-> Why is religion so important in Britain and in the US? Secular = laïc Sect = groupe religieux Belief = croyance Faith-based organisation : organisation à mission caritative (fondée et gérée par un groupe religieux) Pro-life : contre l avortement Pro-choice : pour l avortement A separation between the Church and the state has never happened in either Britain or US. Why? 1 st amendment US : Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The founding fathers referred an established Church like the Church of England (after the Act of Supremacy). Since, the monarch has been the head of Church. That s why we have bishops in the House of Lords. Charles II : royal assent to the Test Act, Act of Parliament. Aim : the Catholics can no more exercise in public office (they had to swear). In 1838, the Act was repelled (at the time of American Revolution). Since that time, religion has become less and less intolerant in British people. Today, less than 5% go to Church. In Britain today, there are more practicing Muslims than Christians. It is not an issue in the UK, but still a big issue in the US. In the UK, there is no persecution because of religion. You can belong to any religion you want. The word used is belong to any faith (refers to the different churches within the protestant tradition). The US wanted to avoid religion as an issue. They also wanted to avoid any religion test like Britain -> Art. 6 : no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States : there will not be any state of domination of religion = we don t want to be like Britain. British idea : all men are created equal, give the vote to all men (revolutionary). But in fact they were not created equal. Philosophically, we have rights towards Creator (belief). Idea of Christianity in the Constitution is fair and prevents a government from discrimination. The number of people in the US which believe in God is far higher than in the UK. Since 2000, polls gave percentages : 70% to 90% of the population believe in God, and 20 to 25% go to church every week. In different parts of the country, Christianity is particularly strong = the Bible Belt (Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, North/South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi ). What kind of Christianity? Roman catholic population from Irish, Polish, Italia, Russian immigrants (they go in big areas like Chicago). America is the most conservative country in the world. If we want to be candidate for the presidential election, we have to mention to what church we belong, which state we belong to otherwise, we are unelectable (so candidates need to win the Christian vote). Religious profile of the major candidates : McCain : senator of Arizona (on the edge of Bible Belt). He is from an Episcopal school, light Baptist (Southern Church, vote very important). He goes to church. - 1 -
Huckabee won Kansas and Louisiana. He is a priest in a Baptist church. He s appealing to people who deeply believe in Christian values. He s giving McCain big problems. A half of people who vote are conservatives Christians who think that McCain is not an adequate candidate for the Republicans. Democrats Clinton : Member of the United Methodists Church (a protestant group). The Methodists believe in the good work, whereas the Baptists think that baptism is sufficient to be salved. She is pro-choice, goes to Church every week, to the Senate prayer group. Obama : He declared he was not religious-grown. But after college, he realized something was missing in his life (God). He s part of the Unites Church of Christ, a very good choice for candidates, not extremist. It allows you to believe more or less what you want (every church can decide alone the form of the church service). He also goes to the Senate Prayer group. All 3 are protestant. The Southern Baptist Convention = the larger protestant group (16 million voters). Why is it so important to belong a specified church? It allows to define the candidates. The major issue is the right to abortion. It was illegal across the country until 1973. In 1973 : Roe v. Wade established the woman right to abortion. It was based upon the right to privacy, they extended the right to privacy to a woman to protect her privacy. From a religious point of view, abortion is a murder. The Supreme Court answered anything. Ex : states are not obliged to provide abortion services in state hospitals. State laws insist on consulting a psychologist to know what is wrong with a woman who wants to be aborted. South culture Dakota (Midwest) : they banned abortion in states. In an new law (Brown, 2006), life was seen as beginning at the moment of conception. The states wanted to re-put into question this issue of abortion. South culture knows that the Supreme Court is going to intervene. The pro-choice organization will fight. They want to create a new legal argument : the doctor can perform an abortion only if the life of the pregnant woman is put in danger, and even in this case, doctors have to make everything to the pregnancy continues. South Dakota wasn t the only state. Abortion is a serious issue today. Candidates have to make clear what they want. McCain : he thinks Roe v. Wade is a wrong law. He wants to reverse the 1973 decision ; this is not the business of the Supreme Court, it s the business of congress. The decision should be decided by individual states. This raises the question of federalism (giving power back to the states). Washington should intervene in public issues. He believed in faith-bases organizations to give support. He s pro-life. If he is supported by states with a very strong Baptist community, he will be able to reverse the law. Clinton : pro-choice. She doesn t say it publicly, otherwise she could lose the Christians vote. - 2 -
Abortion is an important issue. 1973 : Roe v. Wade Judgment = defeat of the Christians across America. 1970s : Reverend Jerry Falwell is a very famous Baptist. He identified abortion as a human right of child. There are different categories of Christians and they don t succeed in find a consensus. This reverend created a new political group : Moral Majority (an important political force in the US). They chose Reagan as a candidate. 1980 elections : 26% of White electors were Christian fundamentalists. Moral majority claimed they could mobilize 9 million voters. Another issue is school prayers. When Reagan was elected, Christians were really disappointed (prayer in school). Congress refused and Reagan just dropped the issue. He also appointed a new judge to Supreme Court, a woman (Sandra Day O Connor), who didn t belong to any church. She was in favor of woman rights and was pro-choice. He agreed to distribute free condoms to homosexuals. 1994 : Reagan again. The Christian vote is still a serious voting block. But also they can mobilize political movement (certain issues debating in public). McCain : social vote also for Huckabee. McCain is a very Christian fundamentalist candidate, but he will lose other independent vote. He needs the two. Problem with Huckabee (public tensions) Another issue is the homosexual marriage. Huckabee is against. Another issue : faith-bases organizations : they are ran by religious groups. They can organize post-prison trainings to help to find a job. Should these organizations be founded by the state? Government must not discriminate between different faith groups. Rules are very strict. An organization has the right to create training programs, to choose employees (ex : we only employ Baptists) but they must offer their services to anyone. They are still strong. Why does the government tolerate them? Because they need them, government doesn t have to pay, it can subsidize them. Religion within government : On money since 1862 : In God we trust Problem of pledge religion = what you might say in school. We have to say the US is one nation under God. The House of Representatives and the Senate are using public government funds to pay religious men. + prayer meetings in the White House. The US is not a country with an established church but not a secular state either. One more issue is the Black Baptist Churches : they are very powerful in some states, long tradition of fighting the rights for African- Americans (important for Obama, he has to attract the vote). Obama doesn t have this heritage (he is Kenyan). But at the same time, he has to have the Whites cote. He is trying to attract both in the same time. He said his wife is really African-American (Michelle Obama). Obama won Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland. - 3 -
-> American elections : how do they work? Elections are the basis of democracy, they legitimate government and powers + create influences for ideas they promote accountability, make sure that the electoral candidates do what they are supposed to do = a mandate. The platform / program is less important in the US than in the UK. In the UK, it is central in the campaign, the government has to follow the program. They may vote on a basis of parties (Democrats, Republicans), issues (for example the issue of economy) or candidate characteristics, i.e. how a candidate is perceived : is he believable or not, trustable or not Republicans : abortion / moral issues, but issues are not the same things than platform (= manifesto). There are consequences in relations between political parties. Elections are not necessarily the accountability (unlike the UK), not ideological. In most elections, candidates are elected on the basis of issues. Democratic candidates tend on certain position (ex : abortion) to be more progressive. The Republicans tend to be more conservative. We elect candidates that are members of a party (which finance the campaign etc). Elections have become in a sense more democratic : it is true, there has been more access to vote. Universal men suffrage came earlier than in GB (1865, after the Civil War). 1920 : female suffrage. White men and women could vote but there were inequalities, especially in relations of race (Black couldn t). 1965 : voting right act. Why so later? Because there were racist obstacles like poll taxes. Today, there is still intimidation. On the other hand, there is a very low number of who vote (50% abstain). It s true that in 2004, there was an increase of 59% (= highest level in the century in the presidential election). Mid-term election : we elect 1/3 of the Senate + the House of Representatives. Presidential election : the House of Representatives + 1/3 of the Senate + the President. The turnout is very low in mid-term elections ( - 40%). In primary elections, usually the turnout is -30 or 20% (small minorities of voters). Why don t Americans vote? One of the main reasons is voting registration : according to political scientists, this is an obstacle. Amount of people registered to vote : there is a class / gender / racial tendencies : Whites / males / more educated Blacks / women / less educated. P 247 : registration requirement depress participation. At the end of the page 248, it s not only registration but also absence of important political parties. In the final election, it s the same tendency, more accentuate. It s basically institutional obstacles. Do political parties represent people? people had the impression there is something at stake. The government exerts a major control : 1)by regulating the composition of elections (who can vote) : Free/Slave : before there were only the citizens / criteria of property : a white male property owner. Universal suffrage white male (1848). There were other obstacles to prevent suffrage event after Black men and women got the right to vote(poll tax) ; 2) manipulates translations of votes into outcomes : majority / plurality / proportional ; 3) it insulates policy making process from electoral intervention. Government organizes elections => influence. - 4 -
There are 3 types of election system : majority (like France), plurality (US / UK), proportional (Italy). Majority : to be elected, we have to gather 50% of votes + 1 vote. Otherwise, we do a second round and only the 2 first can stand for the election. Plurality : one-round election = first passed the post (the first who arrive wins). For example, if we have 40% of the votes and the other 30%, we win 40% of the seats. The little parties can get seats (it s more democratic). The proportional critics by saying that we can have 49% of the votes and not be represented : 51% not represented. The big problem with proportionality is that it s instable (ONE leader or the party). Some think that we need more possibilities, other that the majority system is more democratic because we vote one s trust. Plurality : consequence of one-round election : it tends to have a two-party-system because they want to gather to win the elections : to vote against someone (voter utile) creates bi-partism. There are 2 big parties : the Republicans and the Democrats. In UK : Labour and Conservatives : we speak about 2 and a half system because there is a third party, the Liberal Democrats, who has a lot of influence, more electoral influence than the other. It can have about 20% of the votes but not automatically set PM. Even if it s a 2-party-system, not everyone vote, many people feel there are not represented (less rich, less influenced tend to be those who vote the least). Electoral districts : how are the determined? They are rewritten every 10 years after the census = recomposition of electoral districts. How are the districts drawn? Between 1 and 40 depending of the population. Manipulating electoral district = gerrymandrings ( méandres de Gerry ). Originally, he created electoral districts to favor his party. Depending on how you determine districts, there are inequalities. In GB, there is a public commission that determines the districts. In US the state government determines every 10 years. Politically, Republicans and Democrats will have an advantage. The question of power is a big problem in democracy. With gerrymandrings, the goal was to exclude the Blacks from voting. After the 60 s, they wanted to create circumscriptions to HAVE the Black vote (Benign). The Supreme Court said that it was not democratic : that s no more equal to suppress or favor categories, but it could be a criteria. Insulate methods (p 251) : methods to separate the decisional political system from the elections. During the elections, the president is the sole man who is elected by all electors but there is no direct universal suffrage. Grands électeurs : representatives elected depending of the population + number of senators. Every state has at least 3 super delegates. On the basis of population, small states would be advantaged (538 super delegates + 100) so in every state we elect SD. In December, these electors vote for the President. It s the popular majority of the state which can represent. In every moment in history except 3 times, the one who won the majority won the popular majority. Problem in the 19 th and in 2000 : Al Gore won the popular majority but lost the election by 4 SD. Al Gore won the big states. In the last state (Florida), there was intimidation, cheat, Bush won with a hundred votes more. - 5 -
-> Electoral financing In general rule (9/10 elections), the one who spends the most wins. The incumbent usually gets more money. 2008 election : 4 billion dollars (800 million for the presidential). It's not normal. Obama : 55 million dollars in February. There are 4 main sources of money : small direct contributions (1/4) large individual contributions (1/4) Political Action Committees (PAC) = 527 Committees (in reference to a number of a clause in a law). They are lobbies but which organize specifically or the elections. (1/4) Political parties and personal finance (no limit) (1/4) Supreme Court (Valeo) : spending money is like free speech (1 st amendment) : you can say what you want so you can spend your money the way you want. Rich candidates have a better chance to win. However, since 2006 and in 2008 election, it seems that something changed. Candidates say that they no longer want PAC money. In the Democrat party, 50% of the money is coming from small direct contributions. Mitt Romney spent a lot of money (100 million dollars) but was not elected => money is not the only cause for candidates to be elected : in 2006 (mid-term election => the House of Representatives + 1/3 Senate), a question determined the candidacy : the Iraq war. PAC still have a lot of money and they spend it in advertising for the party they support. They do participate in the elections. Soft money goes to parties. We can give money to the candidate. Public finances are just used for the presidential (control). Independent spendings : political parties can spend money on issues. Individual candidates can give 4000$ (see page 265). 50% of money is coming from small contributions. PAC = lobbies (industrial lobbies) : examples : the trade union, environment, taxes, NRA... When people is elected, they want to be represented (because they gave money) Turnout is also a big question : Americans tend to not vote. Usually, presidential election = 50 % (59% in 2004), and 30/40% for the mid-term elections. Even in that, there are big differences in who vote, who is/not registered : class, gender, education, income... Only 20% of the Black people vote ( Neither party represents us ). Getting Blacks to vote means getting more democracy. It's a big problem of democracy in the US. There is also a problem of registration (Thursday whereas Sunday in France...). - 6 -
-> Congress (p94) art. 1 of the Constitution : the Congress is supposed to be the most democratic branch. The 2 mains powers of the Congress are force (power to declare war, whereas in GB it's the Prime minister) and money (all money is voted in Congress). The Executive can only function if it has money. The Senate has oversight over the President (has to approve...). In reality, there is a big struggle between the Executive and the Congress. The President has anormous powers : that's the president who declares war in a case of emergency : he can mobilize troops and only asks for Congress authority. During the Vietnam war, the president sent troops. When the President voted for the Iraq war, the Congress voted with him. Very few Congressmen / Senators vote against the President. Obama did it (and Clinton, after having first supported the Iraq war). The money question gives Congress enormous powers. P97 : comparison : major differences between the House and the Senate : size, but the two major are the length of terms (2 years for the Senate and 6 for the HR) and the kind of constituencies (local constituencies for the HR, based on state for the Senate [2 per state]) see map page 259. They are elected to be more representative. For example, those who live in an agricultural area, agriculture is a big issue. But sugar and corn are 2 different issues, even if both are part of the agriculture. In the HR, they tend to be more representative : they are local, specialists of their area. They tend to go in standing committees (for example agriculture) and SUB committees (for example corn, sugar)... Sub committees are good for constituencies (bill that will defend the constitution). Filibuster : very specific and exceptional institution : in American Senate, there is no limit on spending time. The lack of limit can bring to a block. Filibuster is a strategy to avoid taking a vote. We need a 2/3 vote for a cloture vote. Usually, filibuster works. The longest filibuster took place in the 1950s / 1960s. Filibuster has become a regular mechanism of functioning of the Senate (has some control over the Executive). In the American Congress, it's the majority which decides. In the Senate filibuster (nothing). In GB, the PM decides the agenda. There are external influences. The party leadership with the Whips. What make an elected voted : their constituencies. In the American texts, we don't mention the program. In GB, it's different : there are manifesto that explain the political programm. In the US, most representatives care of their constituencies. Many Americans vote on one issue only. Liberal patronage (117) : Earmarks (Direct Patronage) + Pork Barrel. Money => jobs, business, publicity => Pork Barrel (voting measures on a direct law) : ex : museum of prison, bridge to nowhere (very expensive)... Pork barrel, earmarks are a form of corruption : they give a lot of money to candidates or they campaign indirectly. 5.2.7 committees. What do they get in exchange? It's difficult to prove that political officials pay back. Incumbents have more money. Do incumbents pay back? Book : probably, indirectly or through indirectly earmarks. The RMI (Repeated Motion Illness) works. Companies UBS, Fedex, wrote a bill in the interest of their companies rather than the workers, an example which shows how the politicians defend the interest of the companies. Parties discipline : how do they represent and how the Senate vote. 50% of the bills : parties vote together (recently 70%). A party-line vote means over 50%. In GB, there is a party - 7 -
discipline, Labour vote for Labours and Conservatives for Conservatives (except in periods of crisis) : very organized, there is a content, they don't vote because they have to. In the US, there is no party discipline. At least 50% of Democrats vote together. This party vote = about 70% of the votes today. In the US, in 30% of the votes, there are no important tendencies, no coherent program (= platform). Most candidates have one single issue they defend very strongly. 2 main tendencies : ideological, geographical (p 110 111 : party votes + number of votes). In the US, liberal is different from conservative. Liberal means progressive (Roosevelt), especially social (ex : Kennedy liberal). In the US, there are regions which tend to be more liberal, other more conservative. Most liberal areas = North East, Midwest, West, big cities (even big cities in the south) in general (Massachusetts, Washington, New England, Midwest...). Most of the conservative states are the states in the west) Republicans tend to be more conservative and Democrats more liberal. P 111. South : Southern Democrats and non-southern Democrats. Democrats who are not from the South are most liberal (abortion, gay rights, public spending). Historically, the non-southern Democrats took a very important place in political parties. In the 1840s, Lincoln was the 1 st Republican president. Roosevelt transformed the Democratic Party (New Deal). Realignment : change in the logic of the party (begin 1980s) : South started to become more democratic. President Bush was from Texas. Northeast : almost all elected officials tend to be more liberal because people are more liberal (ex : Julians). Committees assignments : access to the floor, less than 10% of the bills are discussed on the floor. Regionalization and ideology : the Whip system is much more institutionalizing powerful in the UK. Whip system a communication system to explain the party positions to the congressmen to convince them to vote for a law according to the party-line. Logrolling = image : I vote for you if you vote for me => idea : need of 2 people. 2 favor alliance : one alliance voted in our interest ( Clinton military budget didn't pass), a second didn't vote. Corn for porn = logrolling Real power of the President (p 124) Sources of power : Constitution, laws, mass public opinion. 1) : President is the dominant branch of American government federalism (Roosevelt = turning point). Constitution (art 1) : power more concentrated, strong presidency. New Federalism : president giving power back to the states. Since Bush II, presidents began to intervene, especially in security, civil liberties, homeland securities (Bush has reinforced the presidency, but for a security point of view). However, he has decreased the role of government in areas of welfare, military (Iraq war), decreased taxes. 3) : bureaucracy (= red tape) administration. Making the bureaucracy accountable to the people : President / Congress (legislative assignments = controls the budget, congressional commissioners [inquiry commissions], checks and balances) 2) : Formal + Informal powers. Formal = Constitution, laws. 2 presidencies were impeached in the US (= procedure by which Congress removes a president from office because it considers that the president is guilty of high crime and treason) : Clinton and Johnson. - 8 -
President powers : expressed (Constitution), delegated (law), inherit powers = this is m job, I have to do this. Expressed powers : military (President has become the main legislator in the US (different from the PM : laws > Government)), judicial, diplomatic, executive, legislative. P 145 : success of presidential initiative : president batting average : Presidents don't always do what they want. Clinton : 50% (in the first years, more votes passed (democratic Congress), then divided government (Republican majority in the Congress). First term of President Bush : he got many laws passed. 4) the Executive branch / 5) Diplomatic : head of state (negotiates treaties but can't sign them => they must be ratified by the Senate [ GB], can declare war, represents the country). In GB, the PM has enormous powers, he can negotiate AND sign the treaties, make war... 1) military power : America = super power. What makes America a super power? American military power around the world, America protects Europe (Europe obedient). American troops around the world intervene in the war. But it's especially the President who runs this. It is the Congress who declares war (Constitution) but in reality, the American President gained the power to declare war. Since WWII, Congress has not declared war. The Congress approve the decision of the President and vote the budget. the dollar is not just the American national currency but also the international reserve currency (+ 60% of the reserves are in dollar) + the currency for exchange of money for commodities (food, stuff...) Economic power of American companies + the American Market = ¼ of the world markets. Most countries / companies in the world export to the US Iraq war is one of the most debatable issues (it costs a lot). President has concentrated a lot of power. P 143 : formal / informal powers. Much of the powers of the President today are not constitutional. Written in the Constitution : Cabinet + Vice-presidency // Not written in the Constitution ; patronage, Executive Office of the President, White House staff => close personnel advisors of the President are not in the Constitution. They are appointed by the President but not ratified by the government. The President has a Cabinet (secretaries of the various departments of the Executive branch : they just implement laws decided by Congress) and the PM ministers (who run the ministries). The President makes a lot of decisions alone. He implements national policies decided by Congress. Congress is much more independent of the President than Parliament is of the Prime Minister. Foreign / Military policy : the American president has gained an enormous amount of power. Congress doesn't check as much as the Constitution says. Informal : Elections ; mandates : they try to gain mandates in the elections. There is a platform but it's not followed strictly. Political party : US : 2 major functions : running elections + structuring the work in the majority party that discusses policy in the Cabinet. Real Congress political structure, annual conferences... The party can be a resource... often (p143) : not always. Pressure of interest groups is important. - 9 -