The Presidency
IV. Institutions of National Government: The Congress,
the Presidency, the
Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts
35–45%
A. The major formal and informal institutional
arrangements of power
B. Relationships among these four institutions and
varying balances of power
C. Linkages between institutions and the following:
1. Public opinion and voters
2.Interest groups
3. Political parties
4. The media
5. State and local governments
Prime Minister v. President
• Prime Minister
– Member of Legislature
– Elected by Majority Party
– Fused legislative and executive
functions
– Directly introduces policy
– Majority party policies will be
passed because of party blockvoting
– Cabinet sits and participates
directly in legislature
– Cabinet has to be member of
legislature
– Completely controls legislative
agenda
• President
– Not a member of legislature
– Elected by electoral
college/popular vote
– Separation of powers/checks and
balances
– Cannot directly introduce policy
– No guarantee president’s policy
will pass in legislature
– Cabinet separate from legislature
– Cabinet cannot be members of
legislature
– Agenda is decided by separate
branches
Presidential Succession Act
• Establishes the line of
succession to the office of
President of the United States
in the event that neither a
President or Vice President is
able to "discharge the powers
and duties of the office."
– Death
– Resignation
– Inability to serve
• Speaker of the House
• President pro tempore of the
Senate
• Secretary of State
• Secretary of the Treasury
• Secretary of Defense
• Attorney General
• …and the rest of the Cabinet
Presidential Primaries
• Early 1800s, congressional leaders selected
candidates by caucus
• Andrew Jackson’s supporters criticized the
system
– Jackson Democrats and Whigs held party
conventions
• Party bosses begin to dominate
– Progressives promoted primary elections to give
voters a greater role
• 2008: 40 states held primaries
Primaries
Closed
• Required to identify a party
preference
• Not allowed to split ticket
Open
• Voters decide on Election
Day
• Can choose to participate in
either Democratic or
Republican contest
• Only about 25% of adult
citizens cast ballots in
primary elections
• Tend to be party activists
• Older and more affluent
than voters in the general
election
Party Conventions
• Historically: party conventions selected
candidates after dramatic bargaining
• Now: leading contender almost always has the
nomination locked up before the convention
• Functions:
– Formally name candidates
– Adopt party platform
– Attempt to unify party and generate publicity
Campaign Spending
• 1988: George Bush and Michael Dukakis spent
$60.3 million during primaries.
• 2008: Barack Obama & John McCain spend
$408 million to fund primaries.
• 2012 total spending
– Obama 1,107,029,174
– Romney 1,238,072,571
Campaign Finance Reform
• The Federal Election Reform Act of 1974
– Created Federal Election Commission
– Provided partial public funding for presidential
primaries
– Provided full public financing for major party
candidates in the general election
– Limits on individual contributions to candidates
Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
• Struck down limits on the amount an
individual could contribute to his/her own
campaign
• Contributing to one’s own campaign is
protected free speech
Soft Money
• Unregulated donations to political parties for
party-building expenses
– Grassroots activities
– Generic party advertising
• Reform laws didn’t regulate soft money
donations
• Soft money was used to circumvent
limitations on hard money contributions
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform
Act of 2001
• McCain-Feingold Bill
• Aimed to eliminate soft money contributions
527 groups
• Tax-exempt organization created to influence
the political process
• Not regulated by the FEC
• Do not coordinate with a candidate or party
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
• Congress could not limit contributions to
independent organizations that were not
coordinated with the candidate
– corporations protected by 1st Amendment to
have freedom of political speech and there should
be no limit to their spending.
• led to the rise of the Super PAC
– independent-expenditure organizations that can
raise unlimited funds from individuals and
corporations
– for electioneering ads, as long as they are not
coordinated directly with the candidate.
Electoral College
• The body that formally
elects the president
– Each state selects a body of
electors
– Senators + Reps = #
– Winner take all/plurality
– Winner may not get a
majority of popular vote
• Gore 2000
• Original Intent
– Constitution
• Most votes in Electoral
College
– President
• Second most votes in
Electoral College
– Vice President
• 12 Amendment requires
Pres and VP candidates to
run as a ticket
– Electoral College votes
separately for President
and Vice President
Electors
• Originally chosen by state legislatures
• Today selected by the parties
• Electoral votes = total of representatives and
senators
– 7 states and DC have 3
– Total = 538
Electoral College
Consequences
Why it hasn’t been abolished
Winner take all
Requires constitutional amendment
Focus on swing states
Collectively benefits small states (guaranteed
at least 3 votes)
Emphasize issues that may swing a key bloc
of voters in a pivotal state
Benefits racial minorities and interest groups
in key states
Restricts third party candidates
No consensus on how to reform
Faithless Elector
• Member of the Electoral
College who does not cast
their electoral votes for
the people they have
pledged to vote for
– Has happened 158 times
– Many states have laws that
require electors to be a
“rubber stamp” of popular
election
Presidential Powers & Duties
The Cabinet
• The heads of the 15 major executive departments
– Not mentioned in the US Constitution
• Created by Congress at the request of the President
• Before taking office, the first job of the President elect
is to appoint the 15 cabinet secretaries
• White House Staff
– Highest ranking member of Executive Office of President is
Chief of Staff
– Staff MUST be personally loyal to president
– Can appoint/dismiss at will
The Executive Office of the President
• The key aids to the president that
assist him with his day to day
duties
– The President directly hires his
own assistants to oversee
political and policy interests
– Composed of 1600 people
including the President’s top aids
– Not part of the cabinet
/executive agencies
• Chief of Staff
– Top aid to President
– Responsible for managing the
Executive Office
• National Security Advisor
– Advises on long range military
and foreign affairs
• Council of Economic Advisors
• Domestic Affairs Advisors
– Health, Education, Social Services
• Office of Management and
Budget
– Advises and prepares President’s
budget for submission to
Congress
Office of Management and Budget
• Gives expert advice to senior
White House officials on a
range of topics relating to
federal policy, management,
legislative, regulatory, and
budgetary issues
– Budgeting is how the
president controls the
bureaucracy
• Budgets increase and
decrease depending on the
president’s policy priorities
• All budget requests go
through the OMB before
going to Congress
• Conflicting Loyalties
– 15 Executive Departments
– They all compete for funds
– Hard to satisfy each
Presidential Appointments
• Representation
– Presidents try to represent many different groups
– Race, ethnicity, gender
• The Revolving Door
• Who Gets Appointed
– Reward for political help
– For Fence Mending
– For Ideology
– For Ability and Notoriety
– For Coalition Buildings with interest groups and
other party
– For administering presidential policy goal
Veto Message/Pocket Veto
1. Sign into law
2. Veto
– Vetoes are sent back to Congress within 10 days
• Sent to the house where the bill originated
3. Wait 10 days
– The bill becomes law if Congress is in session and
the President waits more than 10 days
– This does not require a signature
4. Pocket Veto (10 days)
– if Congress adjourns before the ten days are up,
bill will die
Line-Item Veto
• The power of an
executive to veto some
provisions in an
appropriations bill while
approving others
– Appropriations Bill
• A legislative grant of
money to finance a
government program
• Is the line-item veto
constitutional?
Clinton v. New York City (1998)
• Question
• Did the President's ability to selectively cancel
individual portions of bills, under the Line
Item Veto Act, violate the Presentment Clause
of Article I?
• Yes. The Court then explained that under the
Presentment Clause, legislation that passes
both Houses of Congress must either be
entirely approved (i.e. signed) or rejected (i.e.
vetoed) by the President.
– Assigns to the president legislative power
Table 8.3: How many presidential
vetoes have there been?
To Learning Objectives
Table 8.3: How many presidential
vetoes have there been?
Divided v. Unified Government
• Divided Government
– One party controls Executive Branch, other party
controls legislature
• Unified Government
– Both branches of government are controlled by
the same political party
• What is the trend in our government, divided or unified
government?
Effects of Divided Government
How can the President overcome
the problem of divided
government?
•
•
•
•
•
Use the media to generate public support
Threaten veto
Make deals with congressional leaders
Build coalitions with interest groups
Increased reliance on White House staff
Evolution of Presidency: The Formal Powers
• Founders Questioned what the president
could or could not do
– Create an Executive with limited power
– Enforce laws of Congress
– Handle Foreign Policy
– Dual head of state (ceremonial & enforcer of law)
– Constitutional Powers broadly defined for
flexibility but resulting in greatly expanded powers
Powers of the President
• Formal
– Commander in Chief
– Commission officers of armed
forces
– Grant reprieves and pardons
– Call Congress to formal
session
– Receive ambassadors
– Take Care that laws are
faithfully executed
– Wield “executive power”
– Appoint officials to lesser
offices
– Negotiate treaties
• Informal
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Morale builder
Party leader
Legislative leader
Coalition builder
Crisis Manager
Personnel Recruiter
World Leader
Budget Setter
Agenda Setter
Conflict Resolver
Persuader and Policy
Communicator
– Executive agreements
most AP exams ask you in a MC to
identify which is NOT a presidential
role
• President CAN’T form new cabinet level
departments
• Raise revenue
• Declare war
• Leader of political party but not authorized by
Constitution
Shared Powers: Congress and President
• Make Treaties
– Requires Senate Approval
• Appoint ambassadors, judges, high officials
– Requires Senate Approval
• Approve Legislation
– Checks and Balances
– Pass through both houses, signed by President
• War making
– President is commander-in-chief
– Congress can declare war
The President and National
Security
Judicial Powers
Executive Privilege
• The power claimed by the President of the
United States and other members of the
executive branch to resist certain search
warrants and other interventions by the
legislative and judicial of government
– President Nixon and his staff would not produce
evidence in the House’s investigation of the
Watergate scandal
Bush’s approval rating.
Presidential Honeymoon
• The short period after a President is
inaugurated when the opposition party
refrains from attack
– The President will attempt to put policy into
action
• Eventually, Congress may be able to stop that action
from becoming reality
Presidents become popular in crisis
• Recent polls show that people separate
character and behavior from political
leadership and job performance
– Clinton and Lewinsky?
• The success of the economy is still the
overriding factor in presidential job approval
ratings
– George W. Bush
– Success in war (George H.W. Bush)
President & Media
• Advantage over Congress
• Why?
– Represents entire nation; Congressmen represent
districts/states
– Leader of the “free world”
– More powerful than any individual member of
Congress
– Speaks with a single voice