Tuesday 10/29 & Wednesday 10/30: 2.6 Expansion of Presidential Power

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:

The presidency has been enhanced beyond its expressed constitutional powers.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

Explain how presidents have interpreted and justified their use of formal and informal powers.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE:

Justifications for a single executive are set forth in Federalist No. 70.

Term-of-office and constitutional-power restrictions, including the passage of the Twenty-Second Amendment, demonstrate changing presidential roles

Different perspectives on the presidential role, ranging from a limited to a more expansive interpretation and use of power, continue to be debated in the context of contemporary events

Activity # 1: 

Click Here

Activity # 2:

1.  The President will assign each student a cabinet or advisor position.  These will be projected on the screen.  You have 10 minutes to assign your staff!

• Each cabinet member (excluding those listed below) will be assessed based on the written proposal (how their department will aid in solving the crisis at hand) submitted to their President

• Presidents and Chief of Staff will receive an average of their cabinets' scores as their score.

• Press Secretaries will submit a copy of the public address/statement given to the US populace explaining what the government is doing during this crisis.

• Simulation One:
• Agriculture* 
• Defense* 
• Homeland Security* 
• Transportation 
• Health & Human Services* 
• Justice* 
• State* 
• Director of National Intelligence 
• EPA Administrator* 
• White House Chief Of Staff* 
• National Security Adviser 
• U.N. Ambassador* 
• FEMA Administrator* 
• White House Press Secretary* 
• White House Senior Advisor
• Simulation Two:
• Energy*
• Homeland Security*
• Interior
• Transportation*
• Health & Human Services*
• Housing & Urban Development • Justice
• State
• EPA Administrator*
• White House Senior Adviser
• White House Chief Of Staff*
• U.N. Ambassador
• FEMA Administrator*
• White House Press Secretary

Activity #3: 

But first we have to research our roles: Role Sources

Then, answer the following questions in your notebook...

1. What is the name of your department?
2. When was your department founded?
3. Who is the current secretary, or leader, of your department?
4. What agencies or organizations operate under this department?
5. What is the annual budget for your department?
6. What is one failure and one success that your department has experienced in its history?

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Friday 10/25 & Monday 10/28: 2.4 Roles & Powers of the President

Lesson 2.4: Roles and Powers of the President

Enduring Understanding:

The presidency has been enhanced beyond its expressed constitutional powers.

Learning Objectives:

Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda.

Essential Knowledge:

Presidents use powers and perform functions of the office to accomplish a policy agenda.

Formal and informal powers of the president include:

• Vetoes and pocket vetoes – formal powers that enable the president to check Congress
• Foreign policy – both formal (Commander-in-Chief and treaties) and informal (executive agreements) powers that influence relations with foreign nations 
• Bargaining and persuasion – informal power that enables the president to secure congressional action 
• Executive orders – implied from the president’s vested executive power, or from power delegated by Congress, executive orders are used by the president to manage the federal government 
• Signing statements – informal power that informs Congress and the public of the president’s interpretation of laws passed by Congress and signed by the president

Activity # 1: CUA # 2

Click Here

Activity # 2: 

Click on Presidential Powers EdPuzzle (Complete in class)

Activity # 2:  Executive Branch Webquest

In your notebooks, answer the following questions 1-14 from the Executive Branch Webquest.  Please make sure to answer the questions in complete thoughts!  It will be graded in your 2nd notebook check.  In order for these notes to be helpful, complete thoughts will be necessary.

Activity # 3: In your notebook, answer the following question:

• What character traits do you believe an ideal president should have?  What additional requirements should there be for a president, beyond those listed in Article II of the Constitution?

Activity #4: Nifty Fifty Vocab Add in your notebook & Define

1. War Powers Act
2. Signing Statement
3. Bully Pulpit
4. Executive Order

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Wednesday 10/23 & Thursday 10/24: 2.4 Roles & Powers of the Executive

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:

The presidency has been enhanced beyond its expressed constitutional powers.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE:

Presidents use powers and perform functions of the office to accomplish a policy agenda.

Formal and informal powers of the president include:

Vetoes and pocket vetoes—formal powers that enable the president to check Congress

Foreign policy—both formal (commander in-chief and treaties) and informal (executive agreements) powers that influence relations with foreign nations

Bargaining and persuasion—informal power that enables the president to secure congressional action

Executive orders—implied from the president’s vested “executive power,” or from power delegated by Congress, executive orders allow the president to manage the federal government

Signing statements—informal power that informs Congress and the public of the president’s interpretation of laws passed by Congress and signed by the president

Activity # 1: Day 2 Finishing (In your notebook) Many Hats of the Executive

Grading the President (w/ table mates):

According the roles / powers of the Executive Branch, your group needs to identify an event or policy that happened during your assigned presidents tenure.

Describe the event / policy, explain how it demonstrates that power or role, assign a letter grade on how effective the policy was in resulting the crisis / event.


Activity # 2:  (In your notebook)

From your collective analysis above, how would you describe the executive branch, or specifically, the presidency, in a 2-3 sentence that anyone could easily understand.

Activity #3 : Executive Branch Webquest

In your notebooks, answer the following questions 1-14 from the Executive Branch Webquest.  Please make sure to answer the questions in complete thoughts!  These will be used on your test which is open notes and will also be graded in your third notebook check.  In order for these notes to be helpful, complete thoughts will be necessary.

Homework: Due Oct. 27th by 11:59 pm. Log into Khan Academy, complete the 2 videos assigned. 

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Monday 10/21 & Tuesday 10/22 2.4 Roles and Powers of the President

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:

The presidency has been enhanced beyond its expressed constitutional powers.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE:

Presidents use powers and perform functions of the office to accomplish a policy agenda.

Formal and informal powers of the president include:

Vetoes and pocket vetoes—formal powers that enable the president to check Congress

Foreign policy—both formal (commander in-chief and treaties) and informal (executive agreements) powers that influence relations with foreign nations

Bargaining and persuasion—informal power that enables the president to secure congressional action

Executive orders—implied from the president’s vested “executive power,” or from power delegated by Congress, executive orders allow the president to manage the federal government

Signing statements—informal power that informs Congress and the public of the president’s interpretation of laws passed by Congress and signed by the president


Activity # 1: Executive Branch One Pager (in your notebook)

In order to create a "divider" in your notebooks that will served to separate Legislative and Executive Branch, we are going to create a one pager over the Executive Branch.  

• A title and subtitle across the middle
• A border that includes the Powers of the Executive Branch
• A Picture in one quadrant
• Executive's checks in another quadrant (How the Prez checks the other two branches)
• The Qualifications & Term Limits (Id'ing the 2 Amendments used)
• A quadrant that has three questions you have about Executive Branch

Activity # 2: Using OSAM (Objects, Symbols, Action, Message) in your Notebook


Activity # 3: Day 1 (In your notebook) Many Hats of the Executive

Grading the President (w/ table mates):

According the roles / powers of the Executive Branch, your group needs to identify an event or policy that happened during your assigned presidents tenure.

Describe the event / policy, explain how it demonstrates that power or role, assign a letter grade on how effective the policy was in resulting the crisis / event.



Activity # 4: Closing (In your notebook)

From your collective analysis above, how would you describe the executive branch, or specifically, the presidency, in a 2-3 sentence that anyone could easily understand.

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Thursday 10/10 & Tuesday 10/15: 2.2 The Structures, Powers, & Functions of Congress

Lesson 2.2: The Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:

The republican ideal in the U.S. is manifested in the structure and operation of the legislative branch.

Learning Objectives:

Explain how the structure, powers, and functions of both houses of Congress affect the policymaking process.

Essential Knowledge:

By design, the different structures, powers, and functions of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives affect the policy-making process.

Though both chambers rely on committees to conduct hearings and debate bills under consideration, different constitutional responsibilities of the House and Senate affect the policy-making process.

• Chamber-specific procedures, rules, and roles that impact the policy-making process include:
• Number of chamber and debate rules that set the bar high for building majority support .
• Roles of Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, party leadership, and committee leadership in both chambers 
• Filibuster and cloture 
• Holds and unanimous consent in the Senate 
• Role of Rules Committee, Committee of the Whole, and discharge petitions in the House
• Treaty ratification and confirmation role of the Senate 

Congress must generate a budget that addresses both discretionary and mandatory spending, and as entitlement costs grow, discretionary spending opportunities will decrease unless tax revenues increase or the budget deficit increases.

Pork barrel legislation and logrolling affect lawmaking in both chambers

Debrief 2.3

You are in charge of the Federal Budget ($4,500,000,000,000) of spending (Expenditures) and Taxation (Revenue).  How would you divide it up.  List off the percentages that you would allocate (or assign) to each of the following categories in your notebooks...

Expenditures

• Social Security
• Medicare/Medicaid
• Military
• Science (Research)
• Energy
• Environment
• Education
• Internation Aid
• Transportation
• Housing and Urban Development
• Veterans Benefits
• Food and Agriculture
• Interest on Debt

Revenue

• Personal Income Tax
• Corporate Taxes
• Payroll Tax
• Excise Taxes (Gas, Tobacco, Alcohol)
• Tariffs and Duties on Imports

Take a look at the actual percentage breakdown...

Spending Breakdown - Revenue Breakdown

What were some of the areas in which you differed from the actual budget?  How were you the same?

Activity #1: How The Budget Basics...

Go to The Budget Basics Website.  Answer the following questions in your notebooks...

1. What responsibilities do the President and Congress have when it comes to making the budget?
2. What is a Fiscal Year?  When is the Government's Fiscal Year?
3. What happens when the government cannot pass a budget by October 1st?

Activity #2: TIP-C

Use the TIP-C model (Title, Information, Patterns, Conclusion) to analyze the two graphs below.  Record the answers in your notebooks...

In your notebooks, answer this question...  What are the two ways to get rid of a deficit?

Activity #3: Free Response Question:

Take a look at the following pie chart...

In your notebooks, answer the following questions:

• Identify a change in Federal Spending from 1970 to 2023 as represented in the charts above.
• Explain a reason why this change has occurred.
• Explain why making changes to the budget is often difficult for elected officials.

Homework:

Test Review - Stop at The Growth of Presidential Power

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Tuesday 10/8 & Wednesday 10/9: Cake Day!!!

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:

The republican ideal in the U.S. is manifested in the structure and operation of the legislative branch.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

Explain how congressional behavior is influenced by election processes, partisanship, and divided government

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE:

Congressional behavior and governing effectiveness are influenced by:

Ideological divisions within Congress that can lead to gridlock or create the need for negotiation and compromise

Gerrymandering, redistricting, and unequal representation of constituencies have been partially addressed by the Supreme Court decision in Baker v. Carr (1962), which opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and started the “one person, one vote” doctrine, and the no-racial-gerrymandering decision in Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Elections that have led to a divided government, including partisan votes against presidential initiatives and congressional refusal to confirm appointments of “lame-duck” presidents of the opposite party

Different role conceptions of “trustee,” “delegate,” and “politico” as related to constituent accountability in each chamber


Activity # 1:

Cake Day!! 

Activity # 2:

Activity # 3: 

Congress Ed Puzzle Video

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Friday Oct 4th & Monday Oct 7th 2.3 Congressional Behavior

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:

The republican ideal in the U.S. is manifested in the structure and operation of the legislative branch.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

Explain how congressional behavior is influenced by election processes, partisanship, and divided government

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE:

Congressional behavior and governing effectiveness are influenced by:

Ideological divisions within Congress that can lead to gridlock or create the need for negotiation and compromise

Gerrymandering, redistricting, and unequal representation of constituencies have been partially addressed by the Supreme Court decision in Baker v. Carr (1962), which opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and started the “one person, one vote” doctrine, and the no-racial-gerrymandering decision in Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Elections that have led to a divided government, including partisan votes against presidential initiatives and congressional refusal to confirm appointments of “lame-duck” presidents of the opposite party

Different role conceptions of “trustee,” “delegate,” and “politico” as related to constituent accountability in each chamber

Activity # 1:

The original gerrymander:

 More recent examples of gerrymandering.

Activity # 2:

Activity # 3: 

Congress Ed Puzzle Video

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Wednesday Oct 2nd & Thursday Oct 3rd 2.2 The Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress

Lesson 2.2: The Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:

The republican ideal in the U.S. is manifested in the structure and operation of the legislative branch.

Learning Objectives:

Explain how the structure, powers, and functions of both houses of Congress affect the policymaking process.

Essential Knowledge:

By design, the different structures, powers, and functions of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives affect the policy-making process. 

Though both chambers rely on committees to conduct hearings and debate bills under consideration, different constitutional responsibilities of the House and Senate affect the policy-making process. 

• Chamber-specific procedures, rules, and roles that impact the policy-making process include:
• Number of chamber and debate rules that set the bar high for building majority support .
• Roles of Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, party leadership, and committee leadership in both chambers 
• Filibuster and cloture 
• Holds and unanimous consent in the Senate 
• Role of Rules Committee, Committee of the Whole, and discharge petitions in the House
• Treaty ratification and confirmation role of the Senate 

Congress must generate a budget that addresses both discretionary and mandatory spending, and as entitlement costs grow, discretionary spending opportunities will decrease unless tax revenues increase or the budget deficit increases. 

Pork barrel legislation and logrolling affect lawmaking in both chambers.

Activity # 1: 

Activity # 2 Legislative Explorer

Complete the following LegEx Assignment

Activity # 3: 

Define in your notebook: 

• enumerated (expressed) powers
• implied powers
• necessary and proper clause (elastic clause)

Activity # 4:

For each of the following, decide first if Congress has the power (either enumerated or implied). If they do have the power, is it enumerated or implied? What specific clause gives them that power?

1. prohibit sending weapons through the mail
2. establish the Federal Reserve System
3. institute a draft
4. nominate a judge
5. place a tax on alcohol
6. establish a minimum wage
7. create the IRS
8. fire the Secretary of Defense
9. issue US savings bonds
10. ban discrimination in the workplace
11. grant citizenship to "Dreamers"
12. create a 40 hour work week

Activity # 5: 

Create a 4 box grid (or other organizational chart) and classify the enumerated powers of Congress according to the following categories:

• economic
• military/foreign
• other (ex. weights & measures)
• non-legislative (ex. impeachment)

You should have a minimum of 3-4 items for each category.

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