3.3 the presidency Flashcards
elections: the electoral cycle, divided government and the electoral man
What does a strong victory mean for a president?
biden 2020
- increases the mandate and makes their requests in congress difficult to ignore
- Biden won more votes than any other president in history in 2020 at 81m.
elections: the electoral cycle, divided government and the electoral man
what makes a president strong? where does this come from?
- convincingly winning an election
- some of which is due to the coattails affect
elections: the electoral cycle, divided government and the electoral man
what is the coattails effect?
- the ability of a president to bring out supporters for other members of their party, and therefore helping them to win, due to their own popularity
elections: the electoral cycle, divided government and the electoral man
what makes a president weak?
- unpopularity
- divided congress
- congress is more likely to distance themselves in the midterms
- Eg. 2016, Trump was mocked for having a short coattails effect, when Republoicans lost 2 senate seats and 6 house srats. He also faced difficulty getting his legislation through
national circumstances
examples of these helping and hindering presidential influence?
- Eg. After 9/11 GW Bush polls increased substantially
- Eg. Biden faced criticism over US withdrawal from Afghanistan
national circumstances
however, how is there not always a direct correlation?
- 2018 Trump had an improving economy, but a declining presidential approval rating.
national circumstances
effect of Hurricane Sandy on Obama’s popularity
2012
- storm badly damged NJ and NY, along with 24 states in total
- Obama made headlines whilst being in the middle of the 2012 presidential race. Obama gained headlines at the expense of his rival.
national circumstances
how did Hurricane Maria affect Trump’s populairty?
2017
- hurricane hit Puerto Rico killing around 3000 people
- Trump was slow to respond, later calling this a ‘great success’ causing controversy >:(
relationships with congress
factors that affect the relationship between the president and congress
- the electoral mandate and the timing of the electoral cycle
- the manner in which they exercise constitutional powers
- their populairity
- which party controls either house.
relationships with congress
what should the separation of powers ensure? Politco headline? what was the relationship between congress and Trump?
- compromise.
- 2018 Politico ran the headline ‘congress dares Trump to shut down the government in new spending deal’
- Trump’s veto threats, attacks on failure to repeal obamacare and pressure to confirm Brett Kavanaugh all frustrated congress into pushbacl/
relationship with the supreme court
broadly, what is the relationship like?
- more stable than relationship with congress
- they can change the balance of the court, ut vacancies do not appear at their will
relationship with the supreme court
Obama criticising the court in 2010 State of the Union address
- argued its ruling in citizens united v. federal elections commission had ‘opened the floodgates’ to huge volumes of money being spent in elections
relationship with the supreme court
Bidens published statement on supreme court ruling on texas abortion law.
- he described it as ‘unprecedented assault’ on women’s rights, claiming it ‘unleashes constitutional chaos’
relationship with the supreme court
Obamas complicated relationship with the supreme court?
- DAPA executive order and his recess appointments were deemed unconstitutional
- the court upheld Obamacare and legalised same-sex marriage across the USA during his time in office
relationship with the supreme court
Trump and his appointees
- when Justice Kennedy retired in 2018 Trump was able to move the ideology of the court by replacing Kennedy with conservative Justice Kavanaugh
- Eg. he also replaced liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg with conservative Amy Coney Barrett in 2020
