PSC 313 Final

Reasons why some political scientists have believe that the President has significant policy advantages over congress and can used unilateral powers to get what he wants

1. Capitalizes on Congressional gridlock 2. Capitalizes on the president's insatiable desire for power 3. Congress lacks motivation to stand up for its own power 4. Ambiguity in the law or Constitution helps the president 5. President builds off previous presidents 6. The Court will either wimp out or side with the president 7. Creates public image of strength

Additional roles of Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

1. Clearance of executive orders 2. Clearance of formal executive communications 3. Clearance of all federal forms 4. Regulatory clearance of OIRA 5. Legislative clearance

According to Resh, why is building capacity for "intellectual capital" essential for well-functioning executive bureaucracy?

1. Group cohesively working together is better than working alone 2. It will be responsive: reflect the will of the people 3. It will be competent: well trained, efficient and professional 4. Therefore leading to and increase in trust

Reasons why some political scientists believe that the President's ability to get things done unilaterally is overrated:

1. Limitations on scope 2. Courts can easily stop executive orders 3. The bureaucracy may simply choose to not implement an executive order 4. Executive orders as a substitute for legislation

Three major roles of the WH Chief of Staff?

1. Manager/ Administrator: 2. Advisor 3. Surrogate Topics

Reasons why the President cannot always expect loyal responsiveness from agencies in his own branch of government:

1. Merit/ Civil service system 2. Bureaucrat's greater expertise 3. Bureaucracy designed fro political reasons 4. Bureaucracy standard operating procedures 5. Bureaucratic sense of organizational mission

Truman Administration created..

1. National Security Act of 1947 2. Employment Act of 1946 3. Presidents Science Advisory Committee

Events in 1968 that led to changes in the Presidential nomination system:

1. Tet Offensive 2. New Hampshire Primary 3. LBJ drops out 4. Kennedy killed 5. Wild Democratic convention in Chicago 6. The promise of nomination reform 7. McGovern-Fraser Commission

Nixon felt surrounded by hostile forces when he took office, what did he try to do about them in response?

1. Tried to counter-bureaucratize with Melek Manuel- make them miserable enough to resign 2. When that failed, he polarized the bureaucracy to ensure the top layers were loyal to him 3. This resulted in a massive expiation of EOP

Examples of Congressional response to Nixon's corruption:

1. US v. Nixon- A right to a fair trial trumps the theory of exec privilege 2. War Powers Act- Set parameters in which a President could take military action without congressional approval 3. Case Act- President had to notify Senate within 90 days of an Exec Agreement 4. Impoundment Control and Budget Act- Budget, prohibited impoundment and created CBO 5. Federal Election Campaign Act- Created transparency in funding for federal offices

David Lewis found out about with executive branch agencies are most likely to successfully "politicized" by Presidents

1. When agencies have opposing ideological tilt 2. When agencies don't depend much on technical/ professional expertise 3. When congress is controlled by the President's party

Favorite Son:

A candidate who would run a faux campaign to win delegates and then later drop out to give those delegates to someone else

What did US v. Nixon say about executive privilege in general?

Absent claim of national security, neither separation of power, nor executive privilege can sustain unqualified immunity

Acts as a surrogate:

Acts in the interest of the President behind the scene, passion for anonymity

Jigsaw management

Based on the assumption of distrust of the career bureaucracy

Why does the Office of Legislative Affairs not have to be very large, even though it's very important?

Because it works with department liaisons and congressional WHIP operations, and they have a ton of roles

Blind primaries:

Delegates were not allowed to reveal who they would support

Karl Rove's grand strategy used what tools to help G.W.B. win re-election and help the future of the Republican Party

Early 2000 Plan - Used policymaking with Congress to implement these ideas: 1. "If you campaign tax cuts, give the people tax cuts" 2. No Child Left Behind 3. Prescription Drug Coverage: Medicare Part D 4. Immigration Reform and Social Security Reform

How did the EPA fight back against Reagan's administration attempts to reduce its regulatory activity through budget cuts?

Fewer investigations but increased of fines

Why Keynesian economics fell out of favor with Presidents during the 1970s

High rates of stagflation; meaning high unemployment rates and high inflation

Super Tuesday

Is when about a quarter of the nation will hold primaries for both Democrats and Republican nominations

Why did presidents in the "old days" find it easier to attract support for their legislation from the opposite party, rather than their own party?

Partisan-ideological support is most important thing by far, back then Congress was not so polarized (divided)

Stalking horses:

Popular figure in a state would run for president, then wins those delegates, and then throws them to another candidate by dropping out of the race later on; acting like an agent for the other candidate

What did Nixon mean by "marrying the natives" with respect to his Cabinet Secretaries?

President appoints cab sec because they want someone on their side, but if they've been there too long, they could adopt ideas from other people in agency. This could lead to cab sec upsetting the President

Political appointees:

Provide guidance, big pictures, strategy and planning

Civil servants:

Provide technical information, practical consideration and historical information about what's been tried

Examples of how the President used Policy making with Congress:

Purpose was to re-use ideas, adopt democratic ideas, challenge your opponents turf and recycle ideas in order to energize your base and swing voters

Manager/ Administrator:

Selects WHO/EOP, decides who has access to President, Regulated flow of issues, must be an honest broker, adjust to President's preferences

What does it mean to be an honest broker?

Someone who presents information in a balanced, unbiased and honest manner

Acts as advisor:

They are the only person that sees the big picture of all the information, protects the President in decision making

How did Congress respond to increased importance of trade issues in the early 1960s?

They gave the President "fast track authority" and created the Office of Special Trade Representative

Goal of "phony primaries"?

They were hijacked by party bosses who still wanted to have power and control over primaries in their states (instead of giving that power up)

Superdelegates

This was created as a result of the 1968 convention, Democrats wanted a party insider that isn't attached to the people, and would vote their own conscious

What is essential for effective information exchange to occur?

Trust

Beauty contest:

Voters could vote directly for what presidential candidate they wanted, but there was still a separate, secret selection process to nominate delegates to the convention; voters had no say

What is the "merit / civil service system"?

When government employees are hired based on their ability to preform the role -- NOT their party's affiliation