1- The executive power Flashcards
Lecture 1 - Article II, section 2,3 & 4 The executive Power (the Powers of the President)
the most important thing for US history ?
constitution
Where is the presidential power in the Constitution ?
The presidential power in the Constitution is mentioned in the 2nd article.
1st article deals with the power of
1st article deals with the power of the Congress (=House of Parliament)
⇒ Checks and Balances
When founding fathers gathered ? Where ? For what ?
When founding fathers gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to write the constitution of the US,
the most difficult and consequential question founding fathers had to answer
the most difficult and consequential question they had to answer was that of the executive branch.
Why American war of independance ?
The main reason why the American war of independence had been fought was that Americans no longer wanted to be controlled by a British King who could decide everything for them.
Articles of Confederation date + results
1781
the First American Constitution : the Articles of Confederation of 1781 didn’t even create an independent executive power as Americans thought that having a president even in a democratic system was already too close to having a king.
⇒ In 1781 Congress was given both executive & legislative powers and responsibilities.
Inefficency of the system why ?
Congress could neither collect taxes nor protect people efficiently made it obvious that an independent executive power was indeed necessary in order for the federal government to be able to do its job.
⇒ The executive power had become a “necessary evil”.
As a consequence, the drafters of the Constitution of 1787 had to strike a delicate balance.
They had to create an executive power that would be powerful enough to allow the government to function efficiently BUT not so powerful as to threaten the democratic nature of the political system & allow the president to turn into a king.
article 2 of the American constitution
created the Presidency that could be controlled by Congress & by the judiciary = System of Checks and Balances.
l’ordre hierarchique (constitutionnel)
the Constitutional pecking order
the Constitutional pecking order
article 1 for Congress & article 2 for the Executive
Is not a coincidence. Congress nor the presidency was supposed to be a determinant/dominant institution of the American political system.
Today American President =
Today the American president is often described as the Leader of the free world and the most powerful on earth.
Arthur Shlesinger Jr.
went as far as to describe the American presidency as an imperial institution rather than a democratic one.
The imperial presidency, 1973 Arthur Shlesinger (1917-2007)
the main paradox of the American presidency
it is an institution that when it was created was not supposed to be the leading force in its own country but is now the most powerful political institution in the entire world. And YET, Article 2 of the constitution hasn’t changed. Officially speaking, the powers of the American president are the same today as they were when the presidency was created in 1787.
The main question one has to answer when studying the article II of the American Constitution
how has the same text been able to produce the weak president of the 19th century & the leaders of the free world of the 20th & 21th century ?
Article 2 is made of 4 sections.
Section 1 is mainly about the way the President is elected
Section 2, 3 & 4 describe the powers and the responsibilities of the president. They will allow us to understand how the presidency evolved even though the constitution has remained the same.
War power : the president is
The president is the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Navy of the United States.
The main reason why the Founding Fathers decided to make the president the Commander-in-Chief
they wanted this role to be played by a civilian rather than a member of the military because they didn’t want the country to turn into a military dictatorship.
But even though the president was made commander-in-chief, the drafters of the constitution did not want him to be able to make the actual decision to go to war as they knew that Kings and dictators often used war to increase their power and curtail civil liberties
Who has power to declare war ?
only Congress was given the power to declare war
What can only the president decide? War powers
the president could only decide how to conduct the war once the decision had been made by Congress
Constitution, what is opposed to it ?
And YET all but five of the numerous wars (more than 200) was fought by the United States were started not by a declaration of war by Congress but following a decision made by the President which seems to fly in the face of what the constitution says.
wars declared by declaration of war by Congress
Since 1789, Congress has declared war 11 times, against 10 countries, during five separate conflicts:
Great Britain (1812, War of 1812);
Mexico (1846, War with Mexico);
Spain (1898, Spanish-American War, also known as the War of 1898);
Germany (1917, World War I);
Austria-Hungary (1917, World War I);
Japan (1941, World War II);
Germany (1941, World War II); I
taly (1941, World War II);
Bulgaria (1942, World War II);
Hungary (1942, World War II);
Rumania (1942, World War II).14 In each of these 11 instances, the President appealed to Congress for authorization either in person before a Joint Session or in a written request.
5 wars
War of 1812
War with Mexico
Spanish-American War (war of 1898)
WW1
WW2
Difference btw congress & president
an assembly of 535 people VS president = 1. BUT when you have to take a quick decision, 1 person is easier.
Why is this change made possible ?
made possible by the necessity for quickness in the decision-making process.
Exemple, Civil War
→ When the Civil War started in 1861, Congress was not even in session. And, Lincoln, the president, had to make the decision on his own. This presidential advantage was made even more obvious by the emergence of the atomic bomb. War had now become a matter of minutes and waiting for Congress to declare it simply became impossible.
As it is the case with many other situations, the president was able to use the fact that he/she is 1 person and only has to convince himself. Whereas Congress is made of 535 people which necessarily make the decision-making process slower and longer.
⇒ Congress tried to react by passing the War Powers Act in 1973
War Powers Act ,
1973
The President can commit the military forces in 3 cases only :
If Congress votes a declaration of war
If he has been authorised by a law
In an emergency situation