Changes

== Review ==

== Review ==

In our first three lectures we discussed our three branches of government at the federal (national) level, as authorized by the U.S. Constitution.  Article I establishes the legislative branch (Congress), Article II authorizes the executive branch (the president), and Article III empowers the judicial branch (the courts).  Which branch employs the most people?  The executive branch employs millions of workers, including the entire military; the other two branches employ only a few thousand each.

In our first three lectures we discussed our three branches of government at the federal (national) level, as authorized by the U.S. Constitution.  Article I establishes the legislative branch (Congress), Article II authorizes the executive branch (the president), and Article III empowers the judicial branch (the courts).  Which branch employs the most people?  The executive branch employs millions of workers, including the entire military; the other two branches employ only a few thousand each.  At the state level, there are also executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, but without the strict separation of powers required by the U.S. Constitution at the federal level.  Keep in the mind that the federal and state governments are independent of each other, with almost no connection to each other.

In this lecture we return to learn more about the executive branch, which is timely because our Nation will select the next president in the next four weeks.  Nearly half the Nation may vote early, as allowed in many states, and by the evening of Election Day the winner will be announced.

In this lecture we return to learn more about the executive branch, which is timely because our Nation will select the next president in the next four weeks.  Nearly half the Nation may vote early, as allowed in many states, and by the evening of Election Day the winner will be announced.

Mitt Romney was trailing the incumbent<ref>An "incumbent" is a candidate who currently holds the political office, and is running for reelection.</ref> Barack Obama in most polls, but Romney did much better than Obama in their first presidential debate last Wednesday.<ref>There are a total of three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate during the campaign.</ref>  Polling after the debate indicated that Romney received a four point "bounce" in the polls from his strong performance in the debate.  The Reuters poll showed Romney trailing Obama by only 44% to 46% as of Friday, March 5.  Some observers feel that as long as Obama is below 50% in polls, then he is likely to lose because undecided voters tend to vote against an incumbent.

Mitt Romney was trailing the incumbent<ref>An "incumbent" is a candidate who currently holds the political office, and is running for reelection.</ref> Barack Obama in most polls, but Romney did much better than Obama in their first presidential debate last Wednesday.<ref>There are a total of three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate during the campaign.</ref>  Polling after the debate indicated that Romney received a four point "bounce" in the polls from his strong performance in the debate.  The Reuters poll showed Romney trailing Obama by only 44% to 46% as of Friday, March 5.  Some observers feel that as long as Obama is below 50% in polls, then he is likely to lose because undecided voters tend to vote against an incumbent.

Notice how important the media are in connection with the presidential debates.  The media ask the questions of the candidates; the media broadcast the debates to the American public; and the media  

Notice how important the media are in connection with the presidential debates.  The media ask the questions of the candidates; the media broadcast the debates to the American public; and the media provide an analysis of the debates for the millions of Americans who do not actually watch them.  The media "spin" the news in a way that they like.  For example, even though Americans felt that Romney defeated Obama by an enormous margin of 67%-25% (according to a CNN poll), newspapers like the USA Today ran headlines the day after the debate implying that it was roughly a tie between the candidates.

The president is not a king.  His powers are limited and enumerated.  He lacks a special title, and is called simply “Mr. President.”  Under the 22nd Amendment, the president may not be elected more than two terms.  In the past 40 years, only two presidents have even served two full terms (Reagan and Clinton).

The president is not a king.  His powers are limited and enumerated.  He lacks a special title, and is called simply “Mr. President.”  Under the 22nd Amendment, the president may not be elected more than two terms.  In the past 50 years, only three presidents have even served two full terms (Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush).

The president always, however, has enormous political influence.  He is the leader of his own political party, which nominates him..  Everything he does affects the positions and fortunes of his party.  If his party is in control of Congress, then he exerts enormous influence over Congress.  If the opposing political party controls Congress, then it devotes its time to opposing his policies as much as possible.  Either way, the president controls the political agenda.

The president has influence in several ways.  Everything he does affects the positions and fortunes of his own political party, Republican or Democrat.   

Beyond politics, historians debate how much influence a president really has over the country.  But the president is held responsible regardless of whether he is at fault.  When Iranian students captured the U.S. Embassy in 1979 and held American diplomats hostage for a year, President Jimmy Carter was held responsible.  Was it his fault?  Probably not.  But voters are going to hold him accountable.

The president is commander-in-chief of the military.  He controls its operations, and supervises its conflicts with foreign militaries.  After Congress declares war (and even when it does not), the president makes the decisions about where American troops go.  President Lyndon Johnson would personally review and make decisions about daily bombing runs in Vietnam. President Lincoln was hiring, firing, and ordering generals during the Civil War.

Economists say that the outcome of every presidential election can be predicted by how well the economy is doing on Election Day.  Can the president control the economy? Not completely, but he can have an influence. Voters will reelect him if the economy is doing well, and elect someone else if it is doing poorly.

The president is responsible for all foreign policy.  He appoints the ambassadors, and decides what treaties to negotiate and sign.  But 2/3rd approval by the Senate is required for any treaty to become law.  The North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established so-called “free trade” between the United States and Mexico and Canada.  President Clinton bypassed the requirement of Senate approval by arranging for Congress to pass the treaty directly into federal law. Why do you think he did that? (Answer: it only requires a majority to pass a law rather than 2/3 in the Senate to ratify a treaty).

The president does have the power to make appointments, particularly to the judiciary.  He nominates new judges, especially those needed to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court.  These judges can serve for the rest of their lives, and thus can hold power for over 30 years or more.  President Lyndon Johnson left office 35 years ago, yet one of his appointed judges wrote the decision in one of my cases last year (U.S. v. Dr. Sell).  Chief Justice Rehnquist was appointed by President Richard Nixon over 30 years ago, and still sits on the Supreme Court.

The president also has legislative authority in signing or vetoing new laws.  If the president’s political party is in control of Congress, then he has implicit control over its agenda too.  The president typically submits a budget each year for Congress to pass in order to pay for the operations of the government and all its programs.  Typically Congress will add spending to that budget and include it in one massive bill for the president to sign. An attempt to give the president “line-item veto” authority to strike out certain spending items was held to be unconstitutional.  But at the state level, where there is not a strict separation of powers, “line-item veto” authority does exist in many states.

The president is also commander-in-chief of the military.  He controls its operations, and supervises its conflicts with foreign militaries.  After Congress declares war (and often when it does not), the president assumes the day-to-day responsibility for conducting that war.  President Lyndon Johnson would personally review and make decisions about daily bombing runs in Vietnam. President Lincoln was hiring, firing, and ordering generals during the Civil War.

The president also has the power to make appointments, particularly to the judiciary.  He nominates new judges, especially those needed to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court.  These judges can serve for the rest of their lives, and thus can hold power for more than 30 years.   

 

More generally, the president is responsible for all foreign policy.  He appoints the ambassadors, and decides what treaties to negotiate and sign.  But 2/3rd approval by the Senate is required for any treaty to become law.  The North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established so-called “free trade” between the United States and Mexico and Canada.  President Clinton bypassed the requirement of Senate approval by arranging for Congress to pass the treaty directly into federal law.  Why do you think he did that?  (Answer: it only requires a majority to pass a law rather than 2/3 in the Senate to ratify a treaty).

 

The president also has legislative authority in signing or vetoing new laws.  If the president’s political party is in control of Congress, then he has implicit control over its agenda too.  The president typically submits a budget each year for Congress to pass in order to pay for the operations of the government and all its programs.  Typically Congress will add spending to that budget and include it in one massive bill for the president to sign.  An attempt to give the president “line-item veto” authority to strike out certain spending items was held to be unconstitutional.

'''II. Appointment Power'''

'''II. Appointment Power'''