Government Class
Unit 3 Study Guide – handed out on Monday – December 10th
Unit 3 CDA is on Friday – December 14
Georgia Performance Standards for Unit 4 – “The Executive Branch”
SSCG:4a The student will identify the powers of the President as explained in the Constitution.
SSCG-8: The student will demonstrate knowledge of local, state, and national elections.
a. Describe the organization, role, and constituencies of political parties.
b. Describe the nomination and election process.
c. Examine campaign funding and spending.
d. Analyze the influence of media coverage, campaign advertising, and public opinion polls.
e. Identify how amendments extend the right to vote.
SSCG-12: The student will analyze the various roles played by the President of the United States; including Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, chief executive, chief agenda setter, representative of the nation, chief of state, foreign policy leader, and party leader.
SSCG-13: The student will describe the qualifications for becoming President of the United States.
a. Explain the written qualifications for President of the United States.
b. Describe unwritten qualifications common to past presidents.
SSCG-14: The student will explain the impeachment process and its usage for elected officials.
a. Explain the impeachment process as defined in the United States Constitution.
b. Describe the impeachment proceedings of President Andrew Johnson and President Bill Clinton.
SSCG-15: The student will explain the functions of the departments and agencies of the federal bureaucracy.
a. Compare and contrast the organization and responsibilities of independent regulatory agencies,
government corporations, and executive agencies.
b. Explain the functions of the Cabinet.
SSCG-20: The student will describe the tools used to carry out United States foreign policy (diplomacy; economic, military, and humanitarian aid; treaties; sanctions and military intervention).
Unit 3 Essential Questions
1. How did the executive branch of government become the largest branch of government?
2. Why did the founding fathers outline certain qualifications for the Presidency?
3. Why has impeachment been used so rarely?
4. How does the President get elected?
5. Do corporations make foreign policy or does government make foreign policy?
6. How is the office of president not like a monarch?
7. How does the president’s role and powers change over time?
8. The United States has a two party system what are those two parties?
9. How many functions does a political party serve?
10. How did the War Powers Act of 1974 limit the President’s military powers?
“The Executive Branch and the Election Process”
§ Roles of the President-
o Chief of Party- leader of the party, helps people within the party get elected or appointed, campaigns for some party members, gives speeches for the party
§ Ex: gives a speech at a party rally, campaigns for a party member running for office
o Commander-in-Chief- leader of the armed forces, all military leaders meet with and take orders from the President, president is in charge of troops and weapons
§ Ex: Inspects a military base, decides whether to use nuclear weapons
o Chief Executive- carries the laws and affairs of the nation, has all of the executive powers given to the executive branch by the Constitution
§ Ex: appoints the head of CIA, appoints a judge, holds a Cabinet meeting
o Chief of State- represents the country at public events, ceremonies and receptions
§ Ex: awards medals to students, lights the White House Christmas tree, greets visitors to the White House
o Chief Diplomat- interacts with the leaders of other countries, involved in developing agreements and treaties
§ Ex: meets with the leader of another country, words on a peace plan
o Chief Legislator- voices his opinions and ideas about which laws need to be passed, gives speeches to Congress about the laws they make
§ Ex: Signs or vetoes a law, works to get a law passed by Congress
o Chief Administrator- makes sure that the government and all of the people who work for it are doing their jobs and running smoothly
§ Ex: meets with department leaders to make sure that all departments are running smoothly
o Chief Citizen- makes sure that the needs of the citizens are being met and that they have a voice in the government; regularly meets with citizens to hear their point of view on issues
§ Ex: meets with citizens to hear their feelings about an issue
§ Qualifications and Benefits-
o Must be 35 Years Old
o Must be a natural born citizen
o Must be a resident of the US for at least 14 years
o Informal- Must be well educated, have past political experiences
o Benefits: $400,000 a year, $50,000 a year expense account, live in the White House, have cars and planes, use Camp David as a vacation home, and many other perks!
§ Presidential Succession-
o 1947 Presidential Succession Act- the plan for filling the office of president if it is vacant; this gives us the order of who would become President
o 25th Amendment- This amendment told us how to select a new vice president if the current one dies/resigns/is removed from office/becomes the President. It says that the President gets to choose the new VP and that Senate and Congress must approve; the 25th Amendment also says that the VP fills in as President if the President is disabled or otherwise unable to do the job
o Order of Succession- Vice President-Speaker of the House- President pro-temp- Secretary of State-Secretary of the Treasury- Secretary of Defense- Attorney General- Secretary of the Interior- Secretary of Agriculture- Secretary of Commerce
§ Roles of the Vice President- The VP is the President of the Senate, he is the President in waiting, and he is responsible for determining <if necessary> whether the President is disabled
§ Powers of the President
o Executive Powers- execute all federal laws
o Ordinance Powers- power to give orders to employees of the federal government
o Appointment Powers- power to appoint ambassadors, cabinet members and aides, heads of independent agencies, judges, officers in the armed forces (Senate must approve these appointments>
o Removal Power- can remove people that he has appointed from office <fire them>
o Diplomatic Powers- make treaties/agreements with other countries, recognize the legal existence of other countries
o Military Powers- these must be done in with Congress; make decisions about where to use troops and weapons, recommend the declaration of war to Congress
o Legislative Powers- recommends laws, vetoes or passes bills, calls a special session of Congress
o Judicial Powers- can grant reprieves, pardons, clemency
§ The Federal Bureaucracy-
o The Executive Branch of the Federal government is divided into three parts:
§ Executive Office of the President- helps the President; includes the White House Office staff, the national security council, the office of Homeland Security
§ Executive Departments- do much of the work of the federal government; 15 departments that each oversee a topic; these Chief Officers of each department are selected by the President and make up the President’s Cabinet
§ Independent Agencies- groups of people that are not part of a particular department that do work on a specific topic
§ The President’s Cabinet-
o Made up of the 15 Department Chiefs
o The members of the Cabinet <the leaders of the departments> are chosen by the President and approved by the Senate
o Their job is to help the President make decisions and do his work
o Almost always, they are chosen from the President’s political party and have past political experience
§ Political Parties
o Two Party System-
§ Republicans
§ Democrats
o Minor Parties-
§ Ideological- set of beliefs on social, economic and political matters <Green party today, Libertarian party>
§ Single-Issue- only one public policy matter
§ Economic Protest- upset about problems with the economy
§ Splinter- broke off from one of the major parties
o The Different Political Parties
§ Democratic Party- gov’t should help less fortunate w/ social programs (use tax money to do this); gov’t should stay out of personal decisions like abortion & gay marriage
§ Republican Party- gov’t should set boundaries on social issues like abortion & gay marriage; gov’t should not be involved in improving the economy (private business & free market system are better)
§ Libertarian Party- 3rd largest party; believes in liberties, free enterprise, & personal responsibilities; person issues similar to Dem.—economic issues similar to Rep.
§ Green Party- environmentalism, non-violence, social justice; want people involved in gov’t & gov’t should be accountable to people
§ Road to the White House
o Throwing your hat in the ring
§ announcing that your running
§ Teddy Roosevelt coined the phrase in 1912
o Primary Elections & caucuses
§ helps candidates to become known by the public
§ these elections are held by political parties to determine the party’s pick for the general election (narrowing it down to one candidate in each party)
§ a caucus is a meeting of members of a particular political party
o Nominating Convention
§ official meeting of a political party to officially select the political party’s presidential candidate
§ held in the summer before the general election
§ develops the party’s platform
o Campaigning and MORE Campaigning
§ an effort to influence potential voters
§ use of propaganda to sway voters
§ get the message out of what the candidate believes in or wants to do
o General Election
§ the people vote—the popular vote
§ in November every 4 years
o Electoral College
§ framers of the Constitution established the Electoral College
§ in the General Election, people are really voting for electors who will cast the official vote for president in December following the General Election
§ the number of electors for each state is determined by the number of senators and representative (EC = S + R)
§ winner takes all—if a candidate wins the popular vote in a particular state, the candidate receives all of the electoral college votes (except in Maine & Nebraska)
§ 270 or more Electoral College votes = winner!
§ a candidate can win the popular vote but still lose the election
o Inauguration-
§ The day every four years on which the President of the United States is sworn in and takes office. The next one is January 20, 2017
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