Executive Branch

Question 1

E+A 3 checks and balances on the power of the president

Answer 1

1. Congress rejecting legislation
   Obamas gun control legislation
   significant during a divided government and a presidents LDP
   Can happen when unified Trump could get Obamacare repealed in 2017
2. Supreme court can use Judicial review
   2006 Bush military commission for terrorist and Guantanamo Bay were unconstitutional
   Significant as president cannot overrule. Some question brought into judicial activism is it right for court to interfere in what is seen as political matters
3. Congress can impeach
   Trump 2019 and 2021
   No president found guilty by senate and removed from office
   does encourage to act lawfully when not the threat used to leave office e.g. Nixon

Question 2

E+A 3 differences between formal and informal presidential powers

Answer 2

1. Formal powers are constitutional but informal powers are political
   Although enumerated, implied and inherent powers are derived from the constitution implied powers have been stretched to give the president the informal powers of executive orders, signing statements and executive agreements
2. Formal powers don’t fluctuate due to public opinion but informal powers of persuasion, agenda setting world and party leader do
   FDR forced Japanese Americans into internment camps during WW2 which the public supported as they saw him as a war hero
3. Formal powers limited by scope and C+B but informal powers continued to develop to expand presidents power
   Direct authority and imperial powers allow president to bypass congress in a way formal powers cannot.
   FDR and bush expanded scope of formal powers during emergencies showing they can be used to expand the framework of the president even if this was not the constitutions intention

Question 3

E+A 3 ways in which the relationship between the presidency and other government’s institutions varies from one president to another

Answer 3

1. Relationship between president and their chief of staff depends on their personalities
   Obama had an effective relationship with Rahm Emanuel but Trump had four chiefs of staff in four years
   White House was dysfunctional under Trump but smoother under Obama
2. Differences with cabinet relations
   Ronald Reagan used regular cabinet meetings as an opportunity for debate but Obama held fewer cabinet meeting and used them to brief his team on his agenda
   Although can’t generalise cabinet as a whole. Some highly influential figures like Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state from 2009- 2013 received more access which made others feel undermined
3. Relationship with federal bureaucracy and federal agencies varies on president’s ideology. Reps want to cut the size and Dems want to increase it.
   Fords description of an imperilled presidency stemmed from presidents being unable to restrain the growth. Supported by the growth under bush’s presidency despite him promising to cut it

Question 4

E+A 3 ways structural theory could be used to study the extent of the PM and president’s accountability to their respective legislators

Answer 4

1. Fusion of powers in uk means parliament holds them accountable in PMQ but the separation of powers means the president isn’t a member of congress and doesn’t appear before them excluding inauguration, state of the union address and special occasions of national importance
   Pms more personally accountable eg tony Blair criticised for not spending enough time in the dispatch box
2. Pms with large majorities and tight party control are less accountable that parliaments with small majorities. Similarly presidents will face stronger oversight from congress and more resistance to their legislation during divided governments.
   Easier for pm to maintain control of party due to pay roll vote (160 mps) and cabinet system but due to separation of powers president can’t persuade party to follow their lead
3. Uk Pm is more easily removed from office than president due to the structural processes. Difficult for congress to impeach president as both houses must agree with a super majority needed for senate conviction. HOC needs a simple majority on a vote of no confidence
   the last was James Callaghan in 1979 showing it’s still difficult yet no president has been successfully impeached despite trump having faced it twice.
   Both resign when clear they are in threat eg Theresa may and Nixon

Question 5

E+A 3 ways that rational theory could be used to study the relationship of the PM and the President with their Cabinets

Answer 5

1. Cameron and Obama both had bad relationships with their cabinet as a rational response to not having control of their legislative
   Cameron used the Quad cabinet committee to ensure the survival of his coalition government
   Obama used direct authority to bypass congress.
   Each leaders response was a reaction to specific circumstances instead of an inherent part of their leadership style.
   Cameron governed without the Lib Dems as soon as he won a majority in 2015
   Obama used direct authority less frequently at the start of his presidency when he had control of both houses of congress
2. Use cabinet to prioritise their policies
   Bush and Blair war on terror.
   Bush’s cabinet highly focused on foreign policy objectives
   Blair’s tight cabinet discipline led to two minister resigning over the Iraq war
   Presidents can also use policy czars and to influence policy areas
   PMs can use SPADs to keep cabinet ministers focused on political priority
3. When PM loses cabinet support rational thing is to resign like Margret Thatcher
   Presidents can simply sack them like Trump did repeatedly
   Rational for PM with small majority to be careful about maintaining support of key figures in cabinet but one with a large majority can be more relaxed but cannot alienate a power faction in the party
   Presidents free to remove cabinet officers regardless if their party has control of congress as they are the sole executive

Question 6

E+A 3 ways that cultural theory could be used to study the relative power of the PM and president

Answer 6

1. President has more respect and status than pm
   gives president more informal powers then pm
   increasing divisions in us politics erodes this respect for the precedency as an institution
   Clear in the “Birther movement” that claimed Obama was not born in the US
   Trumps state of the union address where Nancy Pelosi (speaker of HOR) publicly ripped up his speech
2. US created as alternative British rule so hostility over powerful government apart of US culture and achieved by separation of powers
   Sovereignty of parliament is UK culture since English Civil War (1642- 51) meaning president has to maintain support in parliament
   Allows pm with a majority and party discipline to exert power with little constraint unlike president who has fewer levers to control congress despite the culture of respecting the president
3. The US expects president to take executive action as required. president only criticised as being imperial if exceed normal parameters of authority
   In UK pm expected to be primus inter pares (first amongst equals) so needs to work collaboratively with cabinet and parliament
   sufficiently collegiate approach with their cabinet
   colleagues are often portrayed pms when not collaborating as ‘presidential’, demonstrating the cultural difference between parliamentary and presidential government.