US Presidency Flashcards
What are the formal powers of the president
Head of State
Head of Government
Propose legisaltion
Propose an annual budget
Sign legisaltion
Veto legisaltion
Act as Cheif executive
nominate executive branch officals
nominate new federal judges
act as commander in chief
negotiate treaties
pardon
Informal power of the president
Electoral mandate - only president has one from the entire country however this may be weakend if they weren’t elected, they lost the popular vote, pubic recently backed the other party in midterms or they move away from campaign proposals
executive orders - implied by Article II however it must be based on authority granted by law e.g Washington V Trump rule key part of the travel ban were unconstitional, acts of congress take precendence over these e.g National Defense Authorisation Act (2015) banned Guantanamo detainess being trasnfered to US facilitiwa
National events - 9/11 strengthed Bush as acts of congress granted him more power and it created a spirit of national unity however Bush was criticise for handling of Hurricane Katrina , 2008 banking crisis delayed Obamacare and Trumos handling of covid lost him election
Who is the cabinet and how are they appointed
heads of 15 executive departments
president nominates them and Senate confirms or rejects this nomination through a majority vote
Cannot be a member of any other branches and usually appointed with relative expertise e.g Obama appointed phsycis professor Ernest Moniz as secretarty of energy
senate questions the nominee and votes usually for confiming
2017 Betsay DeVos only accepected as Education secreatry after tie breaker vote from Mike Pence, Andrew Puzder had to withdraw as it was clear he would nto be confirmed
Why is the cabinet not that significant
constituion grants all executive powers to the presdient
cannot bring down presidents like in the UK
president rarely ever sees cabinet members who lead more 2nd tier departments
president relies more on the executive office
cabinet meeting are infrequnt - Obama held 3.5 per year
How can cabinet meetings help the president
boost team spirit - Obama held five cabinet meetings in his first year as often most ministers may have never met
creates a positive media image - after watergate they want to keep a open image so invite cameras in e.g Trump in 2019 has a 30 min exchange with the media in his
exchange information
present a big vision - Jan 2019 Trump focused on immigration crisis
monitor congress - Bush in Sep 2002 push for congressional action around Iraq, Homelans Security Bill and the budget
prompt action - July 2014 Obama applied pressure to his Defensew secretary to speed up closure of Guantanamo bay
What is the power of persausion
president needs to persaufe people to get stuff done rather than relying on his own powers
How can presidents use their personality and skills to persaude
Clinton - effective in reaching ethnic minority groups and effective communicator
Bush - skilled in military policies and stifiling any congressional opposition
Obama - skilled in reaching compromises when he had to persuade democrats to support ACA and end filibuster
skilled in oersauding public e.g after Sandy Hook
Trump - skilled in maintaing an intensly loyal oublic support
What makes up the Executive office
11 offices employing 2000 people set up in 1939
What is the role of the White House Office
presidents most trusted advisors, provide liasions between the president and the cabinet, the executive departments, Congress and the media
serves the presidents agenda and protect the president politically
Obama used the WHO a lot and his chief of staff Denis McDonough was effective in liasing with Republicans in Congress
What is the National security council
presidents most senior executive advisors concerned with security matters - set up in 1947 as an honest broker organisation
Clinton Bush and Obama returned it to a honest broker and not supplant the work of the exectuve department
Trump reduced the size of the HSC and shut down the global health security unit
What is the Office of Managment and Budget
help draft the budget the president proposes to congress
oversees the spending and legisaltive proposals
evayate the effectiveness of various federal programmes
How does the separation of powers strengthen congress
It has its own mandate which may be fresher than the presidents as midterms happen more frequent
presidents pwoer of patringage is weaker meaning rebel voting happens more often
divided government is fequent in the USA
How can the president influence congressional legisaltion
agenda setting - the president is permenately in the limelight so he can make his priorities well known e.g Trumps 2016 border wall campaign pledge
they have the power to veto legisalation
shaping legisaltion - might speak to key congress members to try influence votes e.g Obama spoke with Rep. Stupak to support Obamacare and Trump spoke with Sen McCain on reappwaling Obamacare
How can the president control the Supreme Court
nominates judges to fill a vacancy
it is rare that a nomination tips the ideological balance as judges tend to resign during the term of a president who shares their political leaning
however as judges serve for life after appointment there is very little the president can do to influence individuals
How can the SC do to presidents
strike down legisaltion which is unconstitutional
rule that an action or executive order is unlawful e.g 2022 they blocked Biden’s vaccine or testing mandate
Examples of presidents being effective in achieving their aims
Clinton - Brady Bill - after Reagen assasination attempt Dem majorities in both chambers in effective lobbying and presidential backing
Bush - tax cuts 2001 - republican majorities in both houses, 2003 authority of a war presidents
examples of president aims not being achieved
Obama - Guantanamo bay - despite consensus there are legal problems and fierce criticisms from Rep + Dems in congress
Trump - the wall - scale of yje project unrealistice and unfundable/ legal issues and environmental issues
John Lewis voting rights act - did not pass Senate - opposition said it was unnecessary as there was ni threat to voting rights
How is the presedential foreign policy limited by congressional checks
presidents as commander in chief is limited as congress control budget, has the power to declare war and can pass legisaltion to control military action
president and negotiate foreign treaties - congress has to ratify the treaty
president can appoint executives that control foreign policy - congress can reject these oppurtunities
What does imperial presidency mean
presidents have expanded their power beyon its constituional bounds and their power is largely unchecked/ ineffectively checked
under Roosevelt - role of federal gov expanded, EXOP was created and USA became a world leader
What is the imperilled presidency
presidents routinely find they are unable to achieve their own goals
What is arguments that there is an imperial presidency
executive orders - presidents can instruct the executive branch to carry out certain policies e.g Bush created Guantanamo bay, Trumps travel ban
signing statements - when presidents sign bills they can declare they intend to ignore some part of the bill e.g Obama said he rejected part of the NDAA as constitutiionally unappropriate
executive agreements - 2/3 of Senat is very hard so presidents can use executive agreements instead if treaties e.g Obama 2015 Iran deal
unilateral war powers - commited troops aborad wigthout congressional authorisation e.g Trump ordered drone strike to assisajte Iranian general in 2020
Arguments for of an imperilled pregnancy
presidents have limited control over the federal bureaucracy e.g Obama frustrated over Guantanamo bay
presidents are unable to meet high expectations placed upon them - power to persaude
presedential power does not last long due to midterms, scandals, popularity, events, electoral mandates
congress can find ways of controlling the president - Nixon resigned in 1974 when he realised he did not have a base in congress naymore, Trump was frustated by hiis attempt to build a wall by democract house, biden achieved only limited gun control
