CHAPTER 7: The Executive Branch NAME

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 7: The Executive Branch NAME VOCAB 1. ELECTORAL COLLEGE: See chapter 3. Group of people who elect the President and Vice-President of the United States. 2. ELECTOR: individual designated/elected by the state to cast the electoral votes in a Presidential election. 3. DISPLAY: to show 4. OUTCOME: the result of an action 5. EXECUTIVE ORDER: power of the President to issue an order that has the force of law. 6. PARDON: forgiving a person for committing a crime 7. REPRIEVE: delaying someone's punishment 8. AMNESTY: a pardon for a group of people 9. POLICY: a guiding course of action 10. FOREIGN POLICY: a nation's plan for dealing with other nations 11. NATIONAL SECURITY: the safety of our country from outside attacks 12. TREATY: an agreement between two countries. In the USA this is made by the President and approved by the Senate. 13. EXECUTIVE AGREEMENT: an agreement between our President and another nation's leader. Unlike a treaty, this doesn't require Senate approval. 14. AMBASSADOR: a representative of another nation's government within another country. 15. TRADE SANCTION: restrictions on trade to punish a country. 16. EMBARGO: refusal to trade with another country 17. CABINET: group of advisors to the President, which consist of the 15 heads of the Executive Departments. 18. FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY: collective agencies and employees of the executive branch. 19. GOVERNMENT CORPORATION: a business owned and operated by the federal government, such as the post office. 20. POLITICAL APPOINTEE: a person appointed by the President for a federal office. 21. CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM: system of hiring civilians for government jobs. 22. SPOILS SYSTEM: system of handing out federal jobs on the basis of party and/or personal loyalty. 23. MERIT SYSTEM: system of handing out federal jobs on the basis of qualifications. 24. CIVIL SERVICE WORKER: someone hired to work into a government position.

2 VOCAB REVIEW 1. President Obama granted a PARDON to Billy, which released him from prison after he was convicted on charges of grand larceny. 2. The USA currently has an EMBARGO with Cuba, which prevents us from trading with them. 3. Under the SPOILS SYSTEM, people were given political jobs based on party loyalty. 4. The USA and France drew up a TREATY where both countries agreed to invest money in each other's economies. 5. The ELECTORAL COLLEGE elects the President. 6. The President has a group of advisors called the CABINET which is made up of the leaders of the 15 executive departments. 7. The US Postal Service is a GOVERNMENT CORPORATION since it is owned/operated by the US government. 8. John Smith was granted a REPREIEVE which delayed his execution until an appeals hearing was completed. 9. The President has the power to issue an EXECUTIVE ORDER, which is a command that has the force of a law. 10. Under the MERIT SYSTEM political jobs are determined by how qualified a person is able to perform that job.

3 7.1: THE PRESIDENT (Basic info) 1. The primary job of executive branch (and President, which they are a part of) is to enforce laws. 2. There are three requirements to become U.S. President; a. Must be 35 b. Must be a natural-born citizen c. Must be a resident of the USA for at least 14 years 7.2: THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND VICE-PRESIDENT 3. As you learned in Chapter 3, the President is elected by the electoral college. Before you think your vote doesn't matter - let me assure you... IT DOES. It's just calculated differently. a. Each state has a set # of electoral votes. The number of electoral votes a state has is determined by the number of representatives a state has in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate. (For example, NC has 13 people in the House of Representatives and 2 in the Senate - which gives NC 15 electoral votes.) b. On Election Day, whichever candidate gets the most votes in a state gets ALL of that state's electoral votes. The loser gets nothing. This is why this process is referred to as a "winner-take-all" system. c. In order to win a Presidential election, a candidate must acquire 270 electoral votes. If nobody can acquire that amount, then the House of Representatives votes - and the winner of that vote becomes President. d. Many feel this is a flawed system. One problem that opponents point out is that this system makes it very possible for someone to win - without even getting the majority popular vote in the country. They also feel this system gives too much power in the process to larger states - which can lead to smaller states to be ignored. 4. US Presidents serve 4-year terms. They can serve a maximum of 2 terms, or 10 years. This limit was established by the 22nd Amendment (Chapter 4) after Franklin Roosevelt ran for and won four consecutive elections. Many felt having a President in office TOO long was detrimental (problematic) for a democracy. 5. The Vice-President is the hand-picked individual who runs for office with a President. Before they changed it to where the President/Vice-President ran as team, the VP used to be whoever lost the election. The only have expressed power or job identified by the Constitution a VP has, is to serve as the leader of the Senate and to break ties in Senate votes. Other than that, they do whatever the President needs them to do. 7.3 PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION 6. As time has passed, this process has been clarified. a. The Presidential Succession Act identified in order whom would take over the role of President if they are unable to do their job. The Act lists 18 individuals who are in line if something were to happen. The first four successors are; Vice-President, Speaker of the House, President Pro Tempore, and the Secretary of the State. b. The 25th Amendment explained the exact process to be followed in the event a President leaves office in the middle of a term.

4 7.4: DUTIES/ROLES OF THE PRESIDENT 7. Aside from enforcing the laws passed by Congress, the President has several other duties; a. Vetoing bills (remember, Congress CAN override a veto!) b. Serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces c. Serve as the spokesperson for our country d. Make treaties with other countries - which are approved by the Senate. (The President also has the power to make an executive agreement which is similar, except it doesn't require Senate approval.) e. Appoint the heads of executive offices and nominates individuals to serve as federal judges - both of which require Senate approval. f. Can pardon criminals. 8. The President has several roles they fill while doing their job; a. CHIEF EXECUTIVE: This role involves the President carrying out the laws for our nation. They have the assistance of 15 executive departments. The President does have the ability to issue an executive order, which has the force of a law. Usually executive orders are used for minor issues, but they have been used for major ones on occasion for example, Harry Truman issued an executive order in 1948 to integrate the armed forces. b. CHIEF DIPLOMAT: The President makes key decisions for our foreign policy (how we deal with other nations.) c. COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF: The President is in charge of our armed forces and can use them when necessary, for example to carry out our foreign policy. d. LEGISLATIVE LEADER: while it is the job of the Legislative branch to pass laws, the President does have some influence over this process. He or she can influence members of Congress to pass laws they like. e. HEAD OF STATE: this role involves the President being the symbol of our nation. This consists of greeting foreign dignitaries (officials) and participating in special events such as ceremonies or giving out medals. f. ECONOMIC LEADER: One of the things the people expect the President to do is make sure the economy runs well. Therefore, the President does whatever they can to ensure the economy prospers. They are in charge of planning the federal government s budget. g. PARTY LEADER: The President is the leader of their political party. They are expected to do whatever it takes to help their political party, whether it s giving speeches supporting their fellow party members or helping raise money. 7.5: THE PRESIDENT AND FOREIGN POLICY 9. Foreign policy is how we refer to other nations. The primary goal of foreign policy is ensure national security. Other goals include promoting trade, democracy, and world peace. 10. The State Department, Defense Department, CIA, and National Security Council help the President in forming foreign policy. 11. Foreign policy is one area that power is shared between the executive and legislative branches. This division of power has shifted back and forth over time. After WW2, the President held most of the power. After the Vietnam War, Congress took most of the power. When the "War on Terrorism" began in the early 90's, the President took control. As of right now, most power lies in the hand of Congress.

5 12. The President has several things they can use to make foreign policy work; a) TREATIES AND EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS: a treaty is an official agreement between two or more nations. Some of these involve national defense, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while others involve trade and economics. All treaties must be approved by the Senate. The President can bypass that process by making an executive agreement, which is an agreement between the leaders of two countries. b) APPOINTING AMBASSADORS: An ambassador is a representative from another country. Ambassadors are appointed by the President and approved by yep, the Senate. c) FOREIGN AID: The USA sends lots of money out to other countries. d) INTERNATIONAL TRADE: If a country is doing something that goes against our foreign policy, we can restrict trade with that country. Punishing a country by imposing trade barriers is called trade sanctions. The most common form of trade sanction is an embargo, which is an agreement between nations to NOT trade with a target nation. e) MILITARY FORCE: While the President can send troops at any time, Congress must approve the troops being wherever they are sent within 60 days. If they are not, then the troops must return home. 7.6: THE CABINET AND EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 13. The Cabinet is the President's advisors in nearly every matter. The members of this group are the leaders of the 15 executive departments. Their job is to keep the President informed concerning their department and to assist the President in creating policy in their area. 14. The first three executive departments were the Department of State, Department of Treasury, and Department of War (later renamed to Defense). For all 15 departments, you will have a chart to fill in, which will identify all of them and their function. 7.7: INDEPENDENT AGENCIES AND THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM 15. INDEPENDENT AGENCIES: there are three types of independent agencies: EXECUTIVE AGENCIES: they deal with specialized areas of the government. For example, our space program is handled by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). EXECUTIVE CORPORATIONS: these are businesses that the government owns and operates. They are not supposed to make a profit. The Postal Service (you know the mail people) is a prime example of a government corporation. REGULATORY BOARDS/COMMISSIONS: their job is to regulate (watch over and enforce rules) certain industries or groups. For example, the Federal Communications Commission regulates what television stations show on TV or what we hear on the radio. People who serve on these boards or commissions are appointed by the President and approved by (you ll never guess) the Senate. The only way they can be removed from their position is if Congress impeaches them. 16. The civil service system is how civilians (non-military individuals) can earn jobs with the federal government. The first system was called the spoils system, which handed out jobs based on personal/political loyalty. This system's flaws was made apparent after President James Garfield was assassinated by a man who was upset he didn't get the job he felt he deserved. Afterwards, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which replaced the spoils system with the merit system. Under the merit system, individuals who wish to pursue federal jobs with the executive branch or its agencies must prove they are qualified for the job.

6 CHAPTER 7 REVIEW 1. What are the three qualifications to be the president of the USA? a. Must be 35 b. Must be a natural-born citizen c. Must be a resident of the USA for at least 14 years 2. What are some characteristics of our previous US presidents? Meant to omit this question... but most had backgrounds in law, Caucasian, came from large states 3. How often do presidential elections take place? Every 4 years 4. What determines the number of electoral votes a state gets in a presidential election? The number of representatives a state has in the US House of Representatives and Senate 5. The electoral system is a winner-take-all system. Because the loser in the state election gets NOTHING What constitutional amendment limited presidents to no more than two terms? 22nd Amendment... see chapter 4

7 7. What are the qualifications to become vicepresident of the USA? Same as President. 8. What did Congress pass in 1947, which listed the people in line to take over the presidency if something were to happen to the president? Presidential Succession Act 9. What amendment spelled out the process to be followed if the president died or left office? 25th Amendment... see chapter What article of the Constitution explains the president s job and powers? Article 2... see CHapter What is the MAIN job of the president, according to the Constitution? To enforce the laws passed by Congress 12. How many major roles does the president have? 7. Counting is tough... I know. 13. What are the major roles the president has? Chief executive, chief diplomat, commander-inchief, legislative leader, head of state, economic leader, party leader.

8 14. What are some things the president can do as chief executive? Issuing executive orders 15. What does it mean, that the president is head of state? Means the President is the symbol of our nation. 16. What is the main goal of foreign policy? To protect national security (safety of our nation) 17. What are the goals of foreign policy? Promoting trade, promoting democracy, and ensuring world peace

9 18. The Constitution divides the power to conduct military and foreign affairs between what two branches of government? Congress (Legislative) and Executive 19. After WWII, who mostly controlled foreign policy? President 20. After the Vietnam War, who mostly controlled foreign policy? Congress. (People were angry about the Vietnam War and blamed the President) 21. After 9/11 and the War on Terrorism, who took control of foreign policy? President 22. What is the cabinet? The President's advisors who consist of the 15 executive departments 23. What were the three original executive departments? Department of Treasury, War, and State 24. How many executive departments do we have today? 15

10 25. Agencies that handle a large part of the executive branch s responsibilities are known as? Independent agencies. Yeah I should've made this more specific in the notes. 26. Executive Agencies deal with a specialized area of the government. 27. Government Corporations protect the public by controlling key industries. 28. What are some examples of government corporations? USPS (Post Office) 29. What are the two types of civil service systems? Spoils (party loyalty) and Merit (qualified) 30. What was passed in 1883, that eliminated the spoils system? Pendleton Act