1. Lesson 24:
How Are National Laws Administered in the American Constitutional System?

2. Purpose
Departments, agencies, and bureaus that administer laws (bureaucracy) touch every aspect of American life.
This lesson examines the role of administrative departments and agencies in America’s national government.

3. Objectives
Explain why Congress create administrative units, the circumstances that contribute to their creation, and the range of governmental functions that administrative perform.
Identify some of the checks on the exercise of administrative power.
Evaluate, take and defend positions on public administration in the United States.

4. Terms to Know
bureaucracy  Governmental departments and agencies and their staffs, principally civil service members and political appointees.    cabinet  The group of advisors to the president composed of the heads of the departments of the executive branch and certain other officials. Cabinet advice to U.S. presidents is not binding, as opposed to parliamentary systems, where the consensus of cabinets is said to bind prime ministers. civil service  Employment in federal, state or provincial, and local governmental agencies. The civil service was formed in an effort to reduce political patronage and promote professionalism in government.    independent agencies  Administrative organizations located outside the structure of executive departments.   

5. Kinds of Administrative Units
Executive Departments
Congress directs each to administer certain laws / President appoints each secretary, or “head” (Cabinet)
Currently 15 departments, each head in line of succession
Executive Office of the President (EOP)
Created in 1939 to help with budgeting, personell management, and natural resources planning.
Includes: White House Office, Office of
Management & Budget, Council of
Economic Advisors, National Security
Council

6. Kinds of Administrative Units
Independent Agencies
Located outside structure of Executive Departments
Granted quasi-legislative regulatory powers
Ex) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Peace
Corps
Others
Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA)
Was independent agency, now part of Dept. of Homeland Security
US Postal Service
Government corporation
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Designed to enforce regulations of the industry

7. Administrative Organizations
Quasi-legislative powers delegated to implement broad congressional mandates.
Rules published in Federal Register
Some units granted quasi-judicial powers
Hearings held to resolve disputes
Example: IRS
Makes & Enforces rules about tax collections. Also holds hearings for those accused of violations.
Administrative Procedure Act (1946)
Established rules to implement laws, requires public notice / hearings, permits judicial review of administrative decisions

8. Contributing Factors Growth in response to demands placed on gov’t
Ex) Industrial Revolution lead to Dept. of Commerce and Labor, Interstate Commerce Commission, and Federal Trade Commission
Great Depression / New Deal
FDR creates significant growth in federal bureaucracy in response to national crises
Cold War
Dept. of Defense, National Security Council,
CIA…

9. Contributing Factors Reduction 9/11
Starting in 1970s, many commissions and boards abolished
Ex) Interstate Commerce Commission
9/11
Terrorist attacks result in creation of Department of Homeland Security

10. Staffing Administrative Agencies
Civil Service
1883 – Patronage substituted for merit-based system / administrative class insulated from politics
Congress sill establishes office requirements, performance standards, wages, benefits, & “whistle-blower” protections
Hatch Act (1939)
Parties prohibited from pressuring workers to contribute or work for candidates in exchange for job security
President makes appointments to
key leadership positions
Helps ensure bureaucracy enacts his
policy agenda
With new administration’s usually
complete change in leadership

11. Checks & Balances The President Congress
Appointment power rewards loyalists / advances agenda
Executive Orders – directs agencies to take certain actions
Congress
Creates, consolidates, or eliminates agencies
Senate confirms high-level appointees
Statutes direct agency actions
Appropriates funding
Congressional Oversight
Ex) review budgets, investigate actions

12. Checks & Balances Courts Federalism Citizens, Interest Groups, Media
Decide whether agencies violate 14th Amendment due process & equal protection requirements
Requires Congress to clearly define agency standards
Federalism
If state and national policies differ, states sometimes resist or refuse to comply with standards (ex. Education reform)
Citizens, Interest Groups, Media
Those directly affected by public policy ca monitor actions, report complaints, or investigate issues regarding problems and injustice in the bureaucracy

13. Lesson 25:
What Is the Role of the Supreme Court in the American Constitutional System?

14. Purpose
As opposed to English tradition, the Constitution provides for an independent judiciary.
Hamilton considered it “least dangerous branch” because it depends on other branches to enforce its decisions.
This lesson examines how the Supreme Court has become a coequal branch of the national government and describes some of the institutional checks on its power.

15. Objectives
Explain the difference between the Supreme Court’s original and appellate jurisdiction.
Explain the four methods of constitutional interpretation.
Explain how America’s system of checks and balances limits the power of the Supreme Court.
Evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues relating to the role of the Supreme Court in the constitutional system.

16. Terms to Know
advisory opinion  In some judicial systems, a formal opinion on a point of law given by a judge or court when requested by a legislature or government official.    appeal  The bringing of a court case from a lower court to a higher court in an attempt to have the lower court's decision reversed. Grounds for appeal include errors of law, fact, or procedure.    appellate jurisdiction  The legal authority of a court to hear appeals from a lower court.    jurisdiction  The power or authority to hear cases and make decisions.    landmark decision  A legal decision that constitutes a turning point or stage. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) is an example of a landmark decision.   

17. Terms to Know
litigant  A party involved in a lawsuit.    methods of constitutional interpretation  Interpretive methods employed by U.S. Supreme Court justices when considering constitutional issues of some cases. See strict construction, original intent, fundamental principles, and instrumentalism   
original jurisdiction  In some cases, such as those in which a state is a party, the Supreme Court has the right to consider the facts and the law in a case without it having first been passed on by a lower court.   writ of certiorari  A type of writ seeking judicial review of a legal decision.   

18. Constitutional Powers of the Supreme Court
Article III
Created Supreme Court, Congress has power to create inferior courts.
Life tenure for all Federal Judges
Jurisdiction over cases arising under national law and involving citizens from more than one state.
Trial by jury in all criminal cases except impeachment
Power of judicial review, deciding whether acts of Congress, executive, state laws, or state
constitutions violate US Constitution

19. Constitutional Powers of the Supreme Court
Original Jurisdiction
Power of a court to pass judgment on both the facts of a case and the law.
Original Jurisdiction over
“cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls,… [and] … Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party.”
Original Jurisdiction - Supreme Court only one to hear case
Very few cases arise from original jurisdiction

20. Constitutional Powers of the Supreme Court
Appellate Jurisdiction
Power of higher court to review and revise decision of inferior court
Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction in all cases not in original jurisdiction unless restricted by Congress.
Congress Created 3 – Tiered system
Trial Courts (Federal District Courts) in each state
13 Courts of Appeal (Federal Circuit Courts)
Supreme Court

21. Constitutional Powers of the Supreme Court
Litigants who lose in lower federal court (or highest state court) can ask Supreme Court to review the case.
Supreme Court not require to issue writ of certiorari
Four justices need to approve
Of thousands of yearly petitions, number of cases decided by court on decline
1980 – 232 cases
2006 – 72 cases

22. Methods of Constitutional Interpretation
Written Opinions
Courts issue majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions
Hold Supreme Court accountable by publicizing its rationale
Establishes a record that serves as precedent for future cases
Methods of Interpretation
Textualism, Literalism, or Strict Construction
Looking at literal / ordinary meaning of each word or phrase
“keeps Court neutral and helps justices avoid imposing their own values on the Constitution”

23. Methods of Constitutional Interpretation
Original Intent or Original History
Seek to understand what Founders originally meant
“helps maintain stability and neutrality in the law”
Fundamental Principles
Looks to principles – natural rights, republican gov’t – to interpret meaning of words, phrases, or clauses
“identifying fundamental principles is useful in determining what meaning of words actually are”
Modernism or Instrumentalism
Premise that Constitutional interpretation should adapt to changing circumstances and contemporary needs.
Argue that justices should not “hold back social progress by adhering to outmoded understandings of the Constitution”

24. Checks on Supreme Court Power
Self-Imposed Limits
Attempt to avoid partisan politics by refusing “political questions”
Does not issue advisory opinions, only decides specific cases
Presidential Appointments
Nominees can change approaches to
constitutional interpretation and attitude
about role of the court
Executive Enforcement
President may threaten to refuse enforcement.
Ex) US v. Nixon

25. Checks on Supreme Court Power
Congressional Power
Congress determines appellate jurisdiction and controls budget
If statute declared unconstitutional, may pass it in another form
Can alter size of the court
Can propose amendments in response to unpopular decisions
Ex) 16th Amendment – Income Tax
Federalism
State enforcement may be lax.
Some states still evade entirely
desegregating schools

26. Lesson 26:
How Does American Federalism Work?

27. Purpose
The powers of and the boundaries between the national and state governments never have been clear.
This lesson examines constitutional provisions affecting the states in their relationship to the national government.
It also explains how state governments are organized, including their creation of units of local government.
Finally, it describes the role of states as “laboratories of democracy.”

28. Objectives
Explain how American federalism involves divided sovereignty and an ongoing effort to balance power.
Explain the function of three basic kinds of local government – counties, municipalities, and special districts.
Give examples of governmental innovations at the state and local levels.
Evaluate, take, and defend positions on continuing issues related to America’s unique system of federalism.

29. Terms to Know
initiative  A proposed law placed on the ballots of some states for voter decision. Initiatives that pass immediately become law.    local government  Government of a specific local area, such as state subdivisions authorized by states or governments of cities, counties, and towns. Also includes special government units, such as water districts.    police powers  The inherent authority of a government to impose restrictions on private rights for the sake of public welfare, order, and security within the boundaries of constitutional law.    recall  A process of using special or general elections for removing elected officials from office.  referendum  Placing a measure approved by a legislature on a ballot for popular approval.    reserved powers  Those powers referred to in the 9th and 10th Amendments that are reserved to the states or to the people.   

30. Constitutional Status of State Governments
States’ Role in National Government
9 of 13 states were needed to ratify Constitution (Art. VII)
Determine Voting Qualifications for House Members (Art. I)
Equal Representation in Senate
Vital Role in Electoral College System
Governing Power Left to the States
Art. I Sect 8 – 9 powers states do not have (no titles of nobility)
Prior list, enumerated powers for Congress, and 10th Amendment established that powers not granted to national government are reserved to state governments.

31. Constitutional Status of State Governments
Reserved (Police) Powers
State gov’ts power to enact legislation that protects the health, safety, welfare, and morals of those within this district
Ex) Schools, making / executing criminal and civil laws, zoning
Historic Tension
Disputes often arise over Supremacy Clause and ambiguities regarding which level of gov’t has which power

32. Common Features of State Government Organization
Bill of Rights
Most include same rights as US Constitution. Many also add rights such as right to work or right to education.
Legislative Branch
Most legislatures (assemblies) meet annually, are bicameral, with districts for both houses based upon population.
Executive Branch
Governor is chief executive, most serve 2 or 4 year terms. Lt. Governor role similar to “vp.”
2003: US gov’t employees = 3 million,
State / Local gov’t employees = 15 million

33. Common Features of State Government Organization
Judicial Systems
Trial and appellate courts. Judges elected in some states, appointed in others.
Municipal courts deal with local matters such as traffic offenses.
State Supreme Court has final say about meaning of state constitution.
Creation of Local Governments
State grants charters to carry out certain gov’t responsibilities. Local laws typically called ordinances.
Categories of local government includes: counties, municipalities (cities & townships), and special districts that provide specific services (school districts).

34. Changing State Constitutions
Since 1776, 144 New State Constitutions, Thousands of Amendments
Only 18 states have original constitution
Ballots usually contain proposals for constitutional amendments
Current policy debates in the states: same-sex marriage, gambling, marijuana decriminalization / legalization

35. Federalism In Practice
Regulation of Commerce
States retain power to regulate commerce within its borders.
However, courts have asserted Congress’s power to regulate local activities if they “have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.”
Ex) Medical marijuana use laws. Gonzalez v. Raich
Grant-in-aid Programs
In return for money from national gov’t, states must comply with congressional policies
Ex) Federal highway funds require compliance
with “national” speed limit.
Ex) Race to the Top education funds

36. “Laboratories of Democracy”
Initiative, Referendum, Recall
Methods allow citizens to participate in direct democracy in their states.
Environmental Protection
Several states set emission standards set by Kyoto Accords, despite national governments choice not to.
Health Care
Several state-wide reforms have been
tried in the states and served as a model
for national legislation.