Study Guide For 3-Day Unit On The President's Cabinet

Vocabulary (will be updated - keep watching)

Cloture

Filibuster (can’t be used in Senate confirmation hearings)

Nepotism

Cronyism

Conflict of interest

Bribery

Fraud

Ultracrepidarian

Kerfluffle

Vet/vetting

How the President-elect nominates Cabinet members:

With advisors, he develops a list of possible candidates

Members of his staff and investigative agencies “vet” the candidates; examples of what they would check are:

Confirm education and degrees

Check criminal record including lawsuits filed against candidate or candidate filed against someone else

Personal life (marriage, divorces, children – looking for scandals or problems that could be embarrassing if they became public)

Work history

Campaigns and public office history

Legislation sponsored or voted for/against that could be a problem

Ties to campaign contributors or vendors (examples: does the candidate own a TV station which ran her campaign ads at a discount or free?) (illegal) and similar situations

Personal beefs with anyone which could be a problem

Ability to speak effectively in public

Management experience (Cabinet members run huge agencies with hundreds of employees)

After the vetting process, the President-elect selects one nominee for each Cabinet post and makes it public knowledge.

Hearings are held in the corresponding Senate committee (Defense committee holds hearings for Defense nominee, etc.)

That committee votes to “send” the nominee to the full Senate, or recommend he/she be rejected

Hearings are held in the full Senate for each nominee.

The Senate votes on each nominee.

The new Cabinet member is sworn in.

Homework Due Tuesday: Government and Cabinet Appointments

Here's the chart you should be working with - just the top part. The bottom, in italics, are not required for homework, but this chart may come in handy this semester.

What is a conflict of interest?

Red words are not links - they are vocabulary for a later exam.

As any president sets up and organizes his administration, there are many government positions to fill (like the Cabinet.) Accusations of conflicts of interest usually fly and grab a lot of media attention. Some of those accusations will be wholly or partly false and some will be true or partly true. It's important not to be ultracrepidarians as we learn about and research presidential administrations.

In particular, we should remember that conflicts of interests are often not a black/white issue, so knowledge of the circumstances is very important.

We will learn about conflicts of interest, something every president’s nominees must not have, but sometimes do - which is corrupt. Cronyism is the most common form of government appointment corruption. Cronyism means a government official appoints a friend or a person who owes them in some way - such as campaign contributions in exchange for a position - which amounts to bribery, or buying a position in the government.

The following are the most common forms of conflicts of interests:

• Self-dealing, in which an official who controls an organization causes it to enter into a transaction with the official, or with another organization that benefits the official only. The official is on both sides of the "deal."
• Outside employment, in which the interests of one job conflict with another.
• Nepotism, in which a spouse, child, or other close relative is employed (or applies for employment) by an individual, or where goods or services are purchased from a relative or from a firm controlled by a relative. To avoid nepotism in hiring, many employment applications ask if the applicant is related to a current employee of the company. This allows recusal if the employed relative has a role in the hiring process. If this is the case, the relative could then recuse from any hiring decisions.
• Gifts from friends who also do business with the person receiving the gifts or from individuals or corporations who do business with the organization in which the gift recipient is employed. Such gifts may include non-tangible things of value such as transportation and lodging.

 Other improper acts that are sometimes classified as conflicts of interests may have better classification. For example, accepting bribes can be classified as corruption, use of government or corporate property or assets for personal use is fraud, and unauthorized distribution of confidential information is a security breach. For these improper acts, there is no conflict inherent conflict.

We'll Use These Links In Class Wednesday/President's Cabinet

Link: What Is The President's Cabinet?

ABC News - Everything About The Senate confirmation Hearings

Appointment Confirmation Process - Ballotpedia - this one is heavy with information you'll need for this unit - you may want to print it out for study.

Primary Elections (not to be confused with General Elections)

How Does the Presidential Primary Process Work?

The Convention

Prior to a general election, there is a selection process to determine which candidate will appear on the ballot for a given political party in the nationwide general election. Political parties generally hold national conventions at which a group of delegates collectively decide upon which candidate they will run for the presidency. The process of choosing delegates to the national convention is undertaken at the state level, which means that there are significant differences from state to state and sometimes year to year. The two methods for choosing delegates to the national convention are the caucus and the primary.

The Caucus

Caucuses were the original method for selecting candidates but have decreased in number since the primary was introduced in the early 1900's. In states that hold caucuses a political party announces the date, time, and location of the meeting. Generally any voter registered with the party may attend. At the caucus, delegates are chosen to represent the state's interests at the national party convention. Prospective delegates are identified as favorable to a specific candidate or uncommitted. After discussion and debate an informal vote is taken to determine which delegates should be chosen.

The Primary

In the early twentieth century there was a movement to give more power to citizens in the selection of candidates for the party's nomination. The primary election developed from this reform movement. In a primary election, registered voters may participate in choosing the candidate for the party's nomination by voting through secret ballot, as in a general election.

There are two main types of primaries, closed or open, that determine who is eligible to vote in the primary. In a closed primary a registered voter may vote only in the election for the party with which that voter is affiliated. For example a voter registered as Democratic can vote only in the Democratic primary and a Republican can vote only in the Republican primary. In an open primary, on the other hand, a registered voter can vote in either primary regardless of party membership. The voter cannot, however, participate in more than one primary. A third less common type of primary, the blanket primary, allows registered voters to participate in all primaries.

In addition to differences in which voters are eligible to vote in the primary, there are differences in whether the ballot lists candidate or delegate names. The presidential preference primary is a direct vote for a specific candidate. The voter chooses the candidate by name. The second method is more indirect, giving the voter a choice among delegate names rather than candidate names. As in the caucus, delegates voice support for a particular candidate or remain uncommitted.

In some states a combination of the primary and caucus systems are used. The primary serves as a measure of public opinion but is not necessarily binding in choosing delegates. Sometimes the Party does not recognize open primaries because members of other parties are permitted to vote.

Awarding the Delegates

The Democratic Party always uses a proportional method for awarding delegates. The percentage of delegates each candidate is awarded (or the number of undecided delegates) is representative of the mood of the caucus-goers or the number of primary votes for the candidate. For example imagine a state with ten delegates and three candidates. If 60% of the people supported candidate X, 20% supported candidate Y, and 20% supported candidate Z, candidate X would receive six delegates and candidates Y and Z would each receive two delegates.

The Republican Party, unlike the Democratic Party, allows each state to decide whether to use the winner-take-all method or the proportional method. In the winner-take-all method the candidate whom the majority of caucus participants or voters support receives all the delegates for the state. It is essential to remember that this is a general guide and that the primary system differs significantly from state to state. The best way to find information about your state is to contact your state Board of Elections.