Social Choice Session 17

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Social Choice Session 17

• Carmen Pasca and John Hey

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The US Constitution

• This lecture begins with the question what is
  the importance of knowledge of the different
  constitutional systems and the implicit and
  explicit forms of state and of government?.
• The Constitution is important because it
  determines the fundamental organization of the
  state.
• The drafting of constitutions is part of a
  process that includes several aspects
  historical, social, political and legal.
• In a historical perspective, the first act of the
  state is one that leads to the formation of the
  Constitution, in which is created the law as the
  legal act.

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The US Constitution

• Law in a state is born of the need to regulate
  social relations that arise in the exercise of
  power from the state.
• The law contains the rules instituted and
  sanctioned by the state.
• Another key element is the history of the nation
  and its collective memory here are the
  individual consciousnesses that produce the
  story.
• Collective memory is the expression of the
  tensions of the stories.
• A second key element is precedence of the
  Constitutions which are the institutions that
  are above the Constitution.

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The US Constitution

• The legislative body
• House of Representatives the U.S. House of
  Representatives, along with the Senate, forms the
  United States Congress and is one of the bodies
  of legislative power.
• It represents the citizens within the Union. Its
  headquarters are located in the southern part of
  Capitol in Washington.
• In the House of Representatives, the chamber
  votes federal laws and holds the initiative to
  vote on national income. It can also vote the
  U.S. President if no majority can be found except
  the electors.
• can be found except the electors.

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The US Constitution

• The current number of representatives is 435.
  According to the Constitution, the number of
  representatives shall not be more than one for
  every thirty thousand inhabitants (the Senate
  number is set at two per state). This number is
  proportional to the population size of each
  state. The states that have more than one
  representative, divides the states into state
  congressional districts, which must have a
  population almost equal in number, and each
  nominate a
• representative.
• The "Voting Rights Act prohibits Member States
  from "gerrymandering" (realignment) of the
  districts to reduce the arbitrary power of
  minorities.

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The US Constitution

• The use of realignment of divisions for political
  gain to release is not prohibited even these will
  cause the creation of districts sociologically or
  racially homogeneous. Because of this phenomenon,
  less than 10 of the total seats in the House of
  Representatives are seriously contested at each
  election. More than 90 of the members of the
  House are almost guaranteed to be re-elected
  every two years because of the lack of electoral
  competition.
• This system is criticized for being contrary to
  democratic principles, that is, one which implies
  a healthy competition.
• .

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The US Constitution

• Representatives are elected for two years by
  direct universal suffrage and the single-member
  majority voting system in a single round.
• To be elected, a candidate must be twenty-five
  years old and have been a United States citizen
  for seven years.
• One of the representatives is elected as Speaker
  of the House and must belong to the majority
  party in the House of Representatives.
• He is the third most important figure in the
  state after the U.S. President and the
  Vice-President and second in the line of
  presidential succession.

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The US Constitution

• As we have noted above, the number of
  representatives in the House of Representatives
  (the Lower House) depends upon the population
  of USA.
• Each state has at least one representative and
  their members are elected every two years.
• In contrast, The Senate is the body which
  represents the federal states and is the Upper
  House.
• We note that the U.S. Constitution calls for the
  approval of both Houses to pass a law.
• The House and Senate are equal partners in the
  legislative process (legislation cannot be
  enacted without the consent of
• both chambers) however, the Constitution grants
  each House some unique powers.

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The US Constitution

• The Senate is uniquely empowered to ratify
  treaties and to approve top presidential
  appointments.
• Revenue-raising bills must originate in the House
  of Representatives, which also has the sole power
  of impeachment, while the Senate has the sole
  power to try impeachment cases.
• The Senate Senators are elected for a longer
  period there are fewer of them than members of
  the lower house, a
• distinction intended by the Constitution (six
  years with universal suffrage and direct
  majoritarian single-member
• voting on each seat).
• Once out of every two occasions, the elections
  are held on the same day as those for the U.S.

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The US Constitution

• President and once out of every two occasions on
  the mid-term of the President. On the occasion of
  this vote, a single seat of senator is renewed
  (the only exception being the vacancy of a second
  seat).
• The requirements to be eligible for election for
  Senate are that the candidate is at least thirty
  years
• old, and has been resident nine years or more in
  the state.
• Senators serve a six-year term and elections are
• done on a rolling basis with 1/3 of the senators
  re-elected every two years.
• The U.S. Vice President, under the Constitution
  is the President of the Senate, and a substitute
  President of the USA. In the local primary
  elections, the parties designate their candidates
  for election.
• .

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The US Constitution

• In the local primary elections, the parties
  designate their candidates for election.
• They are closed in the sense that only party
  members can be candidates. There are rare cases
  when the primary elections are open in the sense
  that sympathizers of the party can stand without
  actually being members.
• (An interesting parallel is the case of Italy in
  2005, the necessity of voters to sign a
  declaration of agreement in principle with the
  plan of the potential winner.)

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The US Constitution

• Whether elections are open (anyone can be a
  candidate) or closed (only party members can be
  candidates) or something in between (sympathisers
  can be candidates) is something that is decided
  at the State level.
• To decide the candidates for election, local
  primaries are organized, some months before the
  senatorial election for the major American
  political parties and also for the smaller
  parties (the Libertarian Party and Green Party).
• The rule of this method of election varies from
  party to party and from state to state possibly
  single-round majority ballots or two rounds
  majority ballots (with the requirement of a 40
  vote in the first round to proceed to the
  second).

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The US Constitution

• A candidate defeated in the primary election may
  re-candidate himself under a different political
  label.
• Senator Joe Lieberman, defeated in the Democratic
  senatorial primary in Connecticut, created a
  party ( "Connecticut for Lieberman") and
  accumulated enough signatures to present to his
  name, and then he went on to win the senatorial
  election in November 2006 against Republican and
  Democratic candidates.
• The seventeenth amendment of the U.S.
  Constitution states that the vacant seat of a
  senator must be provided by the executive from
  the state that the seat covers.
• Certain U.S. states then organize a special
  election for the vacant seat.

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The US Constitution

• This election is held at a later date or at the
  same time as the bi-annual general election of
  Congress.
• Both elections are combined and are the subject
  of a separate vote. . A senator elected in a
  special occasion election will be seated
  immediately and his term ends after six years but
  he is not eligible to a new term of six years.
• The Constitution allows the Senate to expel one
  of its members with a vote by a two-thirds
  majority vote.
• Fifteen senators have been expelled in the
  history of the Senate W. Blount for treason and
  fourteen between 1861 and 1862 for supporting the
  Confederate secession. In contrast, censure
  requires only a simple majority but the senator
  keeps his seat.

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The US Constitution

• The Executive
• The Executive Body consists of The President and
  the Vice President.
• The U.S. Constitution mentions that the President
  and Vice President have a position equal to that
  of Congress and are elected by a complex
  electoral system in two phases the nomination of
  candidates of political parties and the second is
  the election of a candidate from each of the
  Democratic and Republican parties.
• The President concentrates all the power of the
  state and is the head of the government and of
  the state.
• election of a candidate from each of the
  Democratic and Republican parties. The President
  concentrates all
• the power of the state and is the head of the
  government and of the state.

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The US Constitution

• The U.S. Presidential election.
• The American presidential electoral process is
  marked by two phenomena (1) the President of the
  U.S. Is not elected by direct universal suffrage
  so that his legitimacy due to the elections will
  not be too important in comparison to that of the
  parliamentarians from the Federal Congress (2)
  Small states in population terms are guaranteed
  to have a minimum of representation.
• In the American Presidential elections there are
  Indirect Elections which are those that appoint
  the Electoral College which chooses the President
  and Vice-President of the USA.
• Vice-President of the USA.

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The US Constitution

• This process is governed by the rules inscribed
  in the Constitution. The appointment of electors
  and the choice of candidates is the subject of
  the established laws of each state
• where traditions are partly formalized.
• From the middle of the twentieth century, the
  process takes almost a year.
• The electoral process that we describe here is
  that used in 2009 (which is very different than
  that established by the Constitution of 1789 and
  amended by the 12th amendment of 1800).

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The US Constitution

• In order to be eligible to stand for President a
  candidate has to be at least thirty-five years
  old, be a U.S. citizen and have been resident in
  the USA for at least 14 years. Candidates can not
  stand for a third term.
• The candidate has a duty to make the declaration
  of his candidacy in the state where he will
  receive the votes of the Grand Electors (the
  members of the Electoral College).
• Electors (the members of the Electoral College).
• Every election year, some half-dozen or so
  candidates put themselves forward as possible
  candidates for one of other of the two main
  parties, Republican or Democrat.
• These candidates begin to campaign and encourage
  support. In a general manner, they declare
  themselves candidates in the year preceding the
  election and start a campaign over many months,
  culminating in the Primary Election (the results
  are known from March).

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The US Constitution

• This phase ends with the National Convention of
  their party in the summer, and then there is the
  appointment by the party of its official
  candidate.
• Convention of their party in the summer, and then
  there is the appointment by the party of its
  official candidate. Within the ruling party, the
  current President of that party, if the party
  does not receive a single candidate (which is
  extremely unlikely) becomes himself a candidate
  for election. Otherwise, the Vice-President is
  encouraged to represent his party. The Republican
  Richard Nixon in 1960 was beaten by
• Kennedy the Democrat Uberti Humphrey was beaten
  by Richard Nixon in 1968.

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The US Constitution

• In an opposition party, the struggle is more open
  and strategy may change during the campaign if
  one candidate becomes the favourite he can choose
  his co-runner from the other candidates.
• Some candidates may then negotiate their
  candidacy with one of the candidates for the
  Vice-Presidency. The campaign for the investiture
  involves several public meetings, television
  appearances and advertising. They must find the
  funds to finance the electoral campaign.
• The primary elections take place in January and
  serve as an indicator in the ranking of
  candidates.

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The US Constitution

• Regarding the results, the candidates less
  fortunate should abandon the race and the party's
  candidate should become known before the
  convention which officially confirms the result.
• The primary election may begin at the same time
  as the start of the election year, implying that
  candidates receive the same coverage. During the
  year preceding the primary elections, nominations
  are evaluated by an exploratory committee
  (afterwards the candidates look for financial
  support). The elections are organized by the two
  major parties for each state to designate the
  delegate of the party to make the National
  Convention.

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The US Constitution

• The existence and form of these elections depend
  on the party and on the state.
• Originally, the delegates elected were free of
  their votes outside the Convention however in
  the second part of the twentieth century, the
  delegates are committed to a candidate, and,
  indeed, will determine the choice of candidate in
  the primary campaign.
• During the elections, we see the gradual
  elimination of
• candidates who have fewer delegates. This
  deletion is caused in large part by the declining
  financial support the candidate can no longer
  afford to pay the costs of lobbying and
  advertising.

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The US Constitution

• To prevent this effect, many states decided to
  organize their primaries the same day (Tuesday of
  February, "Super
• Tuesday"). In most States, the primary elections
  are (1) open to all voters who support the party
  (2) halfopen
• or (3) closed (only for members of the party).
  The open vote allows a candidate to describe
  himself as Democrat or Republican but not both.
• We now turn to the National Convention. We note
  that the U.S. Is characterized as the country of
  bipartisanship.

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The US Constitution

• The two parties meet during the summer to
  nominate their ticket for the presidential
  election. On this ticket is inscribed the names
  of candidates for President and Vice-Presidency.
• The National Convention is an opportunity for
  candidates to present their program and signifies
  the opening of the campaign. The rule of
  "Winner-takes-all" (adopted by most states) is
  designed to give all electors of a State to the
  candidate who gets the simple majority and
  prevents the representation of minority votes.
• The Electors (the members of the Electoral
  College) are elected by universal suffrage in
  each state. The fifty states designate a number
  of "electors" equal the total number of of
  representatives and senators, a total of 538 (100
  corresponding to the 100 Senators plus 435
  corresponding to the 435 Representatives plus 3
  for the Federal District of Columbia).

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The US Constitution

• The Electors (the members of the Electoral
  College) are elected by universal suffrage in
  each state.
• The fifty states designate a number of "electors"
  equal to the total number of of representatives
  and senators, a total of 538 (100 corresponding
  to the 100 Senators plus 435 corresponding to the
  435 Representatives plus 3 for the Federal
  District of Columbia).

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The US Constitution

• Political parties nominate lists of "electoral
  votes" during the party political conventions.
  Candidates cannot be a member of Congress or a
  federal officer.
• The popular vote are cast in favour of an
  Elector. In all states, with the exception of
  Maine and Nebraska, the electoral system uses all
  the votes to find the candidate that comes first
  (winner take all) - this explains the disparity
  that exists between those popular votes (in which
  the Republican vote is close to the Democrat
  vote), and the results of electoral votes that
  often give an overwhelming majority to one
  candidate.

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The US Constitution

• The criticism of this system is that the
  President is not necessarily the candidate with
  the largest number of popular votes (a candidate
  can be elected with just 30 of the popular
  vote).
• The system also promotes the bipartisanship
  arrangement for example a candidate of a third
  party may not receive any votes of the electors
  despite having 20 or more of the popular vote
  system uses all the votes to find the candidate
  that comes first (winner take all) - this
  explains the disparity
• that exists between those popular votes (in
  which the Republican vote is close to the
  Democrat vote), and the results of electoral
  votes that often give an overwhelming majority to
  one candidate.

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The US Constitution

• Technically, the federal authorities organize
  numerous ballots simultaneously in the
  presidential election these many ballots are
  needed to record the results both electronically
  and electromechanically.
• Between November and the vote of formal
  confirmation of electors and the date of 20th of
  January, when the new president takes up his
  duties there is a period of transition, giving
  time to the person leaving the old
  "Administration" and to transfer power to the
  new.
• In the second half of the twentieth century, the
  process of nomination of candidates has changed
  for the benefit of the primaries.

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The US Constitution

• The average accumulated number of delegates for
  each candidate and who is in the lead is
  generally known at the end of March.
• The longevity of the U.S. Constitution is in a
  general way due to its flexibility. The
  Constitution focuses on the organization of power
  which is the problem of democracy today. Not
  having an aristocracy, the United States has
  managed to avoid the political crises of the
  nineteenth century that were observed in Europe.
  The Constitution has encouraged the introduction
  of the rights of citizens in the first Western
  country. The Constitution embodies the idea of
  Universal suffrage. It applies the logic of
  "common law", (the Constitution must be
  understood in light of the decisions of the
  courts and the Supreme Court of Justice). It
  gives to courts the ability to interpret the
  Constitution in light of current circumstances
  and this is proof of its flexibility. The
  adoption of the U.S. Constitution was one of the
  crucial moments in the birth of the American
  nation. Its character is sacred and this is due
  to the respect that the American people have for
  its Constitution.

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The US Constitution

• The Constitution has encouraged the introduction
  of the rights of citizens in the first Western
  country.
• The Constitution embodies the idea of Universal
  suffrage.
• It applies the logic of "common law", (the
  Constitution must be understood in light of the
  decisions of the courts and the Supreme Court of
  Justice.
• It gives to courts the ability to interpret the
  Constitution in light of current circumstances
  and this is proof of its flexibility. The
  adoption of the U.S. Constitution was one of the
  crucial moments in the birth of the American
  nation.
• Its character is sacred and this is due to the
  respect that the American people have for its
  Constitution.