Chapter 13 Outline Flashcards
Presidential Qualifications
- must be a natural born U.S. citizen
- must be at least 35 years old
- must have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years (doesn’t have to be 14 consecutive years)
Presidential Term
22nd amendment states that the President can only serve two four-year terms (maximum of 8 years)
Presidential Benefits
- White House (132 room mansion)
- fleet of automobiles
- use of Air Force One and many other planes/helicopters
- finest medical, dental, and other health care available
- generous travel and entertainment funds
Presidential Salary
- decided by Congress
- $400,000 a year
- receives $50,000-a-year allowance that can be spent on anything
Presidential Order of Succession
- Vice President
- Speaker of the House
- President Pro Tem of Senate
- Secretary of State
- 14 Heads of Cabinet Departments (in the order the offices were created by Congress)
Original Provisions of Electoral College System
President and Vice President were to be chosen by a special body of presidential electors. These electors would each cast two electoral votes. The candidate with the most votes would become President, and the candidate with the second greatest amount of votes would become Vice President.
How The Electoral College Works
- Americans do not vote to elect a President; instead, they vote to elect specific people, known as “electors” to the college. Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on its population.
- Voters in each state cast their ballot for the slate of electors representing their choice of presidential ticket.
- The slate of electors for the presidential ticket that receives the most votes is appointed and all of the electoral votes for that state go to those candidates.
- If neither candidate wins a majority of electoral votes (270/538), the House elects the President and the Senate elects the Vice President.
Criticisms of Electoral College
- winner of popular vote isn’t guaranteed the presidency
- electors are not required to vote for their political party candidate
- any election might have to be decided in House
- voting is by state and not individual members, meaning less populated states have just as much power as the most populous state
- if a state’s representatives were so divided that no candidate won a majority, the state would lose its vote
- if no candidate wins a majority of the states for an election in the House, the House might not be able to make a decision by Inauguration Day
Proposals to Reform Electoral College System
District Plan
Direct Popular Election Plan
National Popular Vote Plan
Proportional Plan
District Plan
-electors are chosen in each state in the same way as members of Congress (two electors would be chosen from the state at large; these electors would cast their electoral votes in line with the statewide popular vote); the other electors would be chosen separately within each of the state’s congressional districts (these electors would then cast their electoral votes based on the popular vote within their district)
Pros: solve current winner-take-all problem; electoral votes would be more representative of state’s popular vote
Cons: loser of popular vote could still win election; increases motive for gerrymandering
Proportional Plan
-each presidential candidate would receive the same share of the state’s electoral votes as he/she receives in the state’s popular vote
Pros: eliminate winner-take-all system and faithless electors; yield electoral vote more in line with popular vote
Cons: loss of Popular Vote could still win election; increases likelihood that presidential election would have to be decided in House (increases power of minority parties)
Direct Popular Election Plan
-eliminate the electoral college system altogether; president elected based on popular vote
Pros: each voter would count equally in the national result; winner would always be majority or plurality choice; dangers and confusions of present system would be eliminated
Cons: constitutional amendment process is time-consuming; smaller states would lose advantage of overrepresentation; weaken federal system because the states would lose their role in electing a President; would put too great a load on the election process; would spur ballot-box stuffing and other forms of voter fraud (would lead to bitter, highly explosive post-election challenges)
National Popular Vote Plan
-The NPV plan is a state statute in the form of an interstate compact. It creates an agreement among states to award all of their electoral votes collectively to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.
Pros: satisfies major objections to electoral college; requires no Constitutional amendments
23rd Amendment
provide citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote for the President and Vice President offices
22nd Amendment
limits President to two four-year terms; if an individual becomes president through the order of succession, then he/she is allowed to serve only two additional years
