82
| Date post: | 30-Dec-2015 |
| Category: |
Documents |
| Upload: | brent-kelley |
| View: | 220 times |
| Download: | 2 times |
• Presidents: popularly elected – an American invention– Only 16 countries have
a popularly elected president, and 13 are in North and South America
• Prime Ministers: chosen by and responsible to Parliament– Most Western European
countries as well as Israel and Japan
– No nation with a purely presidential political system in Europe
– Voters in Europe do not directly elect Prime Minister
– Prime Minister is elected by majority party
• PRESIDENTS ARE OFTEN OUTSIDERS: – Is easier to win election if you
can show voters you are not part of the “mess in Washington”
– The majority of presidents elected from 1828-2000 were either governors, military leaders, or vice presidents
• PRESIDENTS CHOOSE CABINET MEMBERS FROM OUTSIDE OF CONGRESS:– Under the Constitution, no sitting
member in Congress can hold office in the executive branch (Prime Ministers choose cabinet members from Parliament)
– Presidents choose (close personal friends, campaign aides, representatives of important constituencies, and experts on various policy issues, or some combination of all three
• PRESIDENTS HAVE NO GUARANTEED MAJORITY IN THE LEGISLATURE:– Prime ministers do have
majority in Parliament– President’s party often does
not have congressional majority – usually controlled by opposite party creating a divided government
• Divided Government: one party controls the White House and a different party controls the Congress
• Unified Government: the White House and Congress are controlled by same party
• Americans say they do not like a divided government.– They think divided
government produces partisan bickering, political paralysis, and policy gridlock
• It is not clear that divided government produces gridlock that is any worse than when there is a unified government
• It is not clear that, even if gridlock does exist, it is always, or even usually, a bad thing for the country
• DOES GRIDLOCK MATTER?– Not clear if divided
governments produce fewer or worse policies than a unified one
– Scholars say:• Conclude that divided
governments do about as well as unified ones in passing important laws, conducting important investigations, and ratifying significant treaties
• WHY DO DIVIDED GOVERNMENTS PRODUCE ABOUT AS MUCH IMPORTANT LEGISLATION AS UNIFIED ONES?– Unified government is something of a
myth– Republicans as a party can be
divided between conservatives and liberals
– Constitution ensures that the president and Congress will be rivals for power and thus rivals in policy-making
• The only time there is a unified government is when not just the same party but the same ideological wing of that party is in effective control of both branches
• IS POLICY GRIDLOCK BAD?– American President has less
ability to decide what laws get passed than does a British Prime Minister
• To change this the Constitution must be changed; Americans don’t want to do this
• Voters split-tickets: vote Democratic for President, but Republican for Congress
• James Wilson: suggest a single, elected president at the Constitutional Convention in 1787
• CONCERNS OF THE FOUNDERS:– Most frequent concern was
over the possibility of presidential reelection.
– Governor of Pennsylvania in the 1700s stated: “Make him too weak: the Legislature will usurp his powers. Make him too strong: he will usurp the Legislature.”
• CONCERNS OF THE FOUNDERS: – Suspicious of human
nature– President would use
militia to overpower state governors
– President would use bribery, intrigue, and force to win election
• CONCERNS OF THE FOUNDERS:
– Argued against Congress choosing the president which would make our system quasi-parliamentary
• ELECTORAL COLLEGE: – Each of the states would
select electors in whatever manner the states wished• Electors would meet in each
state capitol and vote for president and vice president
• If tie in the Electoral College the decision goes to the House of Representatives
• THE PRESIDENT’S TERM OF OFFICE:– Franklin D. Roosevelt
only president to serve more than two terms
– 1951 – Twenty-second Amendment limited all presidents to two-year terms
• THE FIRST PRESIDENTS:– The presidency was
kept modest• President could not
appear on coin or currency until dead
• THE JACKSONIANS (Andrew Jackson):– Broad changes began to
occur in American politics– Altered the relations between
president and Congress and the nature of presidential leadership. Was a strong independent President – not afraid of Congress
• THE JACKSONIANS (Andrew Jackson):– Jackson vetoed 12 acts of
Congress– Jackson demonstrated what
could be done by a popular president
– Jackson believed in a strong and independent presidency – President stronger than Congress
• THE REEMERGENCE OF CONGRESS:– End of Jackson’s second term,
Congress quickly established its power
– For great periods of time congressional – and usually senatorial – dominated the national government
– Abraham Lincoln exemplified a strong president; did much without Congress
– Later Congress becomes principal federal institution
• President becomes equipped with great powers during a national emergency, and when popular and strong-willed the president can expand his or her powers
• Since the 1930s– Presidency has been more
powerful no matter who occupied the office and whether or not there is a crisis
– WHY? Because government is more involved in our lives today
• Most powers are found in Article II of the Constitution
• Two types of Powers: 1. Those he or she can
exercise in their own right without formal legislative approval
2. Those that require the consent of the Senate or the Congress as a whole
• POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT ALONE– Serve as commander in chief of the armed
forces– Commission officers of the armed forces – Grant reprieves and pardons for federal
offenses (except impeachment)– Convene Congress in special sessions– Receive ambassadors– Take care that the laws be faithfully
executed– Wield the “executive power”– Appoint officials to lesser offices
• POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT THAT ARE SHARED WITH THE SENATE– Make Treaties– Appoint ambassadors, judges, and high
officials
• POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT THAT ARE SHARED WITH CONGRESS AS A WHOLE
– Approve legislation
• Woodrow Wilson wrote a book called: Congressional Government
– Book describes the president’s powers as “usually not much above routine”
• President has great military powers, and in defining the regulations and programs that will actually be put into effect
• PRESIDENT IS NOT FIRST BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT; CONGRESS IS
• HUNDREDS OF STAFF• HELICOPTER, GUARDS,
LIMOUSINES• PRESIDENTIAL
APPOINTMENTS
• THREE DEGRESS OF KINSHIP
1. The White House Office
2. The Executive Office
3. The Cabinet
1. THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE
– Closest assistants have offices in the West Wing of the White House
1. THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE– Three ways in which the president
can organize his or her staff1. Pyramid Structure:
assistants report through a hierarchy to a chief of staff, who then deals directly with the president
2. Circular Structure: cabinet secretaries and assistants report directly to president
3. Ad hoc Structure: task forces, committees, and informal groups of friends and advisers deal directly with the president
• Pyramid Structure: provides for an orderly flow of information and decisions, but does so at the risk of isolating or misinforming the president
• Circular method: has the virtue of giving the president a great deal of information, but at the price of confusion and conflict among cabinet secretaries and assistants
• Ad hoc structure: allows great flexibility, minimizes bureaucratic inertia, and generates ideas and information from disparate channels, but risks cutting the president off from the government officials who are ultimately responsible for translating presidential decisions into policy proposals and administrative action
2. THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT– The Executive Office report
directly to the president and perform staff services for him but are not located in the White House
– President’s appointments to the Executive Office must be approved by the Senate.
– Most important Executive Office is The Office of Management and Budget
3. THE CABINET:– A product of tradition and hope– The role of the cabinet is largely
fiction– Constitution does not mention the
cabinet– 25th Amendment implies the cabinet
as consisting of “the principal offices of the executive departments
– There are 14 major cabinets• Page 3784; Table 14.1 lists the
Cabinets• Cabinet appointments rewards
the president’s friends and political supporters
• INDEPENDENT AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS, AND JUDGESHIPS:– President can appoint federal judges,
subject to the consent of the Senate.– Judges serve for life unless removed
by impeachment and conviction– What is an “Acting” appointment
• Say for instance I am an “Acting” Appointment – means I have not yet been confirmed by the Senate
• FEDERAL AGENCIES:– Executive Agencies:
Head can be removed at any time
– Independent or “Quasi-Independent” Agencies: members serve for a fixed term
• Most of cabinet, subcabinet, and independent-agency appointees had some prior federal experience
• They are in-and-outers: go between federal jobs and private sector jobs
• Most selected because of expertise or administrative experience
• The president’s persuasive powers are aimed at three audiences
1. Fellow politicians and leaders• Most important
2. Party activists and officeholders outside Washington– Partisan Grassroots: people
who want the president to exemplify their principles, trumpet their slogans, appeal to their fears and hopes, and help them get reelected
3. The Public– The Bully Pulpit:
president’s use of his prestige and visibility to guide or enthuse the American public• The president’s formal
speeches
• Object is to convert personal popularity into congressional support for the president’s legislative programs, and improve chances for reelection
• The effect of “riding the president’s coattails” has declined in recent years
• The more popular a president is, the higher the proportion of his or her bills will pass Congress
• Most presidents lose popular support between their inauguration and the time they leave office
• Honeymoon: president’s popularity seems to be highest right after election
1. VETO
• Action a president can take to stop the passage of a bill
• VETO1. VETO MESSAGE: a statement
that the president sends to Congress accompanying the bill, within 10 days
2. Pocket Veto: president does not sign the bill within 10 days and Congress has adjourned with that time, then the bill does not become law – only before the life of a given Congress expires
• A bill that is not signed or vetoed within 10 days while Congress is still in session becomes law without the presidents approval
• Two-thirds of each House to override a veto
• Only 4% of bills have been overriden
• LINE-ITEM VETO: block particular part of a bill– President cannot do this– Congress can take
advantage of this by putting items into a bill he otherwise favored, forcing him to approve those provisions along with the rest of the bill or reject the whole thing
• ONLY OPTIONS FOR A PRESIDENT:– SIGN THE WHOLE BILL– VETO THE WHOLE BILL– ALLOW THE BILL TO
BECOME LAW BY NOT SIGNING IT
1. EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE: president’s right to withhold information that Congress may want to obtain from the president– United States v. Nixon
• Supreme Court decided that while there may be a sound basis for the claim of executive privilege, there is no “absolute unqualified Presidential privilege on immunity from judicial process under all circumstances”
• Nixon had to hand over disputed tapes and papers to a federal judge – this means executive privilege is not absolute
• It is likely that presidential advisers will be able, except in unusual cases such as Watergate, to continue to give private advice to the president
• Courts have greatly weakened the number of officials with whom the president can speak in Confidence
• Does the president have to spend all money Congress wants to spend? NO
• The Constitution is silent on whether the president must spend the money that Congress appropriates; all it says is that the president cannot spend money that Congress has not appropriated
• Budget Reform Act of 1974: requires the president to spend all appropriated funds unless he first tells Congress what funds he wishes not to spend and Congress, within 45 days, agrees to delete the items
• Two ways for a president to develop a program
1. Can have policy on almost every issue (President Cater and Clinton)
2. Or, concentrate on three or four major initiatives or themes and leave everything else to his or her subordinates (President Ronald Reagan)
• President faces THREE constraints on his ability to plan a program
1. Sheer limit of his time and attention span (work 90 hours a week)
2. Unexpected Crisis– World War– Different crises of the
presidents on page 398
3. The fact that the federal government and most federal programs, as well as the federal budget can only be changed marginally, except in special circumstances
• The result of these three constraints is that the president, at least in ordinary times, has to be selective about what he or she wants
• The Two Key Issues in putting together a program
1. State of the economy
2. Foreign Affairs
• OPINION POLLS– Some politicians now
act on the basis of what their constituents want
1. Trustee Approach: do what public good requires
2. Delegate Model: do what constituents want you to do
• ATTEMPTS TO REORGANIZE– Reorganize the Executive
Branch of the government– Sept. 11, 2001 – Now there is an
Office of Homeland Security because of the attack
– President can organize his or her White House Office any way they want
– If president wants to reorganize the Executive Office or any Executive Department or agencies Congress must first be consulted
• ATTEMPTS TO REORGANIZE– LEGISLATIVE VETO:
• First authorized by the Reorganization Act of 1939
• Could be used to change, but not create or abolish, an executive agency
• Supreme Court ruled that all legislative vetoes were unconstitutional
• TODAY, any presidential reorganization plan would have to take the form of a regular law passed by Congress and signed by the president
• VICE PRESIDENT– Empty job– Official task is to
preside over the Senate, and to vote in case of a tie in the Senate
– Vice President’s leadership powers in the Senate are weak
• Problems of Succession
1. What if the president falls ill but does not die
2. If Vice President becomes President who becomes the Vice President
• SOLVING PROBLEMS OF SUCCESSION– 25th Amendment: the vice president is to
serve as acting president whenever the president declares that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office; or whenever the vice president and the majority of the Cabinet declare that a president is incapacitated
– Two-thirds majority is necessary to confirm that a president is unable to serve
• If the vice president becomes the president he or she will choose their own vice president and it must be confirmed by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress
• If there is no vice president the next in line is the Speaker of the House, then the Senate President, then the 15 Cabinet members, beginning with the Secretary of State
• IMPEACHMENT– It is an indictment in a
criminal trial; a set of charges against somebody voted by the House of Representatives
– To be convicted must be by two-thirds of the Senate
• NOT VERY BECAUSE OF THE COMPLEXITY OF ISSUES WITH WHICH WASHINGTON MUST DEAL WITH
• Also, depends on the president’s personality
