Transcript Day 14 Executive Branch

The Presidency
Presidential Basics
Unique office
Unitary actor
Head of Government
Head of State
Symbolic Function
Constitutional Foundations
Weaknesses of
Articles of
Confederation
Federalist 70

Maintain Effectiveness
by not dividing
executive
Deliberately vague

Faith in Washington
Constitutional Foundations
Article 2 Section 1Requirements of holding office




At least 35
Native Born Citizen
No religious test
Specifies electoral process
Article 2 Section 2-Powers




Commander in Chief
Make treaties (with consent of
senate)
Appointment
Fill Senate Vacancies
Constitutional Foundations
Article 2 Section 2-Powers




Commander in Chief
Make treaties (with consent of senate)
Appointment
Fill Senate Vacancies
Article 2 Section 3- Relations with Congress



State of the Union
Proposal of Legislation
Convene and Adjourn
Article 2 Section 4- Impeachment
22nd Amendment- Limits president to 2 terms or 10 years
Selecting a President
National Constituency
Primaries
General Election
Electoral college



Intermediate step
Senators plus representatives
Can lead to popular winner losing election
Approaches
President Centered
Barber’s Typology


Energy
Attitude Towards life/office
Presidency Centered
Focus on situations and institutions
Truth Probably a combination
History
Washington sets
precedents
2 terms
Whiskey Rebellion
Established Cabinet
Claimed inherent
powers
Jefferson
Louisiana Purchase
Napoleon
Little time
Inherent powers
Jackson
First “western”
president
Common Man
Spoils System
Nullification
Lincoln
Civil War
National Supremacy
Inherent Powers in
times of war
Overstepped Bounds



Suspend Habeas
Corpus
Expanded Military
Limited free Speech
FDR
Great Depression
New Deal
Expansion of
Bureaucracy
Brownlow
Commission Report

Executive office of the
President
Fireside Chats
Formal Presidential Powers
Commander in chief of Military
Sets foreign policy agenda
Cannot commit troops for extended period
without congressional approval
Commander in Chief
Congress Declares War
War Powers act 1973



Congress must authorize any operation
longer than 60 days
Never tested
May be unconstitutional
Veto Power
Strike Down Laws proposed by congress
Pocket Veto
Line Item Veto
Veto Override
Implicit and explicit power
Power to Make Treaties
Agreements between nations
2/3 vote of senate
Usually ratified
Executive Orders
Have force of law
Do not require congressional action
Expire at the end of term
May be ruled unconstitutional
Supreme power or failure of office?
Pardoning Power
Restore rights of criminals
Individuals
Groups
Usually controversial
Relations With Other Branches
Court- Appoints Justices, enforces
decisions
Congress- can convene, veto power, can
fill vacancies


Can suggest policices
OMB driving force behind budget
Impeachment
Removal from Office
High Crimes and
Misdemeanors
Majority in houseArticles
2/3 in Senate
Andrew Johnson
Nixon and Watergate
Bill and Monica
Executive Office of the President
Offices that work most closely with
Office of Management and budget
White house office


Closes aides to the president
Aid in general decision-making
National Security Council


Compiles Reports from State, defense, JCS
Can have large role in shaping foreign policy
Cabinet
Close Advisors
Heads of major
Departments






State
Interior
Justice
Agriculture
Defense
etc
Can invite anyone
else
Homeland Security
Can be fairly
Independent
Neustadt and Persuasive power
Executive Branch more divided than
framers expected
Traditional conception of power- A has
power over B if A can make B do
something B would not have done
otherwise.
Blunt Force
Neustadt- Power as persuasion
Changing minds less costly, more powerful
Persuasive Power
President uniquely able
Professional reputation
Public support
Powers of office
Presidential Approval
“Do you generally approve of the way
________ is handling his job as
president?”
Important resource
Increased Bargaining Power
More successful with congress
Success brings success
Presidential Approval
Figure 1: Presidential Honesty and Job Approval
1993-1999
80
Percent Yes
Character vs.
Competence
The case of Bill
Clinton
The case of Jimmy
Carter
Competence trumps
60
Job Approval
40
Honest and
Trustw orthy
20
0
1
2
3
4
Year
5
6
7
Sources of Approval (or lack
thereof)
The economy


Both current performance and expectations
Economy as a whole more important than personal
Presidential “drama”
War/foreign policy
Media Coverage
Priming


Focusing attention on particular areas
Can help or hurt overall approval
Rally Effects
The strange case of the Bay of Pigs
Rallying around the Flag
Iran Hostage Crisis
9/11
Wagging the Dog?
Going Public
President persuades the public
Build support for own programs
Congress hesitant to go against strong
public opinion
More frequent
Tips balance of power
More popular presidents more effective
Long run harm?
Agenda Setting
Defines what issues are
important for politics
Media a key source
President Responsive to
public agenda, real world
events
President also able to set
agenda in some cases
State of the Union
address
Health Care-1994



21% think It is most
important Problem
25% of State of the Union
31% think it is most
important problem
The president and Priming
Priming- Changing
grounds of evaluation
President has incentive to
focus attention where is
strong
Kennedy- Relied Heavily
on Polls
Emphasis on issues
where public agreed with
him
2001 State of the Union
Address
Prior


30% Terrorism Most
Important
30% Economy
Speech focuses nearly
50% of text on the War on
terror
Viewers much more likely
to base overall
evaluations on terrorism
Small bump in overall
approval