Ch. 14
Where Does the President’s Power Come
From?
II of the Constitution –
 Vaguely written and loosely
interpreted
 Article
The “Imperial Presidency”
 President’s
power is always
growing, never shrinking
 Reasons:
 POTUS doesn’t argue with
himself like Congress or the
Courts
The “Imperial Presidency”
 Reasons:
 Life’s
complexities & people
look to the President to fix
problems
The “Imperial Presidency”
 Reasons:
 National
emergencies require
someone to act quickly, which
only the President can do
The “Imperial Presidency”
 Reasons:
 Congress
creates new
programs, commissions, or
agencies which executive
branch must oversee
The “Imperial Presidency”
 Reasons:
 President
can use mass media
to attract attention
Types of Powers
Powers – spelled out
in the Constitution
 Ex. – “The President shall be
commander-in-chief of the Army
and Navy of the United States”
– Article II, Section 2
 Expressed
Types of Powers
Powers – reasonably
derived from expressed powers
 Ex. - When Air Force and
Marines were created, control
was implied to belong to the
president
 Implied
Executive Powers
 Power
to Execute the Law
 Expressed in the Oath of Office
 Gives
him power over all
federal laws passed by
Congress
Executive Powers
 The
Ordinance Power
 Gives him power to issue
executive orders –
a directive, rule, or regulation
that has the effect of law
POTUS Executive Orders






JFK
LBJ
Nixon
Ford
Carter
Reagan
5
4
1
3
3
5




GHW Bush
Clinton
GW Bush
Obama
3
15
290
166
I want
my way
Executive Powers

The Appointment Power
 Gives him power to appoint:
Ambassadors & diplomats
Cabinet members
Heads of agencies
Judges & U.S. Attorneys
Officers in the armed forces
Executive Powers
 The
Removal Power
 Gives him power to dismiss
anyone he appointed
But
not judges!
Foreign Relations Powers
 Power

to make treaties
President negotiates, Senate
approves with a 2/3 vote
Foreign Relations Powers
 Power
to make executive
agreements
 Like treaties, but without Senate
approval
Foreign Relations Powers

Power of Recognition
 Acknowledgement of legal
existence of a country or
government
Foreign Relations Powers

President can kick diplomats out,
declaring them persona non grata
Legislative Powers

Power to propose laws
 The
State of the Union Address,
where the President must inform
the nation once a year of our
present situation
Judicial Powers

Powers of Clemency – can use for
anyone charged or convicted on a
federal offense (not on state crimes!)
Judicial Powers
– postpone a sentence
 Pardon – forgive a crime
 Commutation – shortening a
sentence
 Amnesty – forgiveness for a large
group of lawbreakers
 Reprieve
What Determines Whether a
President is Effective or Not?
Read only
 Richard
Neustadt’s Theory of
Presidential Power:
 The power of the presidency is
determined by his ability to
persuade 5 “constituencies” of
people
Neustadt’s 5 Constituencies
read only
The Public
 His Party
 The Bureaucracy (Agencies)
 Congress
 Foreign Nations

 Neustadt
rates presidents based on how
they do with each of these groups
Neustadt’s 5 Constituencies
read only

The important thing in Neustadt
Ratings is not how often you get what
you want

It is how often you take steps
to improve your chances of getting
what you want in the future