day 16

bureaucracy and judiciary

do indians count as citizens of the united states?

native americans are citizens of the united states

they were excluded form citizenship originally; excluded from population counts
they were viewed as a foreign nation
it was clear by the actions of early americans that the Native Americans were unwanted
President Jackson moved the Native Americans

the word tribe was reserved for savages, those who had not reached a "civilized" age
the standard for deciding if someone was civilized was "enlightened" thinking
it was seen as acceptable and necessary to exterminate or "salvage" all those who were not civilized

many people have not been enlightened as far as the language they use; they are not truly politically correct

tribe, from the greek, has the same meaning as nation in english
ethnic has been reserved for the subgroup of a nation
ethnic cleansing and tribal conflict; what is the difference?

the problem of language is it's ability to carry a subtext that is undeniable, yet difficult to understand and eradicate

what did the colonies do when they broke away from england?
they changed the way they referred to themselves; started calling themselves states to break away mentally and verbally

why do we continue to refer to indians as tribes? why do native americans

congressional act of 1924 made native americans citizens

not only the distribution of income, but the distribution of wealth
you need to have something left over every month, you should not have to over-extend your checkbook just to survive
credit card companies are very happy to let you only pay the interest, to keep you in a place where you cannot escape

privatization is killing the chances of the average american to survive

we do ourselves a great disservice by not educating our youth from the first grade on the political system; as a result, we do not capitalize on their ability to understand and internalize information

when you help the people you help yourself; it's a positive feedback loop

budgetmaking

budget; a plan or blueprint of the expenditures and revenue of the government
it's done on a yearly basis, the fiscal year (october 1 - september 30 is the federal fiscal year)
the budget is done in 2 stages
first the president proposes the budget after he gives the state of the union address
state of the union gives the economical assessment of america
Office of Management and Budget helps with forming the budget that the president proposes to congress
the president must submit the budget to the House of Representatives first
congress has to pass the budget
congress also has the constitutional power to appropriate funds for the budget
congress has a bureaucracy, the Congressional Budget Office that does the research for the budget, also contrasts the vision of the president with what congress sees as necessary
then the budget is sent to the president to sign
then the budget will be implemented
it's rare that the budget is completed on time, and a continuing resolution is passed so that money can still be spent

advantages of incumbency
an incumbent is one who is already in a position of power
what advantages do you have?
the resources of the position for campaigning
experience, visibility
in the house and the senate, they have franking privileges (franking is free postage)
mostly it is power
when a challenger arrives, it is difficult because of the established power of the old congressperson

bureaucracy
definition: an organized group of civil servants (experts in a field or professionals) hired or employed to help carry out government policies; employed, not elected

kinds of bureaucrats
public bureaucrats; work for government
do things for the benefit of all
they have different sets of leaders; president, congress
work for collective benefit

private; work for corporations
private sector does things for a select group of people
have only one leader (board of directors in most cases)
works for the advancement of private profits

characteristics of bureaucrats
1. division of labor and specilization; bureaucrats do what they are good at and are hired on that basis
2. hierarchical organization, usually in the form of a pyramid, few people on top, many below
3. efficiency, emphasis on producing a lot with few resources while being effective, thus producing savings
4. governed by rules and routine, some times referred to as red tape or "by the book"; SIOP - Standard Integrated Operating Procedure

the ideal of our society is to treat everyone equally; the problem is that everyone is not the same

some bureaucrats are accused of being drunk with power, where their power corrupts them to thinking people are there for them, instead of them being there for the people

size of the bureaucracy
state department
department of war
department of the treasury
office of the attorney general

today, it has grown into 15 departments (see pages 410-411)

the largest number of bureaucrats are found in local government, ranging from school board and teachers to

two main groups of bureaucrats;
political appointees - come and go with elected officials
career civil servants - those who operate in the offices as permanent officials, lifetime workers unless they do something wrong or they retire
- hired on the basis of merit and a basic civil servant test

organization of the presidency - page 411
independent executive agencies - defined on page 412
specific examples on page 414

independent regulatory agencies - defined on page 412
specific examples on page 415

governemnt coroprations - defined on page 416, specific examples on same

short history of the federal bureaucracy
1789 - the birth of the federal government, most of those in power stayed because they knew what they were doing
1828 - president jackson intorduced the spoils, or "patronage" system, also known as the buddy system
andrew jackson came in during a partisan struggle, and came into office in a hostile environment
decided to fire all those who weren't loyal and brought in his own team, comprised mostly of his friends and benefactors
1881 - president garfield was assissinated by a charles guiteau, a man disappointed with not being appointed ambassador to france
1883 - as a result of the investigation of mr. Guiteau, it was revealed that he committed treason because of this disappointement, and the pendleton act was passed
also known as the merit system, the Pendleton act was instituted
federal civil service system, a formal way of instituting the merit system

Civil service commission was formed to make exams, train people, handle retirement

1939 - pass of the hatch act
banned all political activities if you were a civil servant; no donations, no elections
this was effected to insure neutrality
no partisan bias
some felt it was too restrictive

1993 - federal employees political activities reform act - FEPARA
allowed for some political activities to take place:
running for non-partisan political office (mayor of a city)
could participate in voter registration drives
you could make a personal donation to a party, but you cannot use your position to fundraise

1978 - passed the civil Service Reform Act - page 419
established 2 institutions to replace the Civil Service Commision
OPM (office of personnel management)
MSPB (merit system protection board)

Duties of the Civil Service
1. engage in adoption and implementation of policy
- carying out policy
- figuring out alternative methods of solving a problem or reaching a goal
- reviewing feedback to insure the needs of the situation were met
2. regulation
- policymaking - law or statute, usually broad in it's scope
- second degree policy making
2. administration
- housekeeping, making sure that things that have been established work well
- PODSCORB
- Planning
- Organization; developing the structure
- Direction
- Scouting; finding new talent and personnel
- Coordination; the links and relationships between groups
- Reporting; keeping records
- Budgeting

Sunset laws - page 421
pass laws to make sure that things get done; once their function has been exhausted the bureaucratic organizations are retired

privatization
giving private groups the responsibility of doing certain things (ostensibly because private corporations do better work)
the contracts from the government are very lucrative; no advertising, no extra costs, not even distribution costs

controlled by congress
1. power of the purse; they control authorization and appropriation
2. hold hearings and investigations;
3. whistleblowers are protected

congress is very parochial; they have not the will to extend themselves beyond their scope of comfort

american laws

american law is founded on the common law tradition - page 435
we draw the practice of american law from the common law of britain
common law was an establishment of ruling that was then used in the decision of future cases (stare decisis ; precedent)

"case law" was established on this principle

contents of american law
federal
- based on the constitution
- statutes passed by congress (statutory law)
- slip law
- satutes at large
- U.S code
- administrative laws
- regulations
- made by bureaucrats to define the details
- must be entered into the Federal Register
- eventually become the code of federal regulations (CFR)

- Case laws
- Decisions of the court that have been published
- Usually published in the U.S. Report

states
- state constitution
- State Regulations
- State case laws
All state laws must be in agreement with the constitution

Cases - disputes between two parties
1. PLaintiff
2. Defendant
if it's being appealed, they are
1. Appellate

a justiciable case is a case that:
can be decided by the court
has a standing to sue (non-hypothetical)

political cases are non-justiciable (cannot be settled because there is no law to settle it
hypothetical cases cannot be settled because laws can only be applied to real situations

system of the courts (O.J. - original jurisdiction; A.J. Appellate Jurisdiction)

1. Supreme court O.J. (only in cases referring to Article 3 - seciton 3) / A.J. (must have a writ of Certiorari [cert]) needs at least 4 judges to agree to see the case
2. U.S. second court of appeals A.J.
3. District court - O.J.