CIVICSa study of

U.S. Government

Offered

by S.A.Y Yes Program

Ministry of

First Evangelical Free Church

Los Angeles, CA

2012

Course Content

What the Constitution says about how the Federal Government should be formed and how it should function

Form of US National Government

Republic:

A country ruled by law (the Constitution) in order to preserve the rights, liberty and freedom of its citizens.

A constitutional republic is a state in which the head of state and other officials are representatives of the people and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over all of its citizens. Because the head of the state is elected, it is a republic and not a Monarchy.

US government is NOT a Democracy or any other form of government. A Democracy is ruled by the majority.

(Note: More to come for background. You can use this to embellish.)

Two Most Important Documents form the backbone of the government

A. Declaration of Independence - to declare unity among colonies and to declare separation from the Britain.

Adopted on July 4, 1776

Excerpt “-- We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are

created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with

certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty,

and the Pursuit of Happiness – that to secure these

Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their

just Powers from the Consent of the Governed that whenever

any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends,

it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, -----”

Thomas Jefferson

Two Documents - continue

B. Constitution - Specifies the structure and the powers of the national government so as to ensure a Republic form of government. It also dictates the relationship between the national and state governments.

Ratified on September 17, 1787

(Note: more to come for background info)

The Constitution Tries to Accomplish

• Limited Government: Government has only power given to it.

• Popular Sovereignty: People are the source of government’s

authority.• Separation of Powers: Power is separated among three branches of government; each has it own powers and duties and is independent of and equal to other branches.

• Check and Balance: Each branch is subject to restraints by the other two branches.

• Federalism: The division of governmental powers between the national government and the states.

(note: more to follow for background.)

Organization of Federal Government

Legislative Branch – Congress

Article 1 of the Constitution

Executive Branch –The Office of the

President Article 2 of the Constitution

Judicial Branch – Federal Courts

Article 3 of the Constitution

Three Branches of Government: independent of one another.

Political Parties• Political Party: Voluntary association of people who

seek to control the government through common principles based upon peaceful and legal actions.

• Two Party System Democratic Party Republican Party

• Other Parties of Minor Nature Libertarian, etc

(Note: more to come for background)

Quiz #1

• Is US a Republic or Democratic form of government?

• What are the two most important documents which describe how US government should be formed?

• How many branches does the Constitution say US should have? And what are they?

• How many major political parties do we have?

Legislative Branch - Congress

• Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution “All Legislative Powers (to make law) herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United states, which shall consist of the House of Senate and House of Representative.”

Powers of the Congress

• Power over the people: Passes Laws

• Power over Executive Branch: 1. May override president’s veto – by 2/3 vote of both houses 2. May impeach and remove president from office 3. Senate may refuse to confirm presidential appointments or ratify treaties 4. Creates executive agencies and programs 5. Appropriate funds

• Power over Judicial Branch: 1. Creates lower federal courts 2. Sets salaries of federal judges 3. May refuse to confirm judicial appointments 4. May propose constitutional amendments 5. May impeach and remove President, Vice President and all civil officers at federal level

Organization of the Congress • Congress: Congress consists of Senate and House of Representatives.

• Senate: 100 members – two from each State.

• House of Representatives: 435 members .

.

• Vote: Each member of the Congress has one vote

• Election: Election is held every two years at even numbered year.

• Term: Term starts on odd number of years..

• Committees: Work is done through various committees and

subcommittees. Some of them permanent, some temporary. See next page

• Leaders: Each house chooses its own leaders and makes it own rules

(note: more to come for background)

State by State Representatives

Members of Senate

a. Qualification: 1. At least 30 year old

2. Must be a US citizen for at least 9 years.

3. Must live in the state he(she) represents

b. Term of Office: 1. Each state has two senators. Each serve a six year

term..

2. Each member may seek re-election. There is no limit

on terms to serve as long as people vote for him(her)

c. Election: Chosen by the people of the state through popular vote

Since 2010 election 51 Democratic Party,

47 Republican Party

2 Independent

(Vice President, though not a member of the Senate, is the

presiding officer. His job is to vote to break the tie.)

(Note: more to come for background)

Members of House of Representatives

a. Qualification: 1. At least 25 year old. 2. US Citizens for a minimum of 7 years. 3. Must live in the district . b. Term: Serve two year, May serve any number of terms if people vote for him(her).

Since 2010 election, 242 from Republican Party

193 from Democratic Party

c. Election: There are 435 districts in the country. Each district has certain number of population. Every 10 year census is taken. The result will determine the number of district each state will have. Each district elect its own Representative. California is the most populous state and it has the largest numbers of districts, 53. The Constitution (Article 1, Sec. 2) stipulates that a state must have at leased one representative. States like Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming has one each.

.

( Note: more to come for background)

16

Leadership of the House of Senate

US Vice-President: not a member of the senate but presides over the senate. Has one duty – to vote to break a tie vote.

Floor Leaders:

Majority Leader: The leader is elected from the majority party of

the term. He (She) has the power to decide which

items to be brought to the floor for vote.

Minority Leader: The leader is elected from the minor party of the term. He

(She) brings forth the opposing opinion from the minority party.

Whip: Helps floor leader of his(her) party by directing party members to

vote with the party.

(Note: More to come for background)

Leadership of House of Representatives Speaker of the House: 1. Presiding officer 2. Chosen by members of the House by simple majority 3. The most powerful member of the House 4. Second to the Vice-President in line to be the

President. Floor Leaders:

Majority Leader: The Majority Leader assists the Speaker helps plan the party’s legislative program and directs floor debate. Minority Leader: The Minority leader speaks for the minority party and organizes opposition to the majority party.

Whips: Assistants to respective Floor Leaders to direct what their respective party members should vote on certain issue

(Note: more to come)

Quiz - 2

• How many Houses are there in the Congress and what are they called?

• How many members are there in each House?

• What is the length of a term each member of the House elected to serve?

How Congress Functions• Committees: The Senate and the House of Representatives are made up of many Committees.

Each committee is designed to accomplish a well defined tasks. Things are done through these committees. There are several forms of committee.

Nature of Committees

Standing Committee – permanent, deal with public policies

Select Committee – Temporary, deal with specific issues

Joint Committee – Temporary, members come from both houses

to iron out the differences of a Bill or Budget

Conference Committee – Temporary, members come from

both houses created to resolve the variations

of the bill passed by the House and the Senate.

Committee members are appointed by respective leaders of each party. Majority party

can appoint more members. The Chairman of each Committee is elected by the

Committee members through simple majority.

The authority to establish a temporary Committees belongs to the majority leader

of each house.

(Note: more to come) .

Lawmaking Process

• Bills, or proposed law, may begin in either house, except revenue bills, which must begin in the House of Representatives.

Process to make laws:

1. A bill is introduced, assigned to a Committee where it is debated. If approved,

it goes to the Rules Committee of the House of Representative. For

the Senate, it goes directly to the floor for debate.

2. The rules committee sets terms of debate for the bill before it goes to the floor

for full debate..

3. If the bill is passed, it is sent to the other House for a new round of debate. If the

other House make some changes, it is sent to the Conference Committee for

compromise. The compromised version may not contains any new material.

4. The compromised bill is returned to respective House for final approval.

5. It is then sent to the President for signature He may approve or veto it. If

vetoed, the bill is returned to the Congress where it dies or the Congress may

override the veto by 2/3 majority of both Houses.

(Note: more to come)

How Budget is Determined

• The budget process starts with the President submitting the budget to the Congress between January 31 and Feb 31 of each year.

• Fiscal year of the US government starts on Oct 1st and ends on Sept 31st.

• The process to approve the budget involves several Committees in the Congress and other permanent governmental independent organizations under the jurisdiction of the Congress as well as President own Treasury Department.

• Once passed, it is still subject to revision as the year wears on.

• (note: more to come)

Quiz - 3

• What is the function of each House

• How does each House function in order to complete their tasks?

23

Executive Branch – the President

• Duties and Powers:

• Enforce laws• May veto acts of Congress• May call special sessions of Congress• May recommend legislation• Has limited authority to use Executive Authority to effect changes on things done• Appoints federal judges for Senate to advice and consent• Grants reprieves and pardons to federal offenders• May refuse to enforce court decisions

The President

• Qualification:

Natural Born Citizen

At least 35 year old.

Reside in US at least 14 years prior to election

• Term and Tenure:

A term is four years. Prior to 1951, a President can

serve unlimited number of elected terms. After 1952, 22nd

Amendment limited the president to serve two elected terms.

Powers of the President

• Executive Powers: a. Enforces laws, treaties, and court decisions

b. Issues executive orders to carry out policies

c. Appoints and remove Department Heads,

d. Assumes emergency powers

e. Presides over the cabinet and executive branch

• Legislative Powers:

a. Give annual State of the Union message

b. Issue annual budget and economic reports

c. Signs or vetoes bills

d. Proposes legislation

Powers of the President - continues

• Diplomatic Powers

a. Appoints ambassadors and other diplomats

b. Negotiates treaties and executive agreements

c. Meets with foreign leaders in international conferences

d. Accords diplomatic recognition to foreign government

e. Receives foreign dignitaries

• Military Powers:

a. Serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces

b. Makes final decision authority in matters of national and foreign matters

c. Provides for domestic order

• Judicial Powers:

a. Appoint members of the federal judiciary

b. Grants reprieves, pardons, and amnesty

The Office of the President

• Executive Departments

(The hiring of all Department heads must be confirmed by the Senate)

(See next page for the names of the 15 departments and their respective heads.)

1.

• Cabinet Level Office - White House

(Their appointment do not need confirmation from the senate. Some positions are permanent some are temporary.)

1. Vice President - Joe Biden

2.Chief of Staff - Jacob Lew

3. many many others. Their existence depend on the wish of the President.

List of Departments - continue Department Responsibility Current Heads

1. Dept. of State Diplomatic policy Hillary Clinton

2. Dept of Treasury Financial policy Tim Geithner

3. Dept of Defense National defense policy Leon Pennetta

4. Dept of Justice National Legal policy Eric Holder

5. Dept of Interior Parks and mineral policy Ken Salazar

6. Dept of Agriculture Agriculture policy Tom Vilsack

7. Dept of Commerce National Trade policy John Bryson

8. Dept of Labor National Labor policy Hilda Solis

9. Dept of HHS National Health policy Kathleen Sebelius

10.Dept of HUD National Housing policy Shuan Donovan

11.Dept of Energy National Energy policy Steve Chu

12. Dept of Education National Education policy Arne Duncan

13. Dept of Veteran Affair Veteran policy Eric Shinseki

14. Dept of Homeland S. Internal Security policy Janet Napolitano

15. Dept of Transportation Transportation policy Ray LaHood

Quiz 4

• What is the qualification of a President and what is the length of a term a President can serve?

• What is the maximum number of terms can a President run?

• What is the purpose of the Executive Branch?

Powers of Judicial Branch

• Interprets Laws• May rule legislative acts unconstitutional• Chief justice presides over the trial to

impeach the President• May rule executive actions

unconstitutional

National Judiciary Branch

• US Federal Court System - Originally US had a one court system – court systems of each of the 50 states. Article III of the Constitution states “--- US shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from to time ordain and establish.----”

• Structure of the Judicial System:

1. District Courts (lowest) – Congress created the system to serve as

trial courts at the federal level. Each state has at least one District

Court

2. Court of Appeal (mid-level) – Congress created the system to lessen the

work load of the Supreme Court.

3. Supreme Court (highest) – The final authority in dealing with all questions arising from the Constitution, federal laws and treaties. There are nine judges in the court. They are appointed by the President and ratified by the Senate.

Presidential Election

• Election: 1. Election occurs every four years

2. Day of election occurs on the first Tuesday of November between 2nd

and 8th

3.. Registered voters must vote within the precinct of their legal residence.

• Electoral College: In reality, voters do not directly elect a President,

instead residence of each state choose electoral college to represent

them. The number of electoral college in each state consists of two

senators and representatives. California has 55. This gives a total of

535. The map in next page shows state-by-state number of electoral colleges.

In December, the electoral college of each state casts their votes for the

candidate in accordance to the popular vote cast in November. States that have

winner-take-all of electoral college, the winning party will receive all Electoral

college votes. Nebraska and Main are done in proportion to the vote cast. A

president is elected when one receives at least 270 electoral college vote.

(Note: more to come)

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Quiz - 5

• What is the major function of the Supreme Court?

• What is the minimum age to vote?• What is electoral college and what is the total

number of electoral vote?• Election is the responsibility of each _____• What is the minimum number of electoral

college vote to elect the President of the United States?

• What is role popular vote plays in the general election?

References

• “U.S Government and Politics” 2010 by Pamela Lamb

• Wikimedia