Ch 14 - Federal Bureaucracy - Class 3

3. How is the federal bureaucracy checked by other institutions?

1. Analyze: Rules 
• What did you learn from He Who Makes the Rules?
• Why do bureaucracies have administrative discretion? 
• How do bureaucracies engage in rule-making?
• Case study: Implementation of Affordable Care Act & Update
2. Analyze: Checks 
• What are the formal checks and the informal checks on the federal bureaucracy?
• Case Study: SEC
• Case study: House Financial Services Committee
3. Create: Oral Arguments 
• DHHS v. Florida
• Oral Arguments
• NewHour
• Colbert Report
• Opinion
• NewsHour
• Colbert Report

Ch 14 - Federal Bureaucracy - Class 2

1. What are the different types of federal bureaucracies?

2. Why and how does the federal bureaucracy create rules?

1. Summarize: Types (EQ #1)
• What distinguishes a cabinet department, an independent regulatory commission, an independent agency, and a government corporation?
• Cabinet Department: Department of Defense and Department of State (not iPad-accessible)
• Independent Regulatory Commission: Federal Reserve (not iPad-accessible)
• Independent Agency: Environmental Protection Agency or National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Government Corporation: Federal Deposit Insurance Commission
2. Analyze: Rules (EQ #2)
• What did you learn from He Who Makes the Rules?
• Why do bureaucracies have administrative discretion? 
• How do bureaucracies engage in rule-making?
• Case study: Implementation of Affordable Care Act & Update
3. Analyze: Checks (EQ #3)
• What are the formal checks and the informal checks on the federal bureaucracy?
• Case Study: SEC
• Case study: House Financial Services Committee

Ch 14 - Federal Bureaucracy

Note: We will finish federal courts and then start the federal bureaucracy in the second class of the week.

Ch 15: Judicial Branch

1. What is the organizational structure of federal courts and state courts?

2. How has the U.S. Supreme Court used selective incorporation to expand its power?

3. How has the nomination and confirmation process for federal judges evolved over time?

(Compare to this picture of 2010 Supreme Court)

1. Quiz: Ch 14 - Federal Bureaucracy
2. Summarize: Federal & State Courts 
• What are the structures of the federal courts and the state courts?
• Website: Federal Courts & Map
• Website: CA State Courts
• How does a case reach the Supreme Court?
• Diagram: Paths to SCOTUS
• Example #1: Boy Scouts v. Dale
• Example #2: Morse v. Frederick
• How did the Affordable Care Act reach the Supreme Court?
• Writ of Certiori Petition (example)
• Petitioner/Respondent Briefs (example) or Amicus Curiae Briefs (Example)
• Oral Arguments (picture & example)
• Conference (picture)
• Majority/Concurring/Dissenting Opinions by Justices (and their Clerks) (example)
3. Analyze: 14th Amendment and Selective Incorporation
• How does the text of the 14th Amendment allow the Supreme Court to get involved in state activities (such as public K-12 education in Brown v. Board of Education)?
• 14th Amendment
4. Analyze: Confirmation Politics 
• How is a federal judge (District, Circuit, or Supreme Court) nominated and confirmed?
• President weighs a variety of factors and nominates an individual from a short list prepared by White House staff (example)
• Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings and forwards nomination to the Senate floor (example and example)
• Senate votes as a whole to confirm the nominee, unless blocked by filibuster (example) 
• Why has the confirmation process become so politicized?
• Clarence Thomas confirmation (60 Minutes) NOTE: Start at 18:25
• Is there a correlation between the party affiliation of the president and the voting habits of his appointees?
• Politicians in Robes? (NY Times)
• Justice Statistics (Washington Post)
• How Affirmative Action Divides Two Judges (60 Minutes)