...Although presidents have limited constitutional authority, many of them effectively use. Write an essay in which you discuss the limits to presidential power, the importance of the presidency’s informal powers. Explain whether you think the nature of presidential power makes the Presidency too weak, or too strong. In 1776 America declared independence from British Empire and became forming a national government. In 1777 Congress adopted The Article of Confederation. This attempt to structure an American government failed; The Article of Confederation was unsuccessfully because it restricted the national government; most power was concentrated on the states’ level. The states kept their autonomy. The national government was lack of authority, it was hard to collect taxes from each state; foreign trade was suffering because foreign counties which wanted to conduct business with the United States had to negotiate separate agreements with Congress and a state. In addition to all of these problems the Article of Confederation did not even include a president or any other executive leader because people were in their zeal to reject monarch; everybody was tried of British tyranny and they were worried if they used this model of government it would lead to the same results as they had during British colony’s time. However, in 1787 Constitutional Convention began in Philadelphia (Bianco & Canon, 2013, p.33). The framers of the Constitution understood that confederation...
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...American Government II Federal preemption, displacement of U.S. state law by U.S. Federal law. "Preemption" is also sometimes used in the United States to refer to the displacing effect state laws might have on ordinances enacted by municipalities, especially in the context of alcoholic beverage laws, gun laws, and in the area of FDA approved pharmaceuticals. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Total preemption rests on the national governments power under the supremacy and commerce clauses to preempt conflicting state and local activity. Building on this constitutional authority, federal law in certain areas entirely preempts state and local governments from the field. Sometimes federal law provides for partial preemption in establishing basic policies but requires states to administer them. Some programs give states an option not to participate, but if a state chooses not to do so, the national government steps in and runs the program. Even worse from the state’s point of view is mandatory partial preemption, in which the national government requires states to act on peril of losing other funds but provides no funds to support state action. An unfunded mandate is a statute or regulation that requires a state or local government, or private individuals or organizations, to perform certain actions, yet provides no money for fulfilling the requirements. When a federal government imposes a law or regulation without necessary funding, for example...
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...representatives of the federal government, but are granted independent power and responsibilities” (USA, Constitution). However this definition is constantly changing and took a long bumpy road to get where it is today. The United States constitution was drafted on September 17th, 1787 and ratified on June 21st, 1788. The United States became a sovereign nation on July 4th, 1776 at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but they needed a Constitution. The Articles of Confederation were drafted on November 7th, 1777 and ratified on March 1st, 1781. This document was signed by the thirteen original colonies that made up the United States of America and served as its first constitution. After becoming sovereign nation it became clear to many that the Articles of Confederation would not be able to hold a nation together. Under the Article of Confederation there was a unicameral legislative that provided no separation of power. The central government appeared to be too weak because under the Articles of Confederation most of the power was retained by the states. Congress had no power to tax therefore, they were unable to finance their operations. It was also extremely difficult to amend the Articles of Confederation because it needed unanimous approval from all states. Federal laws had to be approved by nine of the thirteen states which proved to be difficult for everyday business of government. Congress did not have to power to regulate commerce which permitted unneeded competition between...
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...American foreign policy, including a sharp rise in Presidential authority in areas of foreign policy and war. The power struggle between Congress and the Executive Branch is not new, however, but it seems to have reached to new levels in recent years. The debate over who has more authority in foreign policy issues has existed since the framing of the Constitution. I doubt the framers, however, could have imagined a world in which the President has almost unrivaled power in the realm of foreign policy. Ever since the United States became a world power following World War Two, the Executive Branch has increased in power and authority. Does the Executive Branch need more authority and flexibility when foreign policy is concerned though? When the United States is at war, we may need quick and decisive decisions that only the Executive Branch can give. When the military found Osama Bin Laden, President Obama did not wait to consult Congress. He and his advisors simply sent in the Seals and killed him. This is a good example of why so many believe the President needs more authority in times of war. Wars need a fast response when a situation arises and the country does not need Congress to endlessly debate about what to do; therefore, they have given the President more leeway in war powers over time. Congress did briefly give war powers back to themselves in the War Powers Act of 1973 during the crisis over the Vietnam War and Watergate. People such as former Senator John G. Tower...
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...The roles of the three branches Team A His301 3/11/13 Janice Harder The Constitution of the United States is the permanent document upon which this nation’s government was formed and continues to rely upon in order to maintain the democratic republic. In its conception and many evolutions throughout the past 237 years, the rights of the country’s citizens and the roles that all federal and state governmental bodies play were established. Articles I, II and III contain the multifaceted powers as well as the checks and balances for and between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. This paper examines the reasons and benefits of the three divisions in the government, the obstacles to creating legislation due to the division of power among the branches, and the conflict and issues between supporters of federal versus states rights were characterized at the nation’s birth and at present. When the American forefather divided the government they did it with our futures in mind, a government for the people. In order to make sure things are done correctly and fairly they decided to make three branches, the legislative branch is the House of Representatives which is the congress and also includes the senate which is used for law making decisions. Our forefathers made it this way so that each state had proper representation. The legislative branch receives thousands of bills ever two years and it is the legislative branches duties to make sure only necessary bills...
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...1st Internal Assignment Administrative Law The Doctrine of Separation of Power Clive D’souza 13010124119 Division B III Year Introduction: The Government of any country will be the agency or machinery through which the will of the people is realised, expressed and formulated. But for the will of the people to be so expressed, realised and formulated, there needs to be a well organized system which works together, jointly as well as separately for ultimate achievement of the goal, which in a democracy would be to help people realise their will, express that will and help the people to formulate the ideas as to what is right for society and be part of what would then become ideally, a true and well functioning democracy. The concept as stated above can be compared with the functioning of any team, be it a multi-national corporation or of a football team, where the former needs people to work on ideas for new products, need an accounts department to check on the cash flows and revenues, a marketing team to market the product well enough to the people through advertisements or for the latter where the defenders ensure that goals do not go in against their team, the midfield ensures possession of the ball and creativity to pass the ball to the strikers of the team and the strikers of the team ensure that the passes delivered to them is by the midfield, to score the ultimate goal that the team seeks. What we see through this example is that, all of the functions, although...
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...represented. The Congress of the United States is viewed by many as the largest branch in government. Some people might even say it is the most important. This is due to the roles Congress pays in our government. Congress is responsible for the lawmaking in our country as well as implementing national policy. The power to make laws was given to Congress by our forefathers when they constructed our constitution. Passing laws is very important to our country because without them we would be living in chaos. Of course, all our laws are not perfect but for the most part our Congress does a good job at keeping this country under control. The problems with lawmaking that most people see is the time involved in getting a law passed. In order for a bill to become a law it must first be "introduced to the House or Senate, or both, then referred to a committee." (Cummings / Wise 479). This can be a very time consuming process. Anyone interested in having a law passed must realize the process involved and be patient. In addition to lawmaking Congress is also involved in passing amendments. Our nation has been able to grow and strengthen due to the amendment process. In order for our government to keep up with the changing times it is crucial that we make adjustments to the constitution....
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...Constitution first three articles order for the power of the federal government division into three separate branches. They are legislative, executive and the judiciary branch. The separation of power grants each branch independence along with separate functions. The branches do not have the power to seize the function of another branch although the branches are interrelated. The cooperation of each is key in the branches running efficiently because they prevent each other from having too much power. This is simply called checks and balances. This occurs when the functions of one branch serves to contain and modify the power of another. Separation of Power The separation of powers is a political doctrine originating from Montesquieu, a French philosopher, in The Spirit of the Laws. Montesquieu was an advocate of the separation of power. His writings influenced the framers of the U.S. Constitution. The separation of power grants each branch a specific role. The lawmaking body, which is Congress, makes the laws. The executive branch, which is the president, actualizes the laws. The legal branch is the court framework that interprets the laws and decides lawful discussions. Checks and Balances Checks and balances provide restraints on the powers of the other two. The president has the power to sign the legislation, which makes it a law, or it can be vetoed. The president appoints judges but the Senate provides advice and consent. The courts have the power to interpret the Constitution...
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...customs and traditions. In this class I have learned a lot about American government and how it works. I have been surprised at how much power the government has and the way the government works. There have also been a lot I have already known about the way the government works. I will discuses some of the ways they work and how I think they can improve so areas. I have found in doing this class that there are many ways I think they can improve. Consider the challenges to democracy I think the challenge that poses a particular threat to our current system of government is lack of separation. The lack of separation between parliament and the executive is a particular threat to our current system of government. According to (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011) “Such a separation limits the possibility of arbitrary excesses by government, since the sanction of all three branches is required for the making, executing, and administering of laws”(para 1). In America the discloser of separation of powers is more a name than a description. None of these three branches of the national government are separate from one another. A crucial problem is that split power inevitably entails split accountability. No wonder then that so many difficulties in American government spring ultimately from its divided power system. We have a lot of civic power groups that have powers in today’s society. The American civic values and what I appreciate most about our democracy is that country is running. They...
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...Presidency suggests that rather than being too powerful, the President does not have enough power to be effective. In contrast, imperial presidency is characterised as when a president has greater power than the constitution allows. One can argue that his pursuit of major domestic policy goals has been much more aggressive than his predecessor, Bush, suggesting Obama’s presidency as imperial. Obama once quipped, “I’m the President of the United States, not the emperor of the United States”. One argument supporting the assertion that the US presidency is “more imperiled than imperial” is the president being limited by political pressures. In 2012, Obama stated that if chemical weapons were used in Syria, he would use military intervention. However, when they were used in 2013, he seemingly tried to delay action. Explanations as to why he delayed include falling public support for intervention and the UK Parliament voting against intervention. As Commander in Chief, Obama had the power to intervene but was limited by informal, outside pressures. This demonstrates that although constitutionally a president has certain powers, political pressures limit him. Obama’s approval ratings would have fallen if he invaded without public support and this suggests that the president is imperiled, not imperial. This evidence supports the assertion that the US presidency is “more imperiled than imperial” because although constitutionally the president has power, he is limited by outside measures....
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...Unit I - The Uneasy Constitutional Location of Agencies in the Executive Branch Unit One in a nutshell: Types of Agencies: - Departments - Independent (article I courts) - Other (mistretta, sentencing guideline commission, etc.) Presidential power - Removal (Meyers, Humphreys) Separation of powers - Mistretta at pg. 19 Non-delegation - J.W. Hampton, Mistretta at 15. APA design; three functions of agencies: 1. make rules 2. adjudicate 3. gather information There are not very many legal issues with information gathering, so the class will not focus on it. Rule making and adjudication is done formally and informally | |Rule Making |Adjudication | |Formal |§ 553 |§ 554 | |Informal |§ 553 |§ 554 | Rulemaking = making little laws. Same effect as anything congress passes. Adjudication = making an order Introduction to Administrative Law - F&S pp. 1-22 The Administrative Procedure Act - Act, Chart and Sample Rule The Grouper Handout and the APA §553 §553 doesn’t say where the rule comes from (i.e. employee of the U.S. or anything), but does say publish in the federal register. §553(b) §553(b)(1) - time/place/etc/nature. The grouper rule - March 4, 1992, to the mailroom, by mail = time, place, nature. Does this constitute...
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...According John Dahlberg-Action, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The above statements capture the natural essence of human nature when given sole authority. When checks and balances are not established, we may see power used to overtake, exclude, for personal gain and much more. History shows that the more power a person or group is given, the more it is abused. Examples include Hitler’s domination in Germany that lead to the Holocaust, Kim Jon II who runs the world’s most tightly controlled society in modern times to include forced labor, prison camps, trafficking of women and re-education camps. In order to combat such atrocities and disregard of human rights, the founding fathers of the United States created a systematic approach to divide power amongst each governing body that has influence of the people that they serve, in order to create structure and control. The method of control and division of power is known as checks and balances which, plays a vital role within Legislative, Judicial and Executive branches of government. The legislative branch is made up of U.S congress, composed of 100 U.S senators and 435 members of the House of Representatives. This branch makes laws, approves judges and justices, aids in passing the national budget, and lastly declares war. A significant role in the legislative branch is the introduction of new legislation. Legislations are proposed bills that can ultimately influence the people of the United States...
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...Presidential Powers Since the birth of modern Presidency in the 1930’s, Presidential powers have been growing at an alarmingly unreasonable rate. It would seem as though the further into the future we get, the more unconstitutional this country becomes. Many of the laws laid down by our founding fathers were very vague, however, for the most part, they were deciphered and regarded as the law of the land. Recently it would appear that political officials are twisting around these vague entries to fit the criteria that is convenient at the time, or worse, circumventing the laws entirely; thus debilitating our constitutional system of separation of powers. Let’s start with signing statements. According to the Constitution, Article II, the President can sign the bill or veto it. That is the Constitutional limit to his power with signing statements. Modern presidents, however, use these statements as ways to incorporate their own thoughts on the bill and “announcing a president’s intention to violate particular sections of the bill he is signing into law” (Swanson, 4). By doing this he is clearly overstepping his authority as president, since it is the duty of his Congress to make laws and not his place to either critique them or disregard them. While on the subject of inadvertence to law, let’s go over the ever so continuous controversy of the Anti Torture Act. In 1988 President Ronald Regan signed the UN Convention Against Torture, prohibiting any such acts as to...
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...Independence 1776 Declaration of Independence- ideology, Constitution- gives form to the declaration. People enjoy rights not given by government. Government doesn’t do something to you. Government prevented from taking them away. Government is the problem, not the solution. Policy is inherently bad. It was the fear of what the government could do to you that motivated its nationhood. Why the US is different -founded on an idea - Born free- rights are inalienable -Wary on power -Strong on nationhood -Founded on ‘science of politics’ -People are supreme via Constitution The politics of a written text ‘Scarcely any political question arises in the United States that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question.’ Alexis de Tocqueville (1840) Democracy in America, Book I, ch.16 -slavery -civil rights -abortion -healthcare Constitution Problematic Bill of Rights (1791) The first 10 amendments to the Constitution -1,2,3: limits of Congress 4, 5, 6: limits on executive 7, 8: limits on both (via judiciary) 9, 10: federalism (limits on national power) All posit limits on the institutions in the Constitution. Two parts of the doc, the first iteration is not sufficient to cool the fears of the anti-federalism. Madison creates these posited limits. The Separation of Powers The basic problem of government. How one separates power. There are 3 key obstacles to power in the USA. SoP – obliges competition across departments. Federalism...
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...popular vote to Al Gore, becoming the first President since 1889 to assume the presidency under such circumstances. He appeared to have no mandate to govern, and faced a divided Congress and nation with weak legitimacy. To make matters worse, early administration actions on environmental and social issues were controversial, his bumbling style as a speaker became the target for jokes, the Senate switched hands to the Democrats when moderate Republican Sen. James Jeffords quit his party, the economy slipped into recession, and Bush's popularity began to fall. All this changed dramatically after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.A. With great skill and determination, Bush rallied the nation together, taking swift action against perceived terrorist threats, building an international coalition against terrorism, and taking the war to the perpetrators of the acts in Afghanistan. His job approval ratings soared to record levels, and he gained new respect from leaders and the public. The opening vignette thus illustrates how external events influence the presidential office. Especially during times of war and national crisis, the natural capacities of the institution are enhanced, as the public looks to the President during emergencies, and the person holding it has their power increased, more easily overcoming the constraints placed upon it by the Constitution and other structural and political factors. In wartime, presidents generally have their way with Congress...
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