Presidency Flashcards
(27 cards)
What are the formal powers exclusive to the President?
Commander in chief of the armed forces
Grants reprieves and pardons for federal offenses (except impeachment)
Convenes Congress in special sessions
Receive ambassadors
Take care that laws be “faithfully executed,” and wield the “executive power”
Appoint officials to lower level offices and staff
What powers does the President share with the Senate?
The power to make treaties
The power to appoint ambassadors, judges, and high-level officials
What was the theory of the Presidency promoted by Richard Neustadt?
Bargaining is everything - “The power of the President is the power to persuade”
Presidents are expected to do much more than their authority allows them to do.
Persuasion and bargaining are the means that presidents use to influence policy.
Not only do presidents need to bargain to influence other branches of government (particularly Congress), but presidents also must bargain to influence the executive branch itself; cabinet secretaries, agency heads, and individual bureaucrats all have leverage that they can use against the president, requiring presidents to persuade even the executive branch, not merely command it.
What are the core elements of the ‘Power to Persuade’?
Leadership
Reputation
Public Prestige
What was the theory of the Presidency developed by Samuel Kernell?
Going Public
Increasingly, American presidents have come to rely on “going public” - that is, on making direct appeals to voters in order to scare Congress into passing legislation that the president wants.
Divided government makes bargaining a less appealing and successful strategy, forcing presidents into their public appeals.
Going public is a strategy for independent politicians with few group or institutional loyalties and who are not so interested in sacrificing short-term gain for the longer-term advantages of bargaining. Since presidents are commonly political outsiders, many feel more at home going public than bargaining.
What is inherent executive power, and what areas do they encompass?
Presidential authority inherent in the executive branch of government though not specifically mentioned in the Constitution
- Executive Agreements
- Executive Orders
- Executive Privilege
- Presidential Pardons
What are executive agreements?
Agreements negotiated between the president and foreign governments. Executive agreements have the same legal force as treaties but do not require confirmation by the Senate.
They remain in force only during that president’s term, unless confirmed or renewed by his or her successor.
What are executive orders?
A Presidential directive that has the force of law, even though it is not enacted by Congress
What are the caveats of executive orders?
Cannot directly contravene a law enacted by Congress
Congress can invalidate the executive order by passing a law
What are some prominent executive orders?
FDR during WWII: nationalisation of factories, internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans
Truman desegregates Armed Forces
JFK creates Peace Corps
Nixon designs the EPA as an agency, not an independent commission
Reagan requires cost-benefit analysis for government regulations
When did the President become involved in the budgetary process?
Until 1921, the executive departments and agencies submitted their own budgetary requests and legislative proposals to Congress.
Creation of the Bureau of the Budget in 1921 gave the president the institutional tools to exercise better control over budgeting and policy development.
What is the unitary executive theory?
A Legal Theory of the Presidency, which states that:
- The Executive is the President
- The President has all of the Executive Power
- The President has absolute control over the administrative state
Holds that the President embodies executive authority and is the sole judge, particularly in wartime, of what is required to protect the nation and its people.
What were the personality traits that James D Brown assigned to Presidents? (Informal)
Active-Positive
A readiness to act, high optimism, and an overall fondness of the presidency.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford.
Passive-Positive
Low self-esteem compensated by an ingratiating personality, superficially optimistic, and a desire to please.
William Howard Taft, Ronald Reagan, and Warren G. Harding.
Active-Negative
Lack of deriving joy after expending much effort on tasks, aggressive, highly rigid, and having a general view of power as a means to self-realization. Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, and Richard Nixon.
Passive-Negative
A strong sense of duty, desire to avoid power, low self-esteem compensated by service towards others, and an overall aversion to intense political negotiation.
Calvin Coolidge and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
What was Stephen Skowronek’s theory of Presidential power? (Informal)
A President’s power is determined by the political situation that they inherit + the strength of their party
Reconstruction = disrupt the old order and build a new one
Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan
Articulation = Affirm and extend the current regime.
Monroe, LBJ, George HW Bush
Disjunctive = Try to defend a failing regime
Hoover, Carter, Bush
Preemptive = Try to lead while surrounded by an opposing dominant regime
Wilson, Nixon, Clinton
What was William Howell’s theory of unilateral action? (Formal)
The president has the formal capacity to act unilaterally and thus to make law on his own
The president’s powers of unilateral action are a force in American politics precisely because they are not specified in the Constitution.
They derive their strength and resilience from the ambiguity of the contract.
Presidents have incentives to push this ambiguity relentlessly to expand their own powers—
Neither Congress nor the courts are likely to stop them
What was David Lewis’ theory of Presidential appointments? (Formal)
The success or failure of the U.S. president and the
nation depends on the persons the chief executive chooses for the key jobs in government
When new presidents assume office, they have
to fill close to 4,000 jobs, 1/4 of which require Senate confirmation
This number does not include judgeships,
nor the thousands of advisory committee positions throughout the executive branch.
The president’s choices shape the content of the politics and policy of the administration.
What is the Executive Office of the President, and what are some of the key deparments?
Established in 1939, the EOP houses the professional support personnel working for the president.
Includes the Office of Management & Budget, the White House Office, and the National Security Council
What is the Office of Management & Budget?
Part of the Executive Office of the President that provides budgetary expertise, central legislative clearance, and management assistance to the president.
What is the White House Office?
Contains the Chief of Staff and other advisors who give direct support to the President
Almost all of the White House Office staff are political appointees of the president, do not require Senate confirmation and can be dismissed at the discretion of the president.
What is the Cabinet?
The secretaries of the fifteen executive departments and other officials designated by the president.
The cabinet is available to consult with the president.
What were the three waves of Cabinet offices?
The initial federal establishment consisted of the attorney general and three departments assigned the basic tasks of government (State, Treasury, Defence).
A second wave of departments, most charged with serving the needs of specific clientele groups, was added between the mid-nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. (Agriculture, Commerce, Labour)
A third wave of general social service departments was added after World War II, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s (Health, HUD, Education)
The Department of Homeland Security was established in 2003
What is the Presidential veto power?
The president has the right to veto acts of Congress, by sending a bill back with objections
The act can still become law if both houses pass the bill again by a two-thirds vote.
What is a pocket veto?
A presidential veto after Congressional adjournment, executed merely by not signing a bill into law
What are some ways that Congress attempts to negotiate the Veto?
Omnibus Bills & Riders - combination of many individual bills into one gigantic bills, often placing items the President would like to veto alongside other popular legislation
