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The Presidency

The Presidency. Overview. Qualifications & Demographics Presidential Roles Organization of the Executive Branch Presidential Power. Qualifications. Article II, Section 1: Natural Born Citizen 35 years old 14 year resident of U.S. Presidential Roles. Chief Executive

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The Presidency

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  1. The Presidency

  2. Overview • Qualifications & Demographics • Presidential Roles • Organization of the Executive Branch • Presidential Power

  3. Qualifications • Article II, Section 1: • Natural Born Citizen • 35 years old • 14 year resident of U.S.

  4. Presidential Roles Chief Executive • oversee federal bureaucracy • administer and execute the law

  5. Presidential Roles Chief of State: largely ceremonial or symbolic functions where President represents the country as a whole

  6. Presidential Roles Commander in Chief • Civilian control of Armed forces.

  7. Presidential Roles Chief Diplomat • negotiate and sign treaties • appoint diplomats • receive foreign officials • negotiate and sign executive agreements

  8. Presidential Roles Chief Legislator • recommend legislation to Congress • set legislative agenda • veto power

  9. Presidential Roles Chief of Party

  10. Checks on the President • Commander in Chief • Congress declares war • Congress controls budget • War Powers Act (1973) • 48 hour alert to Congress • troops stay for 60 days pending Congressional approval • With no approval, troops must be withdrawn

  11. Checks on the President • Chief Executive • Senate must approve presidential appointments • Civil Service protection for most appointees • Congress controls the budget

  12. Checks on the President • Chief Diplomat • Senate confirmation of ambassadors • Senate confirmation of treaties • Chief Legislator • President does not have seat in Congress • Congress can override veto

  13. Checks on the President • Party Chief • term limit and “lame duck” status • loose organization of American parties makes it difficult to “lead”

  14. 15 Departments

  15. e.g., WHO, CEA, NSC, OMB

  16. e.g., CIA, EPA, NASA, NRC, Peace Corps

  17. Presidential Powers • Two types of presidential powers: • Formal • those determined by the statute and the Constitution • Informal • those based on tradition, personal traits, political and sociological realities

  18. Powers of the President Formal Powers Appointment Treaties and Foreign Policy Veto/Sign Legislation

  19. Powers of the President • Special Executive Powers • Executive Orders • A rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect of law. • They can • enforce legislative statutes • enforce the Constitution or treaties • establish or modify rules and practices of executive administrative agencies • Published in The Federal Register • EO by disposition (FDR to Obama)

  20. Presidential Powers • Formal Powers include: • Executive Privilege • ability to withhold information from Congress or to refuse to recognize Congressional subpoena

  21. Presidential Power • Informal Powers: • Access to Media • use of mass media allows president to reach public in a way that no other institution or politician in government can

  22. Presidential Power • Informal Powers (cont’d) • Persuasion • Bargain with members of Congress and bureaucracy • Success depends on variety of factors, including: • personal communication skills • partisan divide in Congress • public approval ratings

  23. Powers of the President • Executive Privilege • The right of executive officials to withhold information from or to refuse to appear before a legislative committee • Emergency Powers • An inherent power exercised by the president during a period of national crisis

  24. Powers of the President • Informal Powers • Persuasion • Personal communication skills • Partisan divide in Congress • Place in term • Public Opinion ratings

  25. Powers of the President Source: Wall Street Journal

  26. Electing the President • Longest campaign election of any elected office in US, probably the world • Unique electoral system in US • Three stages

  27. Primary Season • To win presidency, candidates generally need to secure nomination of major party • Since the 1972 presidential election, both parties have relied on party primary elections to solve this

  28. Primary Season • Primary Elections run from late January through June in the year preceding the general election (2008 calendar here) • Elections come in 2 types: • closed (must be party member to vote) • open (open to all registered voters) (state by state summaries available here)

  29. Primary Season • The aim in these elections is to win delegates to the party conventions • Each party allocates a set number of delegates to each state, based on the number of registered party members of that party in the state

  30. Primary Season • In addition, the Democratic party has 796 “superdelegates” who are party leaders and who are not pledged to vote for any particular candidate prior to the convention (NJ has 18 of these) • The Republicans have 123 unpledged party leaders who are at the convention with voting rights

  31. Primary Season • The two major parties use different systems for allocating delegates though • Republicans generally use “winner-take-all” format • the candidate that wins the primary gets all that state’s delegates [2008 totals for Republican primaries here] • Democrats use “proportional” rep • candidates are allocated delegates based on the percentage of the vote received [2008 totals for Democratic primaries here]

  32. Nominating Convention • Held late summer (usually the last two weeks of August through early September) • Nominate president, vice-president, and adopt party platform Democratic Convention (8/25-28)Republican Convention (9/1-4)

  33. General Election Campaign • Generally runs from end of convention through the election • Election is held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November

  34. General Election • To be elected president, candidate must receive a majority of votes cast in the Electoral College

  35. General Election • Formula for allocating seats is: # of Reps + # of Sen = E.C.V 435 + 100 = 535 D.C. gets 3 (23rd Amendment) so 538/2 = 269+1 = 270 votes needed to be president

  36. General Election • Aim is to win enough states so that the electoral college vote is over 270 • This means it is possible for a candidate to win more popular votes and still lose the election (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000)

  37. Electoral College • Members of the Electoral College vote in each state (they do not collectively assemble) • Cast ballots on the 1st Monday after the 2nd Wednesday in December.

  38. Electoral College • If no candidate received 270 votes, then: • House of Representatives elects president • take top 3 vote getters • each states gets 1 vote • Senate elects vice president • take top 2 vote getters • each senator gets 1 vote

  39. Vice Presidency • Same requirements as president, except cannot be from same state as the president (12th Amendment) • President of the Senate • Other responsibilities as designated by the President

  40. Removal and Succession • Removal: • Election • Impeachment • Resignation • Death • Illness

  41. Removal • Illness: 25th Amendment • President informs Congress • If President unable to inform Congress, then VP does it, with majority vote of cabinet • If dispute over whether President is able to return to office, 2/3rds vote of Congress decides whether VP stays or not

  42. Succession • Succession Act of 1947 • Pres • VP • Speaker of the House • President pro tempore of Senate • Cabinet Secretaries chronologically arranged by creation of department

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