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Secondly, the greater number of citizens and greater sphere of country over which the latter may be extended. That only through a representative government could you actually govern over 13 colonies or even beyond 13 colonies. And that's why today, obviously, you might have had something closer to a pure democracy in ancient Athens, which was a city-state. But today, almost any democracy is some form of representative democracy, which James Madison would consider to be a republic. But if you wanted to classify the United States today, a fair term might be it is a democratic republic. You definitely have popular sovereignty. The people are considered sovereign. | Democratic ideals of US government.mp3 |
But today, almost any democracy is some form of representative democracy, which James Madison would consider to be a republic. But if you wanted to classify the United States today, a fair term might be it is a democratic republic. You definitely have popular sovereignty. The people are considered sovereign. But they don't rule directly. They rule through representatives, which by Madison's definition would make it a republic. So now that you're armed with some of these basic ideas, I encourage you to engage even more with some of the founding documents for the United States. | Democratic ideals of US government.mp3 |
The people are considered sovereign. But they don't rule directly. They rule through representatives, which by Madison's definition would make it a republic. So now that you're armed with some of these basic ideas, I encourage you to engage even more with some of the founding documents for the United States. And on top of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, I encourage you to read as many of the Federalist Papers as possible because it's really an explanation of the ideas behind the US Constitution. And you should start with Federalist Papers number 10. As you'll see, James Madison is quite insightful. | Democratic ideals of US government.mp3 |
Let's talk about primary elections, which are often known as primaries. One way to think about them is that they're just preliminary elections used to get down to a fewer number of candidates. A very simple example would be, let's say there is a congressional seat in your district, and there's three folks who are interested in that position who associate themselves with the Democrats, and let's say there's also three folks in your district who are interested in running for that position who associate themselves with the Republicans. There are some situations where you can have just a big preliminary election where they all run against each other. We'll talk about that in a second. But usually, you have a situation where they try to think about, well, let's just pick one to represent the Democrats, and let's just pick one to represent the Republicans. And so that's where the primary election would happen. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
There are some situations where you can have just a big preliminary election where they all run against each other. We'll talk about that in a second. But usually, you have a situation where they try to think about, well, let's just pick one to represent the Democrats, and let's just pick one to represent the Republicans. And so that's where the primary election would happen. So you would have a Democratic primary where these folks would run against each other, and whoever gets the most votes would then go on to represent the Democratic Party in that election. So let's say that person wins, then they will go on into the general election. Likewise, these three folks would run against each other in the Republican primary. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And so that's where the primary election would happen. So you would have a Democratic primary where these folks would run against each other, and whoever gets the most votes would then go on to represent the Democratic Party in that election. So let's say that person wins, then they will go on into the general election. Likewise, these three folks would run against each other in the Republican primary. And whoever gets the most votes, let's say it's that person right over there, they would go to the general election to go against, likely, the Democrat right over here. So this is the person who would go against the Democrat, and then they are going to compete in the general election against each other, head to head. And then whoever gets that would get the congressional seat. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Likewise, these three folks would run against each other in the Republican primary. And whoever gets the most votes, let's say it's that person right over there, they would go to the general election to go against, likely, the Democrat right over here. So this is the person who would go against the Democrat, and then they are going to compete in the general election against each other, head to head. And then whoever gets that would get the congressional seat. Now, even in this type of primary, you could call this a partisan primary, there is an interesting question. Who votes in this Democratic Party primary? Who votes in that, and who votes in the Republican Party primary? | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And then whoever gets that would get the congressional seat. Now, even in this type of primary, you could call this a partisan primary, there is an interesting question. Who votes in this Democratic Party primary? Who votes in that, and who votes in the Republican Party primary? And there's actually two systems for this, or two general buckets, and there's some nuances from region to region. But one way is that, well, only registered Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary, pick who represents their party in the general, and only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. That situation where only registered folks can vote in their respective primaries, that is called a closed primary. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Who votes in that, and who votes in the Republican Party primary? And there's actually two systems for this, or two general buckets, and there's some nuances from region to region. But one way is that, well, only registered Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary, pick who represents their party in the general, and only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. That situation where only registered folks can vote in their respective primaries, that is called a closed primary. It's called closed because it's not open to just anyone who wants to vote in the primary. Only the people who have already registered in that party can vote. Now, you can imagine the opposite of that is the open primary. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
That situation where only registered folks can vote in their respective primaries, that is called a closed primary. It's called closed because it's not open to just anyone who wants to vote in the primary. Only the people who have already registered in that party can vote. Now, you can imagine the opposite of that is the open primary. So open primary, where even though these are partisan primaries, you are trying to figure out who's going to represent the Democrats, and who's going to represent the Republicans, you can allow people who are either not affiliated with the party, or even people who are affiliated with the other party to vote in your primary. So, for example, in this Democratic primary, there could be, for some reason, folks who feel passionate about this candidate who are actually registered Republicans, but who they want to vote in this primary. Or you could have people who are unaffiliated who would vote in this primary if we are dealing with an open primary. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Now, you can imagine the opposite of that is the open primary. So open primary, where even though these are partisan primaries, you are trying to figure out who's going to represent the Democrats, and who's going to represent the Republicans, you can allow people who are either not affiliated with the party, or even people who are affiliated with the other party to vote in your primary. So, for example, in this Democratic primary, there could be, for some reason, folks who feel passionate about this candidate who are actually registered Republicans, but who they want to vote in this primary. Or you could have people who are unaffiliated who would vote in this primary if we are dealing with an open primary. Now, one interesting question is, how could the dynamics change if we're dealing with a open versus a closed primary? Well, political scientists like to think a lot about this, and even states like to think about this in terms of what is appropriate, what is most representative, what gives the people of that state kind of the fairest voice in their elections. Now, people who like closed primaries might say, well, look, we're trying to figure out who represents the Democratic Party, it should only be Democrats. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Or you could have people who are unaffiliated who would vote in this primary if we are dealing with an open primary. Now, one interesting question is, how could the dynamics change if we're dealing with a open versus a closed primary? Well, political scientists like to think a lot about this, and even states like to think about this in terms of what is appropriate, what is most representative, what gives the people of that state kind of the fairest voice in their elections. Now, people who like closed primaries might say, well, look, we're trying to figure out who represents the Democratic Party, it should only be Democrats. We're trying to figure out who represents the Republican Party, it should only be Republicans. Now, criticism of closed primaries might be, well, if you limit who gets to vote in the primary, then these candidates are only going to cater to the base. They're only going to cater to the interests of people in their party, and in particular, they might cater to people who are at the extremes of their party. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Now, people who like closed primaries might say, well, look, we're trying to figure out who represents the Democratic Party, it should only be Democrats. We're trying to figure out who represents the Republican Party, it should only be Republicans. Now, criticism of closed primaries might be, well, if you limit who gets to vote in the primary, then these candidates are only going to cater to the base. They're only going to cater to the interests of people in their party, and in particular, they might cater to people who are at the extremes of their party. For example, let's say we have a situation like this. Let's say that this is the population right over here, and people at the right end, these are conservatives, conservatives, conservative, and these folks right over here are liberal. And if you were to look at the population as a whole, let's say the distribution in the population, let's say it looks something like this. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
They're only going to cater to the interests of people in their party, and in particular, they might cater to people who are at the extremes of their party. For example, let's say we have a situation like this. Let's say that this is the population right over here, and people at the right end, these are conservatives, conservatives, conservative, and these folks right over here are liberal. And if you were to look at the population as a whole, let's say the distribution in the population, let's say it looks something like this. You have some people here who are quite liberal, and then you have actually the bulk of the people who are someplace in between, and then you have another bump of folks who are actually quite conservative. So you would guess that, hey, look, you know, a view that's someplace in between, maybe a moderate view, would actually maybe be most representative of the people, but if you have closed primaries, what might happen? Well, the Democratic primary, the people who would be eligible to vote would be these people right over here, would be these people, the people who have registered as Democrats. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And if you were to look at the population as a whole, let's say the distribution in the population, let's say it looks something like this. You have some people here who are quite liberal, and then you have actually the bulk of the people who are someplace in between, and then you have another bump of folks who are actually quite conservative. So you would guess that, hey, look, you know, a view that's someplace in between, maybe a moderate view, would actually maybe be most representative of the people, but if you have closed primaries, what might happen? Well, the Democratic primary, the people who would be eligible to vote would be these people right over here, would be these people, the people who have registered as Democrats. And in the Republican primary, well, only the registered, if it's closed, only the registered Republicans would vote, maybe these people right over here. And these people in the middle, these would be the unaffiliated with a party people. And so if you have different candidates here, let's say that this is candidate one, where they're here on the spectrum, this is candidate two, which is here on the spectrum, and candidate three is here on the spectrum, you could imagine that for this population, they're all going to say things that speak to this group. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Well, the Democratic primary, the people who would be eligible to vote would be these people right over here, would be these people, the people who have registered as Democrats. And in the Republican primary, well, only the registered, if it's closed, only the registered Republicans would vote, maybe these people right over here. And these people in the middle, these would be the unaffiliated with a party people. And so if you have different candidates here, let's say that this is candidate one, where they're here on the spectrum, this is candidate two, which is here on the spectrum, and candidate three is here on the spectrum, you could imagine that for this population, they're all going to say things that speak to this group. And in particular, they might actually, the person who wins might actually be very successful of getting the people at the extreme left, right over here. And so that person maybe is the person who goes off to the general election. Likewise, the same thing might be happening on the Republican side. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And so if you have different candidates here, let's say that this is candidate one, where they're here on the spectrum, this is candidate two, which is here on the spectrum, and candidate three is here on the spectrum, you could imagine that for this population, they're all going to say things that speak to this group. And in particular, they might actually, the person who wins might actually be very successful of getting the people at the extreme left, right over here. And so that person maybe is the person who goes off to the general election. Likewise, the same thing might be happening on the Republican side. You have the different candidates, maybe their personal views put them right over here, and it's this person who is furthest to the right who's really able to appeal to the folks right over here who ends up winning and represents the Republican Party. Well then what happens in the general election? The entire population has to pick between folks that actually are more indicative of either extreme, that maybe the closed primary system, it wouldn't have been so good for a candidate who is reasonably moderate on the Democratic side, maybe someone is there, or a candidate who is right over here. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Likewise, the same thing might be happening on the Republican side. You have the different candidates, maybe their personal views put them right over here, and it's this person who is furthest to the right who's really able to appeal to the folks right over here who ends up winning and represents the Republican Party. Well then what happens in the general election? The entire population has to pick between folks that actually are more indicative of either extreme, that maybe the closed primary system, it wouldn't have been so good for a candidate who is reasonably moderate on the Democratic side, maybe someone is there, or a candidate who is right over here. Or maybe there's a candidate whose views are right in the middle. First of all, if they want to represent a party, they would have to pick one of these parties. And then to have a shot, they would have to represent views that would be to the left or to the right of where they truly are, and maybe they wouldn't have as good of a shot as the people who actually are quite liberal, or the folks who actually are quite conservative. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
The entire population has to pick between folks that actually are more indicative of either extreme, that maybe the closed primary system, it wouldn't have been so good for a candidate who is reasonably moderate on the Democratic side, maybe someone is there, or a candidate who is right over here. Or maybe there's a candidate whose views are right in the middle. First of all, if they want to represent a party, they would have to pick one of these parties. And then to have a shot, they would have to represent views that would be to the left or to the right of where they truly are, and maybe they wouldn't have as good of a shot as the people who actually are quite liberal, or the folks who actually are quite conservative. So that's a criticism of the closed primary. An open primary might make this a little bit better because you have these registered Democrats here, but folks from here might decide, hey, I wanna go vote there as well, so they might moderate things. Or folks from here might say, hey, I wanna go vote here as well. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And then to have a shot, they would have to represent views that would be to the left or to the right of where they truly are, and maybe they wouldn't have as good of a shot as the people who actually are quite liberal, or the folks who actually are quite conservative. So that's a criticism of the closed primary. An open primary might make this a little bit better because you have these registered Democrats here, but folks from here might decide, hey, I wanna go vote there as well, so they might moderate things. Or folks from here might say, hey, I wanna go vote here as well. Now critics of an open primary would say, well, those aren't the people who really are registered in that party, and you could also have a phenomenon of rating, where people, maybe on the Republican side, could say, look, you know what? I know who's gonna win here. The Republican primary doesn't need my vote. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Or folks from here might say, hey, I wanna go vote here as well. Now critics of an open primary would say, well, those aren't the people who really are registered in that party, and you could also have a phenomenon of rating, where people, maybe on the Republican side, could say, look, you know what? I know who's gonna win here. The Republican primary doesn't need my vote. I'm gonna go and try to pick the weakest candidate on the other side so that in the general election, my candidate has the best shot. Now a third type of primary is known as a blanket primary, often a nonpartisan blanket primary. In a nonpartisan blanket primary, instead of going through this partisan process, all the candidates here would go into one preliminary election. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
The Republican primary doesn't need my vote. I'm gonna go and try to pick the weakest candidate on the other side so that in the general election, my candidate has the best shot. Now a third type of primary is known as a blanket primary, often a nonpartisan blanket primary. In a nonpartisan blanket primary, instead of going through this partisan process, all the candidates here would go into one preliminary election. And in that preliminary election, the top two candidates would then go on to the general election. Now what's interesting about that, so two candidates are going to move on in a blanket primary, a nonpartisan blanket primary, and what's interesting there is you can actually get two candidates from the same party going. Proponents of a blanket primary say, hey, this is the fairest of it all. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
In a nonpartisan blanket primary, instead of going through this partisan process, all the candidates here would go into one preliminary election. And in that preliminary election, the top two candidates would then go on to the general election. Now what's interesting about that, so two candidates are going to move on in a blanket primary, a nonpartisan blanket primary, and what's interesting there is you can actually get two candidates from the same party going. Proponents of a blanket primary say, hey, this is the fairest of it all. Instead of making things partisan, just let everyone run against everyone else, and the top two will then get to the general election. Now you'll see all three of these in the United States at congressional elections or even statewide elections, but if we're thinking about presidential elections, we're thinking mainly about these two. And when we're talking about presidential election, these are part of primary season where it's thinking about how many delegates candidates would get during the national convention where they actually pick their candidate. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Proponents of a blanket primary say, hey, this is the fairest of it all. Instead of making things partisan, just let everyone run against everyone else, and the top two will then get to the general election. Now you'll see all three of these in the United States at congressional elections or even statewide elections, but if we're thinking about presidential elections, we're thinking mainly about these two. And when we're talking about presidential election, these are part of primary season where it's thinking about how many delegates candidates would get during the national convention where they actually pick their candidate. I'll leave you there. It's an interesting way to think about the different ways of voting, especially voting in a preliminary way to get down to a fewer number of candidates. I'll let you think about which one you prefer. | Open primaries, closed primaries, and blanket primaries US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Formal powers are those that are explicitly listed in the United States Constitution. And we're also going to talk about informal powers a little bit in this video and in a lot more depth in future videos. The formal powers are listed in Article Two of the United States Constitution. And it starts in Section One, where it says, the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. And this simple statement alone has a lot of implications. As we will see, it is used as a justification for many of the informal powers of the President. The President is the executive. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And it starts in Section One, where it says, the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. And this simple statement alone has a lot of implications. As we will see, it is used as a justification for many of the informal powers of the President. The President is the executive. They run the government. Congress can pass laws and set budgets. Judicial branch can interpret laws or declare them unconstitutional. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
The President is the executive. They run the government. Congress can pass laws and set budgets. Judicial branch can interpret laws or declare them unconstitutional. But the executive power is vested in the President. But the bulk of the powers are listed in Section Two and Section Three. So let's read this together. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Judicial branch can interpret laws or declare them unconstitutional. But the executive power is vested in the President. But the bulk of the powers are listed in Section Two and Section Three. So let's read this together. And let's see if we can classify these different powers as executive, legislative, foreign policy or military, or judicial powers. So Section Two of Article Two starts off with, the President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States and of the Militia of the several States when called into the actual service of the United States. So this is clearly a military power. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
So let's read this together. And let's see if we can classify these different powers as executive, legislative, foreign policy or military, or judicial powers. So Section Two of Article Two starts off with, the President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States and of the Militia of the several States when called into the actual service of the United States. So this is clearly a military power. You have the President of the United States being in charge of the nation's military. It then goes on to say, he may require the opinion in writing of the Principal Officer in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. So this is clearly an executive power or an administrative power, where he can go to the head of any of the executive departments and say, hey, I need your opinion on something, potentially in writing. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
So this is clearly a military power. You have the President of the United States being in charge of the nation's military. It then goes on to say, he may require the opinion in writing of the Principal Officer in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. So this is clearly an executive power or an administrative power, where he can go to the head of any of the executive departments and say, hey, I need your opinion on something, potentially in writing. Then it goes on to say, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. So this is a judicial power, grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses. Then we read, he shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
So this is clearly an executive power or an administrative power, where he can go to the head of any of the executive departments and say, hey, I need your opinion on something, potentially in writing. Then it goes on to say, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. So this is a judicial power, grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses. Then we read, he shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur. So this power to make treaties is clearly a foreign policy power, although it does have to be ratified by the Senate. And he shall nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and councils, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. But the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of department. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Then we read, he shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur. So this power to make treaties is clearly a foreign policy power, although it does have to be ratified by the Senate. And he shall nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and councils, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. But the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of department. So all of these lines here talk about the president's power of appointment, which is why I underlined it in the executive or the administrative color, although it touches on appointments that affect these other powers. So for example, the appointment of ambassadors is clearly going to have foreign policy implications. And judges of the Supreme Court, this could have huge judicial implications, so I will underline that in blue as well. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
But the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of department. So all of these lines here talk about the president's power of appointment, which is why I underlined it in the executive or the administrative color, although it touches on appointments that affect these other powers. So for example, the appointment of ambassadors is clearly going to have foreign policy implications. And judges of the Supreme Court, this could have huge judicial implications, so I will underline that in blue as well. It then goes on to say, and this is in relation to the appointments we just talked about, the president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, because remember, it just talked about how the Senate has to confirm appointments. But the president does have the power to fill up vacancies while the Senate is in recess, while they're not in session, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. And then in section three, we read, he, the president, although it could be a she, shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he or she shall judge necessary and expedient. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And judges of the Supreme Court, this could have huge judicial implications, so I will underline that in blue as well. It then goes on to say, and this is in relation to the appointments we just talked about, the president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, because remember, it just talked about how the Senate has to confirm appointments. But the president does have the power to fill up vacancies while the Senate is in recess, while they're not in session, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. And then in section three, we read, he, the president, although it could be a she, shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he or she shall judge necessary and expedient. He may on extraordinary occasions convene both houses or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper. So these are all ways, these are all powers that the president has in the legislative process. And then it goes back to foreign policy. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And then in section three, we read, he, the president, although it could be a she, shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he or she shall judge necessary and expedient. He may on extraordinary occasions convene both houses or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper. So these are all ways, these are all powers that the president has in the legislative process. And then it goes back to foreign policy. He shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. This statement, he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed in conjunction with what is sometimes known as the Vesting Clause, which is at the very beginning of Article II, Section 1, that simply states the executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And then it goes back to foreign policy. He shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. This statement, he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed in conjunction with what is sometimes known as the Vesting Clause, which is at the very beginning of Article II, Section 1, that simply states the executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States. These two clauses combined have been used to justify what we will see are called informal powers, which we will go into much more depth into future videos, especially the power of the executive order. And so in summary, if we wanna look at the executive powers of the president, the power to take care that laws be faithfully executed, nominating officials with confirmation from the Senate, request written opinions of administrative officials, fill administrative vacancies during recesses. Then you have the legislative powers. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
This statement, he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed in conjunction with what is sometimes known as the Vesting Clause, which is at the very beginning of Article II, Section 1, that simply states the executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States. These two clauses combined have been used to justify what we will see are called informal powers, which we will go into much more depth into future videos, especially the power of the executive order. And so in summary, if we wanna look at the executive powers of the president, the power to take care that laws be faithfully executed, nominating officials with confirmation from the Senate, request written opinions of administrative officials, fill administrative vacancies during recesses. Then you have the legislative powers. Present info on the State of the Union, recommend legislation to Congress, convene both houses on extraordinary occasions, adjourn Congress if House and Senate cannot agree, and can veto legislation, although Congress can overrule with a 2 3rds vote. And then you have the foreign policy and military powers, which include being commander-in-chief of the armed forces, making treaties which have to be ratified by the Senate, nominate ambassadors, receive ambassadors, and provide diplomatic recognition to other governments. And then finally, the judicial powers that we saw in Article Two, reprieves and pardons for federal offenses, and the power to nominate federal judges, including US Supreme Court judges. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Then you have the legislative powers. Present info on the State of the Union, recommend legislation to Congress, convene both houses on extraordinary occasions, adjourn Congress if House and Senate cannot agree, and can veto legislation, although Congress can overrule with a 2 3rds vote. And then you have the foreign policy and military powers, which include being commander-in-chief of the armed forces, making treaties which have to be ratified by the Senate, nominate ambassadors, receive ambassadors, and provide diplomatic recognition to other governments. And then finally, the judicial powers that we saw in Article Two, reprieves and pardons for federal offenses, and the power to nominate federal judges, including US Supreme Court judges. Now as I touched on, these are the formal powers, but there's also what are known as informal powers, and we'll talk more about these in other videos. The president has a unique role in the federal government and in national discourse as a whole, and because of that, they have a lot of bargaining and persuasion power. Now as we also touched on, we have an informal power of executive orders, which is derived from the formal powers to take care that laws be faithfully executed, and the fact that the power of the executive is vested in the president. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And then finally, the judicial powers that we saw in Article Two, reprieves and pardons for federal offenses, and the power to nominate federal judges, including US Supreme Court judges. Now as I touched on, these are the formal powers, but there's also what are known as informal powers, and we'll talk more about these in other videos. The president has a unique role in the federal government and in national discourse as a whole, and because of that, they have a lot of bargaining and persuasion power. Now as we also touched on, we have an informal power of executive orders, which is derived from the formal powers to take care that laws be faithfully executed, and the fact that the power of the executive is vested in the president. You also have things called signing statements, which we'll do future videos on, which is when a law gets passed by Congress, the president can issue a document known as a signing statement, which interprets that law, and as you can imagine, that interpretation of the law could be very, very influential. And then you also have executive agreements. These are agreements with foreign governments that do not have to be ratified by the US Senate. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Now as we also touched on, we have an informal power of executive orders, which is derived from the formal powers to take care that laws be faithfully executed, and the fact that the power of the executive is vested in the president. You also have things called signing statements, which we'll do future videos on, which is when a law gets passed by Congress, the president can issue a document known as a signing statement, which interprets that law, and as you can imagine, that interpretation of the law could be very, very influential. And then you also have executive agreements. These are agreements with foreign governments that do not have to be ratified by the US Senate. So they're not formal treaties, but they can be agreements with governments. So I will leave you there. As you can see, the president has many tools at their disposal to influence the policymaking process. | Formal and informal powers of the US president US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
But before we start looking at the documents themselves, let's just make sure we understand the context in which they were written. As we enter into the mid-1770s, you have the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, which begins in 1775. A little more than a year after the beginning of the war, you have the Second Continental Congress decide to formally declare independence on July 2nd, and the Declaration of Independence, which we will study a bit in this video, is formally approved on July 4th, 1776, which is when we now celebrate Independence Day, even though some could argue that it was July 2nd. Now, as soon as the colonies decide that they are independent from the kingdom of Great Britain, they have to think about how do we govern ourselves. And so within roughly a week, a little more than a week, after the Declaration of Independence is approved, they start drafting the Articles of Confederation. Remember, the Revolutionary War is still going on. Eventually, what will be known as the Articles of Confederation go into effect in 1781. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
Now, as soon as the colonies decide that they are independent from the kingdom of Great Britain, they have to think about how do we govern ourselves. And so within roughly a week, a little more than a week, after the Declaration of Independence is approved, they start drafting the Articles of Confederation. Remember, the Revolutionary War is still going on. Eventually, what will be known as the Articles of Confederation go into effect in 1781. Now, this Articles of Confederation really treat the various colonies as you could almost view it as separate states that agree to work together for purposes of getting independence from Great Britain, for purposes of fighting the war, for purposes of diplomacy. Now, over the course of the next several years, it becomes clear, especially through things like Shay's Rebellion, which we will look at in other videos, that the Articles of Confederation don't provide a strong enough central government. And so in May 1787, you have what is called as the Constitutional Convention convening. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
Eventually, what will be known as the Articles of Confederation go into effect in 1781. Now, this Articles of Confederation really treat the various colonies as you could almost view it as separate states that agree to work together for purposes of getting independence from Great Britain, for purposes of fighting the war, for purposes of diplomacy. Now, over the course of the next several years, it becomes clear, especially through things like Shay's Rebellion, which we will look at in other videos, that the Articles of Confederation don't provide a strong enough central government. And so in May 1787, you have what is called as the Constitutional Convention convening. It's presided over by George Washington, who led the Americans in the Revolutionary War, which they eventually will win, as you see, and obviously we're an independent country now. And the original intent of the Constitutional Convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation. But folks like Madison and Hamilton were really intent on just completely replacing it. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
And so in May 1787, you have what is called as the Constitutional Convention convening. It's presided over by George Washington, who led the Americans in the Revolutionary War, which they eventually will win, as you see, and obviously we're an independent country now. And the original intent of the Constitutional Convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation. But folks like Madison and Hamilton were really intent on just completely replacing it. And what they replaced it with was what is now the US Constitution, which goes into effect in March of 1789. And shortly thereafter, you have the beginning of Washington's two terms. And to be clear, the idea of even having a powerful executive, the idea of even having a president, was not present in the Articles of Confederation. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
But folks like Madison and Hamilton were really intent on just completely replacing it. And what they replaced it with was what is now the US Constitution, which goes into effect in March of 1789. And shortly thereafter, you have the beginning of Washington's two terms. And to be clear, the idea of even having a powerful executive, the idea of even having a president, was not present in the Articles of Confederation. That comes with the Constitution. So with that context out of the way, let's look at especially the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. So here is the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, written by Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
And to be clear, the idea of even having a powerful executive, the idea of even having a president, was not present in the Articles of Confederation. That comes with the Constitution. So with that context out of the way, let's look at especially the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. So here is the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, written by Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. And I encourage you to pause this video and first try to read it on your own and see if you can identify these ideas of natural rights, limited government, popular sovereignty, republicanism, and social contract. Okay, let's read this together now. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
So here is the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, written by Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. And I encourage you to pause this video and first try to read it on your own and see if you can identify these ideas of natural rights, limited government, popular sovereignty, republicanism, and social contract. Okay, let's read this together now. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another. Remember, this is a Declaration of Independence. They are dissolving the political bonds with the Kingdom of Great Britain. And to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another. Remember, this is a Declaration of Independence. They are dissolving the political bonds with the Kingdom of Great Britain. And to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them. So that's starting to refer a little bit to natural rights. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. So they're saying, hey, we're writing this document because we're trying to show the rest of mankind why the reasons for which we are deciding to declare our independence from Great Britain. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
And to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them. So that's starting to refer a little bit to natural rights. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. So they're saying, hey, we're writing this document because we're trying to show the rest of mankind why the reasons for which we are deciding to declare our independence from Great Britain. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. Let me underline this. That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
So they're saying, hey, we're writing this document because we're trying to show the rest of mankind why the reasons for which we are deciding to declare our independence from Great Britain. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. Let me underline this. That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So this is a direct reference to natural rights. In fact, the phrase life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, most historians believe is in direct reference to John Locke's phrase life, liberty, and property when he talks about natural rights. So this is direct reference to the Enlightenment ideas or even the pre-Enlightenment ideas of natural rights. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So this is a direct reference to natural rights. In fact, the phrase life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, most historians believe is in direct reference to John Locke's phrase life, liberty, and property when he talks about natural rights. So this is direct reference to the Enlightenment ideas or even the pre-Enlightenment ideas of natural rights. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. All right, this is worth underlining as well because they're talking about governments being instituted among men to secure these rights. This is all about social contract. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
So this is direct reference to the Enlightenment ideas or even the pre-Enlightenment ideas of natural rights. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. All right, this is worth underlining as well because they're talking about governments being instituted among men to secure these rights. This is all about social contract. So that's social contract. That we form a government in order to secure rights. We might give it some rights, but in exchange, the government has to protect our rights. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
This is all about social contract. So that's social contract. That we form a government in order to secure rights. We might give it some rights, but in exchange, the government has to protect our rights. And they derive their powers from the consent of the governed. So let me write that. Let me underline that actually in a different color. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
We might give it some rights, but in exchange, the government has to protect our rights. And they derive their powers from the consent of the governed. So let me write that. Let me underline that actually in a different color. Derive their powers from the consent of the governed. That is popular sovereignty. Popular, I'll just write it as pop-sov. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
Let me underline that actually in a different color. Derive their powers from the consent of the governed. That is popular sovereignty. Popular, I'll just write it as pop-sov. Popular sovereignty right over here. That the people are the sovereigns. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
Popular, I'll just write it as pop-sov. Popular sovereignty right over here. That the people are the sovereigns. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. So this is more about social contract. They're like, look, if a government breaks its social contract, we have a right to replace it. And the document also makes reference to organizing its powers in such form. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. So this is more about social contract. They're like, look, if a government breaks its social contract, we have a right to replace it. And the document also makes reference to organizing its powers in such form. So that's really talking about limited government. They're talking about, hey, this government just won't have the absolute right to do anything. So that right over there is limited government. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
And the document also makes reference to organizing its powers in such form. So that's really talking about limited government. They're talking about, hey, this government just won't have the absolute right to do anything. So that right over there is limited government. Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes. They're essentially saying, look, you shouldn't just overthrow your government on a whim. And accordingly, all experience have shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
So that right over there is limited government. Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes. They're essentially saying, look, you shouldn't just overthrow your government on a whim. And accordingly, all experience have shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. So they're saying, look, if you're prudent, you wouldn't just overthrow your government on a whim. But they're kind of saying we're not so worried about that because history has shown us, experience has shown us that if anything, people are more likely to keep suffering even when they should be overthrowing their government. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
And accordingly, all experience have shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. So they're saying, look, if you're prudent, you wouldn't just overthrow your government on a whim. But they're kind of saying we're not so worried about that because history has shown us, experience has shown us that if anything, people are more likely to keep suffering even when they should be overthrowing their government. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism. It is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security. So they're saying, hey, look, the kingdom of Great Britain, they are abusing us, they are usurping power. Usurping is taking something from you that is yours. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism. It is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security. So they're saying, hey, look, the kingdom of Great Britain, they are abusing us, they are usurping power. Usurping is taking something from you that is yours. And so we need to throw off such a government for our own future security. And here it says provide new guards for their future security. So this provide new guards, once again making reference to limited government. | Democratic ideals in the Declaration of Independence.mp3 |
So an iron triangle describes how various parties might influence each other and what they might do for each other. So let's say that there is a group that is very interested in building more roads, maybe there's a group that represents all the road contractors in the United States and they would love more highways to be built because there'd be more business for them. And so then that interest group who wants more highways to be built, they might say, hey, Congress people, we want more highways built. And the way that they try to get favor with Congress is through electoral support. Now what kind of electoral support could they give? Well, they could donate money to the congressman directly, they could donate money to political parties, they could try to activate the electorate to vote for a congressperson who favors their agenda more than someone else. In exchange, Congress people could do a few things. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And the way that they try to get favor with Congress is through electoral support. Now what kind of electoral support could they give? Well, they could donate money to the congressman directly, they could donate money to political parties, they could try to activate the electorate to vote for a congressperson who favors their agenda more than someone else. In exchange, Congress people could do a few things. They could provide more funding to the bureaucracy that is going to build roads, and we just talked about that bureaucracy in the executive branch. And that bureaucracy, not only might they build more roads, but if they like those interest groups, they might lower the regulations on them. Maybe they might give them more contracts as they build those roads. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
In exchange, Congress people could do a few things. They could provide more funding to the bureaucracy that is going to build roads, and we just talked about that bureaucracy in the executive branch. And that bureaucracy, not only might they build more roads, but if they like those interest groups, they might lower the regulations on them. Maybe they might give them more contracts as they build those roads. Another thing that Congress could do for the interest group is pass friendly legislation. So maybe pass a law that makes it easier to build roads in a certain part of the country or in a certain way. But the reason why it's called an iron triangle, it's not just about what do interest groups want, it's also what does Congress want, what does the bureaucracy want, and what do they get from the other two parties? | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Maybe they might give them more contracts as they build those roads. Another thing that Congress could do for the interest group is pass friendly legislation. So maybe pass a law that makes it easier to build roads in a certain part of the country or in a certain way. But the reason why it's called an iron triangle, it's not just about what do interest groups want, it's also what does Congress want, what does the bureaucracy want, and what do they get from the other two parties? So we already talked about how Congress can get electoral support from interest groups, but what can it get from a bureaucracy? Congress passes laws and a budget, but a bureaucracy for the most part decides how to execute on that. And so if they are aligned with Congress, they might execute on those laws with a little bit more energy. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
But the reason why it's called an iron triangle, it's not just about what do interest groups want, it's also what does Congress want, what does the bureaucracy want, and what do they get from the other two parties? So we already talked about how Congress can get electoral support from interest groups, but what can it get from a bureaucracy? Congress passes laws and a budget, but a bureaucracy for the most part decides how to execute on that. And so if they are aligned with Congress, they might execute on those laws with a little bit more energy. If the bureaucracy for one reason or another is not as gung-ho about those laws, they might drag their feet a little bit. And from the bureaucracy point of view, well, we already talked how they could get funding and political support from Congress. You see that on that part of the triangle there. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
And so if they are aligned with Congress, they might execute on those laws with a little bit more energy. If the bureaucracy for one reason or another is not as gung-ho about those laws, they might drag their feet a little bit. And from the bureaucracy point of view, well, we already talked how they could get funding and political support from Congress. You see that on that part of the triangle there. What do they get from the interest groups? Well, we already talked about the congressional support, which they can do by supporting Congress people who might support favorable policies for the bureaucracy. The interest groups might be able to directly lobby Congress, which means, hey, we're gonna meet with Congress. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
You see that on that part of the triangle there. What do they get from the interest groups? Well, we already talked about the congressional support, which they can do by supporting Congress people who might support favorable policies for the bureaucracy. The interest groups might be able to directly lobby Congress, which means, hey, we're gonna meet with Congress. We might even draft some things, some things for the policy agenda. Now, a related idea to an iron triangle and interest groups that you might also hear in an American government course is the notion of issue networks. One way to think about issue networks is they are essentially more informal than interest groups. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
The interest groups might be able to directly lobby Congress, which means, hey, we're gonna meet with Congress. We might even draft some things, some things for the policy agenda. Now, a related idea to an iron triangle and interest groups that you might also hear in an American government course is the notion of issue networks. One way to think about issue networks is they are essentially more informal than interest groups. Interest groups can be part of an issue network, but an issue network can be, let's say you and I start to get really activated about something we get on TV, and then we start mailing our Congress people, and we start blogging about it, and we start getting a following, and then that starts to influence an interest group or interest group joins with us, and then we start to send messages to Congress. We start to provide more scrutiny on the bureaucracy. Then we would be an issue network. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
One way to think about issue networks is they are essentially more informal than interest groups. Interest groups can be part of an issue network, but an issue network can be, let's say you and I start to get really activated about something we get on TV, and then we start mailing our Congress people, and we start blogging about it, and we start getting a following, and then that starts to influence an interest group or interest group joins with us, and then we start to send messages to Congress. We start to provide more scrutiny on the bureaucracy. Then we would be an issue network. And as I mentioned, issue networks might not be formal. They might not be a formal, let's say, lobbying group or interest group, but they can also have influence in the same way that an interest group does. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |
Then we would be an issue network. And as I mentioned, issue networks might not be formal. They might not be a formal, let's say, lobbying group or interest group, but they can also have influence in the same way that an interest group does. | Iron triangles and issue networks US government and civics Khan Academy.mp3 |