Informal sources of presidential power and their use Flashcards
what are informal powers
powers not specifically mentioned in the constitution
they are political rather than constitutional
they have a massive impact on foreign and domestic policy
examples of informal powers
cabinet
executive orders
powers of persuasion
public approval
the cabinet historical background
cabinet is an advice giving group selected by the president - 15 heads of executive departments
cabinet isn’t mentioned in constitution - founding fathers created a singular executive (no councils or cabinets)
BUT the con does say in article 2 that the pres ‘may require an opinion in writing of the principal officer in each of the executive departments upon any subject’
why do presidents have a cabinet and are they important
president washington thought it would be helpful to have meetings with secretary of war, treasury and the state - the press called them ‘cabinet meetings’
important? as individuals yes - key figures who have a lot of autonomy in their areas
as a group no - meetings are barely ever held so as a group they are unimportant
how are cabinet appointments confirmed
simple majority in the senate - unusual to reject pres nominee
last time it happened it was in 1989 - rejected BUSH’s nom of JOHN TOWER as secretary of defense
what is a balanced cabient
presidents since 1992 have liked to have a balanced gender in terms if gener, race, religion and political ideology
BUT trump’s cabinet: 82% MALE , 86% WHITE, 14% BILLIONAIRES, 55% GOV EXPERIENCE
compared to OBAMAS: 65% MALE, 52% WHITE, 0 BILLIONAIRES, 87% GOV EXPERIENCE
are cabinet meetings productive?
meetings with a full cabinet are not productive - so many people sat around a table are policy experts in just ONE area so have little to nothing to contribute to other areas
functions of cabinet meetings x2
create team spirit - important in a new administration, help the pres get to know and advance the pres agenda. after the first year, this function is complete which explains the decrease in number from that point
create media coverage - important for pres to appear consultive, good photo opportunity, can be a public relations exercise and opp for the pres to make comments that will get coverage
how did trump use his cabinet meetings
he opened the entire cabinet meetings to the media and took qs from the pres
but this was to show his dominance more than cabinet togetherness
negatives to cabinet
- the con gives ‘all exec power’ to pres so cabinet officers have no power given to them directly
- no doctrine of collective responsibility: the pres isnt first among equals but instead just first eg Prof King said ‘he doesn’t sum up the end of a cabinet meeting; he is the meeting’
what are powers of persuasion
informal power where they can use the prestige of the job and other bargaining methods to get people to do as they wish - in party polarisation its less effective
why is powers of persuasion difficult
- the system of ‘separated institutions sharing powers’ almost every power the pre has is checked by congress
- congress have become more assertive since 1992 which makes power of persuasion difficult to get through to the legislature
how can power of persuasion be made easier
if both houses in congress are controlled by the presidents own party - called a unified gov
BUT there is still no guaranteed success
an example of when persuasion didn’t work
Bill Clinton in failed attempt to pass healthcare reform 1993 where he had control over both houses - this was made even more complicated when the republicans took control over both houses in 1994 which was very rare
Richard Neustadt said ‘what the constitution separated, the political parties do not combine’
why does the president need to use powers of persuasion
because the pres can do very little without agreement from congress
this was on purpose by the founding fathers who made it difficult for the pres to always get their way
how can the pres use persuasion through other people and what rule should they follow when doing so
to be successful they need to have a number of people to help them because they can’t do it all themselves - a strong exec team can help the pres persuade congress
rule: get an early start appointing key roles to use the ‘honeymoon period’ of the presidency. eg Biden ensured that key roles were already appointed when they came into the office so that they could hit the ground running whereas trump was much slower which limited his progress in the first few months
what is lame duck presidency
period at which the pres has lost most of their political power and struggles to implement policy
typically happen in the last few years of a president’s second term eg OBAMA
what is direct authoprity
when resulted in partisan gridlock, presidents can us direct authority
actions that require no congressional approval and yet achieve the some of the political goals a president seeks
what are executive orders
an official doc issues by the exec branch through which the pres directs federal officials to take certain actions
Not mentioned specifically in the constitution but are justified by the president’s constitutional power. Can be used to propel civil rights rather than waiting for them to go through the house.
example of exec order
eg 1941 roosevelt used executive order to ban racial discrimination in companies bidding for gov contracts
eg biden signed banning discrimination on gay and lesbian couples
limitations to executive orders
- can’t use them to create new legislation, they are to give instructions to federal departments regarding enforcing legislation
- they are easy to put in place and easy to revoke; the current pres can revoke all the exec orders the previous pres put in
example of the overturning of an executive order
reagan signed exec order which prohibited family planning clinics that received federal funds from informing their clients about abortion options (known as the MEXICO CITY policy)
within days, clinton revoked it
Bush reinstated it
revoked again by ombama
Trump reinstated it
revoked again by biden
biden signing exec orders
first 100 days in office biden revoked a lot of trumps exec orders
eg constuction of the mexico wall
eg ban transgender people from the military
how is the constitution relevant to exed orders
and unsuccesful exec orders
exec orders have to be within the con
unsuccessful - the sc declared that Truman’s nationalising of the US steel industry was unconstitutional because he tried to stop miners from walking out on strike in a pay debate and the sc said his authority didn’t stretch that far
