national level than at the state or local level. National organization usually coordinates the grandest spectacles in the life of a political party: the national convention. Most voters are never aware of the numerous county-level meetings or coordinating activities.  They take on the most responsibility for party activities and are easily the most active participants in the part formation and electoral process. They are also largely invisible to voters. People are aware of the national party organizations because they are more interested in national level topics than state or local and because national organizations coordinate the grandest spectacle of a political party: the national convention.

Ch. 11: Congress Section 2: Congress’ Bicameral Structure  Comparing the House and Senate o What are the 5 ways the House and Senate differ? House Senate Size: 435 voting representatives. 100 Senators. Seats per State: The number of representatives for each state is based on the relative population size of the state. GA has 14. Has 2 senators regardless of population size. Term Lengths: Serve 2-year terms. No constitutional limit on the number of times members may be reelected. Serve 6-year terms. No constitutional limit on the number of times members may be reelected. Citizenship and Age Requirements: Must be a US citizen of at least 7 years standing and at least 25 years old. Must have 9 years standing as citizens and be at least 30 years old. Constitutional Powers: Equal authority. For a new bill, both must concur, and either may introduce legislation. Revenue bills can only be introduced in House. Plays a role in certifying winners of presidential contests. Play a different role in impeachment. Equal in their formal authorities. Equal authority. For a new bill, both must concur, and either may introduce legislation. Given special authority over the ratification of treaties and the confirmation of federal judges and certain high-level executive appointments. Play a different role in impeachment. Equal in their formal authorities.  Why the Founders Chose Bicameralism o What is the idea of a “mixed regime”? How is it reflected in bicameral structure of Congress? ○ Mixed regime – a good political system should mix democratic and aristocratic elements to avoid the disadvantages of either a pure democracy or pure aristocracy while gaining the advantages of both. ○ The House of Reps was designed to be more democratic than the Senate while the Senate was designed to be more aristocratic than the House. o How did the Great Compromise contribute toward the establishment of congressional bicameralism? ○ The small state preference for equal state representation applied to the Senate and the large state preference for representation proportionate to state population size applied in the House.  Advantages and Disadvantages of Bicameralism o What are the advantages of bicameral legislatures?

○ House Minority Leaders – make strategy decisions, and attempt to keep order within the minority party. Leads in developing the party’s legislative strategies. ○ House whips – whip up votes and otherwise enforce party discipline. ○ President of the Senate – the elected VP of the US; only votes in case of a tie. ○ Senate majority leader – chief spokesperson for the majority party. ○ Majority and minority leaders – often occupy the floor together in an attempt to keep things moving along. ○ Senate minority leader – top leader of the minority party in the senate. o Be able to rank the following positions based on how much real power they have (according to the textbook): the Senate’s president pro tempore, the Senate Majority Leader, the Speaker of the House ○ Speaker of the house, senate majority leader, senate’s president pro tempore. Section 4. Legislative Process: Old and New  The Traditional (or Classic) Legislative Process o What are the six stages before a bill can become a law? ○ (1) Bill drafting and introduction ○ (2) Committee work ○ (3) Floor debate ○ (4) Conference committee reconciliation ○ (5) President decision ○ (6) Veto override vote o In which chamber must bills that raise revenue begin? ○ The House o What do committees do with bills that are sent to them? ○ 1. Committees will begin to markup the bill. ○ 2. With/without amendments, the committee or subcommittee will vote. ○ 3. If the committee decides not to advance the bill at that time, it is tabled. ○ 4. Tabling a bill means the bill is dead, but there is still an option to bring it back up for a vote again. ○ 5. The committee decides to advance the bill, it is printed and goes to the floor of the chamber, either the House or the Senate. o What is a traditional filibuster? Which chamber allows for a filibuster of legislation? What is a cloture vote? How many votes are needed to end a filibuster? ○ Filibuster – a procedural tactic in the US Senate whereby a minority of Senators prevents a bill from coming to a vote by holding the floor and talking until the majority gives in and the bill is withdrawn from consideration. ○ Cloture – a legislative maneuver that, if a 3/5 majority votes for it, (60 votes), limits Senate debate to thirty hours and has the effect of defeating a filibuster. o How can a bill become law even if the President vetoes the legislation? ○ Congress can override it by a 2/3 vote in both chambers.  The Contemporary Legislative Process o What is an omnibus spending bill? ○ Omnibus spending – type of bill that combines smaller ordinary appropriations (spending) bills into one larger single bill that can be passed at one.

o The balance of power between congressional committees and political parties has shifted heavily toward which since the 1980s? ○ Political parties. o What is a modern filibuster? How is it different from a traditional filibuster? ○ Unlike the traditional filibuster, in which a senator took the floor and held it for as long as possible, the modern filibuster is actually a warping of the original intent of the cloture rules adopted to control the filibuster. o What is the budget reconciliation process? What is its relationship to the modern filibuster? ○ Budget reconciliation – process through which the federal budget can be amended through a simple majority vote. (51 votes in Senate) Only policies that directly impact the federal budget (spend of save). Section 5. Congressional Elections: The Decline in Competitive Districts and States  Apportionment and Redistricting in the House o What is reapportionment? ○ Reapportionment – redistribution of seats in the House of Representatives based on changes in state population as revealed by the census. o Who is in charge of conducting reapportionment? ○ Congress. o What is the one-person, one-vote standard? Which institution established it? ○ One-person, one-vote standard – Rule created by the US Supreme Court in 1964 that if state holds elections using single member districts, there must be a roughly equal number of voters in each district. o What is redistricting? Which level of government (the national government or the state governments) is in charge of it? ○ Redistricting – redrawing of congressional district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population. ○ States vary in how they go about redistricting.  The Decline in Competitive Districts and States o According to the textbook, what percentage of 2022 House district elections are genuinely competitive “toss up” races that could go either way? ○ 8% (33 districts) o According to the textbook, what percentage of House elections in the year 2000 were genuinely competitive “toss up” races that could have gone either way? ○ 40%  Causes of the Decline in Competitive Congressional Elections o What is the “Big Sort”? ○ Big Sort – Americans who are similar in educational level, lifestyle, and political orientation increasingly choose to live close to each other. ■ Democrats and college educations are clustered in a small number of densely populated counties and cities, while Republicans are spread out in a large number of sparsely populated areas. o What is gerrymandering? ○ Gerrymandering – manipulation of legislative district boundaries as a way of favoring candidates from a particular party, group, or socio-economic class.

○ It can promote a widespread sense of trust in the democratic process and perceptions that decisions are fair and legitimate. o In what ways is the Congress most descriptively representative? In what ways is the Congress most descriptively Unrepresentative? ○ Education, generation, wealth, race/ethnicity, gender, religion ○ Unrepresentative – education, wealth  Representing Constituents o What is constituent service? ○ Constituent service – a wide array of non-legislative activities – from helping with issues with federal agencies to providing learning opportunities for students – undertaken by Members of Congress or congressional staff that are aimed at helping and/or honoring students. o What is the practice of “pork-barrel politics”? ○ Federal spending on projects designed to benefit a particular district or set of constituents (also known as bringing home the bacon).  The Delegate, Trustee, and Politico Models of Representation o What are the differences between the delegate, trustee, and politico models of representation? ○ Delegate – holds the first duty of representatives is to follow the opinions of their constituents. The people who vote for representatives are the ones who should exercise judgement over questions of public policy, and if representatives do not follow their lead, the representatives deserve to be voted out of office in the next election. ○ Trustee – an elected representative is obligated to act accordingly to their own best judgement of what is just or what will promote the public good even if it is unpopular and leads to their being voted out of office in the next election. ○ Politico models – members of Congress act as either trustee or delegate depending on the issue and public context. o According to the textbook, what approach to representation did Representative Liz Cheney take in 2021-2022? ○ Trustee Ch. 12: The Executive Branch Section 2: The Design and Evolution of the Presidency  Inventing the Presidency o According to Article II of the Constitution, who is eligible to run for president? o Natural born citizen of US, 35 years old, resident of US for 14 years. o According to the original Constitution, what length and number of terms could Presidents serve? How was this changed by the 22 nd Amendment? o Original: allowed to serve unlimited number of 4 year terms. o 22 nd amendment: changed this to allow presidents to serve no more than 2 4 year termms. o What are the powers of the Presidency? o Commander-in-chief of armed forced, negotiate treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, receive representatives of foreign nations, broad power to pardon

those convicted of federal offenses, except for officials removed through the impeachment process, present SOTU to Congress, call Congress into session when needed, veto legislation, make recommendations for legislation and policy, call on the heads of various departments to make reports and offer opinions, nominating federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, as well as other federal officials, and making appointments to fill military and diplomatic posts o What is a veto? What is a veto override? o Power to block proposed legislation from becoming a law. o Override – authority of congress to enact a bill into law despite a residential’s veto of the bill.  The Evolution of Presidential Power o What is the Cabinet? o Heads of 15 major bureaucratic departments within the executive branch who help the president in setting/executing policy. o What is an executive order? o A rule of order issued by the president that has the force of law. Deemed valid only if they are authorized by congressional statute and/or by specific constitutional provisions. o What is executive privilege? o The president’s right, under certain circumstances, to withhold information from Congress, the judiciary, or the public. o What are signing statements? o A written statement made by a president at the time they sign a bill into law that seeks to influence the way the law is interpreted and implemented by bureaucratic agency charged with enforcing it. o What are executive agreements? o An agreement between the president and another country made without formal consent by the Senate. Function like treaties except they can be unilaterally broken by future presidents, which means they are viewed by other countries as less secure and reliable commitments. o What does it mean to impound funds? o A decision by a president to not spend money that has been appropriated by Congress. Section 3: The Presidential Election Process  Selecting the Candidate: The Party Process o What was the King caucus? What method for nominating presidential candidates was it replaced with? o An informal meeting, 1800s, called congressional caucus, made up of legislators in the congress who met to decide on presidential nominees for their respective parties. o Independent selection of nominees through national party conventions. Primaries -- > caucuses. o What are some of the political consequences of using the presidential primary and caucus system (instead of the National Party Conventions) to select presidential candidates? o The campaign season has grown longer and more costly. The process of going straigt to the people through primaries and caucuses has created some opportunities for party outsiders to rise.

o In 2021, what happened on January 6 th , the date that Congress met to officially count the electoral votes? o Attack on the US capital – result of trump’s effort to pressure VP Mike Pence to acknowledge legitimay of trump’s alternative electors. Senate refused to count the electoral college ballots, it was expected that the house of reps would decide the election and since republicans controlled 26/50 state delegations in the house, it was expected that the house would make trump the winner. o Which institution would have decided the outcome of the 2020 election if the efforts to pressure Congress and Vice President Pence to refuse to certify the election’s results had succeeded? Which candidate (Trump or Biden) was that institution most likely to choose as president? o The house of reps would have to elect the president if congress refused to count the ballots. Trump would have won.  Summary of the Presidential Election Process o Be able to put the four stages of the presidential selection process in order. o Primaries and caucuses o National party conventions o People vote in general election o Electoral college convenes to cast ballots Section 4: Organization of the Executive Branch I: The Bureaucracy  What is the bureaucracy? What is a bureaucratic agency? o Bureaucracy – name given to the full set of bureaucratic agencies within a government. o Bureaucratic agency – government unit, composed of unelected civic servants, that is established to accomplish a specific set of goals and objectives as authorized by a legislative body.  What are civil servants (also called bureaucrats)? o Individuals who fill nonelected positions in government as careers and make up the bureaucracy.  Types of Bureaucratic Organizations: o Cabinet Departments  What are cabinet departments? How many cabinet departments are there currently? To whom do Cabinet Secretaries report?  Consists of a vast network of offices and agencies, headed by secretaries that are confirmed by the Senate and held directly accountable to the president.  15  Which cabinet departments have been in existence since the time of George Washington?  State and Treasury  Which cabinet department didn’t exist until the twenty-first century?  Homeland Security  Independent Executive Agencies o What is an independent executive agency? How do independent executive agencies differ from cabinet departments?

o Bureaucratic agencies independent from oversight by any cabinet department; assigned far more focused tasks. o CIA, NASA, EPA  Independent Regulatory Agencies o What is an independent regulatory agency? o A type of independent executive agency that is charged with regulating an industry; not under control by any cabinet department. o FCC, ICC, CFTC  Government Corporations o What are government corporations? What are their characteristics? o Corporation that fulfills an important public interest and is therefore overseen by government authorities to a much larger degree than private businesses; does not have stockholders, exempt from taxes. o USPS, AMTRAK  Bureaucratic Agencies in Action: Negotiated Rulemaking o What is negotiated rulemaking? Do all federal bureaucratic agencies use this method? o Neutral advisors convene a committee of those who have vested interests in the proposed rules and help the committee reach a consensus on them. o Notice-and-comment rulemaking. This practice required that agencies attempting to adopt rules publish their proposal in the federal register, the official publication for aall the rules and proposed rules. o Do bureaucratic rules have the force of law? o Yes Section 5: Organization of the Executive Branch II: The President’s Support Team  The White House Staff o Why is the Chief of Staff the President’s most important aide? o Controls the president’s calendar, access to the president, manages staff, advises in all aspects of policy both domestic and foreign, “lightning rod”. o About how large is the White House Staff? o 470 (301-500)  The Executive Office of the President (EOP) o About how large is the Executive Office of the President? o 1800 o What are the roles of the National Security Council, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Office of Management and Budget? o National security council – assists the president in handling crises in the international arena; composed of the president, VP, secretary of defense, secretary of state, works closely with department of defense and the cia. o Council of economic advisers – assists the president in evaluating economic trends and formulating economic polucy; composed of 3 economists appointed by the president, prepares an annual president’s economic report. o Office of management and budget – preapres the presidnet’s budget proposal to congress, helps push the proposal throguh congress, analyzes the effects of all new programs on the national debt.