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Limitations on The Presidents Power

Limitations on The Presidents Power. Factors in the growth of Presidential Power a summary. The growth of big Government The importance of Foreign Power The personality of the President The conception of their roles in the office The inertia of Congress Erosion of the balance

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Limitations on The Presidents Power

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  1. Limitations on The Presidents Power

  2. Factors in the growth of Presidential Power a summary • The growth of big Government • The importance of Foreign Power • The personality of the President • The conception of their roles in the office • The inertia of Congress • Erosion of the balance • The Mass Media

  3. Limitations • ‘Presidential Power’ – Richard Neustadt (1960) • Detected weakness in the Presidential system • Re-iterated that personality is important • Must have an extraordinary temperament

  4. Congress • The President needs congressional support • Faced with a hostile Congress, Presidents struggle to carry out their programme • ‘Gridlock’ – Two branches of Government are locked in conflict

  5. Impeachment • The process by which Congress can remove Officers of the National Govt. • The House votes on a charge and a trial is then conducted in the Senate • Special prosecutors are appointed by Congress to bring the charges.

  6. The Supreme Court • The Court can negate a particular activity • FDR’s court packing scheme • President Nixon and the Watergate tapes • Clinton and Lewinsky • President and the staff could be compelled to give evidence under oath

  7. The Constitution and the amendments • Any President wishing to bring any measure of gun control is limited by “The right to bear arms” • President Roosevelt found that the Constitution can be a barrier to social progress • Some amendments have weakened Presidential power • 22nd Amendment limits the Presidential term • 25th Amendment provided for the removal of person considered mentally or physically unfit……

  8. Mentally unfit?????

  9. The Federal System • The 50 states have a degree of fiscal and legislative authority • This acts as a check on the role of Federal Government and therefore of the President • The President often has to negotiate with state representatives in several areas of responsibility

  10. Pressure Groups • A Republican President has to contend with • Christian Fundamentalists, pro-lifers and big business • A Democrat President has to contend with • Labour Unions and environmentalists • Bill Clinton had many problems over gays in the military

  11. The Mass Media • Television can be a source of power, but • Can also damage credibility, especially if there is a poor performance or a gaffe, for example the Ford Presidential debates of 1976 – “Poland not under Eastern European Domination” – and you thought Dubya was thick!! • Press journalists are very vigilant in exposing Presidential wrong-doings • Vietnam, Watergate, Irangate, Whitewatergate and Monicagate….

  12. Public Opinion • Levels of support can fluctuate • George Bush snr had a good rating after the Gulf War, but then down at the state of the domestic economy • Clinton was able to retain a high level of public opinion despite misdemeanours • Power then checked by Congress, Media and Bureaucracy • George W Bush, losing support rapidly over Iraq

  13. Bureaucracy • Sooo many Govt. agencies • Fiscal Policy – How much power does the Federal reserve have to determine interest rates? • Foreign Policy – How powerful id the CinC, and how much does he rely on other countries support? • Having powers does not necessarily mean ‘having power’

  14. Questions….. • So then… • What factors determine the power of the President and • in what ways is this power limited? • President Turman argued that the ‘only power is the power to persuade’. Is this a valid description of Presidential power today?

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