1. Unit V: The Executive Branch
FRQ Review!
Unit V:
The Executive Branch

2. 2002 Check your Ch. 13 Notes
The concept of “divided government” in the United States means that one political party can control the executive branch while another controls the legislative branch. This poses problems for the president in making appointment to federal offices.
Describe two problems that divided government poses for the President in making federal appointments.
Identify and explain two ways Presidents try to overcome the problems described in A.

3. Check your Ch. 13 Notes Possible Solutions???
Generate public support (i.e. use of the media)
Compromise on choice
Building coalitions in Congress
Deal-making (including veto as a threat)
Building coalitions of interest groups
Making interim recess appointments
Finding a “bulletproof” nominee
Selecting minority nominees
Reliance on White House staff

4. 2003 Check your Ch. 13 Notes
Presidential approval ratings fluctuate over the course of each presidential administration.
Identify two factors that decrease presidential approval rating and explain why each factor has that effect.
Identify two factors that increase presidential approval rating and explain why each factor has that effect.

5. Presidential Approval Ratings
Check your Ch. 13 Notes
Presidential Approval Ratings
White House conducts a weekly poll.
Product of factors such as party identification, the “honeymoon period,” and the campaign effect, which follows reelection
Changes related to scandals, economic conditions, foreign policy issues and Rally Events (occurrences which cause Americans to “rally” around their leader. Usually involves a foreign policy crisis, i.e. Sept. 11)
Approval rating is usually lower at the end of a president’s term = the Expectations Gap
Public Approval operates mostly in the background - but has lots of potential to influence Congress to go along with the president’s proposals
Remember Mandates?: Perception that the voters strongly support the president’s character and policies.

6. 2004 Check your Ch. 13 & Ch. 20 Notes
Presidents are generally thought to have advantages over Congress in conducting foreign policy because of the formal and informal powers of the presidency.
Identify two formal constitutional powers of the President in making foreign policy.
Identify two formal constitutional powers of Congress in making foreign policy.
Identify two informal powers of the President that contribute to the President’s advantage over Congress in conducting foreign policy.
Explain how each of the informal powers identified in C contributes to the President’s advantage over Congress in conducting foreign policy.

7. Check your Ch. 13 & Ch. 20 Notes Commander-in-Chief of armed forces
Negotiate treaties & executive agreements with other nations
Nominate & receive ambassadors
Recognize a nation
B. Congress can:
Declare war
Raise and organize armed forces
Appropriate funds – “power of the purse”
Senate ratifies treaties (advice & consent)
Senate confirms cabinet & ambassador nominations (advice & consent)
C. Access to media
Agenda-setting
Meet with world leaders
Crisis manager
More access to information
Recognized as global leader

8. 2006 Check your Ch. 15 Notes
The United States Congress and the President together have the power to enact federal law. Federal bureaucratic agencies have the responsibility to execute federal law. However, in the carrying out of these laws, federal agencies have policy-making discretion.
Explain two reasons why Congress gives federal agencies policy-making discretion in executing federal laws.
Choose one of the bureaucratic agencies listed below. Identify the policy area over which it exercise policy-making discretion AND give one specific example of how it exercises that discretion.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Federal Reserve Board
Describe two ways Congress ensures that federal agencies follow legislative intent.

9. Check Ch. 15 notes - Bureaucracy & Democracy
So why does Congress give federal agencies so much policymaking discretion in executing federal laws?
Congress lacks expertise & the agencies have specialized units & expertise
Congress doesn’t want to be blamed for bad policy
It’s time-consuming = delegated authority
It’s more efficient = discretionary authority (Congress writes broad legislation and bureaucracy fills in the gaps)
Structure of the bureaucracy
Large
Specialized
Tenure protections (difficult to fire)

10. Check your Ch. 15 Notes Bureaucracy & Democracy
Presidents Try to Control the Bureaucracy
Appoint the right people
Issue executive orders: used to direct the bureaucracy to implement a policy
Tinker with the agency’s budget
Reorganize an agency
Congress Tries to Control the Bureaucracy
Influence presidential appointments (Senate confirms)
Hold hearings
Rewrite the legislation or make it more detailed
BUT Big government provides services to constituents
and it’s hard to control once created

11. Check your Ch. 15 Notes Bureaucracy & Democracy
Courts Try to Control the Bureaucracy
Court rulings can limit bureaucratic practices
Judicial Review – can declare bureaucratic actions unconstitutional
Can issue injunctions against federal agencies
Interest Groups Try to Control the Bureaucracy
Use of the First Amendment
Lobbying
Protests
Media usage
Speech
Litigation – regulations can be challenged in court

12. 2007 Check your Ch. 13 Notes
Conflicts between Congress and the President over war powers have their origin in the United States Constitution. In 1973 Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in an attempt to clarify the balance of powers between the two branches of government.
Describe the primary constitutional conflict between Congress and the President over the decision to go to war.
Describe two provisions of the War Powers resolution that were designed to limit the President’s power over war making.
The War Powers Resolution has received mixed reviews, but Congress has other powers over war making. Other than the constitutional power you described in A, identify and explain two other formal powers Congress has over war making.

13. 2008 Check your Ch. 13 Notes
A number of factors enable presidents to exert influence over Congress in the area of domestic policy. However, presidents are also limited in their influence over domestic policymaking in Congress.
The Constitution grants the president certain enumerated powers. Describe two of these formal powers that enable the president to exert influence over domestic policy.
Choose two of the following. Define each term and explain how each limits the president’s ability to influence domestic policymaking in Congress.
mandatory spending
party polarization
lame-duck period

14. Presidents have problems exercising their Legislative Power when…
Check your Ch. 13 Notes
Presidents have problems exercising their Legislative Power when…
Mandatory Spending: spending already dictated by law (i.e. Social Security)
Party Polarization: parties becoming more extreme and refusing to work together = opposite of bipartisanship
Lame Duck Period: end of president’s term when people stop taking him seriously b/c they know he can’t run for office again
Divided Government: when Congress is controlled by one party & the president is from the other

15. 2010 Check your Ch. 15 Notes
The federal bureaucracy as part of the executive branch exercises substantial independence in implementing governmental policies and programs. Most workers in the federal bureaucracy are civil-service employees who are organized under a merit system.
Describe one key characteristic of the merit system.
For each of the following, describe one factor that contributes to bureaucratic independence.
The structure of the federal bureaucracy.
The complexity of public policy problems.
For each of the following, explain one Constitutional provision that it can use to check the bureaucracy.
Congress
The courts
Interest groups

16. Check your Ch. 15 Notes Bureaucracy & Democracy
Presidents Try to Control the Bureaucracy
Appoint the right people
Issue executive orders: used to direct the bureaucracy to implement a policy
Tinker with the agency’s budget
Reorganize an agency
Congress Tries to Control the Bureaucracy
Influence presidential appointments (Senate confirms)
Hold hearings
Rewrite the legislation or make it more detailed
BUT Big government provides services to constituents
and it’s hard to control once created

17. Check your Ch. 15 Notes Bureaucracy & Democracy
Courts Try to Control the Bureaucracy
Court rulings can limit bureaucratic practices
Judicial Review – can declare bureaucratic actions unconstitutional
Can issue injunctions against federal agencies
Interest Groups Try to Control the Bureaucracy
Use of the First Amendment
Lobbying
Protests
Media usage
Speech
Litigation – regulations can be challenged in court

18. 2010 = HUH??
The framers of the Constitution created a political system based on limited government. The original Constitution and the Bill of Rights were intended to restrict the powers of the national government. Later constitutional developments also limited the powers of the state governments.
Explain how each of the following limits the power of the national executive.
Federalism
Checks and balances

19. 2011 Check your Ch. 13 Notes
The Constitution of the United States creates a government of separate institutions that share power rather than a government that delegates power exclusively to a single branch. Frequently, this means that presidents and Congress struggle with each other.
For each of the presidential powers below, explain one way that congressional decision making is affected by that power.
Veto power
Power to issue executive orders
Power as commander in chief
For each of the congressional powers below, explain one way that presidential decision making is affect by that power.
Legislative oversight power = Not covered until Unit 6
Senate advice and consent power
Budgetary power