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Separation of Powers
SCLEJ: Separation of powers, Checks, Legislature, Executive, Judiciary
Separation of Powers
Three branches, each checking the others — no one holds all power
Legislature makes laws, Executive enforces them, Judiciary interprets them. Each branch checks the others. The framers feared concentrated power after British rule.
S
Separation of powers
C
Checks and balances
L
Legislature — makes laws
E
Executive — enforces laws
J
Judiciary — interprets laws
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🃏 Separation of Powers
SCLEJ — the structure of US government?
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🃏 Answer
SCLEJ: Separation of powers, Checks, Legislature, Executive, Judiciary
SSeparation of powers
CChecks and balances
LLegislature — makes laws
EExecutive — enforces laws
JJudiciary — interprets laws
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Federalism
Federal = shared power: nation + states. Expressed / Reserved / Concurrent.
Federalism
Power divided between national and state governments
Expressed powers (federal only): coin money, declare war. Reserved powers (states only): education, marriage laws. Concurrent powers (both): taxing, law enforcement.
Expressed
Federal government only
Reserved
State governments only
Concurrent
Both federal and state
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🃏 Federalism
Federalism — expressed, reserved and concurrent powers?
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🃏 Answer
Federal = shared power: nation + states. Expressed / Reserved / Concurrent.
ExpressedFederal government only
ReservedState governments only
ConcurrentBoth federal and state
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Democracy Types
Direct democracy = everyone votes. Representative = elect others to vote.
Democracy Types
Two models of democratic governance
Direct: citizens vote on every law (ancient Athens, ballot initiatives). Representative: citizens elect officials who vote on their behalf (US Congress, UK Parliament). Most modern democracies are representative.
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🃏 Democracy Types
Direct vs representative democracy?
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🃏 Answer
Direct democracy = everyone votes. Representative = elect others to vote.
Direct: citizens vote on every law (ancient Athens, ballot initiatives). Representative: citizens elect officials who vote on their behalf (US Congress, UK Parliament). Most modern democracies are representative.
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Government Structure Spectrum
Unitary → Federal → Confederal: most centralized to most decentralized
Government Structure Spectrum
Three ways to distribute power between central and regional governments
Unitary: central government holds most power (UK, France). Federal: shared between national and regional (USA, Germany). Confederal: regional governments hold most power (EU, old Articles of Confederation).
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🃏 Government Structure Spectrum
Unitary, federal, confederal — which is most centralized?
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🃏 Answer
Unitary → Federal → Confederal: most centralized to most decentralized
Unitary: central government holds most power (UK, France). Federal: shared between national and regional (USA, Germany). Confederal: regional governments hold most power (EU, old Articles of Confederation).
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Checks and Balances
Checks and balances: each branch can limit the others — prevents tyranny
Checks and Balances
How the three branches constrain each other
Congress passes laws, President signs or vetoes, Supreme Court can strike down. President nominates judges, Senate confirms. Congress can override vetoes (2/3 majority), impeach president and judges.
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🃏 Checks and Balances
Checks and balances — how does each branch limit the others?
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🃏 Answer
Checks and balances: each branch can limit the others — prevents tyranny
Congress passes laws, President signs or vetoes, Supreme Court can strike down. President nominates judges, Senate confirms. Congress can override vetoes (2/3 majority), impeach president and judges.
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Parliamentary vs Presidential
Parliamentary vs Presidential: Parliament fuses executive and legislative. Presidential separates them.
Parliamentary vs Presidential
Two dominant models of democratic government
Presidential (USA, Mexico, Brazil): executive (president) separately elected, fixed terms, independent of legislature. Parliamentary (UK, Canada, Australia): executive (prime minister) drawn from legislature, survives only with legislative confidence. Parliamentary systems: faster policy-making but less stability.
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🃏 Parliamentary vs Presidential
Parliamentary vs presidential systems?
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🃏 Answer
Parliamentary vs Presidential: Parliament fuses executive and legislative. Presidential separates them.
Presidential (USA, Mexico, Brazil): executive (president) separately elected, fixed terms, independent of legislature. Parliamentary (UK, Canada, Australia): executive (prime minister) drawn from legislature, survives only with legislative confidence. Parliamentary systems: faster policy-making but less stability.
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Bicameral vs Unicameral
Bicameral legislature: two chambers (Senate + House). Unicameral: one chamber. Most democracies are bicameral.
Bicameral vs Unicameral
Why some countries have two legislative chambers and others have one
Bicameral: US (Senate + House), UK (Lords + Commons), Australia (Senate + House). Upper chamber often represents states/regions; lower chamber represents population. Unicameral: smaller countries — New Zealand, Denmark, Israel. Argument for bicameral: checks and balance within legislature.
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🃏 Bicameral vs Unicameral
Bicameral vs unicameral?
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🃏 Answer
Bicameral legislature: two chambers (Senate + House). Unicameral: one chamber. Most democracies are bicameral.
Bicameral: US (Senate + House), UK (Lords + Commons), Australia (Senate + House). Upper chamber often represents states/regions; lower chamber represents population. Unicameral: smaller countries — New Zealand, Denmark, Israel. Argument for bicameral: checks and balance within legislature.
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Functions of Political Parties
Political parties: organize elections, form governments, connect citizens to government
Functions of Political Parties
What political parties actually do in a democracy
Recruit and nominate candidates. Organize electoral campaigns. Develop and promote policy platforms. Coordinate government action. Mobilize voters. Link citizens to government. In parliamentary systems: the majority party forms the government. In presidential systems: parties share power with the executive.
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🃏 Functions of Political Parties
What do political parties do?
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🃏 Answer
Political parties: organize elections, form governments, connect citizens to government
Recruit and nominate candidates. Organize electoral campaigns. Develop and promote policy platforms. Coordinate government action. Mobilize voters. Link citizens to government. In parliamentary systems: the majority party forms the government. In presidential systems: parties share power with the executive.
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Civil Liberties vs Civil Rights
Civil liberties: freedoms FROM government (speech, religion). Civil rights: equal treatment BY government.
Civil Liberties vs Civil Rights
Two types of constitutional protections — often confused
Civil liberties: protections against government interference — 1st Amendment freedoms (speech, religion, press, assembly), 4th Amendment (unreasonable search), 5th Amendment (self-incrimination). Civil rights: positive rights to equal treatment — 14th Amendment equal protection, Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act.
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🃏 Civil Liberties vs Civil Rights
Civil liberties vs civil rights?
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🃏 Answer
Civil liberties: freedoms FROM government (speech, religion). Civil rights: equal treatment BY government.
Civil liberties: protections against government interference — 1st Amendment freedoms (speech, religion, press, assembly), 4th Amendment (unreasonable search), 5th Amendment (self-incrimination). Civil rights: positive rights to equal treatment — 14th Amendment equal protection, Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act.
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Judicial Review
Judicial review: courts can strike down laws violating the constitution — not all democracies have it
Judicial Review
The power that makes courts equal partners in government
US: strong judicial review — Supreme Court can invalidate any federal or state law. UK: parliamentary sovereignty — courts cannot strike down Acts of Parliament. France: Constitutional Council reviews laws before enactment. Germany: Federal Constitutional Court similar to US model. Countermajoritarian: unelected judges override elected majorities.
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🃏 Judicial Review
Judicial review?
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🃏 Answer
Judicial review: courts can strike down laws violating the constitution — not all democracies have it
US: strong judicial review — Supreme Court can invalidate any federal or state law. UK: parliamentary sovereignty — courts cannot strike down Acts of Parliament. France: Constitutional Council reviews laws before enactment. Germany: Federal Constitutional Court similar to US model. Countermajoritarian: unelected judges override elected majorities.
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Interest Groups
Interest groups: organized groups that lobby government to advance members' interests — not political parties
Interest Groups
How organized interests influence government beyond elections
Types: economic (business associations, labor unions), ideological (ACLU, NRA), public interest (Sierra Club), governmental (associations of mayors). Methods: direct lobbying, campaign contributions (PACs), grassroots mobilization, litigation, media campaigns. Revolving door: movement between government positions and lobbying jobs.
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🃏 Interest Groups
Interest groups — what are they?
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🃏 Answer
Interest groups: organized groups that lobby government to advance members' interests — not political parties
Types: economic (business associations, labor unions), ideological (ACLU, NRA), public interest (Sierra Club), governmental (associations of mayors). Methods: direct lobbying, campaign contributions (PACs), grassroots mobilization, litigation, media campaigns. Revolving door: movement between government positions and lobbying jobs.
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The Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy: implements laws, has expertise, provides continuity. Criticized for red tape and unaccountability.
The Bureaucracy
The permanent administrative apparatus of government
Executive branch agencies that implement legislation. Characteristics (Weber): hierarchy, specialization, written rules, merit-based hiring. Principal-agent problem: bureaucrats (agents) may pursue own interests rather than elected officials' (principals). Controls: legislative oversight, presidential appointments, budget power, judicial review.
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🃏 The Bureaucracy
The bureaucracy — roles and criticisms?
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🃏 Answer
Bureaucracy: implements laws, has expertise, provides continuity. Criticized for red tape and unaccountability.
Executive branch agencies that implement legislation. Characteristics (Weber): hierarchy, specialization, written rules, merit-based hiring. Principal-agent problem: bureaucrats (agents) may pursue own interests rather than elected officials' (principals). Controls: legislative oversight, presidential appointments, budget power, judicial review.
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Types of Federalism
DUCO — Dual, Unitary-like, Cooperative, New federalism
How power is distributed between national and state governments over time
Federalism has evolved from strict separation to shared functions — and back toward states
Dual federalism (layer cake): national and state strictly separate, each supreme in own sphere — pre-New Deal. Cooperative federalism (marble cake): shared functions post-New Deal through Great Society. New federalism: Reagan era push to return power to states via block grants. Fiscal federalism: federal funding with strings shapes state policy.
Categorical grants
Specific purpose — maximum federal control
Block grants
Broad purpose — more state discretion, Reagan preferred
Unfunded mandates
Federal requirements without funding — controversial
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🃏 Types of Federalism
DUCO — the types of federalism and federal grants?
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🃏 Answer
DUCO — Dual, Unitary-like, Cooperative, New federalism
Categorical grantsSpecific purpose — maximum federal control
Block grantsBroad purpose — more state discretion, Reagan preferred
Unfunded mandatesFederal requirements without funding — controversial
Three major electoral systems and their effect on party competition
Electoral systems shape how many parties exist and how well votes translate to representation
First-Past-The-Post (plurality): winner takes all — tends toward two-party system (Duverger's Law). Used in US and UK. Proportional Representation: seats reflect vote share — encourages multi-party systems. Used in most of Europe. Ranked Choice Voting: rank candidates, eliminate lowest, redistribute — reduces spoiler effect. Used in Australia, some US states.
FPTP
Duverger's Law — two-party system, strategic voting
PR
Multi-party coalitions — more voices represented
RCV
Reduces spoiler effect — third parties viable
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Four key frameworks for understanding how bureaucracies work and fail
Bureaucracy is essential for modern government but prone to capture and principal-agent problems
Weber's ideal: hierarchy, rules, specialization, merit hiring, impartiality. Agency capture: regulated industries dominate their regulators via revolving door and information asymmetry. Principal-agent problem: bureaucrats (agents) may not follow elected officials' (principals) wishes. Street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky): front-line workers make real policy through discretion.
Weber
Hierarchy plus merit plus rules — rational ideal bureaucracy
Capture
Regulated industry controls regulator — finance, energy common
Principal-agent
Congress to President to Agency — information lost each step
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WeberHierarchy plus merit plus rules — rational ideal bureaucracy
CaptureRegulated industry controls regulator — finance, energy common
Principal-agentCongress to President to Agency — information lost each step
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Monarchy vs Republic
Monarch = ceremonial head, Republic = elected head of state
Constitutional monarchy vs republic — different heads of state, both can be democratic
Most democracies are either constitutional monarchies or republics — both can be parliamentary or presidential
Constitutional monarchy: hereditary monarch as ceremonial head of state; parliament governs. Examples: UK, Sweden, Japan. Republic: elected head of state. Presidential republic (US): president is head of state AND government. Parliamentary republic (Germany): largely ceremonial president, PM governs. Semi-presidential (France): powerful president plus prime minister.
Head of state
Monarch or president — ceremonial or powerful
Head of government
Prime Minister (parliamentary) or President (presidential)
UK model
Monarch reigns but does not rule — PM governs
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🃏 Monarchy vs Republic
Head of state vs head of government?
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🃏 Answer
Monarch = ceremonial head, Republic = elected head of state
Head of stateMonarch or president — ceremonial or powerful
Head of governmentPrime Minister (parliamentary) or President (presidential)
UK modelMonarch reigns but does not rule — PM governs