The Presi assistants. houses is given certain special powers, for which it is thought to be particularly fitted. For example, when the President appoints an official to a position, the Senate has the right to confirm or reject the appointment, although the House of Representatives has nothing to say about the matter. 15. The Executive Department. The execution of the dent and his laws made by Congress is intrusted to the President of the United States and assistants appointed by him with the consent of the Senate. Presidential elections occur in November of every year divisible by four, and the successful candidates for the offices of President and Vice President are inaugurated upon the 4th of March in the following spring, holding office for four years. The chief assistants of the President, such as the Secretaries of State, War, and the Treasury, and others, form his Cabinet and aid him in performing his duties. The Supreme Court and inferior courts. People make the state constitutions subject to the national Constitution. 16. The National Judiciary. All judges connected with the national courts are appointed for good behavior by the President with the consent of the Senate. Our chief court, called the Supreme Court, consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices who sit as a single body at Washington; but the judges of the lower courts the Circuit Courts of Appeals, the Circuit Courts, and the District Court- try cases in the various cities of the country, so as to be nearer the places where the parties to the suit reside. STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 17. The State Constitutions. Each State makes its own constitution, the voters electing delegates to a state constitutional convention, which frames the constitution, and then, usually, gives the voters an opportunity to accept or The state constitution cannot give the state reject it. government power to do anything denied to the State by the national Constitution. Subject to this limitation, it may grant the state legislature as much or as little power as it pleases, may make the legislature large or small, may have the governor elected for a long or short term, and may arrange to have the judges either elected by the voters or appointed by the governor or the legislature. All of which shows that the people of each State have a great deal of freedom in looking after their own affairs, though they must be careful not to do anything forbidden by the Constitution of the United States. 18. Organization of the State Governments. - All of the States in the American Union have governments that are very much alike. State legislatures are invariably made up of two houses, one of which is larger than the other, although the members of both are elected by the voters in districts into which the States are divided. The people also elect the governors and the other chief executive officials, the remainder being appointed. State judges are not so universally chosen by popular election, and their terms are apt to be longer than those of the legislators and the governors; but even with the judges, short terms are the rule and appointment the exception. The three depart ments. ture of govern ment in counties, cities, and towns. 19. Forms of Local Government. Local government is The strucof several kinds that of the county, the city, the town, the village, and the school district. All of the States are subdivided into counties, but the officials elected in the counties devote as much of their time to carrying out state laws as to looking after purely local affairs. Every city has its mayor, its council, and a large number of administrative officials who hold office for very short terms. Small urban centers frequently have village government somewhat similar to that of the cities. In the New England States and a few others, every county is made up of several towns. Each town holds a mass meeting of the voters, at which most of the local laws are made and town officers are selected. In many States the principal political subdivisions of the counties are the school districts, which care for the most necessary local interests. General References Wilson, The State, §§ 1084–1095, 1473–1513. Hinsdale, The American Government, §§ 5-7, 223–233, 248-262. Bryce, The American Commonwealth, abridged ed., pp. 3-5, 16–21, 224-242, 287-296. Ashley, The American Federal State, §§ 24-29, 238-246. Hart, Actual Government under American Conditions, pp. 14–64. Studies 1. What are the most essential duties performed by any government ? What less important duties are now commonly performed by our national, state, or local governments? Wilson, The State, §§ 1478– 1512. 2. What is meant in political science by the term "State"? Give an explanation of the expression "Federal State." Ashley, American Federal State, §§ 2, 11, 12. 3. The present scope of governmental duties. Wambaugh, E., Atlantic Monthly, 81 (1898), 120-130. Practical Questions 1. Enumerate some of the most important obligations of citizens to their governments. 2. Classify the essential functions given in § 3, grouping them under as few headings as possible. 3. Name the most important characteristics of American govern ment. 4. Does the United States government, or do the respective state governments, make laws in the following cases? (On these questions, consult the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, and if the power referred to it is not mentioned there, it may be assumed that it is exercised by the States and not by the national government.) (1) Making a naturalization law by which foreigners become citizens. (2) Determining the minimum length of the school year. (3) Punishing a murder committed within a State. (4) Deciding whether a foot or a meter shall be the legal standard for linear measurement. (5) Caring for a postal system. (6) Levying duties upon cloth imported at New York. (7) Making laws relating to marriage and divorce. CHAPTER II THE SELECTION OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 20. The Two Methods of Selection. — To perform the legislative, executive, and judicial duties which all of our governments must undertake, several hundred thousand persons must be chosen. In general, the most important officials are elected by the voters at regular elections, but many higher offices and most of the minor positions are filled by persons appointed by some higher elected official or set of officials. Election and appoint ment. of the two methods. The system of appointment is used much more in connec- Relative use tion with the national government than with those of the States, counties, cities, and towns. Only the President, Vice President, and members of the national House of Representatives are elected directly or indirectly by popular vote, although the United States senators are chosen by the state legislatures. All national judges, and national executive officials and employees, numbering more than 350,000, are appointed. Members of lawmaking bodies are invariably elected by the people. These include congressmen, state legislators, city councilmen, county supervisors, and town selectmen. Election is used for almost all state or local judges, and for the most important executive and administrative officials of the States and localities. Yet the number of persons appointed for state or local positions, aside from those connected with schools, probably outnumbers the elected officials three to one.1 1 Not all persons connected with any government are called officials, for most of them are merely employees whose work involves comparatively little responsibility. Length of tation in office. It is one of the principles public servants shall be It is one of the practices terms. Ro- of American government that elected for short terms of office. that, as far as possible, changes shall be made at frequent intervals. This custom, best known as "rotation in office,” satisfies a desire deeply ingrained in American nature, for popular rights seem to be protected if any person is prevented from holding one office several terms in succession. We shall notice later that this desire is not realized at all fully in many of the governments that we have, although it is true that nowhere else in the world, except in Switzerland, are the governments really so dependent on the people and so closely in sympathy with them as in the United States. Compensation of higher and lower officials. In America, to a much greater extent than in other countries, public officials are paid. The salaries for the highest officers are much smaller than the income that would be obtained in other pursuits by the kind of men we wish to Steele, A.H., represent us in these positions, but the salaries attached to in Gunton's the less important elected offices are good compared with the Mag., responsibilities of those positions. One of the results of 18 (1900), 419-428. our democratic spirit has been the tendency to make salaries equal, so that our lower officials and sometimes appointed in No. Am. employees are as much overpaid as our more responsible officials are underpaid. Many offices, however, which carry very heavy burdens, are unpaid, the position of school trustee being a good example. James, T. L., Rev., 182 (1906), 266-274. Influence 1 22. Desire for Public Office. Salary is one of the less of prestige important inducements offered by the high offices, although the principal attraction for the lesser positions. Honor and and patron age. 1 The highest salary paid to any official is that given to the President of the United States, $75,000 a year, and, in addition, the use of the White House and payment of many expenses. Cabinet officers receive but $12,000 a year, and congressmen only $7500. A few governors have a salary as high as $10,000 and some expenses, but one gets as little as $1500. Some mayors and city attorneys have large salaries, but, as a rule, the most responsible local officials are poorly remunerated. |