The President was elected to run the country and therefore, has the most power of any individual. However, he cannot make a majority of the decisions alone and must make sure he keeps the approval of others in order to keep his job. The Constitution struck a fairly proper balance between empowering and limiting power of the President of the United States, but limited the power more so than empowering. Although the Constitution claimed the President as the leader of the Unites States, he is not able to single-handedly make decisions that affect our country. He is a large influence in a majority of the decisions in the government of the United States. However, he does not have complete authority over others and many of the decisions are required to have the consent of Congress or other government officials.
A president’s power is limited when it comes to making laws and decisions for our country. After a bill is successfully passed through Congress, the President may choose to sign the bill. If he signs the bill, it becomes a law. However, if he vetoes it, there is still a chance that the bill can become a law. It goes back to Congress and two thirds of the members from both houses vote for it, the bill still becomes a law. Therefore, the President’s decision can still be overridden by other people in the government. The President, unlike a monarch cannot make treaties on his own. “The king of Great Britain is the sole and absolute representative of the nation in all foreign transactions.” (The Federalist No.69) The President, in contrast receives some input from his acquaintances. With consent and approval of two-thirds of the senate, the president may make a treaty with a foreign country. (The Federalist No.69) Also...
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...ese without the advising of Congress and other government officials. The vote of the people of the country is also crucial and determines how long the president can keep his job. His inability to make decisions solely from his own opinions and actions show why the limitations of the president’s power outweighed his empowerment.
Works Cited
Coxe, Tench. An American Citizen: "An Examination of the Constitution of the United States.” September 26, 1788. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1740
Hamilton, Alexander. “Federalist No. 69.” March 14, 1788. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=833
Martin, Luther. “Genuine Information IX.” January 29, 1788. http://www.ehow.com/how_2325432_cite-a-website.html
“U.S. Constitution - Article 2 Section 2.” http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A2Sec2.html
The President of the United States is instrumental in the running of the country. He serves as the chief executive, chief diplomat, commander in chief, chief legislator, chief of state, judicial powers, and head of party. Article II of the Constitution states that the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. He also is tasked with the authority to appoint fifteen leaders of the executive departments which will be a part of the President’s cabinet. He or she is also responsible for speaking with the leaders the CIA and other agencies that are not part of his cabinet because these agencies play a key role in the protection of the US. The President also appoints the heads of more than 50 independent
As the President of the United States, a president have powers that other members of the government do not. Presidential power can be defined in numerous ways. Political scientists Richard Neustadt and William Howell give different views on what is presidential power. These polarized views of presidential powers can be used to compare and contrast the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Can you imagine president controlling your life? The constitution use three different forms to make a group or a person from getting too much power on his hands. The are three types of power that each contusion have in order to keep power equal. One of them is Legislative Branch Congress “Can approve Presidential nominations”(Document C). It’s a example how governments try to keep power equal.
... This precedent allows future presidents to take actions strictly forbidden by the executive branch in times of national emergency without congressional approval. The most important expansion of the power of the presidency happened during the Jackson administration. When Jackson used the veto power of the president to influence legislation as a matter of policy and not constitutionality, he arguably altered the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches.
It is obvious the president was not given enough power under the Constitution. This is in part because Article II of the Constitution was written in a short period of time with little thought. Many presidents have had to make unclear decisions with little information about the circumstance in the Constitution and the president is beginning to take over the government due to increasing implied powers. However the president’s power has recently proven that it has outgrown the constitution and is swiftly evolving. The Constitution gave the president broad but vague powers, including the authorization to appoint judges and other officials with the Senate’s consent, veto bills, lead the military as commander and chief and make sure “that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Many of these powers however are shared with the Legislative Branch, and cause conflict within the government.
An Imperial Presidency Writers of the constitution intended for congress to be the most powerful branch of government. They invested in the president: the powers of the monarch, but subjected him to the democratic principles of accountability which was ensured by a complex system of parliamentary and judicial checks and balances. For over a century the US got along fine with a relatively weak president whose major role was simply to carry out the laws and policies made by congress, however, there has been erosion in this system. Presidential power only started to grow after the 19th century when the US set out on its path to empire.
... in office and how the congress will act toward the President; whether he be a President that demands respect or one who forfeits it and whether the Congress gives in to the demands of the Executive or if the Congress comes down on t he Executive like a hammer on a nail. This can be accomplished by viewing the circumstances in which a President takes office, the manner in which he carries himself during his term, and the way in which the President leaves as Commander in Chief. Conclusion: The President has neither gained nor lost power. There exists the same balance between Executive and Congress as there was when Washington was sworn in as America's first President. The only difference between then and now, is the fact that today we must wade through the layers of insignificance and precedents that history has forged against us, the political thinker and historian.
War-making powers were given to Congress to prevent a single person from being able to declare war. The president needed continuous approval from Congress before doing anything regarding foreign policy. Escaping from the rigid monarchy of George III ensured that the settlers would avoid giving one entity the power to make such influential decisions. However, presidents increasingly started and carried out unauthorized wars, such as President Polk and Mexico. This “emergency prerogative” was and continues to be abused to it’s fullest extent. It allows the president to ignore the Constitution by declaring a state of emergency. Granted, many of these decisions were very crucial to national safety and there are times where presidents have used the prerogative to push their own objectives forward without having to explain themselves. As a result, the military expenses by presidential action have consumed more than half of the budget. Schlesinger has written that even the CIA is not under the control of Congress, “fewer than a dozen members of Congress have any idea how much money the CIA spends each year, and probably none of them has much of an idea what the agency actually does with that money” said Representative Findley in 1973. This lack of regulation from Congress shows that it is not only the fault of the president for their abuses of power, it is also the responsibility of Congress to enforce their own rules
When the constitution of the United States was formed, the framers specifically designed the American Government structure to have checks and balances and democracy. To avoid autocracy the President was give power to preside over the executive branch of the government and as commander –in –chief, in which a clause was put into place to give the president the power to appeal any sudden attacks against America, without waiting for a vote from congress. While the president presides over the executive branch there has been ongoing debate over the role of the president in regards to foreign policy. Should foreign policy issues be an executive function by the president or should congress play a much greater role? With the sluggishness of our democracy, foreign policy issues most times need quicker response compared to how domestic policy is decided in the United States. Many believe to maintain openness and democracy both the president and congress need to agree on how the United States handles issue abroad. Although the president has been given much power, his or her power and decisions are sometimes limited based on decisions by congress and challenged and shaped by various bureaucracies throughout the government system. I shall discuss the Presidents role and the role of governmental bureaucracies (Department of Defense, Department of State and the National Security Council) that work together and sometimes not together to shape and implement American foreign Policy.
Presidential power has become a hot topic in the media the in recent years. There has been extensive debate about what a president should be able to do, especially without the involvement of Congress and the American people. While this debate has become more publicized since the Bush administration, similar issues of presidential power date back to Truman and the Korean War. As with much of the structure of the U.S. government, the powers of the president are constantly evolving with the times and the executives.
From the Library of Congress, 1778. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mgw3&fileName=mgw3 g/gwpage003.db&recNum (accessed November 9, 2013). 2. Alden, John. The.
The American president, currently Barack Obama, has Executive powers over the federal government and has powers to appoint ambassadors, the Cabinet, Justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the federal courts and is in control of the armed forces. In law making the president himself is only part of the process at the end of it, when it comes to enrolling it (3), he has the power to ‘forget about it’ because he has the power to leave it on his desk for 10 days and then have it put through the process again. This shows that the American president has the power to ‘delay’ a law going through. Compared to the Iranian president, currently Hassan Rouhani, the American president has more formal powers because even though Rouhani is head of the executive branch, the Supreme Leader sets overall policies and oversees everything the president does. In contrast, the Supreme Leader of Iran appoints key figures in the political system and not the president. (2). This, however, doesn’t mean that the American president can do what he wishes; The Senate has to approve presidential appointments and approve treaties, the Senate has to also approve the appointments of all supreme
As far as foreign policymaking goes, the main goal of the Government is to “speak with one voice” (p. 336) so that our nation will be seen as a united and unwavering force. This notion was put into law in 1799 by the Logan Act, which prohibited unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign Governments. Even with such laws in place, having one central foreign policymaking body is easier said than done. The system of checks and balances provides much stability to our national government, but it can also create a struggle between who has what power and who has the final say in matters regarding this issue. There are many individuals, departments, and agencies that retain some influence in the arena of foreign policymaking but for many reasons that will be further discussed, The President is the dominant force and ultimate decision-making resides in his hands, and his alone.
Richard E. Neustadt, the author of Presidential Power, addresses the politics of leadership and how the citizens of the United States rate the performance of the president's term. We measure his leadership by saying that he is either "weak or "strong" and Neustadt argues that we have the right to do so, because his office has become the focal point of politics and policy in our political system.
Several aspects of the executive branch give the presidency political power. The president’s biggest constitutional power is the power of the veto (Romance, July 27). This is a power over Congress, allowing the president to stop an act of Congress in its tracks. Two things limit the impact of this power, however. First, the veto is simply a big “NO” aimed at Congress, making it largely a negative power as opposed to a constructive power (July 27). This means that the presidential veto, while still quite potent even by its mere threat, is fundamentally a reactive force rather than an active force. Second, the presidential veto can be overturned by two-thirds of the House of Representatives and Senate (Landy and Milkis, 289). This means that the veto doesn’t even necessarily hav...