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• Presidents: popularly elected – an American invention– Only 16 countries have

a popularly elected president, and 13 are in North and South America

• Prime Ministers: chosen by and responsible to Parliament– Most Western European

countries as well as Israel and Japan

– No nation with a purely presidential political system in Europe

– Voters in Europe do not directly elect Prime Minister

– Prime Minister is elected by majority party

• PRESIDENTS ARE OFTEN OUTSIDERS: – Is easier to win election if you

can show voters you are not part of the “mess in Washington”

– The majority of presidents elected from 1828-2000 were either governors, military leaders, or vice presidents

• PRESIDENTS CHOOSE CABINET MEMBERS FROM OUTSIDE OF CONGRESS:– Under the Constitution, no sitting

member in Congress can hold office in the executive branch (Prime Ministers choose cabinet members from Parliament)

– Presidents choose (close personal friends, campaign aides, representatives of important constituencies, and experts on various policy issues, or some combination of all three

• PRESIDENTS HAVE NO GUARANTEED MAJORITY IN THE LEGISLATURE:– Prime ministers do have

majority in Parliament– President’s party often does

not have congressional majority – usually controlled by opposite party creating a divided government

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• Divided Government: one party controls the White House and a different party controls the Congress

• Unified Government: the White House and Congress are controlled by same party

• Americans say they do not like a divided government.– They think divided

government produces partisan bickering, political paralysis, and policy gridlock

• It is not clear that divided government produces gridlock that is any worse than when there is a unified government

• It is not clear that, even if gridlock does exist, it is always, or even usually, a bad thing for the country

• DOES GRIDLOCK MATTER?– Not clear if divided

governments produce fewer or worse policies than a unified one

– Scholars say:• Conclude that divided

governments do about as well as unified ones in passing important laws, conducting important investigations, and ratifying significant treaties

• WHY DO DIVIDED GOVERNMENTS PRODUCE ABOUT AS MUCH IMPORTANT LEGISLATION AS UNIFIED ONES?– Unified government is something of a

myth– Republicans as a party can be

divided between conservatives and liberals

– Constitution ensures that the president and Congress will be rivals for power and thus rivals in policy-making

• The only time there is a unified government is when not just the same party but the same ideological wing of that party is in effective control of both branches

• IS POLICY GRIDLOCK BAD?– American President has less

ability to decide what laws get passed than does a British Prime Minister

• To change this the Constitution must be changed; Americans don’t want to do this

• Voters split-tickets: vote Democratic for President, but Republican for Congress

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• James Wilson: suggest a single, elected president at the Constitutional Convention in 1787

• CONCERNS OF THE FOUNDERS:– Most frequent concern was

over the possibility of presidential reelection.

– Governor of Pennsylvania in the 1700s stated: “Make him too weak: the Legislature will usurp his powers. Make him too strong: he will usurp the Legislature.”

• CONCERNS OF THE FOUNDERS: – Suspicious of human

nature– President would use

militia to overpower state governors

– President would use bribery, intrigue, and force to win election

• CONCERNS OF THE FOUNDERS:

– Argued against Congress choosing the president which would make our system quasi-parliamentary

• ELECTORAL COLLEGE: – Each of the states would

select electors in whatever manner the states wished• Electors would meet in each

state capitol and vote for president and vice president

• If tie in the Electoral College the decision goes to the House of Representatives

• THE PRESIDENT’S TERM OF OFFICE:– Franklin D. Roosevelt

only president to serve more than two terms

– 1951 – Twenty-second Amendment limited all presidents to two-year terms

• THE FIRST PRESIDENTS:– The presidency was

kept modest• President could not

appear on coin or currency until dead

• THE JACKSONIANS (Andrew Jackson):– Broad changes began to

occur in American politics– Altered the relations between

president and Congress and the nature of presidential leadership. Was a strong independent President – not afraid of Congress

• THE JACKSONIANS (Andrew Jackson):– Jackson vetoed 12 acts of

Congress– Jackson demonstrated what

could be done by a popular president

– Jackson believed in a strong and independent presidency – President stronger than Congress

• THE REEMERGENCE OF CONGRESS:– End of Jackson’s second term,

Congress quickly established its power

– For great periods of time congressional – and usually senatorial – dominated the national government

– Abraham Lincoln exemplified a strong president; did much without Congress

– Later Congress becomes principal federal institution

• President becomes equipped with great powers during a national emergency, and when popular and strong-willed the president can expand his or her powers

• Since the 1930s– Presidency has been more

powerful no matter who occupied the office and whether or not there is a crisis

– WHY? Because government is more involved in our lives today

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• Most powers are found in Article II of the Constitution

• Two types of Powers: 1. Those he or she can

exercise in their own right without formal legislative approval

2. Those that require the consent of the Senate or the Congress as a whole

• POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT ALONE– Serve as commander in chief of the armed

forces– Commission officers of the armed forces – Grant reprieves and pardons for federal

offenses (except impeachment)– Convene Congress in special sessions– Receive ambassadors– Take care that the laws be faithfully

executed– Wield the “executive power”– Appoint officials to lesser offices

• POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT THAT ARE SHARED WITH THE SENATE– Make Treaties– Appoint ambassadors, judges, and high

officials

• POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT THAT ARE SHARED WITH CONGRESS AS A WHOLE

– Approve legislation

• Woodrow Wilson wrote a book called: Congressional Government

– Book describes the president’s powers as “usually not much above routine”

• President has great military powers, and in defining the regulations and programs that will actually be put into effect

• PRESIDENT IS NOT FIRST BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT; CONGRESS IS

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• HUNDREDS OF STAFF• HELICOPTER, GUARDS,

LIMOUSINES• PRESIDENTIAL

APPOINTMENTS

• THREE DEGRESS OF KINSHIP

1. The White House Office

2. The Executive Office

3. The Cabinet

1. THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE

– Closest assistants have offices in the West Wing of the White House

1. THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE– Three ways in which the president

can organize his or her staff1. Pyramid Structure:

assistants report through a hierarchy to a chief of staff, who then deals directly with the president

2. Circular Structure: cabinet secretaries and assistants report directly to president

3. Ad hoc Structure: task forces, committees, and informal groups of friends and advisers deal directly with the president

• Pyramid Structure: provides for an orderly flow of information and decisions, but does so at the risk of isolating or misinforming the president

• Circular method: has the virtue of giving the president a great deal of information, but at the price of confusion and conflict among cabinet secretaries and assistants

• Ad hoc structure: allows great flexibility, minimizes bureaucratic inertia, and generates ideas and information from disparate channels, but risks cutting the president off from the government officials who are ultimately responsible for translating presidential decisions into policy proposals and administrative action

2. THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT– The Executive Office report

directly to the president and perform staff services for him but are not located in the White House

– President’s appointments to the Executive Office must be approved by the Senate.

– Most important Executive Office is The Office of Management and Budget

3. THE CABINET:– A product of tradition and hope– The role of the cabinet is largely

fiction– Constitution does not mention the

cabinet– 25th Amendment implies the cabinet

as consisting of “the principal offices of the executive departments

– There are 14 major cabinets• Page 3784; Table 14.1 lists the

Cabinets• Cabinet appointments rewards

the president’s friends and political supporters

• INDEPENDENT AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS, AND JUDGESHIPS:– President can appoint federal judges,

subject to the consent of the Senate.– Judges serve for life unless removed

by impeachment and conviction– What is an “Acting” appointment

• Say for instance I am an “Acting” Appointment – means I have not yet been confirmed by the Senate

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• FEDERAL AGENCIES:– Executive Agencies:

Head can be removed at any time

– Independent or “Quasi-Independent” Agencies: members serve for a fixed term

• Most of cabinet, subcabinet, and independent-agency appointees had some prior federal experience

• They are in-and-outers: go between federal jobs and private sector jobs

• Most selected because of expertise or administrative experience

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• The president’s persuasive powers are aimed at three audiences

1. Fellow politicians and leaders• Most important

2. Party activists and officeholders outside Washington– Partisan Grassroots: people

who want the president to exemplify their principles, trumpet their slogans, appeal to their fears and hopes, and help them get reelected

3. The Public– The Bully Pulpit:

president’s use of his prestige and visibility to guide or enthuse the American public• The president’s formal

speeches

• Object is to convert personal popularity into congressional support for the president’s legislative programs, and improve chances for reelection

• The effect of “riding the president’s coattails” has declined in recent years

• The more popular a president is, the higher the proportion of his or her bills will pass Congress

• Most presidents lose popular support between their inauguration and the time they leave office

• Honeymoon: president’s popularity seems to be highest right after election

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1. VETO

2. EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE: president’s right to withhold information that Congress may want to obtain from the president

• A way for the president to block congressional action and force congress to bargain with the president

• VETO1. VETO MESSAGE: a statement

that the president sends to Congress accompanying the bill, within 10 days (not including Sundays) after the bill has been passed

2. Pocket Veto: president does not sign the bill within 10 days and Congress has adjourned with that time, then the bill does not become law – only before the life of a given Congress expires

• A bill that is not signed or vetoed within 10 days while Congress is still in session becomes law without the presidents approval

• Two-thirds of each House to override a veto

• Only 4% of bills have been overriden

• LINE-ITEM VETO: block particular part of a bill

– President cannot do this