1. The Executive Branch Qualifications – Electoral College1

2. 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

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

4. 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

5. 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)

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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.

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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 Senators + 3 from Washington D.C. 12

13. 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

14. 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

15. Electors of the Electoral College
NORTH CAROLINA - 15 Electoral Votes
State Law - § (Violation cancels vote; elector is replaced and is subject to $500 fine.)
NEW MEXICO - 5 Electoral Votes
State Law - § to (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 -

16. 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: