| More prestige than power | Nationalization of politics |
| President was a secondary figure | Weakening of political parties |
| Most presidents were politically weak | Presonalization of the presidency (Focus on Candidate rather than party) |
| Military figures | Top five presidents from the 20th century: |
| 2 strongest presidents: Andrew Jackson and Abe Lincoln | Franklin Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson |
### The Vice President
- If there was no consensus, at first, on what exactly the power of the president should be there was even less consensus on what the powers of the vice president should be and yet even less consensus on who the vice president should be
- Until 1801, the vice president was the person who second finished in the presidential election (A tie in 1800 meant that this system clearly had to be changed)
- Now the candidate for president selects their running mate
- Together they constitute a ticket (the Republican Ticket and the Democratic Ticket)
### Duties of the Vice President
- There are formal duties
- The vice president is the presiding office of the Senate, but only votes to break a tie
- The vice president presides over impeachment hearings, but not over the impeachment of the president
- Most importantly the vice president takes over the office of the president in any event of the presidents removal
### The Vice-Presidency
- In addition to formal duties, the vice president has both informal and symbolic responsibilities
- Informal: Advise the president
- Symbolic: Balance the ticket (Joe Biden was and old and white man, but Kamala was a black woman, 22 years younger. Donald Trump has led a controversial life but Mike Pence is an evangelical Christian who appeals to an important Republican consistency)
- Tim Waltz is an older white man who was former teacher and high school coach. JD Vance is a Harvard education ... *more on point in slide*
# Electoral College
## Gerrymandering
### 1912 (?)
- 8/10 most gerrymandered states favor republicans
- Supreme court has struct down gerrymandering
- Louisiana - Gerrymandered to Favor Republicans
- Maryland - Gerrymandered to Favor Democrats
## Congress
### Senate
- Upper House
- Elected every six years
- 2 Senators per state
- Approves legislation
- Cooler heads
### House of representatives
- Lover house
- Elected every two years
- Representatives determined by population (435)
- Writes legislation
- Hot heads
### What does the house do?
- Impeachment begins in the House
- The House controls revenue bills
- It is the House that must initiate tax bills
- It is the House that initiates appropriation bills (spending)
- If no president should receive a majority of votes in the Electoral College, then the House of Representatives would choose the next President. In this case, each state would only get one vote.
- Need 218 for the majority
Right now, republicans control the house, with 222 seats, democrats have 211
## Supreme Court
- Established by Article III of the constitution
- Highest court in the Federal Judiciary (in contrast to the states)
- It has jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases that involve a point of federal law and a number of original jurisdictional issues (including Ambassadors)
- Judicial Review: It can invalidate a statue for violating the Constitution
- It includes a chief justice and Eight associate justices
- The justices have a lifetime appointment, but can resign or be removed
- When a vacancy opens, the president with advice and consent appoints a new justice
- Congress Passes the law, Executive executes the law, and the supreme court decides if the law is legal
## The Politicization of the Supreme Court
- Robert Bork
- Nominated by Ronald Reagan in 1987
- Viewed as a very conservative judge
- Opposition was based on his stated desire to roll back civil rights decisions
- Involved "The Saturday Night Massacre"
- Final vote 42 for 45 against
- Clarence Thomas & Anita Hill
- Sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill
- Senate vote on Clarence Thomas in supreme court
- Joe Biden vetoed the rejection and he assumed a supreme court justice role
- Merrick Garland and Neil Gorsuch
- Nominated by Barrack Obama, but lost in the senate
- Mich McConnell refused to bring his name before the Senate
- Obama was livid, but Hillary Clinton was expected to win
- Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford
- Similar to Clarence Hill, accused of sexual assault/harassment
- Republicans controlled the senate, so he was voted in
- Amy Coney Barrett
- Donald Trump's third appointment
- Devote Roman Catholic
- 5th woman to serve on the court
- Nominated to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- "Notorious RBG"
- The right to sign a mortgage without a man
- Right to have a bank account without a husband or father
- The right to have a job without being discriminated based on Gender
- The right for women to be pregnant, have kids, and work
## How to become a supreme court justice
- Get nominated by the president
- Senate judiciary committee conducts hearings and votes on wherever your name should be given to the senate for a vote. Then the full senate considers the candidates and usually they vote to confirm
- Rejections are uncommon, only 12 rejections have ever happened in US history
- The court nominates has become a partisan exercise. You now need to control the senate to get a justice confirmed
## Everything is on the table
- Size of the court is not set in the constitution