Executive branch - President

• Presidential powers

  • Commander in chief - Vietnam War and Iraq
  • Head of state - figurehead - Bush 9/11 + Trump Covid - bully pulpit
  • Annual budget
  • Veto legislation
  • Sign legislation into law
  • Forigen policy role- negotiat and sign treaties
• President

  • 35 or older
  • natural born citizen
  • 22nd amendment -two terms - didnt want dictatorship - amendment was reactionary
• How has presidency evolved

  • Media has enhanced role - 2017 Trump only took questions from sympathetic reporters
  • forged a rle for themselves
  • Madison worried too much power - arguably grew as use of exec action - or sign of weakness
  • Decrease voter turnout t- President s big one
• Power of president -

  Declare a state of emergency -used by Trump to gain wall funding bu checked by purse

  Launch military action - eg Vietnam war but stopped by power of purse

  Appointmnet recommendations - Trump touted balance - partisan politics - impacted women’s rights - can’t be changed

  Pardons - Nixon was pardoned for Watergate by the next president - Biden was expected to use it for his son

  Exec orders - Sign of weakness - DACA - Travel ban on Muslim countries

  Vetoo - Obama and 2016 Saudi 9/11 - overturned by congress after GOP involved

  was
• Foriegn policy

  • Since 45 become extensively powerful
  • Strongly critiqued for intervention - used for own gains
  • Contrained by funding - Republicans negotiate Israel money for immigration in senate
  • Explot national interest eg Iraq and war on terror - imperialism
  • War powers act 73 - power to declare war but 90 days without
  • Imperial - Vietnam, Korea, Yemen, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan
• Imperial presidency

  • Arthur schlesinger - beyond constitutional constraints
  • Foreign affairs - gridlock means defer to president
  • Post 9/11 facilitated growth of executive powers - AUMF - Patriot act - war powers act - declare national emergencies to authorise exec decisions - used with trump wall
  • Obama secrecy - Drone strikes in middl east and Asia - 563
  • Biden and houthis - bypass only needs 90 dayes - checks take long eg purse
• Imperilled

  • Gerald ford - Schlesinger theory - after Nixon so wary
  • Too constrained
  • Midterms undermine bipartisanship adn lame duck
  • inhibits domestic due to checks - codified seperation of powers
  • 2012 Obama DACA - protect 4 million illegal kids - SC - allowed Obama to bypass debates
  • Biden 25 exec orders in Jan 2021 inckudign cutting emissions without approval and rejoining Paris climate agreement - without 2/3 majoity
  • Bush and Clinton less
  • sc limits this - sheet v sawyer - Truman exec order nationalise steel mills was invalid
  • Biden overturn 2017 ban
  • Failure to impeach - weak
• Dual presidency - foriegn and domestic are different but focus on Foriegn - Wildavsky
• Cyclical - Schlesinger

  Public opinion rather tan powers of president

  Incomig rides high in polls - dips - Obama and financial crisis

  Approval rise

  Leave with favourable but lame duck ]
• Power to persuade

  • Bush 9/11 - Obama healthcare - Biden infrastructure
• Imperileld - trump forced to allow states to individual Covid response - protected in constitutiom
• 3 Checks on presdient

  • Power of the purse - Trump Mexico wall and Vietnam war - Biden Israel funding
  • Senate role i. Appointment - Blocked Garlandand Obama but allowed ACB - Trump 3 justices - mid terms inhibit power
  • Override presential veto - Obama Saudi 9/11 suing veto - GOP had control and overturned + Trump $700 million defence sending veto
• Informal powers

  • Based on persuasion ability - Bush ignore civil liberties and anti torture laws by detention in terror suspects for indefinite - failed trump repeal Obamacare
  • Political basis - Implied power - exec power in constitution not exec orders - Allowed for Trump Travel ban and daca to override debate - 41 in 100 days overturn trump
  • Exec agreements - simply be abandoned - Paris climate 2015 trump - Iran nuclear - avoid lengthy gridlock and bipartisanship
• 3 Formal powers

  • Veto - Obama only vetoed 12 times to appease congress as he passed Obamacare in 2010 - 1 overturned - very hard t overturn
  • Appointemnt powers - Used by trump to sway court - but Obama was checked due to midterm gop control
  • Foriegn policy - commander in chief - War powers - Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, drone attacks in pk, ability to use nukes - Hiroshima killed 250k people
• Cabinet

  • Trump appointed net worth of 2.3 billion , Obama was academics who went ivy leagues and Biden was diverse - first gay and African American
• Contraints on presidents

  • Dividead congress - Obamacare and recover in firsttwo years - Trump tax cuts and jobs too
  • Divided gov - All lost majority after mid terms - lame duck can’t pass anything - Obama pen and phone execordes - coudbt gt garland
  • events - Global financial crisis, Worst oil spill in history, wikieleaks , illegality of war crimes
  • Compromsie and bipaartisanship
• Checks are incompetent
• Structural - accountability to legislatures

  • Fusion of powers vs Seperation - PM can legislate - whip system - only struggle in minority - Sunak and Rwanda and Thatcher poll v presien who uses persuasion dn deal makin - Obama little vetoes to pass Obamacare - divided gov - could pass sandy hook gun laws
  • Checks - Power of purse and impeachment v scrutiny for pm - substantial checks and balances due to codified seperation v elected dictatorship - Trump and Wall v Sunak and Israel
  • Scrutiny - PM is weekly at PMQ’s and committees whereas us doesn’t and only addresses at state of union
• Rational cabinets

  • Cameron and Obama different relationships - Cameron used quad cabinet whereas Obama used direct authority to bypass congress
  • Response to losing cabinet support - Trump dismissed 14 members - simply sack - PM forced to reign eg Boris after 60+ left + Thatcher after poll tax - check
  • Use to achieve policy aims - Bushand Blair both during war on terror - blair - tight discipline + bish fp focused