The American Political System: Parties, Congress, and the Presidency

Posted on Aug 8, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

Party System

· A broad organization of U.S. politics comprising the two main parties: Republican and Democrat.

· America has had six different party systems.

Beginnings: First Party System (1789-1828) – Two factions: Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists, Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party.

Rise: Second Party System (1828-1860) – Democrats (Democrats evolved from the Democratic-Republican party during the Jacksonian era) and the Whig Party/Henry Clay’s American System (Henry Clay’s American System was an economic plan).

War + Reconstruction: Third Party System (1860-1896) – Regional powers all confronting each other over slavery. Republicans in the North, Democrats in the South and West.

Business + Reform: Fourth Party System (1896-1932) – Political aftermath of the Civil War. Republicans at this time were NOT the same as modern Republicans. They fought for big government during the Civil War.

Depression + New Deal: Fifth Party System (1932-1968) – Defined by the creation of the New Deal coalition in response to the Great Depression.

Sixth Party System (1972-Present) – Begun with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the Democrats losing their dominance of the South in the 1960s.

Miracle Glue

· “Political parties are the miracle glue of democratic politics.”

  • Parties can recruit and socialize leaders.
  • They create and nurture a political identity.
  • Parties act as mobilizers and signalers.

Two-Party System

· Where two major political parties dominate the government. One of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority or governing party while the other is the minority or opposition party.

  • The United States has had two political parties for much of its existence. Though the names of these parties have changed over time, the central controversies over the role of government in citizens’ lives have remained constant. The two parties we know today, the Democrats and the Republicans, have existed since 1856.
  • A third party will never work. Big parties would “gobble it up.”
  • Understand what a single-member district plurality is. The single-member plurality voting system (SMP) is the most commonly used voting system in the United States. SMP works with single–member districts, meaning geographically-defined districts that send one representative to a legislature. Pretty much the way we run the elections would never work due to the fact that it wouldn’t matter if there was a 3rd runner up. The way the electoral votes are, all the votes would go to the person who has the higher percentage. Example: If Trump had 40% electoral votes in MI and the other party had 17% of the votes, he would get all the votes for that state. So it wouldn’t matter if there was a 3rd party because of how we do the elections. This results in Stability: the two parties must appeal to the middle to win elections so the parties tend to be moderate. It also results in Ease: voters have only to decide between two parties.

Hyperpartisanship

· The rise of partisanship.

  • Partisan: The term is used for politicians who strongly support their party’s policies and are reluctant to compromise with their political opponents.
  • Polarization: Refers to the divergence of political attitudes to ideological extremes. Political polarization refers to the cases in which an individual’s stance on a given issue, policy, or person is more likely to be strictly defined by their identification with a particular political party (Democrat or Republican) or ideology.
  • Hyper-partisanship: Parties are very split, the ideas have very little overlap, and decisions are only made based on your party or partisanship.

· More contemporary partisanship.

  • Today, Democrats and Republicans deviate.
  • The political middle has disappeared.

Redistricting and Gerrymandering

· Redistricting – Drawing electoral district boundaries (following the decennial census). The process varies by state. In 32 states, state legislatures are tasked with redistricting.

· Gerrymandering – Only the House is subject to redistricting, which is the redrawing of the boundaries of congressional districts in a state to make them equal in population size. Based on the state’s allocation of congressional districts, the state legislature redraws the districts, and the only real limitation is that the boundaries must be contiguous.

  • Packing involves concentrating as many voters of one type into a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts. This is to create a majority-minority district.
  • Cracking involves spreading out voters of a particular type among many districts in order to deny them a sufficiently large voting bloc in any particular district. This is splitting the voters in an urban area among several districts where the majority of votes are suburban.

Leadership in Congress

  • The majority party controls the leadership structure.
  • Each party’s caucus chooses the party leadership: For the majority party, the top official is the Speaker of the House; and for the minority party, it is the minority leader.
  • Party Leadership
    • Speaker of the House
    • Majority Leader: The Speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader typically appoint the chairs and ranking members from the committees that originated the bills, and other members who have been active on the bill.
    • Minority Leader: The minority party leader on a committee is called the ranking member and is the member of the committee from the minority party with the greatest seniority.
    • Whips: Officials whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. They ensure members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than individual views.

Senate: President Pro Tempore: The majority party senator with the longest senate service, who has formal presiding power, but there is another majority leader who doesn’t formally preside who is elected by the other senators.

Committee System

· Committee chairs decide which bills receive hearings and which go on to markup. They are also responsible for setting the meeting in which committee members write the version of the bill that they send to the entire chamber for a vote.

· Types: Standing, Select, Joint

  • Preference is given to the majority party’s interests.
  • Committee chairs have powerful roles. They are typically the majority party member who has the most seniority (longest time) on the committee.
  • The minority party leader on a committee is called the ranking member and is the member of the committee from the minority party with the greatest seniority.

Caucuses

· In addition to committees in the House and Senate, there are also advocacy caucuses, groups whose members have a common interest and work together to promote that interest.

  • Nearly 300 caucuses exist in Congress, such as:
    • Congressional Black Caucus
    • Women’s Caucus
    • Senate Steel Caucus
  • Members join a caucus because it gives them an opportunity to work closely with colleagues to represent specific interests and to draw attention to issues that are of concern to them and to their constituents.

Enumerated Powers

· Congress has the ability to declare war.

· Understand the importance of the enumerated powers of Congress.

The Legislative Process (How a Bill Becomes a Law and the Things That Stop It)

· The lawmaking process starts with an idea.

  • When an idea is agreed upon, the House or Senate members’ staff consults with the Office of Legislative Counsel, turning the general outlines of a bill into the technical language that will alter the U.S. Code (the set of federal laws that governs the United States).
  • After approving the final legal language of the bill, the member introduces the bill into the respective chamber (House or Senate), an action known as bill sponsorship.
  • Once the bill is introduced, other members can sign on to be cosponsors.

· To proceed from committee to the House floor, all bills must pass through the House Rules Committee.

  • The Rules Committee maintains control before the bill goes to the floor by issuing a rule dictating the length of debate and how many amendments may be considered.
  • A closed rule means no amendments may be offered at all.
  • A modified closed rule allows a few amendments.
  • An open rule allows any number of amendments.
  • The majority party uses its numerical advantage to structure floor debate to limit the minority party’s opportunity to amend or change a bill.

· When a bill is sent to the full House or Senate, it’s commonly known as “going to the floor.”

  • Debate in the House is heavily structured and most members are allowed no more than five minutes to speak on a measure, leaving almost no time for actual deliberation among members.
  • In the Senate, there are few limits on the time allowed to members to speak on an issue on the floor.

· The conference committee. For a bill to become law, the House and Senate have to pass an identically worded version of it to send to the president for his signature.

· The last stage in the congressional legislative process is when the House and Senate meet in conference committee to resolve any differences that exist in the versions that passed each chamber.

· The Speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader appoint the chairs and ranking members from the committees that originated the bills, and other members who have been active on the bill.

· Things that stop a bill: …………..

· Filibuster

  • Filibuster: Talking a bill to death in the Senate.
  • Unless the person stopped talking, there is no way to vote on a bill.
  • They can read anything or say anything or ask anything.
  • They cannot lose control of the floor.
  • Cloture is a motion to end debate – it needs 60 votes.
  • If cloture wins, another 30 hours of debate lasts.
  • Post-Civil Rights Movement, the Senate realized it cannot stop functions because of a filibuster.
  • They came up with the two-track system, always having two bills under consideration so if you begin to filibuster, they just move onto the next bill.
  • You don’t even need to speak to filibuster a bill, they just move on at the risk of a filibuster.

Expectations Gap (The Struggle for Power)

· High public expectations but limited constitutional authority means presidents rely on informal powers.

· The struggle for power.

  • Power to persuade: Presidents have the power to persuade.
  • Presidents cannot command Congress to act because Congress is a separate branch.
  • Congress can force anyone to do anything. Is this true? What about checks and balances?
  • Going public: The president’s strategy of appealing to the public on an issue, expecting public pressure will be brought to bear on other political actors — the bully pulpit.
  • Persuading Congress: No easy task. Must recognize the importance of maintaining informal contacts with Congress as a means of facilitating trust and open lines of communication.
  • Ultimate objective: Produce public support that encourages lawmakers to push his ideas through the congressional obstacle course.

· President v. Congress

  • The president’s ability to influence Congress (get them to do the president’s bidding) is limited.
  • Presidents with unified governments are more effective in directing congressional attention to their priorities.
  • Presidential power to set the agenda is conditional on presidential approval.

· Should we know case studies for this? Such as the Barack Obama one and the battle of executive orders? I don’t think so, normally he tells us if we need to remember a case.

The Evolution of the Presidency

Initially a very weak position, nothing much to do.

Constitutional Powers (Veto, Appointment, etc.)

  • Impeachment
    • Congress’ ultimate check on the executive and judicial branches is its power to remove officials and judges from office by impeachment.
  • Lawmaking
    • Congress, as the legislative branch, is responsible for lawmaking.
  • Grant Powers
  • Veto: The veto was mainly little used before FDR.
    • Excluding Grover Cleveland, FDR had more vetoes than all other predecessors combined.
    • A line-item veto was passed during the Clinton presidency… by a Republican House.
      • The Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1998, saying that the Constitution states that bills be presented and approved or rejected as a whole.

Signing Statements/EO

· Executive orders: Clarification of congressional policy issued by the president and having the full force of law.

  • Power to clarify how to execute law but may fundamentally change law.
  • Historically responsible for major policy shifts.

· Signing statements: Often confused with executive orders. When the president signs legislation enacted by Congress, he may issue a written statement commenting on his actions. Some presidents have criticized the constitutional authority of Congress to make the law in question when issuing these. No law prohibits signing statements, the Constitution does not allow for the President to cherry-pick.

What is Bureaucracy?

  • An organization characterized by hierarchical structure (a ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks, each subordinate to the one above it), worker specialization, explicit rules, and advancement by merit.
    • The executive branch…
  • A system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives. They pretty much fact-check everything.
  • Controlled by the people, the president, Congress, interest groups, bureaucratic autonomy, and democracy revisited.
  • It is not liked.
  • Classic definition from Max Weber
    • Hierarchy: Clear chain of command and responsibility.
    • Specialization: Tasks divided by expertise.
    • Explicit rules: Rules rather than preferences govern decisions; have standardization, predictability.
    • Merit: Hiring based on exams and experience, not politics.
  • Why is bureaucracy necessary?
    • Large tasks require organization and specialization.
    • Bureaucracies exist in the private sector, too.
    • Because expertise is required in many decisions, democracy is not the best way to make every decision.
    • Certain types of businesses, like the US Post Office, would not turn a profit in the private sector and would not survive.
  • Possible drawbacks of bureaucracy
    • Consequences in a rule-based system.
    • More accountability exists with all these rules, but this is less clear in public bureaucracies.
  • Evolution of bureaucracy
    • Bureaucracy was not created intentionally. It is not as a coherent structure and more like a patchwork quilt.
    • Departments created to respond to demands of clientele groups: of farmers who pushed for the Department of Agriculture and veterans for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  • Roles of federal bureaucracy
    • Bureaucracy as administrator
      • Implement laws passed by Congress.
    • Bureaucracy as rule maker
      • Congress relies on bureaucratic discretion.
    • Bureaucracy as judge
      • Interprets laws within a department or agency.

Spoils System

  • A system in which government jobs are given out as political favors.
  • Senator William Marcy gave it its name.
  • It’s like you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
  • The original bureaucracy of the federal government consisted only of employees from three small departments – state, treasury, and war.
  • Andrew Jackson is regarded as the president who entrenched the patronage, or “spoils” system.
  • The Pendleton Act ended the spoils system after Garfield’s assassination.


Clientele Groups

  • Do not need to memorize types of departments.
  • Groups of citizens whose interests are affected by an agency or a department and who work to influence politics.
  • Agencies meant to serve a particular clientele such as farmers.
    • Ex. Farmers for the Department of Agriculture.
    • Ex. Veterans for the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Four Components of the Bureaucracy

1. Cabinet Powers – 15 Cabinet departments headed by a secretary.

Each manages its own specific policy area.

Each is divided into smaller units.

Job: The Department of the Treasury manages the revenue of the U.S.

2. Independent Executive Agencies – Placed outside departments.

Established by Congress and the President.

Job: CIA, NASA, and Selective Service System

3. Independent Regulatory Agencies – Responsible for some sector of the economy.

Designed to maintain their independence.

Job: Federal Reserve Board, FCC, SEC

4. Government Corporations – Business-like.

Headed by a CEO.

Job: US Postal Service

Iron Triangle

The alliance between Congress (congressional committees), Bureaucracy, and Interest Groups. Be familiar with the triangle model.

· Model of Washington’s Power

· Tight, closed links among three powers: interest groups, congressional committee chairs, and administration officials.

· Congress depends on interest groups.

· Congress gives interest groups access, appointments, and supportive legislation.

· While, interest groups give Congress contributions, votes, and intelligence.

· Bureaucracies depend on Congress.

· Congress gives bureaucracies execution of policies and benefits to voters.

· Bureaucracies approve budgets, political support, and appointments to Congress.

Citizens seem unable to check bureaucracy.

  • Citizen advisory councils, but typically people are biased toward the policy.
  • Sunshine laws allow citizens to see when meetings are held.
  • Freedom of Information Act—get copies of agency info.
  • Privacy Act (1974)—access to agency files on oneself.