Week 4 - The Presidency

Question 1

What are the different interpretations of the Presidency as described by Nigel Bowles and George Edwards ?

Answer 1

Nigel Bowles: focuses on the idea that the Presidency cannot be explained without reference to its occupant

George Edwards: believes that the individual character of the President makes only a marginal difference as the structural forces of the Presidency overwhelm

Question 2

How did the Roosevelt Revolution affect the President’s image ?

Answer 2

The revolution was a shift to a programmatic left wing ideological democratic party and he successfully transformed the party into the President’s image which is known as Executive - centred partisanship

Question 3

What is the Executive Office of the President?

What key departments does it contain?

Answer 3

The Executive Office of the President was created and this was under direct control of the President and they were composed of policy - orientated bodies that were beyond Congressional oversight.

It contains the White House Office, National Security Council and Council of Economic Advisors

Question 4

What are the key departments in the Cabinet?

Answer 4

State, Defence, Health, Treasury and Agriculture

Question 5

Outline some of the Independent Executive Agencies

Answer 5

CIA, FBI, Federal Election Commissions, FEMUR

Question 6

What are some of the restraints placed on the President?

Answer 6

The Constitution

Statutes - The Employment Act of 1946, The War Powers Act 1973

Congress; The Opposition Party; The Presidents’ Party; Voters, donors, elected officials

The Media

International and Bureaucratic Actors

Question 7

Outline some of the powers gifted to the President by Article II

Answer 7

• Gather and give information
• Recommend policies
• Commander - in - chief of the armed forces
• VETO legislation
• Power of Pardon
• Ability to appoint Executive officers

Question 8

What are Presidential soft powers?

Answer 8

These are an abstract concept and they look at the idea of what the President can actually get done as a matter of capacity. These soft powers are:

• national popularity
• mandate
• reputation
• symbolic function
• strategic advantages

Question 9

What is the Bully Pulpit?

Answer 9

It refers to the mass popular dimensions of the US Presidency where the President can go around the Country and speak to large audiences on a range of issues.

The President seems to be able to do this because they feel as though they have greater claims to legitimacy because of their national mandate and the fact that people vote directly for them. When President’s give these speeches of the Bully Pulpit, it is called going public - this puts pressure on the Congressmen by herding audiences to feel a particular way.

Question 10

Give examples of Presidential direct action?

Answer 10

Executive Orders, Presidential proclomation, signing statements, pardons, military directives and legal clarifications

• In 1942, Roosevelt issued the Internment of Japanese Americans order that meant that anyone of Japanese heritage must be put into an internment camp for the duration of the War
• Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970

Question 11

What is the trouble with Executive Orders?

Answer 11

The trouble with Executive Orders is that they can allow radical President’s to instigate particular policies that can endanger particular minority groups.

Furthermore, because they are not entrenched, President’s can delegitimise previous orders and override them - meaning that progressive developments can take a step backwards.

Question 12

What are some of the reasons for Executive Action?

Answer 12

• National emergency i.e. war, national security, economic disaster, natural disaster, civil unrest
• To act swiftly in the public interest or quell labour disputes i.e. Truman signed an action to nationalise the steel industry and bring it into public ownership and provide workers with the wage that they want – it was rejected by the Supreme Court but shows the President’s willingness to use it.
• Generate favourable publicity and to send signals, as well as to avoid Congressional interference
• Manage the Executive branch and to launch policy initiatives

Question 13

What is the Two Presidency Thesis?

Answer 13

This is the theory that the President has two different faces - the one for domestic policy and the other for foreign policy. It is based on the first - mover advantage which is the position of Commander in Chief and Chief Diplomat which allows him informational advantages.

The general idea is that the President’s exercise more influence in foreign rather than domestic affairs. This is normally because on domestic policy, the President can expect to encounter numerous actively and maximally informed members of Congress whereas in foreign policy, there is usually less interference.

Question 14

Explain Presidential Leadership - Cabinet Government

Answer 14

This views the President as the CEO/Chair of the board and is seen to delegate the responsibility for policy implementation and detail to Cabinet secretaries. Nevertheless, this can lead to government by advisors in which the President’s inner circle provide policy direction and development; which enhances the idea that whilst they are not as visible as the President, they are equally as accountable.

Question 15

Explain Administrative Leadership

Answer 15

This sees a decline in the Cabinet’s influence and it is the exercise of power by the President and their advisors through Executive branch powers and organisation - Nixon was concerned and involved with all areas of government and did not listen to the Cabinet

Question 16

Explain Imperial Leadership

Answer 16

It is linked to the Imperial Presidency and presents the President as an imperious figure - also gives the impression of someone who dominates the politics in Washington; is popular, and therefore has a higher status within the system. It could also refer to someone who can shape the policy of the states and go beyond the constitutional and statute powers that are given to them.

Question 17

Why do foreign affairs matter less than domestic affairs in Congressional elections?

Answer 17

Interest groups contribute to the domestic policy environment and this is because they are active and involved interest groups which monitor and provide information to Congress about virtually every issue. These groups also provide cues to voters and thereby affect electoral outcomes.

In comparison, in foreign policy matters, interest group structure is weak, unstable and thin - therefore this lack of influence in electoral outcomes means that members of Congress have less reason to maintain strong control of this domain; and instead will focus on activities that enhance these prospects.

Howell (2003) showed that when President’s exercise their independent unilateral powers, members of Congress are less likely to amend or overturn foreign policy directives than domestic policy ones.

Question 18

Have can partisan balance of an agency be influential on Presidential control?

Answer 18

President’s can more easily influence the policies of an agency if not required to appoint a given balance of Republicans and Democrats to head it.

Question 19

What are the two contrasting views of Presidential leadership?

Answer 19

President = Director of Change

• Move public opinion in the way that they want it to go
• The view that they establish goals and lead others where they would otherwise not go
• The director creates a constituency to follow his lead, and restructures the contours of the political landscape to pave the way for change

President = Facilitator of Change

• Give voice to existing
• Reflects and intensifies widely held views and exploiting opportunities to help others go where they want to go
• The facilitator therefore endows his constituency’s views with shape and purpose by interpreting them and translating them into legislation as well as exploiting opportunities presented by a favourable configuration of political sources

Question 20

What is perceived to be the highest priority of a President?

Answer 20

To obtain public support for themselves - they believe that public approval increases the probabilities of obtaining the pass of legislation in Congress

Question 21

Outline Bill Clinton’s Policy Stances

Answer 21

Economic Programme: His 1992 Presidential election campaign kept a clear focus on the economy and his economic proposals included spending for job creation, a tax increase on the welathy, investment incentives, and aid to displaced workers. In the same month he also introduced a plan to spend more than $16 billion to stimulate the economy. Support for the President’s economic plan peaked immediately following his speech on February 17th and then dropped dramatically a few days later - during this period when the President needed support for the most and when he worked hardest to obtain it, it diminished to the point that by May, a plurality of the public expressed opposition to his plan.

Health Care Reform: It was to be the centrepiece of the Clinton administration - but he was not able to sustain the support of the public for health care reform. The White House held out against compromise with the Republicans and Conservative Democrats, hoping for a groundswell of public support for reform but it never came. The opposition demonised the opponents such as the medical professionals and the drug and insurance industries which exacerbated his problems in obtaining public support. 40% favoured reform and 56% opposed.

The 1993 Budget: The reconciliation bill focused on deficit reduction by raising taxes and limiting expenditures. The President prevailed, but no Republic supported him and the absence of public support made it easier for Republicans to label him in the 1994 midterm elections as a supporter of tax increases.

Government Spending: Support for spending on food stamps decreased during the President’s first term and support for increased spending was the same in 2000 as in 1992. The increase in support in the second term was argued to be due to the passage of the welfare reform in 1996 and the general prosperity in the late 1990s. Perhaps no policy interested the President as much as education, yet figures show that public support for increased federal spending for education remained stable during his first term.

Haiti: One hallmark of foreign policy during the Clinton years was a series of military interventions - Haiti occurred in September 1994. Figures show that the President received a short term increase in support for his handling of the situation in Haiti following his speech to the nation on September 15th.

Bosnia: This posed a constant problem throughout the Clinton administration; the President’s plea seeking the approval of the public for deploying US peacekeeping troops to Bosnia was met with little success. Figures show that public support for sending US troops to Bosnia dropped steadily as the President implemented his policy.

Kosovo: March 24th 1999 was when Clinton informed the public that he was ordering bombing on Serbia to stop the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo - public approval was high throughout with little variation over the entire period.

NAFTA: The first major free trade agreement to reach Congress during the administration was NAFTA and whilst The White House fought hard for it, figures show that it never achieved plurality support for the North American Free Trade Agreement before Congress’s decision to pass it. Among the people who watched the debate regarding it, support for NAFTA increased from 34% to 56% and opposition decreased from 38% to 36%.

A prime example of Clinton fighting for public opinion on the defence is the government shutdowns; these were part of the President’s larger debate and battle with the Republicans, especially in the House as the Republicans sought major changes in public policy, and Clinton fought to thwart their efforts. Polls taken indicated that each poll found that the public were more likely to blame the Republicans for the shut down than they were to blame the President. The most dramatic issue of the Clinton administration was its successful effort to fight the President’s removal from office following the Monica Lewinsky scandal - the media devoted attention to the impeachment controversy and thus the issue’s visibility makes it unique. Results show that the public did not support the impeachment and conviction of the President and opinions did not change due to the belief that the public had reached its opinions before the issue had come to head.

Question 22

Outline the separation of powers?

Answer 22

The separation of powers created a government of separated institutions which shared power.