American Government and Organization

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American Government and Organization
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• PS1301
• Tuesday, 7 September

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The U.S. Constitution
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• The U.S. Constitution lays out the principals and
  rules that define our political system
• At the time the Constitution designed in 1787 it
  was extremely innovative. The American political
  system is unique in the world most modern
  democracies are not designed this way.
• The U.S. Constitution was designed as an
  alternative to the Articles of Confederation
  which were written in 1777 and ratified in 1781
  and contained the rules that governed our nation
  until 1789.

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Emphasis on Individual Rights
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• The constitution is designed to favor protecting
  the rights of the individual over respecting the
  wishes of the majority.
• Tyranny of the majority refers to a situation win
  which the majority uses its advantage in umbers
  to suppress the rights of the minority.
• Federalist papers 10 and 51 (Madison)

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Protections Against Tyranny of Majority
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• Divides authority through separate institutions
  with shared powers and checks and balances.
• Organized elections
• Requires supra-majorities
• Reserves some power for states
• Set boundaries on the powers of government ie.
  Bill of Rights
• The Constitution is designed to preserve the
  status quo so it is very difficult to change.

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Divided Authority
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• Separate institutions
• Bicameralism
• Concurrent majorities
• Checks and balances
• Shared powers
• Federalism

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Separate Institutions
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• U.S. House of Representatives
• U.S. Senate
• Executive Branch
• Judiciary

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Parliamentary Systems

• Prime Minister is a Member of Parliament (MP)
• MPs are also ministers (cabinet members) and
  perform executive functions.
• Divided government (where one party controls the
  executive branch and another controls the
  legislature is not possible).
• Greater efficiency accountability
• Minority rights are not necessarily protected.

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Method of Elections

• Geographically defined representation
• Fixed terms
• U.S. Representatives elected every 2 years
• U.S. President elected every 4 years
• U.S. Senators elected every 6 years (1/3rd of
  Senate elected every 2 years).
• Staggered elections
• Indirect elections

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Separate Institutions with Shared Power

• Congress passes legislation but President can use
  a veto
• President appoints executive officers and
  negotiates treaties.
• Senate confirms top executive appointments and
  ratifies treaties
• Judicial review (established in Marbury vs.
  Madison, 1803)

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Checks and Balances
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Examples of Supra Majorities

• Concurrent majorities (House and Senate)
• Treaty requires 2/3rds of approval by Senate
• Congress requires 2/3rds in both houses to over
  ride a presidential veto
• Constitutional amendments require 2/3rds approval
  by both House and Senate and 3/4ths of states or
• 2/3rds in both houses of Congress and ratified by
  conventions in 3/4ths of the states (used once
  21st Amendment--repealed prohibition)
• National constitutional convention call by 2/3rds
  of the state legislatures

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Process for Amendments
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Reforms at the National Level

• The U.S. Constitution was designed to preserve
  the status quo. However, it does allow for
  changes to be made through supra-majorities.
• There have been a total of 17 Amendments since
  the original Bill of Rights
• Examples
• Voting extended to nonwhites (1870, 15th
  Amendment)
• Direct election of senators (1913, 17th
  Amendment)
• Women given right to vote (1920, 19th Amendment)
• Elimination of poll tax (1964, 24th Amendment)
• Extend voting rights to 18 yr olds (1971, 26th
  Amendment)

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Electoral Reform without Amending Constitution

• Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Suspension of literacy tests
• Voter registration (local) subject to federal
  regulation and Justice Dept. protection
• Campaign Finance Reform 2002
• McCain-Feingold Ban on soft money to political
  parties (unlimited contributions)

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Effects of Voting Rights Act

• Voter registration rates (1965 vs. 1988).

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Reforms at State Level

• More flexible
• Term limits
• Early voting Texas as an example
• Voting by mail
• Direct democracy initiative and recall
• Direct primaries