The Executive Branch Qualifications – Electoral College 1

Vocabulary Electoral College Trade sanction Electors Embargo Executive Order Cabinet Pardon Federal bureaucracy Reprieve Independent agency Amnesty Government corporation Foreign policy Political appointee National security Civil service worker Treaty Civil service system Executive agreement Spoils system Ambassador Merit system

The Executive Branch Article II of the Constitution Enforces laws Leader is the President George Washington was the first - 1789-1797 3

Qualifications 35 years old Been a resident of the U.S. for 14 years A natural born citizen President takes an oath to uphold the Constitution 4

Qualifications for President So far most U.S. presidents has fit a certain mold Male, Protestant, and Caucasian There have been some exceptions: Catholic president---JFK Female V.P. candidate---Geraldine Ferraro (1984) Jewish presidential candidate---Joe Lieberman (2000) African American president---Barack Obama (2008)

Terms and Benefits 4 year term Limited to 2 terms (22nd Amendment) Salary - $400,000/year Personal staff of about 80 Secret Service Protection for 10 years after presidency Clinton last lifetime protected president. Pension $191,000 after they retire plus travel funds and franking privilege Max 10 years if took office during another president’s term 6

The President’s Job The President’s main job is to carry out the laws passed by Congress. The Constitution gives the president power to veto, call Congress into special session, serve as commander-in-chief, and receive foreign officials. The president can also make treaties, appoint judges and top government officials, and pardon convicted criminals

The Constitution also requires the president to give Congress an update of the nation with the “State of the Union” address. The president discusses the most important issues facing the nation and describes new legislation he would liked passed.

Vice-President Official Duties President of the Senate Second in Line of succession Qualifications are the same as president Unofficial duty – Balance the ticket 9

Presidential Succession Act 1947 Indicates the line of succession if the president dies or leaves office - Vice President Speaker of the House President Pro Tempore Secretary of State The 25th amendment further established that after becoming president, the former VP would choose another VP - both Houses of Congress must approve the choice 10

Electing the President The Primaries States hold primary elections to vote for the candidates who will run for president under each party Nominating Conventions A meeting held by each party to officially select the candidate who will run General Election 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday of November Electoral College Elects the President 11

The Electoral College Popular vote total number of people voting for a candidate - occurs but has no role in deciding the president 538 votes exist in the Electoral College Each state gets the same number of electors as representatives in Congress NC – 15 electoral votes A candidate needs 270 to win (majority) Winner Take All – every state but Maine & Nebraska If a candidate wins the majority vote in a state, all electoral votes go to that candidate Vote in December – Joint session of Congress counts votes 435 Representatives + 100 Senators + 3 from Washington D.C. 12

Which of the following is a potential problem with the Electoral College? Its Non-Democratic A candidate may get the most votes but not win Electors are not bound 3rd party candidates have no chance 31 of 32 13

Problems with the Electoral College Seems non-democratic – votes are not proportional May get the most votes and still lose Electors are not bound – could change their ballot 3rd party candidates have really no chance 14

Electors of the Electoral College NORTH CAROLINA - 15 Electoral Votes State Law - § 163-212 (Violation cancels vote; elector is replaced and is subject to $500 fine.) NEW MEXICO - 5 Electoral Votes State Law - § 1-15-5 to 1-15-9 (Violation is a fourth degree felony.) 24 States that don’t have laws requiring electors to vote for the popular vote. “faithless electors” ARIZONA - ARKANSAS - DELAWARE - GEORGIA IDAHO - ILLINOIS -INDIANA - IOWA - KANSAS - KENTUCKY - LOUISIANA - MINNESOTA - MISSOURI NEW HAMPSHIRE - NEW JERSEY - NEW YORK - NORTH DAKOTA -PENNSYLVANIA - RHODE ISLAND - SOUTH DAKOTA - TENNESSEE - TEXAS - UTAH - WEST VIRGINIA -

The presidential election, however, is not decided on the basis of the number of people who vote for each candidate but on the basis of the electoral college. Under the US electoral system, each state in the union contributes a certain number of electors to the electoral college, who vote according to the majority in their state. The candidate receiving a majority of the votes in the electoral college wins the election. The electors are apportioned roughly according to states' populations, as measured by the census, but with a small but deliberate bias in favor of smaller states. We can represent the effects of the electoral college by scaling the sizes of states to be proportional to their number of electoral votes, which gives a map that looks like this: