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• State governments determine how elections are run and who can vote.
• The national government ensures the enforcement of amendments and civil rights legislation.
• Franchise is the right to vote.

Voting Models

• Rational Choice: voting based on what a person wants from the government
• Retrospective: considering how a candidate performed in the past
• Prospective: predictions of how a candidate will perform in the future
• Party Line: voting for all candidates of one political party

Voter Turnout

• Structural barriers, such as policy or laws, can impact voter turnout
• Voter ID laws, registration, and access to the ballot are examples of structural barriers
• Political Efficacy: the belief that one's vote matters
• Demographics: age, sex, race, education, and religion influence voter turnout
• Type of Election: presidential, midterm, or local elections affect voter turnout
• Poll tax: a payment required to vote, now illegal

National Voter Registration Act 1993

• Also known as the motor-voter law.
• Simplified voter registration and enhanced voter turnout/participation.

Amendments

• 14th Amendment: granted U.S. citizenship to former slaves
• States cannot violate a citizen's privileges or immunities.
• Due Process Clause: states must follow fair legal procedures before depriving someone of life, liberty, or property
• Equal Protection Clause prohibits states from denying any person equal protection of the laws within their jurisdiction.
• 15th Amendment: granted everyone the right to vote, including women and Black people.
• 17th Amendment dictates that the Senate is composed of two senators from each state.
• 19th Amendment: granted women the right to vote.
• 23rd Amendment: granted people in D.C. the right to vote and gives them electors.
• 24th Amendment: eliminated poll taxes or income taxes during elections.
• 26th Amendment: lowered the voting age to 18.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Prohibited discrimination and segregation.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Eliminated literacy tests.
• Prohibited discrimination when voting.
• Perdurance requires federal government to be informed of and approve changes to voting laws.

Congress

• Congress makes laws and manages the federal budget.

Federalist 51

• Authored by James Madison to support the Constitution
• Promotes the separation of powers and checks and balances.
• Article 1 addresses the structure of Congress.
• Congress is bicameral, consisting of two separate chambers.
• Differences exist between the House and Senate.

House of Representatives

• Representation is based on population.
• Has 435 members.
• Members are more connected to the people they represent.
• Representatives must be 25 years old.
• Representatives serve a 2-year term.
• More responsive because they are always up for reelection.

Senate

• Representation is equal, with 2 senators per state.
• Has 100 members.
• Senators are less connected to the people they represent.
• Senators must be 30 years old.
• Senators serve a 6-year term.
• Has unlimited debates.

House and Senate differences

• The House has limited debates and is typically less bipartisan.
• The Senate can get more done and is insulated from public pressure.

Specific Powers of Congress

• Senate: tries cases of impeachment, confirms presidential nominations, ratifies treaties with a 2/3 majority.
• House of Representatives: initiates cases of impeachment, originates all revenue bills, and elects the President if the electoral college ties.

Congressional Caucuses

• Groups of members of Congress who come together to pursue common legislative objectives.
• Caucuses can be party-based, ideological, or issue-based.

Committees

• Standing Committee: a permanent committee.
• Joint Committee: a committee with members from both houses, such as the Library of Congress.
• Select Committee: a temporary committee.
• Conference Committee: resolves differences in bills, after which both houses must pass the revised bill.

Senate Committees

• Foreign Relations: deals with treaties.
• Finance: handles money and debt.
• Appropriations: appropriates federal funds.
• Judiciary: oversees the administration of justice.

House of Representatives Committees

• Rules: manages the process between committees and the floor.
• Ways and Means: handles taxation bills.
• Appropriations: appropriates federal funds.
• Judiciary: oversees the administration of justice.

Leadership in Congress

• President of the Senate (VP): breaks ties in the Senate.
• President Pro Tempore: from the majority party, presides if the VP is absent.
• Majority and Minority Leaders: spokespersons for their party's positions and coordinate legislative strategies.
• Majority and Minority Whips: round up party members for votes and step in when majority and minority leaders are absent.

Federal Spending

• Mandatory spending: Social Security and Medicare.
• Discretionary spending: programs like prisons and climate initiatives.

Congressional Behavior

• Voting Models:
  • Delegate: Members should carry out constituents' wishes.
  • Trustee: Members should make decisions based on their knowledge.
  • Politico: Members balance their choices with the interests of their constituents and parties
• Partisanship indicates agreement between parties to pass legislation.
• Polarization: opinions in congress have become more extreme
• Gridlock: slow down or inability of Congress to legislate because both parties are divided.
• Lame Duck: period when Congress may block presidential initiatives and nominees.
• Redistricting: states redraw electoral district boundaries after each census.
• Gerrymandering: intentional use of redistricting meant to benefit a specific interest or group of voters
• Baker v. Carr 1962: established federal courts can hear cases about legislative districting, one person one vote

Shaw v. Reno 1993

• It Supreme Court ruled that racial gerrymandering violates the Equal Protection Clause.
• Congressional Oversight: Congress ensures executive branch agencies carry out policy/programs as intended.
• Sponsor: member of Congress who writes, presents, and supports a bill.
• Riders: additional items added to a bill.
• Pork barrel: negatively motivated earmarked funds for political gain/reelection.
• Omnibus: putting many bills into one bill that is then voted on.
• Log-rolling: agreement to vote for another's bill in exchange for a vote on one's own bill. Caucuses: groups of congress people organized around specific issues to promote the issue

Vocab Specific to House or Senate

• Committee of the Whole: open discussion on a bill to skip committee and quick to vote
• Discharge petition — petition to release bill from committee and bring it to the floor, needs majority to pass
• Filibuster: never stop talking to block a bill vote
• Cloture: can override a filibuster vote with 60 senators

Roles and Powers of the President

• Article II: Establishes the executive branch, responsible for enforcing laws.
• Informal Powers:
  • Executive orders: issued to federal agencies, carrying the force of law without congressional approval.
  • Agreements with foreign leaders/governments: made without congressional approval.
  • Ability to influence Congress and build coalitions to pass legislation.
  • Influencing the national policy agenda through speeches, proposals, or public statements
• Formal Powers:
  • Deploy troops.
  • Negotiate and sign treaties with Senate approval.
  • Represent the U.S. in foreign affairs and recognize foreign governments.
  • Appoint federal officials, recommend legislation, deliver the State of the Union address.
  • Grant pardons, reprieves, and commutations.
  • Ensure laws are faithfully executed and issue executive orders.

Roles of Prez and Vice Prez

• Prez: Commander in Chief of the Military, Voice of the People, Chief Diplomat, Chief Executive, Chief Manager of the Economy, Chief Legislator
• Vice Prez: Presides over the Senate and tie breaker, succeeds if prez dead, works with cabinet to declare prez unfit, advisor to prez, and represents the US at events
• Federalist 70: Alexander Hamilton argued for a strong executive for quick decisions in a democracy and to balance legislative power.
• The 22nd Amendment limits the president to 2 terms, ratified in 1951 to prevent too much power.
• Issue Networks: Webs of influence between interest groups, policy makers, and policy advocates.
• Political Patronage/Spoil System: Filling administrative positions as a reward for support, rather than on merit. Merit System (1883 Pendleton Civil Service Act): Hiring and promotion based on competitive testing, education, and other qualifications rather than politics

1883 Pendleton Civil Service Act

• Congress created 1st US Civil Service Commission, enforcing rules on hiring, promotion, and tenure.
• Discretionary authority: How agencies implement and interpret laws.
• Rule-making authority: Agencies can create, amend, or revoke rules and compel compliance.
• Executive Agencies: Includes TSA, Coast Guard, Border Patrol, Office of Head Start, and Space Development Agency.
• Departments: Includes Homeland Security, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and Education.
• Independent Regulatory Agencies: Watchdog agencies the president cannot fire, like the EPA, Federal Election Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Loper v. Raimondo (2024)

• Overturned the Chevron deference doctrine.
• Courts now have more authority to decide how laws should be interpreted.

Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable

• Congressional oversight: Committee hearings, investigative power, control of the budget.
• Influence on presidential appointments.
• Ability to tinker with the agency's budget, hold hearings, rewrite legislation for more detail.
• Relationship of President to Bureaucracy: ideology & authority
• To Appoint the right people, issue Executive Orders, tinker with agency's budget, reorganize an agency's compliance monitoring

President Communication

• Bully Pulpit: President's ability to use their position and visibility to influence public opinion and promote their agenda.
• State of the Union: An anual speech to Congress to discusses country's current situation, achievements and future plans
• Allows presidents to directly communicate with the public, to promote politics respond to crisis emergencies and reach the people through social media

Checks on the President

• Cabinet: A group of advisors to the President, including heads of executive departments.
• Checks by Legislative and Judicial Branches:
  • Legislative. Override vetoes, approve appointments and treaties, control budget
  • Judicial review — courts can declare executive actions unconstitutional

Lifetime Supreme Court Appointments

• Makes it difficult for a president to exert long-term influence.
• Senate confirmation process: Nomination by the President, Committee Review, Committee Vote, Senate Debate, Final Vote.
• Judicial appointment process Includes a nomination by Prez, senate judiciary committee and questions for nominee's qualifications and legal views, committee Vote, full senate debate, then Senate Confirmation Vote
• War Powers Resolution (1973): Limits the president's power to send military forces into combat without Congress's approval
• US law limits the president's power to send military forces without Congress's approval for long.

War Power Resolution Rules

• After Vietnam war that prez has to inform congress 48 hours prior to sending troops
• Troops stay only for 60 days without congressional approval with additional 30 day withdrawal before Congress orders president from removing troop any time

The Judicial Branch

• Article III establishes the judicial branch in congress like Supreme Court laws plus power of courts to interpret laws and rules
• Federalist 78 establishes roles of judicial branch
• Marbury v. Madison (1803): Established judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to review the power of Congress and the President.
• Judicial Review empowers the courts to decide if laws follow constitution (unconstitucional = struck down)
• District Courts: trial courts where most federal law cases happen with depending of geographics
• Supreme Court has the authority to interpret the constitution and review all cases
• Precedent is a past court case that serves decision making base for future Stare Decisis the doctrine that courts go to before making a decision writ of certiorari requests the document that asks higher courts to review decisions
• Rule of Four means there needs to be four justice votes for a approval

Opinions

• Majority Agreed upon more than half of the judges for votes and to concur
• Agrees with majority but but there are dissenting judge disagreements also
• Strict interprets constitution to literal text and intent while liberal interprets constitution broadly with more flexibility or Judicial Activism.
• Judicial Activism judges policies to make them strike down Legislative Checks means amend laws + try justice limits executive orders but execs judges ""Nuclear Option" - parlimentary procedure that allows override any law that standing by majority
• The Bill of Rights
• Civil Rights are legal protections that guarantee equal treatment under the law including personal freedoms

The Bill of Rights includes

• Religion
• Speech
• Press
• Bear Arms
• Trial by Jury

Bill of Rights breakdown

• 1st Amendment: Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.
• 2nd Amendment: Right to bear arms.
• 3rd Amendment: No quartering of soldiers.
• 4th Amendment: Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
• 5th Amendment: Rights in criminal cases, including due process and protection against self-incrimination.
• 6th Amendment: Right to a fair and speedy trial, an attorney, and to confront witnesses.
• 7th Amendment: Right to a jury trial in civil cases (money or property).
• 8th Amendment: Protection against cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail or fines.
• 9th Amendment: People have rights beyond those listed in the Constitution.
• 10th Amendment: Powers not given to the federal government belong to the states or the people.

1st Amendment Religion

• Establishment Clause: Prevents the government from establishing a national religion
• Free Exercise Clause

1st Amendment Speech

• Clear and Present Danger: Limitations when there's a threat to safety or public interest is serious and immediate
• Brandenberg vs Ohio Speech: Violation against Brandenburg's right to free speech
• Symbolic Speech includes Prior Restraint and obscene speech that are nonverbal actions that doesn't protect
• Time, Place and Manner for restrictions on when and where to express when or how
• 2nd Amendment Right to Bear Arms from Arms sales through act

There are few law acts

• National Firearms Act regulates manufacture sales to firearms
• Gun Control Act regulates guns in US
• Brady Act needs backgroud checks for guns, but Supreme Court posses firearms for self defences in home.

Balancing Indvid Freedom

• Law enforcement suspecting some carrying weapons is both 2nd Amend rights protected while while the 4th right against unreasonable searches
• 8th amendment -> applied through the 14th amendment and
• the right of states to cannot impose cruel or unusual punishments by incorparation
• Selective Incorporation the state process to protect rights of states and federal
• Due Process Clause Guarantees that state governments cannot take away a person's life, liberty, or property without certain
• 14th Amendment Guarantees citizenship + protection under the law for those born in the US Amendments: Due Process and the Right to Accused through Procedural law

Substantive Due Process

• that people are treating fair + government protects the act to follow
• Exclusionary Rule
• Miranda act means right to the remain silence
• and rights to the privacy in the US through Connecticut act

Roe vs Wade

Norma McCorvey case filed against abortion which the constituional protect the right against interference overturned Hyde Amendment restricts from being used

• 9th Amendent protects freedom from what the consition says