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The American Executive

Dive into Richard Neustadt's insights, exploring how the US President navigates and shares power in a complex system. Discover the essence of persuasion, bargaining, and the intricate dynamics that shape the presidency. Unveil the constraints and sources of influence that sculpt executive authority.

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The American Executive

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  1. The American Executive A clerkship?

  2. Richard Neustadt • The Constitution provides for: • Not just separation of powers • Rather, separated institutions SHARING powers • Government action is LIMITED • Congress, president share lawmaking and executing • Bill of Rights & Courts limit what govt can do • Private actors and press are autonomous • International actors are autonomous • But we expect the president to “get things done”!

  3. Richard Neustadt • The president cannot command • Even within the executive branch (Sawyer ex.) • The constitutional presidency is a clerkship

  4. Why persuasion is necessary Presidential power is the ability to use his scarce resources to bargain “When one man shares authority with another, but does not gain or lose his job upon the other’s whim, his willingness to act upon the urging of the other turns on whether he conceives the action to be right for him. The essence of a President’s persuasive task is to convince such men that what the White House wants of them is what they ought to do for their sake and on their authority.” --Neustadt, Presidential Power, P. 30

  5. Neustadt • Presidential power lies in bargaining, not argument or rhetoric. • Political disagreement with the president comes from competing interests and incentives, not just words. • Marshall Plan example: great policy accomplishment for unpopular, unelected, minority party president

  6. Two resources to make persuasion effective • Professional reputation • Public prestige

  7. Founding of the Presidency • Fears of executive power • Fears of chaos from weak executive • Founders disagreed about how powerful the president should be • Result: vague, shared presidential powers

  8. The President’s Constitutional Powers • 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; • he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices • he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. • He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law • he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; • he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, • and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States • --Article II, US Constitution

  9. Qualified veto power • Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it.If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. • (No line item veto)

  10. Power to suggest “He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient” (Art. II: Sect. 3).

  11. AlwaysDebates Over Presidential Powers • Can the president declare neutrality? • When can the president veto a bill?

  12. Sources of Presidential Power • The Constitution • Congress • Courts • Political parties • Bureaucracy • The public • The media • International affairs and events • Skill & bargaining • No collective action problem

  13. Constraints on Presidential Power • The Constitution • Congress • Courts • Political parties • Federalism • Bureaucracy • The public • The media • International affairs and events • Skill & bargaining

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