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

1. Unit 3: RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN… OR AT LEAST INTERPRETED American Government Coach Vasilchek

2. 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.

5. Unique powers of congress • What powers are unique to the House of Representatives? The Senate? • House of Representatives • Initiate revenue (tax) bills • Choose the President when the electoral college is deadlocked (Election of 1800) • Impeachment • Senate • Treaty ratification • Confirmation of judicial and executive appointments • Impeachment Trials

6. Character of congress • Which chamber of Congress is more responsive to the needs of people? What evidence supports this? • House of Representatives; serve 2 year terms (always bidding for re-election) • Which chamber of Congress is more responsive to the needs of the nation? What evidence supports this? • Senate; serves 6 year terms (less concerned with re-election)

7. 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.

9. Essential Question • What are the structures and powers of the legislative branch?

10. The Origin and Powers of Congress • The Great Compromise • Representation in the House is based on population • Each state has two senators (equal representation for small states)

11. Electing Congress • The Incumbency Effect • Incumbent: a 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

12. How Issues Get onthe Congressional Agenda • Agenda: the broad, imprecise, and unwritten agenda comprising all the issues an institution is considering • Many issues have been on the agenda a long time • Other issues emerge suddenly, often due to technological change

13. 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

14. 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

15. Essential Question • What are the steps of the legislative process?

16. How a BILL BECOMES A LAW • VIDEO LINK: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0

17. The Legislative Process

18. The Dance of Legislation: An Overview • Series of specific steps, but legislation can be treated differently at each step • Introduction  Assigned to committee  Assigned to subcommittee • Subcommittee may hold hearings; bill is modified or revised; if passed is sent to full committee • Bill approved by full committee is reported to the entire chamber • Chamber may debate, amend, and pass or defeat

19. The Dance of Legislation: An Overview • Bills coming out of House committees go to Rules Committee • Rules committee attaches rule to the bill that governs floor debate • On major legislation, rules can be complex • Senate does not have comparable committee

20. The Dance of Legislation: An Overview • Senate and House versions have to be reconciled by Conference Committee • Compromise version has to go to both houses for a vote • If both chambers approve, bill goes to president

21. The Dance of Legislation: An Overview • 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

22. Essential Question • What are the roles of committees and leadership in Congress?

23. Committees:The Workhorses of Congress • 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

24. Committees: The Workhorses of Congress • Congressional Expertise and Seniority • 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

25. Committees: The Workhorses of Congress • Public policy decision-making takes place in committees • Committees hold hearings: session in which committee members listen to testimony on issues related to a bill • Markup Sessions: the meetings at which committees debate and amend legislation

26. 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

27. The Legislative Environment • Political Parties • Have limited, but important, resources to influence members of Congress • Party leaders can help or hinder rank-and-file members in many ways • Partisanship is rising

28. House Leadership

29. Senate Leadership

30. GPS Standard • 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.

31. Essential Question • What are the outside influences on members of Congress and the legislative process?

32. The Legislative Environment • The President • Presidents capitalize on nationwide popular election • Public expects president to be legislator-in-chief • Hundreds of legislative liaison personnel work for executive branch

33. The Legislative Environment • Constituents • Constituents: people who live and work in a government official’s district • Members have to think about what the voters at home want

34. The Dilemma of Representation • Members of Congress live in two worlds • Washington: dealing with great issues of national concern • District or State: meeting with constituents, giving speeches to local groups • Legislators work hard to keep in touch with constituents

35. The Dilemma of Representation • 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

36. Interest Groups in America • Interest Group: a group of people with common goals who organize to influence government • Roles of Interest Groups • Representation • Participation • Education • Agenda Building • Program Monitoring

37. Interest Group Resources • Membership • One of the most valuable resources a group can have is a large and politically active membership • Members provide political muscle and financial resources • Maintaining Membership • Ideological appeals • Direct mail • The Internet

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

39. Political Action Committees • A political committee that raises and spends limited "hard" money contributions for the express purpose of electing or defeating candidates. Organizations that raise soft money for issue advocacy may also set up a PAC. Most PACs represent business, such as the Microsoft PAC; labor, such as the Teamsters PAC; or ideological interests, such as the EMILY's List PAC or the National Rifle Association PAC. An organization's PAC will collect money from the group's employees or members and make contributions in the name of the PAC to candidates and political parties. Individuals contributing to a PAC may also contribute directly to candidates and political parties, even those also supported by the PAC. A PAC can give $5,000 to a candidate per election (primary, general or special) and up to $15,000 annually to a national political party. PACs may receive up to $5,000 each from individuals, other PACs and party committees per year. A PAC must register with the Federal Election Commission within 10 days of its formation, providing the name and address of the PAC, its treasurer and any affiliated organizations.

40. Interest Groups and Bias • Citizen Groups: lobbying organizations built around policy concerns unrelated to members’ vocational interests • Poverty groups represent the interests of the poor • Other citizen groups focus on environmental protection, consumer protection, family values, good government, equality for various groups

41. Interest Groups and Bias • Business Mobilization:Business lobbies increased in 1970s and 1980s • Almost 2/3 of all organizations lobbying on all issues are business-related

42. Interest Group Resources • Lobbyists • 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

43. 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

44. 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.

45. GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONS/INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES • A GOVERNMENT CORPORATION IS 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 (those headed by a Cabinet secretary). 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. • CIA, FBI, DEA

46. 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

47. 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.