The American Executive
A clerkship?
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”!
Richard Neustadt
• The president cannot command
– Even within the executive branch (Sawyer
ex.)
• The constitutional presidency is a
clerkship
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
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
Two resources to make
persuasion effective
• Professional reputation
• Public prestige
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
The President’s Constitutional
Powers
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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.
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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
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)
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).
Always
Debates Over Presidential
Powers
• Can the president declare neutrality?
• When can the president veto a bill?
Sources of Presidential Power
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The Constitution
Congress
Courts
Political parties
Bureaucracy
The public
The media
International affairs and events
Skill & bargaining
No collective action problem
Constraints on Presidential
Power
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The Constitution
Congress
Courts
Political parties
Federalism
Bureaucracy
The public
The media
International affairs and events
Skill & bargaining