IV. Institutions of National Government: The Congress, the Presidency, the Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts.
A. The major formal and informal institutional arrangements of power
B. Relationships among these four institutions and varying balances of power
C. Linkages between institutions and the following:
1. Public opinion and voters
2. Interest groups
3. Political parties
4. The media
5. State and local governments
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Institutions of National Government: The Congress, the Presidency, the Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts (35-45%)
- The Major Formal and Informal Institutional Arrangements of Power
- Relationships Among These Four Institutions and Varying Balances of Power
- Congress and the President
- Powers in the Constitution as Seen by the Framers
- Congress
- Article I
- Long list of legislative powers
- Necessary and Proper Clause (elastic clause)
- Commerce Clause
- Bicameral
- Power divided
- Shared and exclusive powers for each House
- Advice and Consent of the Senate
- Revenue bills must begin in the House
- Law Making
- Shared with President
- Approval of both Houses necessary
- Override power
- War Powers
- Removal of the President
- Appropriation of Money
- Other Formal Powers listed in Article I
- More numerous than those of the Preident
- Size can be a weakness
- Seen by the Framers as the most dangerous
- Legislature divided and Executive fortified
- The President
- Article II
- Framers wanted a strong executive to enforce (execute) the laws but list of enumerated powers is much shorter
- Executive power shall be vested in the President
- Single executive
- Role in Lawmaking
- Head of state and government
- Power to convene Congress
- Appointment power
- Advice and Consent of Senate
- Power to make treaties
- Advice and Consent of the Senate
- Executive Agreement
- War Powers
- Commander in Chief of the military
- Pardoning power
- Inherent Powers
- Development and Expansion of Powers
- Congress
- Early formation of Political Parties affected organization
- Rather weak during first presidents
- Dominated the Presidency through most of 1800s with a few exceptions (Came one vote short of removing Andrew Johnson)
- Andrew Jackson
- Abraham Lincoln
- Informal powers developed through court cases
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- Necessary and Proper Clause
- Gibbons v. Ogden
- Subsequent cases dealing with these clauses have consistently expanded the powers of Congress until recently
- Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
- Millionaires Club
- Powers grew along with the federal government and the bureaucracy during the Great Depression and World War II
- Growth of Bureaucracy created numerous opportunities for congressmen to gain favor with their constituents - Dodd, Fiorinna
- The President
- First presidents established presidential authority
- Washington claimed inherent powers
- Cabinet meetings
- Prominent role of executive in foreign affairs
- Primacy of national government
- After Jefferson, only two powerful presidents in the 1800s
- Andrew Jackson
- Spoils System
- Extensive use of veto
- Supremacy of national government
- Very popular
- Abraham Lincoln
- Civil War (Emergency)
- Inherent powers
- Suspension of some constitutional rights
- Teddy Roosevelt
- Progressive
- Use government to fix societal problems
- Trustbuster
- Health regulations
- National Parks
- Bully Pulpit
- FDR
- Game Changer
- Birth of the Modern (Imperial - Rossiter) Presidency
- Set the Agenda for Congress
- Elected four times
- Very popular although also controversial
- New Deal
- Massive government response to Great Depression
- Change in public perception of role of government and the President
- Creation of modern bureaucracy
- President is the head of the Bureaucracy
- Exponential growth of federal government
- Laws, Regulations, Agencies, and People
- World War II
- Emergency enhances president's power
- U.S. troops serve all over the world
- President is Commander in Chief
- Roosevelt became major player world politics
- Manhattan Project
- Government Restrictions on Public and Industry
- Rationing of products
- Nationalization of some industries
- Led to Cold War
- Personalization of the Presidency
- Fireside Chats
- Radio precedent led to TV and other media
- Power of Persuasion - Neusdadt
- Congress and the President Since FDR
- Cold War creates continuous emergency leading to an increase in presidential power
- U.S. troops remain in countries all over the World
- Truman Doctrine
- Hot wars in Korea and Vietnam
- Military Industrial Complex
- Nuclear Weapons
- Leader of the free world
- Increased power of the president as head of a massive bureaucracy
- Congress has tendency to disperse power within the institution as a result of the bureaucracy
- Tends to unify and fight back against presidents who gain too much power - Dodd
- Congressional Oversight over Bureaucracy and Executive Branch
- TV increases the reach and effectiveness of the bully pulpit and therefore presidential power
- The Internet and other new media?
- Both branches now compete for power with the bureaucracy to some degree
- Bureaucratic discretion and adjudication
- Quasi-legislative powers of the bureaucracy
- Roles of the Modern President
- Chief Law Enforcer
- Leader of the Party
- Commander in Chief of the Military
- Sets National Agenda
- Chief Legislator
- Head of State
- Conflict Between the Congress and the Presidency since FDR
- Twenty Second Amendment
- Cooperation during 1950s and 1960s
- Even with divided government
- Eisenhower and the Cold War
- Kennedy and Johnson
- Civil Rights
- The Great Society
- Imperial Presidency
- Vietnam War
- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
- Johnson and Nixon
- Protest and erosion of presidential popularity and therefore power
- TV
- Worked against the President in this situation
- Watergate Scandal
- Congressional Oversight
- Impeachment Proceedings
- Nixon Resigned
- Backlash by Congress against the Imperial Presidency in the 1970s
- Congressional Budget Office
- War Powers Act
- Carter Was A Weak President Even With a Democratic Congress
- Independent Prosecutor
- Most Presidents Since Nixon have been investigated for Something
- Some Cooperation in the 1980s between Reagan and a Democratic Congress, but then the Iran/Contra Scandal
- Clinton and Congress
- Whitewater
- Healthcare Reform
- 1994 Election
- Republicans Win the House first in40 years
- Cooperation
- Welfare Reform
- NAFTA
- Balanced Budget
- Clashes Over Budget
- Government Shutdown
- Clinton Won
- Impeachment
- Linkages Between Institutions and the Following
- Public Opinion and Voters
- Interest groups
- Political Parties
- The Media
- State and Local governments
- Reading Assignments
- The Journal
- My Poli Sci Lab
Sabato
- Chapter 10 - The Judiciary
- Chapter 8 - The Presidency
- Chapter 9 - The Exective Branch and the Federal Bureaucracy
- Chapter 7 - Congress
Woll
Other
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