The Executive

and

Judicial Branches

Unit 3

Article II

Article III

Organization of the Executive

Branch3-1

Basics of Executive• Carries out the laws• Grows larger with each new law• Includes:

– President- 4 year term, he chooses Vice President as a running mate

– Vice-President: is a member of the Presidents Cabinet, is President of the Senate

– 15 Cabinet Level Executive Departments: Cabinet heads appointed by the President

• Civil Service System

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Role of the President• Elected every 4 years• Elected by electoral college, not

direct election• Requirements: must be: native born,

U.S. Citizen, 35 years old, and have lived in the US for 14 years.

• Oath: I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

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Role of the President• Commander in Chief:

– Directs the military– Makes military decisions on the advice

of commanders– Can grant pardons

• Chief Diplomat:– May negotiate treaties with approval of

the Senate– Establishes a Foreign policy – – Appoints Ambassadors

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Role of the President• Chief Executive:

– Administer the government– Appoint officials, some with Senate

approval– May issue Executive Orders –

– Sets Domestic Policy –

– Influences legislation

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Role of the Vice-President

• Second in line for the job• President of the Senate

– • Advisor to the President

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Other Parts of Executive

• Presidential Cabinet:– The Cabinet and independent

federal agencies are responsible for the day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws.

• Law Enforcement:– The executive branch executes

the law. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress

• Foreign Relations:–

• Regulatory Agencies:–

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• Foreign Relations:–

• Regulatory Agencies:–

The Electoral College

3-2

Electoral College• Each state gets electors equal to

their number of Senators plus the number of Representatives–Ohio: Senators 2

Representatives 16Total Electors 18

• Each candidate chooses electors to represent him/her

• Electors that win the popular vote in that state get the right to vote for president

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Electoral College• In most states, it is all-or-

nothing, meaning the candidate gets ALL of the electors, regardless of the margin of victory

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2012 Electoral Map

Original Reasons for the Electoral College

• Concerns about the education of people and communication problems

• FEDERALISM – the power of the state is important

• Feared that only the most populated states would get to choose the President

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Con’s of the Electoral College

• The possibility of electing a president that has not gotten a majority of the popular vote

• The risk of “faithless” electors–Electors who change their vote–But many states have laws against

this• Lower voter turnout due to

lack of understanding

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2004 Election

One hand equals a candidate visit in the last 5 weeks before the election

One $ equals one million dollars spent campaigning

Pro’s of the Electoral College

• Requires a distribution of support in order to be elected –The President is not elected by:

•Big states only, or•Urban areas only

• Encourages the two-party system and political stability

3-2

Review of 3-2Write the questions in your notes, leaving space for

the answers

1. How are the number of electors for a state determined?

2. How are a state’s electoral votes awarded?

3. What is meant by “favored son” and how did it lead to the development of the Electoral College?

4. What is a “faithless elector” and is it a big risk?

5. How does the Electoral College encourage lower voter turnout?

6. How does the Electoral College prevent the big states from dominating the election?

Review of 3-2

1. How are the number of electors for a state determined?The electors are equal to the number of Senators plus the number of Representatives

2. How are a state’s electoral votes awarded?The winner of the state’s popular vote gets the right to vote for president. Winner-take-all in most states

Review of 3-23. What is meant by “favored son” and how

did it lead to the development of the Electoral College?Favored son means people would just vote for the person from the home state and the result would be the state with the largest population picking the President

4. What is a “faithless elector”? Is it a big risk?A Faithless Elector is one that does not vote for the person that they promised to represent. It is not a big risk because most states have laws preventing it.

Review of 3-25. How can the Electoral College lead to

lower voter turnout?People do not understand and decide not to vote because they think their vote doesn’t count.

6. How does the Electoral College prevent the big states from dominating the election?A candidate must get a distribution of support to get elected (must win some states in the middle)

The Judicial Branch

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Purpose of the Judicial• Settles disputes about the laws• Courts at different levels hear

cases and judge them against the Constitution and other legal precedents.–Precedent – an example that sets a

standard• Cases can be appealed to a

higher court for review

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Levels of Federal Courts

• District Courts– At least one per state

• Courts of Appeals–12 courts nationwide that hear

appeals of district court decisions• Supreme Court

–Final court of appeals for both state and federal courts

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Supreme Court• Justices are appointed for life

–9 justices• President nominates Justices

–Nominees must be approved by the Senate

• The Court decides which appeals cases to hear

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Current Members of the Supreme Court(Chief Justice John Roberts)

Judicial Review• Judicial Review is the power to

overturn any law that the court decides is in conflict with the Constitution

• This power is NOT in the Constitution• Marbury v. Madison (1803) set the

precedent for the Supreme Court to be able to strike down a law as unconstitutional

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Word Scramble bankSupreme court, cabinet, nine justices,, comissioner, court of appeals, civil service, district court, governor, low turn out, four years, regulatory agencies, trustees, electoral college, senate, sheriff, executive order, thirty five, legislative branch, checks, diplomat, head of military, judicial branch, balance, pardon, Marbury v Madison, executive branch, ambassadorCross word BankJudicial Review, Marbury V Madison, District Court, Pardon, Senate, Sheriff, Nine, Ambassador, four years, commissioners, cabinet, executive order, electoral college, thirty five, court of appeals, precedent, civil service, trustees