Bureaucracy & Relations with Other Institutions

Announcements:

Executive Branch (Presidency & Bureaucracy) Quiz: Tuesday, December 10th
Review Sheet for Executive Branch quiz

Congressional Quiz Retakes: If you are not satisfied with your performance on the quiz over the legislative branch, you may opt to take a retake of that quiz. Please complete at least six assigned Khan Academy modules before the retake.

READING: 409-440 in Edwards

UNIT TWO IDENTIFICATION TERMS

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Today's Essential Question: What is the relationship of the bureaucracy to other institutions and how can its power be kept in check?

Learning Standards:
PMI-2.D: Explain how the president ensures that executive branch agencies and departments carry out their responsibilities in concert with the goals of the administration
PMI-2.D.1: Presidential ideology, authority, and influence affect how executive branch agencies carry out the goals of the administration.
PMI-2.C: Explain how Congress uses its oversight power in its relationship with the executive branch.
PMI-2.E: Explain the extent to which governmental branches can hold the bureaucracy accountable given the competing interests of Congress, the president, and the federal courts.
PMI-2.C.1: Oversight and methods used by Congress to ensure that legislation is implemented as intended are represented by:

• Committee hearings 
• Power of the purse 

PMI-2.C.2: As a means to curtail the use of presidential power, congressional oversight serves as a check of executive authorization and appropriation.
PMI-2.D.2: Compliance monitoring can pose a challenge to policy implementation.
PMI-2.E.1: Formal and informal powers of Congress, the president, and the courts over the bureaucracy are used to maintain its accountability.

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Bureaucracy & Relations with Other Institutions

The size and power of the bureaucracy has grown immensely over the last century and many contend that it wields a disproportionate amount of influence in our governmental system. Today, we will look at the concerns about the bureaucracy, its interactions with other branches, and what checks are imposed on the bureaucracy by the other branches.

First, read this article, The Rise of the Fourth Branch of Government

What is the author's main argument? What supporting evidence does he have? What can be done to address the problem? As you read, either annotate the GoogleDoc (make a copy) or jot down information in your notes.

 







Link to Bureaucracy Video

Checks on Presidential Power

Announcements:

Junior Boys: Do you love government? Want to gain leadership skills? Then Missouri Boys State may be right up your alley. There will be an informational meeting about this 8 day experience on Friday, Nov. 22 during 3rd hour. If you're interested in attending the info meeting, please send Mrs. Eikel an email and she will send a pass for you.

READING: 341-378 in Edwards

UNIT TWO IDENTIFICATION TERMS

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Today's Essential Question: How can presidential powers be limited?


Learning Standards:
CON-4.B: Explain how the president’s agenda can create tension and frequent confrontations with Congress.

CON-4.B.1: The potential for conflict with the Senate depends upon the type of executive branch appointments, including:

• Cabinet members 
• Ambassadors 
• White House staff 

CON-4.B.2: Senate confirmation is an important check on appointment powers, but the president’s longest lasting influence lies in life-tenured judicial appointments.

CON-4.B.3: Policy initiatives and executive orders promoted by the president often lead to conflict with the congressional agenda.

Limits on Presidential Power
Although the President has many powers, both formal and informal, that does not mean that the President is all-powerful. In our constitutional system of separation of powers (more correctly shared powers) and checks and balances, there are limits to what the President can do. Today, we will look at some of the checks on Presidential power.

In your group, brainstorm the ways that Congress can limit the President. You should be able to come up with a minimum of 5-6.

The President's policy agenda and Congress's legislative agenda sometimes are at odds.

The judicial branch can also serve as an effective check on presidential power and several cases have addressed potential abuse of power.  Here are six cases that address presidential power.

Important Cases:

1. Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 1952

2. US v. Nixon, 1974

3. Clinton v. Jones, 1997

4. Clinton v. City of New York, 1998

5. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 2004

6. NLRB v. Canning, 2014

Using Oyez (or other reputable websites), research your assigned case, focusing on

• the facts of the case
• the constitutional question
• the Court's opinion & rationale

You will be sharing your findings with the rest of the class.

Constitutional Principles

Register for the AP Exam: Must be registered and paid for all AP exams by October 1st!


Homework due Monday: Read and answer the questions from this Annotated Brutus I 

Homework due Tuesday: Read and answer the questions from Federalist 51

CONSTITUTION TEST next Thursday: Constitution Test Review Sheet (must pass to graduate!)

Unit 1 Identification Terms--you should be done with the first section and working on the second section (Constitution)

Review of Checks & Balances Worksheet
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Learning Objectives:

PMI-1.A: Explain the constitutional principles of separation of powers and checks and balances.

PMI-1.B: Explain the implications of separation of powers and checks and balances for the U.S. political system.

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One reason the Constitution has endured for so long and our country has been so successful is the effectiveness of the constitutional principles. These ideas, embodied in the Constitution, are designed to limit power and protect the rights of the people from tyrannical government.

Here are the key constitutional principles:





















In-class check for understanding (GoogleDoc of these examples):

Constitutional Principles

Evaluate and explain what Constitutional Principle (Limited Government, Separation of Powers, Checks & Balances, Popular Sovereignty, Federalism) is illustrated in each of the following examples.

_________________1. Congress passes the Affordable Care Act.

_________________ 2. The Supreme Court upholds the challenge to the Affordable Care Act and rules it constitutional.

_________________ 3. The Department of Health and Human Services begins implementing the national part of the Affordable Care Act.

_________________ 4. States set up their own health care exchange programs for people to buy low cost insurance as part of the Affordable Care Act.

_________________ 5. Two of Missouri’s representative lose their re-election bid after supporting the Affordable Care Act.

_________________ 6. Congress votes to defund (not provide money in the budget) to the Department of Health and Human Services for the Affordable Care Act.

_________________ 7. The national government cannot restrict your religious beliefs.

_________________ 8. Congress proposes an amendment to repeal the 22nd Amendment and it is ratified by the states.

_________________ 9. The President orders a military strike against Syria.

_________________ 10. Congress moves to impeach President Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice.

__________________11. The police are not allowed in your home without a warrant.

__________________ 12. The citizens of Missouri vote against the Right to Work proposal.

__________________ 13. Only the national government can coin money.

__________________ 14. The president nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.



Videos for Review:

Checks & Balances

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Register for the AP Exam: Must be registered and paid for all AP exams by October 1st!


Homework due Friday: Complete the Checks & Balances worksheet (make a copy).

Homework due Monday: Read and answer the questions from this Annotated Brutus I 


CONSTITUTION TEST next Thursday: Constitution Test Review Sheet (must pass to graduate!)

Unit 1 Identification Terms--you should be done with the first section and working on the second section (Constitution)

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Learning Objective:

PMI-1.A: Explain the constitutional principles of separation of powers and checks and balances.

PMI-1.B: Explain the implications of separation of powers and checks and balances for the U.S. political system.

PMI-1.A.1: The powers allocated to Congress, the president, and the courts demonstrate the separation of powers
and checks and balances features of the U.S. Constitution.

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Checks & Balances

“The Constitutional Convention of 1787 is supposed to have created a government of ‘separated powers.’ It did nothing of the sort. Rather, it created a government of separated institutions sharing powers.” -Richard Neudstadt

In addition to separation of powers, the Framers crafted a government of limited powers by creating a system of checks and balances to ensure that each branch had some control over the others and that no one branch could ever have complete control.  Here are a few websites that explain checks and balances along with a few examples.

Social Studies Help Center: How does our system of checks and balances help limit power?

US Constitution Online: Constitutional Topic--Checks & Balances

American System of Checks & Balances

Checks and Balances: Internal Constraints on Government Power

The charts and videos below help illustrate how the system works with specific checks.

HOMEWORK: Complete the Checks & Balances worksheet (make a copy).

Videos for Review:

Separation of Powers

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Register for the AP Exam: Must be registered and paid for all AP exams by October 1st!

Homework for Thursday: Complete the separation of powers worksheet.

Quiz Today!: Quiz over Amendments (15pts)
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Learning Standards:

PMI-1.A: Explain the constitutional principles of separation of powers and checks and balances.

PMI-1.B: Explain the implications of separation of powers and checks and balances for the U.S. political system.

PMI-1.A.1: The powers allocated to Congress, the president, and the courts demonstrate the separation of powers and checks and balances features of the U.S. Constitution.

PMI-1.B.2: Impeachment, removal, and other legal actions taken against public officials deemed to have abused their power reflect the purpose of checks and balances.

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Impeachment?
Yesterday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump.



So, what exactly does impeachment mean and how does it work?

 


Next, read this article on why seven Democratic members of the House believe that impeachment is necessary. After reading the article, what are their reasons? Do you agree?

Separation of Powers and Checks & Balances

One of the key constitutional principles is separation of powers, dividing governmental powers among three branches. The chart below identifies how power is separated at the federal level.

Make a copy of this Google Doc and identify what branch is responsible for each item described.


Videos for Review: