Election campaign

  The campaign for the presidency traditionally begins in early September and ends on Election Day—the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Candidates often complain about the length of the campaign period, which can require grueling 20-hour days of speechmaking and traveling. The candidates rely on party organizers to ensure support from loyal party followers, but it is equally important for candidates to raise issues that appeal to undecided voters and those in opposing parties. Most campaigns rely on national radio and television appearances and on press coverage to spread their candidate's message to the nation. Since the 1960 election, nationally televised debates between presidential candidates have affected the outcome of most elections. Paid television advertisements have become increasingly important, sending campaign costs soaring. In 1996 the presidential campaigns of Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican Robert Dole spent a combined total of over $230 million, nearly half on television advertisements. In addition, the Republican and Democratic parties spent a combined total of over $30 million on advertisements backing their candidates.

Even as they spread campaign themes through national television and radio campaigns, the candidates also make hundreds of speeches in cities and towns across the country to appeal to specific groups of voters. Candidates make special attempts to curry favor in states with a large number of electoral votes, such as California, New York, and Texas. Because the candidate who wins the greatest number of popular votes in a state receives the entire electoral vote of that state, campaign strategists try to craft a plan to win in key populous states and to avoid wasting campaign resources on small or politically doubtful states.

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Election day and inauguration

  The nation knows who has won by the evening of Election Day or early the following morning. The formal balloting of the electoral college, however, does not take place until the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December, when the electors meet in each state. These results are transmitted to the secretary of the Senate and are counted publicly before a joint session of Congress on January 6. Under the original provisions of the Constitution, the President and Vice President were inaugurated on March 4 of the year following their election. In 1933 the 20th Amendment went into effect, moving the inauguration date up to January 20. At the inaugural ceremony, the new President recites an oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

  Although the Constitution specifies few qualifications for the presidency, as a practical matter the office is closed to most Americans. Today, a candidate who hopes to win the White House must have tens of millions of dollars and substantial political muscle³⁴ if he or she hopes to make it through the arduous ordeal of presidential elections. The election process has changed through the course of American history, but the challenge has always been difficult, narrowing the field of viable candidates to a select few. The strongest contenders are usually former Vice Presidents, prominent senators, and governors of populous states, such as New York and California. Other strong candidates have come from the military, served as governors of small states, or otherwise distinguished themselves in remarkable ways. Nearly all serious candidates have enjoyed the backing of a major political party, although third-party candidates have made significant showings in a few elections. Ross Perot, for example, won 19 percent of the vote on the Reform Party ticket in the 1992 race, one of the strongest third-party showings in the 20th century. All successful presidential candidates have been men, and all but Democrat John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, were Protestant. An African American has never received a major party nomination, although Jesse Jackson's relatively strong candidacies in 1984 and 1988 helped shape the debates in the Democratic primaries. No woman has ever made a bid³⁵ for the White House. Geraldine Ferraro was the only woman who has run on a national ticket³⁶, winning the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1984.

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TEXT 28 THE CABINET

The cabinet of the U.S. government is made up of the administrative heads of the executive departments of the federal government, under the President. At present, the Cabinet consists of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney-General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The Vice President also participates, and the President may accord cabinet rank to other executive-branch officials.

Cabinet members are appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate and may be removed by the President either at will or as a result of censure or impeachment by Congress. Unless they resign or are removed, cabinet members serve for the duration of the term or terms of the President who appoints them. The salaries of cabinet officers are fixed by Congress.

The cabinet as a governmental institution is not provided for in the US Constitution. It developed as an advisory body out of the President's need to consult the heads of the executive departments on matters of federal policy and on problems of administration. Aside from its role as a consultative and advisory body, the cabinet has neither function and wields no executive authority. The President may or may not consult the cabinet and is not bound by the advice of the cabinet. Furthermore, the President may seek advice outside the cabinet; a group of such informal advisers is known in American history as a kitchen cabinet. The formal cabinet meets at times set by the President, usually once a week.

According to the constitutional provision barring persons holding federal office from being members of the legislative branches of the federal government, cabinet officers may not be members of Congress. Cabinet members in the United States, therefore, unlike their counterparts in other countries, have no direct legislative function, but are consulted by or give testimony before congressional committees. A cabinet officer may speak in Congress by a special vote of the branch of the legislature desiring to hear him or her.

Because the executive departments of the federal government are equally subordinate to the President, cabinet officers are of equal rank, but ever since the administration of George Washington, the secretary of state, who administers foreign policy, has been regarded as the chief cabinet officer. In 1886 Congress enacted legislation stipulating the order of succession of cabinet officers to the presidency "in case of [the] removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the President and Vice President." The Secretary of State headed the list. In 1947 Congress, in order to give prior eligibility to elected members of the government in the order of succession to the presidency, modified the act of 1886, placing the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate, in that order, before any cabinet members.

The Cabinet of George Washington consisted of the Secretaries of State, the Treasury, and War, and the Attorney-General. In 1798, following the creation of a separate Navy Department, the Secretary of the Navy became a member. The Postmaster-General was added in 1829. As Congress created new executive departments, further additions to the cabinet were made as follows: the Secretary of the Interior in 1849, the Secretary of Agriculture in 1889, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor in 1903. After the division of the department of Commerce and Labor into two separate departments in 1913, the Secretary of Labor became a cabinet officer. In accordance with legislation unifying the armed forces, in 1949 the Secretary of Defense, previously a coordinator of the three military departments, received cabinet rank. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (now known as Health and Human Services) became a cabinet officer in 1953 when the department was created, as did the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1965, the Secretary of Transportation in 1966, the Secretary of Energy in 1977, and the Secretary of Education in 1980, when those departments were created.

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TEXT 29 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS

There are 14 major departments in the executive branch. They employ about 1.5 million civilian employees. In order of establishment the departments are:

Department of State

Department of the Treasury

Department of Defense

Department of the Interior

Department of Agriculture

Department of Justice

Department of Commerce

Department of Labor

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Department of Transportation

Department of Energy

Department of Education

Department of Veterans Affairs

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of Defense was created by Congress in 1949. It is administered by a Secretary who is appointed by the President, with the approval of the Senate, and who is a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council.

 The department directs and controls the armed forces and assists the President in the direction of the nation's security.

By authority of the National Security Act of 1947, the National Military Establishment was created on September 18, 1947. The first secretary was primarily a coordinator, developing general policies for the three executive departments—the Department of the Navy, Department of the Army, and newly created Department of the Air Force. The act was amended in 1949, renaming the National Military Establishment the Department of Defense. The former War Department became part of the Department of the Army. A chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff³⁷ was added, and the military departments were placed under the Defense Department without cabinet status. Major amendments in 1953, 1958, and 1977 resulted in increased responsibilities for the secretary, establishment of an operational chain of command to the unified and specified commands, and authority (for the secretary) to bypass the military departments on operational matters.

The major subdivisions are the Office of the Secretary, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military departments, the unified and specified commands, the Armed Forces Policy Council, and the agencies. The staff of the Office of the Secretary is primarily civilian. It advises and assists the secretary in top-level management. Senior members include the deputy secretary, the undersecretary for policy, the undersecretary for acquisition, the director of defense research and engineering, and the assistant secretaries and their staffs who specialize in international security, personnel, logistics, and similar matters. Also at this level, the military, economic, and political elements associated with military preparedness are balanced to determine size and structure of the armed forces. The Armed Forces Policy Council advises the secretary on a broad range of policy matters.

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Department of Justice

Department of Justice is an executive department of the United States federal government, created by Congress in 1870 to assume the functions performed until then by the Office of the Attorney-General³⁸. The department is headed by the Attorney-General, who is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate.

The functions of the department include providing means for the enforcement of federal laws and investigating violations thereof; supervising the federal penal institutions; furnishing legal counsel in cases involving the federal government and conducting all suits brought before the US Supreme Court in which the federal government is concerned; interpreting laws relating to the activities of the other federal departments; and rendering legal advice, upon request, to the President and to cabinet members.

The Attorney General is assisted by the deputy Attorney-General and the Associate Attorney-General. Another high-ranking official of the department is the Solicitor-General³⁹, who directs all US government litigation in the Supreme Court and who is concerned generally with the conduct of the appellate litigation of the government. Assistant Attorneys General head most of the divisions of the Justice Department. The functions of the department are carried out regionally by US Attorneys and US Marshals⁴⁰; one of each is appointed to the 94 federal judicial districts by the President, with the consent of the Senate.

The department includes the antitrust, civil, civil rights, criminal, environment and natural resources, and tax divisions, as well as administrative offices. The Antitrust Division is charged with the enforcement of the federal antitrust laws and related enactments against industrial and commercial monopolies. The Civil Division and its seven major branches supervise all matters relating to civil suits and claims involving the United States and its departments, agencies, and officers. Among the varied areas of litigation handled by the Civil Division are patents and copyrights, fraud, tort claims, customs and immigration, international trade, veterans' affairs, and consumer affairs. In addition, it is charged with eliminating discrimination in programs that receive federal financial assistance.

The Criminal Division is entrusted with enforcing federal criminal statutes relating to such matters as organized crime, kidnapping, bank robbery, fraud against the government, racketeering, obscenity, corruption among public officials, narcotics and dangerous drugs, and certain civil matters such as extradition proceedings and seizure actions under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act. The Internal Security Section of the division is charged with the investigation and prosecution of all cases affecting national security (including espionage and sabotage), foreign relations, and the illegal export of strategic commodities and technology. The Environment and Natural Resources Division represents the US in litigation involving public lands and natural resources, Native American lands and claims, wildlife resources, and environmental quality, including enforcement of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and similar federal laws and of regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Tax Division conducts all civil and criminal litigation arising out of the internal revenue laws, other than proceedings in the US Tax Court. The Office of Policy and Communications oversees policy development, public affairs, and other administrative areas.

Other agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which investigates violations of federal laws and collects evidence in cases in which the United States may be involved; the Bureau of Prisons; the US Parole Commission, which has the authority to release federal prisoners before they complete their entire sentences; the Office of Justice Programs, which provides financial and technical assistance to state and local law enforcement, supports research into justice issues, and accumulates and disseminates criminal justice statistics; the U.S. Marshals Service, which provides protection and other services for the federal courts and responds to emergency situations related to law enforcement; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Immigration and Naturalization Service; the Executive Office for Immigration Review; the US National Central Bureau-International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol); and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.

Special sections include the Community Relations Service, which mediates racial disputes in U.S. communities; the pardon attorney⁴¹, who receives and investigates applications to the President for pardon or clemency; the US Trustee program, which supervises the administration of bankruptcy cases and trustees; and the Executive Office for US Attorneys, which provides executive assistance to and oversight of the offices of U.S. attorneys throughout the nation.

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Department of State

Department of State is a department of the executive branch of the United States federal government, whose principal responsibility is the conduct, under the direction of the President, of United States foreign policy. The Department of State was created in 1789 to replace the Department of Foreign Affairs (1781-89) of the Confederation government. Crucial decisions on foreign policy are made by the President, usually on the basis of information acquired, summarized, and interpreted by the State Department. The department then has the responsibility of implementing the President's decisions. The main objective of the State Department in the conduct of foreign affairs is the long-range interests and security of the United States.

Contact between other nations and the United States is maintained by the State Department through the representatives of foreign governments accredited to this country and abroad through the diplomatic and consular offices of the U.S. Foreign Service. Through the Foreign Service, the department protects American citizens and interests abroad and promotes US foreign trade. The State Department also negotiates agreements and treaties with foreign governments. It represents the nation in international organizations, and it participates in more than 800 international conferences each year. The department issues passports to American citizens who wish to travel abroad and visas to foreigners who want to visit or immigrate to the United States.

The Department of State is administered by the Secretary of State, who is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate. The Secretary is the chief presidential adviser on foreign affairs and, as the highest ranking member of the cabinet, is fourth in the line of succession to the presidency. The Secretary is also a member of the National Security Council. Assisting the Secretary of State is a large staff headed by the deputy secretary, who on occasion serves as acting head of the department, and four undersecretaries—for political affairs, economic and agricultural affairs, security assistance, and management.

A new concept in the functioning of the department is that of country-team organization, in which representatives of various department agencies who work with the problems relating to one country meet together to produce the best overall solutions. This method is followed in many American embassies abroad; the ambassador calls all the representatives of the various branches of the State Department operation together at the same time to provide advice on their respective fields in that country.

 The State Department has five regional bureaus: the African, East Asian and Pacific, European and Canadian, Near Eastern and South Asian, and Inter-American. The bureaus, each headed by an assistant secretary, are responsible for the general conduct of relations with the countries in their respective areas. Directors within the bureaus work closely with US ambassadors abroad to be sure that US foreign policy directives are both understood and implemented.

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TEXT 30 LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Local Government is an agency organized to provide and supervise administrative, fiscal, and other services to the people who reside within its territorial boundaries. It is the level of government most directly accountable to the public. In the United States local governmental units consist of five major types: county, town and township, municipality, special district, and school district.