1 / 79

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. Who Makes Up The Executive Branch. & The Cabinet. Who elects the President?. ?. How the Electoral College works. The Mechanics. The Presidential Election should be viewed as 51 separate elections each with a “winner take all” system

twila
Download Presentation

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

  2. Who Makes Up The Executive Branch & The Cabinet

  3. Who elects the President? ?

  4. How the Electoral College works.

  5. The Mechanics • The Presidential Election should be viewed as 51 separate elections each with a “winner take all” system • To win a candidate must get a majority of 538 votes or 270 • Each state is represented in the Electoral College according to their total number of members of Congress

  6. The Mechanics Cont’d • Pennsylvania has 2 senators and 19 representatives. This means that Pennsylvania has 21 electoral votes • California, the most populous state, has two senators and 52 representatives. This gives California 54 electoral votes • Wyoming, the least populous state, has two senators and 1 representative. This gives Wyoming 3 electoral votes

  7. The Mechanics Cont’d • The total electoral vote of 538 is based on 100 senators, 435 representatives for the 50 states. The 23rd Amendment gave Washington, DC 3 electoral votes • The candidates compete in 50 states and DC for electoral votes and the winner must have at least 270 • The Electoral College always works when there are only two candidates

  8. The Mechanics Cont’d • If there are more than two candidates, the system might not work • If the system does not work, the House elects the President and the Senate elects the Vice-President. This has not happened since 1824.

  9. What the Individual Vote Means • Individual votes count only in the state where they are cast • When all states have voted, the candidate with the most votes in each state gets all the electoral votes of that state • In December, following the November Election, the winning electors in each state go to their respective state capitals and cast their votes and send them to Congress

  10. Electoral College Delegates • The delegates are chosen by the political parties in each state • Historically, the delegates have been 99.9% loyal to their party • After the combined votes in 50 states and DC are counted by a joint session of Congress, the election is official

  11. Disadvantages of the Electoral College System • Complex • The person with the most votes may not win… • Unpopular President • 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes • 1888, Benjamin Harrison • 2000, George W. Bush

  12. Advantages • Preserves the federal system-winning individual states is important. Without the Electoral College, state lines mean nothing • Preserves the two party system • Keeps our politics moderate-extreme parties have little chance of winning any state

  13. Conclusion • The system is not likely to change because of the difficulty of amending the Constitution • Why fix it if it is not broken?

  14. Popular Election • What day do we vote in a general election? • How does the government ensure fair voting? • How do you register to vote? • What is an absentee Ballot? • What is a ward and precinct? • Who Votes? (American Voting Behavior)

  15. Can the electors stray in their vote? • Yes • Since the founding of the Electoral College, there have been 156 faithless Electors. • 71 of these votes were changed because the original candidate died before the day on which the Electoral College cast their votes. • 3 of the votes were not cast at all as three Electors chose to abstain from casting their Electoral vote for any candidate. • 82 Electoral votes were changed on the personal initiative of the Elector.

  16. Most Recent Faithless Elector •   2000 - Barbara Lett-Simmons (Democrat, District of Columbia)In the most recent act of Elector abstention, Barbara Lett-Simmons, a Democratic Elector from the District of Columbia, did not cast her vote for Al Gore as expected. Her abstention was meant to protest the lack of Congressional representation for Washington, DC. Lett-Simmons was the first Elector to abstain from voting since 1832. Her abstention did not affect the outcome of the election

  17. Election 2000

  18. Election Of 2004

  19. Electoral Problem Set Problem Set

  20. What is the job of the Executive Branch • To carry out (execute) Laws

  21. What types of laws do they enforce? • Federal

  22. What individuals/departments make up the Executive Branch? • Pres. • Vice Pres. • Cabinet

  23. Roles of the President • Chief Executive • Chief Of State • Commander In Chief

  24. Chief Executive • Grant pardons • Grant Reprieves • Negotiate treaties • Appoint Officials and Judges • See that the law is carried out.

  25. Terms • Pardon—Forgiveness of a crime • Reprieve– Temporary delay

  26. Famous Pardons • Richard Nixon (Ford, 1974) • Vietnam draft resisters (Carter, 1977; amnesty)

  27. Pardon Of The Thanksgiving Turkey

  28. Obama Turkey Pardon • http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/?bcpid=4464161001&bctid=52673130001

  29. Bush Pardon 2009

  30. Possible Changes to Presidential Pardons • Constitutional Amendment -

  31. Chief Executive: Making Legislation • President makes lawmaking plans known to Congress through formal reports • State of the Union Address • Opportunity to push agenda

  32. Chief Executive: Making Legislation • Budget Message • Actual and expected income and expenditures for the federal gov’t • Budget Overview • Budget Concerns

  33. Chief Executive: Approve Legislation • President’s options • Sign the bill – making it into law • Veto • Do nothing – bill will become law after ten days without the President’s formal consent

  34. Presidential Vetoes (2003) Regular Pocket Total Overridden

  35. Chief Executive: Special Session • President can call either or both houses of Congress into special session • Cannot determine the legislative agenda

  36. Chief Executive: Spending Powers • Emergency Fund • Money to spend on unexpected crises, national emergencies, etc. • Impoundment – refusing to spend money authorized by Congress

  37. Chief Executive: Treaty Making • Treaty – formal agreements with foreign nations • Must be ratified by 2/3 of the Senate

  38. Negotiate Treaties • SALT • SALT 2 • ABM Treaty • North Korea

  39. Power to Appoint • Secretary Of State • Attorney General • Judges

  40. Chief Executive: Executive Privilege • The right to withhold information from congress and the courts • US v. Nixon (1974)

  41. Chief Of State • Symbolic Leader • Tosses out first pitch of Major League season • Hosts the Whitehouse Easter egg hunt

  42. Presidents tossing first pitch of the Major League Season

  43. Mrs. Cheney reads to children in attendance of the Whitehouse Easter Egg Roll

  44. Commander In Chief • The top leader of our military • Deploys troops • Makes strategic decisions • Orders the use of nuclear weapons

  45. Undeclared Wars

  46. War Powers Act

  47. Salary and Benefits • Salary---$400,000 a year • Travel account $100,000 a year • $50,000 expense account • Living at the Whitehouse rent free • Private gym, pool, library, bowling alley, and movie room • 100 staff members including chefs, carpenters, butlers, and florists

  48. Perks Continued • Camp David • 180 acre resort • Skeet Range • Pool • Tennis • Transportation • 12 jets, 8 helicopters, and two Air Force One planes • The Beast

  49. The Beast

More Related