Gov CH 13: The Presidency
Diplomatic Powers:
In recent years, presidents have expanded the practice of using executive agreements instead of treaties to establish contracts with other countrie
2 Types of Executive Agreements
1. Congressional-Executive Agreement- submitted for a simple majority congressional vote (not 2/3 vote for a treaty); used typically when appropriations sought 2. Sole Executive Agreement- simple understanding btw the president and foreign state... not submitted for congress approval
Executive Office of the President (EOP)
A major part of the institutional presidency is EOP, which is larger than the White House staff and comprises the president's permanent management agencies. The Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers both fall under this category (OMB is also the government's "watchdog" auditing the agencies of the executive branch and making sure their regulatory proposals are consistent with the president's plans)
Explain how modern presidents have become even more powerful
Although Congress was America's dominant institution of government throughout the nineteenth century, presidential power has since expanded greatly, thanks to the efforts of modern presidents. Contemporary presidents commonly turn to popular mobilization and executive administration in their pursuit of policy change. Presidents have increased the administrative capabilities of their office by enhancing the reach and power of the Executive Office of the President, increasing White House control of the federal bureaucracy, and expanding the role of executive orders and other instruments of direct presidential governance.
override veto
An override is when it goes back to congress and receives at least a 2/3 majority in both houses and therefore become s a law without the approval of the president.
executive power
consists of the ability to appoint, remove, and supervise all executive officers and to appoint all federal judges (with Senate approval)
Presidents have also claimed INHERENT powers, which are not expressed in the Constitution but are inferred from it.
For example, though the president is commander in chief, only Congress can declare war. However, presidents have gone a long way in capturing this power for themselves. In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution as a response to presidential unilateralism, but presidents have generally ignored it. (read rest of this section of chapter)
why were powers delegated? (read more on this)
In the nineteenth century there were relatively well-defined congressional guidelines for administering federal programs. During much of the century, the federal govt had relatively few domestic responsibilities, & Congress could pay close attention to details. Given the vast range of the federal government's responsibilities today Congress cannot possibly execute all federal laws and administer all of the thousands of federal programs. Inevitably, it must turn more and more to the hundreds of departments and agencies in the executive branch or, when necessary, create new agencies to implement its goals
The Cabinet is the designation for the heads of all the major federal government departments, but it is not a collective body.
It meets but makes no decisions as a group as it has no constitutional status. (in Britian and other parlimentarys, the cabinet is the government) -Each appointment to it must be approved by the Senate, but Cabinet members are not responsible to the Senate or to Congress at large. -Each of the 15 government departments is led by a secretary, who is a member of the president's Cabinet. -the executive branch also includes a number of independent agencies reporting to the pres
Some presidents have relied heavily on the National Security Council (NSC), which is made up of
Pres/VP, the secretaries of state, defense, and the treasury; the attorney general; and other officials invited by the president
Identify the expressed, implied, delegated, and inherent powers of the presidency
Presidents make use of four kinds of powers: expressed, implied, delegated, and inherent. -The presi's expressed powers, as defined by Article II of the Constitution, include military, judicial, diplomatic, executive, and legislative powers. -The expressed powers have become the foundation for a set of implied powers, which are considered necessary in order to carry out the expressed powers. -The presi's delegated powers are not found in the Constitution but are instead the products of congressional statutes and resolutions. The presi's inherent powers stem from the rights, duties, and obligations of the presidency, and presidents most often assert these powers during times of war and national crisis.
theory of the unitary executive (per quizlet)
Presidents often assert that as the executive they have full control of executive branch; Congress has little authority over the bureaucracy
Executive orders
a rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect and formal status of legislation
Collectively, the thousands of officials and staffers who work for, assist, or advise the chief executive could be said to make up the institutional presidency and to give the president a capacity for action that no single individual could duplicate.
The first component of the institutional presidency is the president's Cabinet.
Describe the institutional resources presidents have to help them exercise their powers
The institutional presidency is made up of the Cabinet, the White House staff, the Executive Office of the President, the vice president, and the first spouse. The presi's party also works to advance the presi's agenda in Congress. Through their advice and assistance, these thousands of individuals give the president a capacity for action that no single individual could duplicate. When coupled with the presi's formal powers, the institutional presidency makes the chief executive an important player in the country's policy-making process
The vice president exists for two purposes only: to succeed the president in case of death, resignation, or incapacity, and to preside over the Senate, casting a tie-breaking vote when necessary
The main value of the vice president as a political resource for the president is electoral. Sometimes, presidential candidates choose running mates who they feel can win the support of at least one state that may not otherwise support the ticket. Presidents often choose a vice-presidential nominee who provides some regional, gender, ideological, or ethnic balance as well.
Diplomatic Powers
The power to receive representatives of foreign countries allows the president almost unconditional authority to determine whether a new ruling group can indeed commit its country to treaties and other agreements
Legislative powers
The president's legislative power consists of the constitutional requirement to deliver a State of the Union address and the president's constitutional power to veto any acts of Congress
Jusicial powers:
The presidential power to grant reprieves, pardons, and amnesty involves power over all individuals who may be a threat to the security of the United States. (use of the pardon power can be very controversial... Trump pardoned Arizona officer s consulting Justice dept. office of pardon's before pardon issued)
The second of the president's constitutionally authorized legislative powers is the veto power to reject acts of Congress.
This power effectively makes the president the most important single legislative leader,10 since no vetoed bill can become law unless both the House and Senate override the veto by a two-thirds vote. In the case of a pocket veto
Signing statements
announcements made by the president when signing bills into law, often presenting the pres' interpretation of the law
The expansion of presidential power over the course of the past century has come about not by accident but __________________________________________.
as the result of an ongoing effort by successive presidents to enlarge the powers of the office
Powers given to the president by Congress are called _______________ _______________
delegated powers (read more on this)
3 types of powers available to Pres:
expressed powers, implied powers, and delegated powers. (A fourth type of power claimed by presidents does not appear in Article II. This is called the inherent power of the office.)
The White House staff, which is composed primarily of analysts and advisers, has grown __________________________________________________________________.
from an informal group of fewer than a dozen people to a new presidential bureaucracy.
"Going public" as a source of presidential power has been especially significant in the past 50 years. Going public by using the internet has changed how modern presidents govern, allowing them to broadcast policy ideas directly to citizens. But popular support for the president can be fickle and tends to decline over the course of a president's administration.
it was considered inappropriate for presidents to engage in personal campaigning on their own behalf or in support of programs and policies. In the twentieth century, though, popular mobilization became a favored weapon in the political arsenals of most presidents
The pres' expressed powers (specifically granted per constitution) falls into 5 categories:
military-Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States judicial- power to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment diplomatic- power "by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate to make Treaties"; provides the power to receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers executive- authorizes the president to see to it that all the laws are faithfully executed; gives the power to appoint, remove, and supervise all executive officers and to appoint all federal judges. legislative-give the president the power to participate authoritatively in the legislative process
The position of commander in chief makes the president the highest military authority in the United States, with control of the entire defense establishment. The Constitution delegates to the president, as commander in chief, the obligation to protect every state against invasion and domestic violence
pres can send troops per state legislator request ot not. Also even if they do request he doesnt have to send it. EX: sending troops to lil rock HS to integrate it
An executive agreement is exactly like a treaty except that it does not
require approval by two-thirds of the Senate. Recently, presidents have increased the use of executive agreements instead of treaties.
Another component of the president's power as chief executive is executive privilege
the claim that confidential communications between a president and close advisers should not be revealed without presidential consent
Presidential power continues to be limited by
the congressional power of the purse, decisions made by foreign leaders, and periods of divided government
Some powers of the president are known as implied powers (read more on this) ;
these are powers that are not directly stated as in the Constitution but are those powers the president has claimed are needed to allow the exercise of their power Thus, all the officials of the executive branch must take their orders from the president. Moreover, according to this view, Congress has little authority over the executive branch and the president is a sovereign or supreme authority subject only to specific restraints, such as Congress’s control of revenues, its impeachment power, and its power to override presidential vetoes.
First spouses have traditionally limited their activities to the ceremonial portion of the presidency, _________________________________________________.
though some first spouses have been more involved in policy aspects of the presidency
Generally, presidents can expand their power in two ways:
through popular mobilization (going public) and by reducing their dependence on Congress (and give themselves a more independent governing and policy-making capability)
Because of the expansion of government in the last century, Congress has
voluntarily delegated a great deal of its own legislative authority to the executive branch; somewhat inescapable consequence of the expansion of government activity in the United States since the New Deal.
