”Kongen Vender Tilbage: Præsident George W. Bush og magtbalancen i det amerikanske demokrati"

1. ”Kongen Vender Tilbage: Præsident George W. Bush og magtbalancen i det amerikanske demokrati"

2. Verdens mægtigste mand?Verdens mægtigste embede?- dømt til at skuffe?

3. De grundlæggende principper i USA’s demokrati: • ”Separation of powers” • ”Checks and balances” • ”Federalism”

5. Forskellige typer beføjelser • Forfatningsmæssige beføjelser • Underforståede beføjelser • Beføjelser som præsidenter enten har tiltusket sig (op gennem amerikansk historie) eller har fået overdraget af Kongressen

6. Præsidentens beføjelser • Section 1: ”The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America…” • Section. 2. • Clause 1: • “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States…

7. Kongressens beføjelser i forbindelse med krig • Section 8 - Powers of Congress • ”To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations; • To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; • To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; • To provide and maintain a Navy; • To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; • To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; • To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;…”

8. De to vigtigste kilder til fortolkning af Forfatningen: • ”The Federalist Papers” • Tidligere højesteretsdomme

9. To Visioner: Jefferson v. Hamilton

10. Rollemodellen: George Washington

11. Præsidentens funktioner: • Statsoverhoved • Regeringsleder • Øverstkommanderende for militæret • Partileder • ”Den frie verdens leder”

12. Fem Kriterier for præsidenters succes: • A) Omfanget af de problemer de har stået overfor • B) Deres anstrengelser for at løse disse problemer • C) Hvilke visioner de har haft for nationens udvikling • D) Hvilke resultater de har været i stand til at opnå • E) De langsigtede virkninger af deres handlinger? • Hertil kommer selvfølgelig omfanget af magtmisbrug, korruption, ulovligheder og skandaler.

13. Studiet af præsidenten som beslutningstager

14. Fem epoker i præsidentembedets udvikling: • Nationens fædre (1790-1828) • Det traditionelle præsidentembede (1817-1933) • Det kejserlige præsidentembede (1933-1974) • Det ”postmoderne” præsidentembede (1974-) • ”Kongen vender tilbage…” (2001-)

15. ”The Imperial Presidency” • Misbrug af ”emergency powers” i den nationale sikkerheds navn • ”the secrecy system” – herunder brug af CIA i hemmelige operationer • En voldsom udvidelse af præsidentens beføjelser som øverstkommanderende for de væbnede styrker

16. “when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” • Richard M. Nixon, 1977

17. Sikkerhed eller demokrati? • “Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.” • James Madison til Thomas Jefferson, 1798

18. ”The Unitary Executive Theory”: Det kejserlige præsidentembede” på steroider

19. Hvordan har Bush-regeringen styrket præsidentembedets magt? • Brug af prærogativer (executive privilege, etc.) • Hemmeligholdelse (NSA-aflytninger, klasificeringer, m.m.) • Udvidet brug af ”Commander in Chief”-beføjelser • ”Signing statements”

20. Det forfatningsmæssige argument:”The Unitary Executive Theory” • Alexander Hamilton i ”Federalist 70”: • THERE is an idea, which is not without its advocates, that a vigorous Executive is inconsistent with the genius of republican government. The enlightened well-wishers to this species of government must at least hope that the supposition is destitute of foundation; since they can never admit its truth, without at the same time admitting the condemnation of their own principles. Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the protection of property against those irregular and high-handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; to the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy. Every man the least conversant in Roman story, knows how often that republic was obliged to take refuge in the absolute power of a single man, under the formidable title of Dictator, as well against the intrigues of ambitious individuals who aspired to the tyranny, and the seditions of whole classes of the community whose conduct threatened the existence of all government, as against the invasions of external enemies who menaced the conquest and destruction of Rome. • There can be no need, however, to multiply arguments or examples on this head. A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government. • Taking it for granted, therefore, that all men of sense will agree in the necessity of an energetic Executive, it will only remain to inquire, what are the ingredients which constitute this energy? How far can they be combined with those other ingredients which constitute safety in the republican sense? And how far does this combination characterize the plan which has been reported by the convention? • The ingredients which constitute energy in the Executive are, first, unity; secondly, duration; thirdly, an adequate provision for its support; fourthly, competent powers. • The ingredients which constitute safety in the republican sense are, first, a due dependence on the people, secondly, a due responsibility.

21. Men her er Hamilton i ”Federalist 69”: • ”The President is to be the ``commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States. He is to have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, EXCEPT IN CASES OF IMPEACHMENT … In most of these particulars, the power of the President will resemble equally that of the king of Great Britain and of the governor of New York. The most material points of difference are these: First. The President will have only the occasional command of such part of the militia of the nation as by legislative provision may be called into the actual service of the Union. The king of Great Britain and the governor of New York have at all times the entire command of all the militia within their several jurisdictions. In this article, therefore, the power of the President would be inferior to that of either the monarch or the governor. Secondly. The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States. In this respect his authority would be nominally the same with that of the king of Great Britain, but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces, as first General and admiral of the Confederacy; while that of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all which, by the Constitution under consideration, would appertain to the legislature. ”

22. “Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded.” James Madison

23. “NO PENANCE WOULD EVER EXPIATE THE SIN AGAINST FREE GOVERNMENT OF HOLDING THAT A PRESIDENT CAN ESCAPE CONTROL OF EXECUTIVE POWERS BY LAW THROUGH ASSUMING HIS MILITARY ROLE.” Højesteretsdommer Robert Jackson i YOUNGSTOWN SHEET & TUBE CO. V. SAWYER (1952)

24. Følger Bush blot Lincolns eksempel i ”krigen mod terror”?

25. Hvordan adskiller Bush sig fra sine forgængeres brug af prærogativer? Inherent powers + ”unitary executive” = absolute power!

26. Et eksempel: Militære kommissioner for ”ulovlige fjendtlige kombattanter” – Præsidenten som lovgivende, udøvende og dømmende magt

27. Magt = fraværet af modstand – Kongressens og domstolenes medansvar “one of the striking facts of the modern presidency is the extent to which it was built through congressional initiative.” James L. Sundquist, “First of all, I’m not going to let Congress erode the power of the Executive Branch. I have a duty to protect the Executive Branch from legislative encroachment” George W. Bush

28. Efter Bush: Vil det politiske system selv genoprette balancen?