Executive US

Question 1

Powers of the president - propose legislation

Answer 1

article II gives the president the power to propose legislation to congress. This can be done at any time, for example the state of union address and at a press conference. In 2013 Obama used his state of union address to promote proposals on immigration reform and gun control. The constraints on this power is congress still needs to pass the law, which can be difficult during times of divided government

Question 2

Powers of the president - submit the annual budget

Answer 2

the office of management budget draws up the annual budget for the president. This power is constrained as congress needs to approve the budget and if they don’t it can lead to government shutdown. For example Obama in 2013 and the longest in history in 2018.

Question 3

Powers of the president - sign legislation

Answer 3

once bills have been passed the president can sign the bill into law. The president does this for bills they want credit for. They hold bill signing ceremonies. In 2010 Obama signed the Affordable Health Care Act into law. However this is not an influential power and it is used infrequently.

Question 4

Powers of the president - veto legislation

Answer 4

president can use a regular veto on legislation that clears congress and can even be used as a bargaining tool. Obama used 12 regular vetoes and only one was overridden. The president can use a pocket veto but only at the end of a congressional term, like Clinton and Bush who used one in their time of office. The constraint on this power is that congress can override the veto with a 2/3 majority, like the 2016 Justice Against the sponsors of terrorism act veto by Obama which was overridden.

Question 5

Powers of the president - act of chief executive

Answer 5

the president is granted all executive power. The president is the chief executive which means they are in charge of running the executive branch. However much of this power is delegated to agencies and departments.

Question 6

Powers of the president - nominations

Answer 6

the president has the power to nominate officials to the executive branch and officials. The most important are the 15 executive heads of departments. However the Senate must confirm all presidential appointments. In 2017 Betsy DeVos was nominated by a single tie breaking vote by Mike Pence.

Question 7

Powers of the president - pardon

Answer 7

in 1974 Ford pardoned Nixon for the Watergate scandal. Clinton pardoned 140 people on his last day in office, including Mark Rich. Obama only pardoned 70 people in his first seven years and 142 people in his last month. Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio in 2017. However presidents tend to only use his power at the end of their term.

Question 8

Powers of the president - head of the state

Answer 8

role is seen in times of national tragedy. Bush played this role after 9/11 and Obama played this role after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and after Sandy Hook Massacre in Connecticut. However if the president plays this role poorly, their approval ratings decrease, like Bush after dealing with Hurricane Katrina badly in 2005.

Question 9

Powers of the the president - negotiate treaties

Answer 9

presidents have the power to negotiate treaties such as the START treaty with Russia, negotiated by Obama in 2010. However the Senate has the power to ratify the treaty. If 2/3 of the Senate fail to ratify the treaty then the president cannot agree to the treaty. The treaty of Versailles 1920 under Wilson and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treat 1999 under Clinton failed to get ratification.

Question 10

Powers of the president - commander-in-chief

Answer 10

power was particularly important from 1940-80 due to the cold war. The decade 1991-2001 brought no significant foreign policy engagement by a US president. The events of 9/11 changed that and Bush found himself in the position of a wartime president and Obama was involved in the Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. The checks by congress are questionable as they have not declared war since 1941. However congress has the power of the purse but this is not always effective.

Question 11

Executive orders

Answer 11

Executive orders are legally binding orders given by the president. They are usually used to direct federal agencies and officials in their execution of congressionally established laws or policies. However in some cases they have been used to guide agencies and officials contrary to congressional intent. Executive orders do not require congressional approval.
Obama signed 275 executive orders. Executive orders have some constraints. Judges can question executive orders and the legality of action can be determined, for example Trump has been questioned on his executive order on immigration. The long term effect of executive orders can be undermined by other president’s executive orders. Obama issued 30 executive orders which amended or revoked other president’s executive orders and on average presidents reverse 52 executive orders. Examples of Trumps executive orders are abortion funding, Keystone XL pipeline and international trade (withdrew from Trans-Pacific Partnership).

Question 12

Presidents and foreign policy

Answer 12

For the past 50 years, the role of commander in chief has allowed for a steady expansion of presidential powers, particularly in the area of foreign policy. The sharpest expansion was under Kennedy. The role diminished between 1980s and 1990s but this changed after 9/11.
• Roosevelt – took control of Panama Canal in 1903.
• Wilson – pushed for American entry into WWI IN 1917.
• Roosevelt – FDRs successful management in the run up to America’s action in WWII.
• Truman – made the decision to fight in Korea in 1951 without congress declaring war.
• Eisenhower – used the CIA and brinkmanship to limit the expansion of communism.
• Kennedy – ExComm established and did not contain a member of the legislature or judiciary. The successes of Kennedy strengthen the case for unilateral control.
• Johnson – gulf of Tonkin resolution 1964 gave him congressional approval to send troops to Vietnam and as the war continued Johnson made unilateral judgements. In 1965 he sent 100,000 troops without getting congressional approval
• Nixon – secretly bombed Cambodia in 1969 and chose to normalise relations with the People’s Republic of China without consulting cabinet.

Question 13

War powers resolution 1973

Answer 13

In response to Nixon and Johnson’s conduct in Vietnam, congress passed the war powers resolution in 1973. This has been contested by every president since. It means the president needs to notify congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces, forbids deployment of troops for longer than 60 days without congresses approval and a 30 day withdrawal period, it limits the president’s ability to initiate military action to three circumstances (war, specific authorization and state of emergency).
• Ford – sent US commandos to liberate American seamen on a cargo ship seized by the Khmer Rouge. This saved 39 sailors and cost the lives of 41 soldiers
• Carter – sent a secret mission to free American hostages at the US embassy in Tehran. Carter did not justify needs for secrecy and an American helicopter crash aborted his mission confidence.
• Clinton – enforced the no fly zone in the former area of Yugoslavia and said War Powers Resolution was unconstitutional
• Bush – won congressional resolutions backing the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq but they should have required declarations of war, this did not happen

Question 14

Does the president have too much power over foreign policy - separation of powers

Answer 14

the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Congress has the power to declare war but this has only happened on one occasion, last time in 1941. Since the US military action has been used without declarations of war or the direct approval of congress. For example Trump sent forces to Korea without congressional authorisation, while Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to send troops to Vietnam without declarations of war. However while congress did not declare war in Vietnam they cut the budget for military action and they pressured the executive to withdraw troops. Public opinion led Obama to consider the views of congress before military action. Despite saying in 2012 if chemicals were used in Syria he would get involved, he delayed air strike plans to receive support from congress in 2013 when chemical weapons were used.

Question 15

Does the president have too much power over foreign policy - executive orders

Answer 15

in March 2014 Obama signed an executive order instructing officials to impose a range of sanctions on certain Russian individuals and entities as punishment for Russians actions in Ukraine. Executive orders are legally binding instructions for the officials in the executive branch. However executive orders simply instruct officials how to implement existing laws. Any power to impose sanctions comes from laws passed by congress. More significant action against Russia needed congressional approval and Congress approved $1 billion in aid for the Ukrainian government.

Question 16

Does the president have too much power over foreign policy - legislation

Answer 16

president argued they are bound by the 1973 War Powers resolution. In the 1990s Clinton adopted this argument when he ordered military action in Bosnia and Kosovo. In 2011 members of congress attempted to block Obama’s administration from taking military action in Libya. However Obama argued the mission in Libya was restricted by the War Powers Resolution as NATO was leading military actions and US ground troops had not been deployed. However the War Powers Resolution limited the president’s power to initiate military action in three circumstances, declaration of war, specific statutory authorisation and a national emergency. It also authorised the president to use military without the consent of congress for 60 days and a 30 day withdrawal period.

Question 17

Does the president have too much power over foreign policy - Supreme Court

Answer 17

the United States vs. Curtis-Wright Export Corp 1936 reinforced the president’s power over foreign policy. The case centred that congress authorised the president to block weapons shipments to South America. When Curtis-Wright violated the embargo, it defended themselves by staying congress gave the president too much power. The Supreme Court ruled the constitution gave the president the power to negotiate treaties and warfare. However the Supreme Court challenged the Bush administrations treatment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay prison in the case Boumediene v. Bush 2008. The Supreme Court ruled against Bush as suspects had constitutional rights to habeas corpus.
Congress – fast track negotiating enables the executive to negotiate international trade deals which congress can only agree or disagree as they cannot amend it. This transfers a major constitutional power to the executive. However the Obama administration requested to fast track the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal with Japan and 10 other Asia-Pacific countries, but congress did not grant this power.

Question 18

Does the president have too much power over foreign policy - treaties

Answer 18

executive agreements do not need Senate’s approval, in November2013 Obama reached a controversial deal with Iran and congress was unable to stop the deal. However international agreements require 2/3 support from Senate and not all treaties are successful like the 1999 Comprehensive Test Ban treaty.

Question 19

The federal bureaucracy

Answer 19

This is the unelected, administrative part of the executive branch of federal government made up of departments, agencies and commissions that carry out policy on a day to day basis. By 2010 the federal bureaucracy had just fewer than 2.8 million employees with only 11% working in Washington DC. An estimate for the cost of the federal bureaucracy is around $2 trillion.

Question 20

Executive departments

Answer 20

There are 15 executive departments; however this is not a fixed number. The state department is important and presides over foreign policy. It represents the US abroad and conducts treaty negotiations. The secretary of state can be a prominent figure in the administration, for example Colin Powell under Bush. There are first tier departments and second tier. The first tier departments are the treasury department which deals with tax policy and economic issues, the defence department which is often referred to as the Pentagon, the justice department which offers legal advice to the president and the state department.

Question 21

Executive agencies

Answer 21

They are almost subsidiaries of executive departments and can be upgraded into departments such as Housing and Veteran’s Affairs. An example of the agency is the environmental protection agency which was established to deal with pollution and environmental problems. NASA and the Federal Reserve board are other significant agencies that operate within the executive branch.

Question 22

Independent regulatory commissions

Answer 22

They are independent from all three branches of the federal government. They are free from presidential and congressional control, but they can feel political pressure. They regulate industries and services. The federal trade commission deals with consumer protection and is backed up by federal law.

Question 23

Government corporations

Answer 23

The federal government has established various corporations to perform commercial functions that otherwise would be carried by the private sector. The US postal service 1970 is an example and AMTRAK essentially runs the nationwide passenger train system.

Question 24

Recruitment

Answer 24

Recruitment should be based on merit hence the creation of the Office of Personnel Reform Act 1978 which created the office of personnel management. However recruitment can be more politicised than first thought. At the upper levels of the bureaucracy, 3% of posts are appointed on grounds of politics and not merit.

Question 25

Problems with the FB

Answer 25

There are five key problems with the federal bureaucracy. First, agencies tend to serve the best interests of those they are supposed to be overseeing, this is called clientelism, where watchdog agencies should be regulating sectors but are acting like lapdog agencies. Secondly, bureaucratic imperialism, agencies try to expand their powers and mandates at the expense of other agencies, this was seen as Bush created the department of homeland security in 2002. Third, agencies tend to have a narrow focus on their goals, rather than looking at the bigger picture of the administration’s aims as a whole. Fourth, most agencies are known for acting slowly with a tendency to resist change. Fifth, in applying rules and regulations, agencies ignore the concerns or merits of those who will be affected by the rules. Presidents can find it difficult to deal with the size of the federal bureaucracy. Presidents Truman and Johnson said they found it tough to deal with it. Reagan attempted to control the FB; he used the Civil Service Reform Act 1978 to reassign less cooperative members of the FB to different roles. However Reagan never managed to reduced the size of the FB. Clinton attempted to control the FB with his Reinventing Government Initiative led by Vice President Al Gore, but the administration struggled to make changes.

Question 26

Iron triangles

Answer 26

This describes a strong relationship between three political bodies, interest groups, congressional committees and the related executive agency in the federal bureaucracy. The relationship results in policies being made and executed to the mutual benefit of the parties involved and are considered to have a negative impact on policy making.

Question 27

Going native

Answer 27

This a fear concerning political appointees to the FB made by the White House. It meant that rather than imposing the presidents wishes they become advocates of the bureaucracy’s wishes to the president and start to resist the president’s preferences. This was a concern of Nixon’s cabinet, with one senior advisor complaining that the cabinet had gone off and ‘married the natives’.

Question 28

Checks on the FB power

Answer 28

establish, merge or abolish departments. Congress can use its powers to finance various departments and agencies and can use executive oversight to investigate federal departments and agencies. This is done in standing committees, where long serving policy experts can scrutinise bureaucrats after the president has loft office.
Checks by the president – lots of presidents (Truman, Carter, Reagan and Clinton) have gone on the record to state they cannot control the FB. They rely on staff within the executive office of the President (EXOP) and their members of cabinet to help them control it. Despite Clinton and Bush’s attempts to reorganise it, the FB has remained largely unchanged.

Question 29

The cabinet

Answer 29

This is an advisory group who are selected by the president; they are restricted to this role because the constitution only provides for a singular executive. Originally there were just three cabinet positions (state, war and treasury). This has grown to 15 formal positions but the president has the power to award cabinet rank to other officials too.

Question 30

A balanced cabinet

Answer 30

• Gender – gone are the days where Nixon and Reagan could appoint all male cabinets. In 2001 Bush appointed three women as heads of departments, Obama appointed four and Trump two
• Race – Johnson appointed the first African American to cabinet in 1966, since then the expectations are cabinet is not all white. Bush’s 2001 cabinet was at the time the most ethnically diverse, including top tier departments headed by Colin Powell as Sec. Of State and later Condoleezza Rice. Trump’s 2017 cabinet had just three heads of departments from ethnic minorities.
• Region – appointing cabinet members from different regions of America reinforces that a president is governing for the whole country. However the president’s home state tends to fare well in cabinet appointments.
• Age – the average age tends to reflect the age of the president. The youngest ever cabinet was 47 and was appointed by the youngest president Kennedy. Although Bush and Obama broke the trend by having older cabinets. Trumps average age was 63.
• Ideology – whether a democrat or republican, the president wants an ideological range within their party represented. It is not unusual for the president to pick someone from the other party. Obama appointed Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as his Sec. Of Defence and Trump appointed one of Obama’s former appointments, David Shulkin to take over the Dept. Of Veterans Affairs.

Question 31

Recruitment to cabinet

Answer 31

There are four major pools of recruitment:
• Congress – this is a hard sell for the president, as job security and prestige are in short supply on cabinet. They often go for retiring members of congress. Although Trump persuaded 3 former Senators to his cabinet, including Jeff Sessions
• Serving or former state governors – as they have experience they are well suited to running a large federal bureaucracy. Two former governors joined Trumps first cabinet, including Sonny Perdue of Georgia as Sec. Of state for agriculture.
• Big city mayors – they also bring executive expertise, Obama’s second term cabinet had two big city mayors, including Anthony Foxx of Charlotte, North Carolina as sec. Of transportation.
• Academia – the top universities in America supply cabinet. Steven Chu was appointed as sec. Of energy in 2009 was professor of physics at the University of California and was later replaced by Ernest Moniz from MIT in 2013.

Question 32

Functions of cabinet meetings - for cabinet members and the president

Answer 32

Getting to know each other is a key function, these are people who are brought together from across regions of the country and they are based in separate offices with only minor contact time. Cabinet meetings are a place to resolve disputes between departments and a chance for cabinet members to steal a minute of the president’s time at the end of the meeting. Attendance at the meetings gives members increasing standing back in their departments.
• Team spirit
• Allows president to appear collegial and consultative
• Opportunity for information gathering from departments
• Forum for policy debating
• Presenting big picture items
• Check up on legislation lost in the legislative process
• Personal contact

Question 33

The number of cabinet meetings

Answer 33

Under Bush in 2001 there were 9 meetings and there were 4 in 2007. Under Obama in 2009 there were 5 meetings and in 2016 there were 2. However under Reagan in his first year he held 36 meetings due to him being an outsider president.

Question 34

Cabinet councils

Answer 34

Examples of these are the National Economic Council (NEC) and it is currently chaired by Jed Zients, the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the National Security Council (NSC). All three co-ordinate and offer advice and they have policy specific meetings.

Question 35

EXOP

Answer 35

EXOP was created following the Brownlow Report of 1939 which concluded that Roosevelt needed help in carrying out the New Deal. EXOP was created as a result of the 1939 Reorganisation Act. This increased size and scale of the federal government due to the New Deal programme meant the demands on Roosevelt were too much to handle.
EXOP today is made up of 10 offices:
• National security council
• Office of management and budget
• White house office (which itself is made up of 36 offices)
• Council of economic advisors
• Council on environmental quality
• Office of administration
• Office of national drug control policy
• Office of the US trade representatives
• Office of science and technology policy
• Office of the Vice President
The primary function of EXOP is to oversee the operation of the executive branch. This means co-ordination and personnel management. They can also offer advice to the president and the most important personnel are based in the West Wing so have immediate access to the Oval office.

Question 36

Chief of staff

Answer 36

The role of the White house chief of staff is the most important appointment to a president in the executive branch. They should be anonymous and a key impartial advisor. Some such as Sherman Adams (under Eisenhower) become so obtrusive and powerful that they are kin to a deputy president. Eisenhower refused to read documents unless Sherman Adams initialled them. Others such as Thomas McLarty (under Clinton) were overwhelmed by the job due to lack of Washington experience. The best model is someone who seeks the president’s best interests rather than their own. They should protect the president from political harm, acting as honest brokers and javelin catchers, taking the fall for any wrong doings. Those who received top marks were Andrew Card under Bush and Rahm Emanuel under Obama. On the other hand Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus received criticism for lack of knowledge about federal government operations.

Question 37

Office of management and budget

Answer 37

Nixon created the OMB in 1970 and it has three principal functions. They advise the president on the allocation of federal fund in the annual budget. They oversee spending of all federal departments and agencies and they act as a king of clearing house for all legislative and regulatory initiatives coming from the executive branch. The director of the OMB needs Senate approval, showing the importance of this office.

Question 38

National security council

Answer 38

This was created in 1947 to help the president coordinate foreign, security and defence policy. It is headed by the national security advisor and the NSC coordinates information coming from the state and defence department and the central intelligence agency. It too should act as an honest broker, presenting options to the president. Nixon’s distrust of his cabinet changed the way the NSC worked. He appointed Henry Kissinger as his national security advisor and oversaw foreign policy from the White House. Clinton, Bush and Obama returned the NSC to its honest broker role. However the influence of the NSA v. Executive Departments has increased and decreased with specific personnel. For instance under Bush, Condoleezza Rice moved from NSA to sec. Of state, only for her replacement as NSA, Stephen Hadley to freeze her influence through his deferential treatment of Bush. Alternatively under Obama, Clinton dominated foreign policy, being a big name in the state department.

Question 39

Cabinet v EXOP

Cabinet

Answer 39

• Big hitters in departments often dominate their policy areas, like Clinton and Kerry both as secretary of state
• Lack of control, organisation and communication within EXOP can strengthen cabinet, for example under Trump there have been 3 White House chiefs of staff.
• 15 department heads are important in their own right
• White House chief of staff can be resented and overbearing, like Sherman Adams under Eisenhower, strengthening unity within cabinet and alienating EXOP
• Representation function of cabinet is important to engender electoral support for the administration

Question 40

Cabinet vs EXOP

EXOP

Answer 40

• Physical distance from the president is far less than cabinet members
• Cabinet have divided loyalties, which EXOP do not. Cabinet have to consider congress and their committees who approve their budgets, also iron triangles and cabinet can go native
• EXOP can contain policy czars, whom direct policy from the White House to the resentment of departments.
• Cabinet meetings are largely ineffective and also infrequent
• White House Chief of Staff plays an important role, javelin catcher and honest broker
• Office of management and budget has an important role in overseeing a $2 trillion budget to fund federal government
• National Security Council coordinates information coming from the state and defence departments, as well as the CIA.

Question 41

Imperial presidency

Answer 41

This is a presidency characterised by the misuse of presidential powers, especially in foreign policy and dealing with congress. It was coined by Arthur Schlesinger in 1973 and he traced the origins of this presidency to Roosevelt after Pearl Harbour in 1941.
The increase in presidential power can be shown in 1950 when Truman sent US troops to South Korea without congressional authorisation. The Cuban missile crisis was resolved without congressional input under Kennedy in 1962. The theory started with foreign policy but it spread to domestic policy, including the way Nixon cracked down on anti-Vietnam war protestors. The Watergate scandal in 1972 and cost Nixon his position in 1974 showed the increase in power of the president. However Nixon’s resignation shows that the imperial presidency did not exist and in his resignation statement he said he was resigning as he did not have a strong enough political base in Congress, effectively he was forced out by congress. By 1986 even Schlesinger had recanted his theory to some extent.

Question 42

Imperilled presidency

Answer 42

Congress’s reaction to the imperial presidency was re-assertiveness. Thus Ford and Carter found their hands were tied in what became known as the era of imperilled presidency. In 1975, Ford was unable to do a thing when Communists overran the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon including the US embassy there. Ford complained of congressional meddling in presidential powers. In a time article magazine article of 1979 he said ‘we have not an imperial presidency but an imperilled presidency’. One which he argued did not function effectively and was a danger to national interests.

Question 43

Post imperial presidency

Answer 43

George Bush’s powers fell due to an economic recession at home in the 1990s and growing concerns about the federal budget. Under Clinton the economy boomed, however Clinton damaged the presidency with his Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment. Although he survived his impeachment trial, he did so with a damaged reputation which impacted his ability to work effectively. Bush came to the presidency pledging to be a unifier not a divider. The circumstances to him losing the popular vote in 2000 did not stand him in this stead; he did take on the role of unifier in chief briefly after 9/11. However once he committed troops to Iraq and passed prohibitive legislation on civil rights and liberties (the Patriot Act 2001), he became a more divisive figure. Added to the incompetence over the response to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, Bush’s revival of the imperial presidency reverted to a lame duck present.
Obama used his power to pass a massive economic stimulus package, reform on Wall Street and Obamacare, showing an imperial presidency. However once the House (2010) and the Senate (2014) fell to the republicans, the president was limited and resorted to executive orders and unilateral use of military force abroad, this did however renew debate of imperial presidency. However according to David Mervin (1993) the imperial presidency was a cliché and the founding fathers intended to limit the president. This makes people argue presidential failure is inevitable.

Question 44

What factors can limit presidential power - congress

Answer 44

the checks and balances that congress has on the president are significant. Congress may:
• Amend, delay or reject the president’s legislative proposals (Obamacare was delayed)
• Override the president’s veto (2016 Justice Against the Sponsors of Terrorism Act veto overridden under Obama)
• Amend budgetary requests using the power of the pursue (used successfully in Vietnam)
• Check the commander-in-chief power, through the power of the purse and through declaration of war (declaration of war occurred five times, last being in 1941)
• Refuse to ratify treaties (1999 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty)
• Reject nominations made by the president (Merrick Garland rejected under Obama)
• Investigate the president’s actions and policies
• Impeach and try the president (impeachment proceedings under Johnson and Clinton)

Question 45

Factors limiting presidential power - Supreme Court

Answer 45

the Supreme Court gained power through the Madison vs. Marbury 1803 case to declare act of congress and the executive unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has checked the president’s power in the following cases:
• Declaring Nixon’s actions in refusing to release the White House tapes to be unconstitutional in 1974 leading to his resignation
• Declaring Clintons claim of immunity from prosecution by Paula Jones to be unconstitutional in 1997.
• Declaring the military commissions set up by George Bush to try Guantanamo Bay detainees to be unconstitutional in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfield 2006. This limited the commander-in-chief power of the president even in time of war, striking down the use of the military commissions and warrantless wiretapping
• Declaring Obama’s use of executive order to implement his immigration reform programme to be unconstitutional in 2016.
However the president has the power to nominate judges and the ideological make up of the Supreme Court impacts the checks on the executive. The President can create an echo chamber in the Supreme Court, Rehnquist was appointed by Nixon in 1971 and became chief Justice under Reagan and sat on Supreme Court until 2005.

Question 46

Factors limiting presidential power - public approval

Answer 46

the approval rating is an important factor in the ability to get things done. In the aftermath of 9/11 Bush’s approval rating was 90% but during the last three years in office it rarely went above 40% and reached a low of 25% in 2008. It was the high approval rating of Clinton during 1999 that saved him from impeachment as democrat Senators were reluctant to remove a president from office of their own party who was popular with the electorate. In the era of partisanship, there has been a widening gap of views towards the president based on parties. This has lead to marmite presidencies, Clinton, Bush and Obama scored highly with their own party but poorly with the other party.
Federal Bureaucracy – the president is one person in an executive branch made of 15 departments and 60 federal agencies, employing 2 million people. Many federal government programmes are implemented by states and state governments, which is a check on the executive. For example, Obama faced state opposition towards his healthcare reforms. The federal bureaucracy can also go native and iron triangles limit the president’s power.

Question 47

Factors limiting presidential power - interest groups

Answer 47

interest groups can mobilise public opinion for and against the president or their policies. Obama experienced this when the National Rifle Association mobilised public opinion to oppose his gun control proposals after a number of mass shootings.
The media – they have a role in checking the president. Presidents live in the 24/7 news cycle. As a result what the media say can influence what the president can do.

Question 48

Factors limiting presidential power - crises

Answer 48

the executive response to crises cab be a factor that impacts the president’s power. Two weeks prior to 9/11 Bush’s approval rating was 51% with it increasing to 90%, this is known as ‘rally round the flag effect’. Yet after Hurricane Katrina his approval rating was 40%. This was similar to a surge in approval ratings for Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.