DOMESTIC VARIABLES OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

1. President2. Constitution and Congress3. Foreign Affairs Bureaucracy (DOS, DOD,

NSC)4. Public Opinion5. Interest Groups

US Constitution

• Preamble• Legislature• Executive• Judiciary• Amendments

Presidential Powers

• Article 2, Section 1:– Executive Power in a President and VP for 4 years

• Article 2, Section 2:– Commander-in-Chief– Pardons– Make treaties– Nominate and appoint and fill vacancies

Presidential Powers

• Article 2, Section 3:– Information on State of the Union– Convene Special Congressional Sessions– Receive Foreign ambassadors

• Article 2, Section 4:– Removed by Impeachment for treason, bribery,

high crimes and misdemeanors

Presidential Powers

• 20th Amendment:– Changed term to begin January 20

• 22nd Amendment:– 2 terms

• 25th Amendment:– Presidential succession and disability

Presidential Limitations

• Congress• Constitution• Courts• Bureaucracy• Public Opinion• Media• Time• Outside Forces

Evolution of Presidency

• Traditional “Do Nothing” Presidency• “Modern Presidency”– greater formal and informal powers for initiative– increased staff and advisory capacity– agenda setter– most visible national actor

The president’s Job Description

• The President must fill a number of roles all at one time. These roles include:– chief of state– chief executive– chief administrator– chief diplomat– commander in chief– chief legislator– party chief

Chief of State

• This means that he is the ceremonial head of the government.

• This is a PR role, much like the Queen of England, who does not have any real power, but is the symbol of the nation.

Chief Executive

• The Constitution vests the President with the executive power of the United States. That is broad power.

• He is the one who carries out and enforces laws and directs the operation of the country.

Chief Administrator

• President is the ultimate boss of everyone employed by the federal government.

• The government can only operate through people and agencies that “administer” the laws.

Chief Diplomat

• President is the maker of and spokesman for American Foreign Policy

Commander in Chief

• President is the ultimate boss of everyone in the armed forces and controls the generals.

• Civilian control over the military

Chief Legislator

• This is not part of President’s official job description, because Congress is in charge of legislation.

• Over time the presidents have become active in setting the legislative agenda and in proposing legislation through congressman close to the administration.

Qualifications

• Formal Qualifications– Natural-Born Citizen– 35 years old– Lived in the US for at

least 14 years

• Informal Qualifications?

The President’s Term• Framers: unlimited four-year terms. • As a matter of practice, Presidents and their

parties followed Washington’s example and limited themselves to two terms.

• FDR broke the no two-term tradition and was elected four times.

• In response, 22nd Amendment. Limits president to two terms.

• VP who becomes president can only run once if filled more than half of term he inherited.

Pay and Benefits

• Presidents Salary is fixed by Congress (can’t be increased or decreased during the president’s term).

• Currently 400,000. • Also, 50,000 expense account• Benefits—House, car, plane,

vacation home, offices and staff.• Former Presidents get pension

The Constitution and Succession

• VP automatically takes over as president if Pres. dies, resigns or is removed from office.

• Congress fixes the order of succession after VP. Currently Speaker of the House; President Pro Tempore of the Senate. – Because of 25th Amendment

Presidential Disability

• Before the 25th Amendment there was no provision for dealing with a disabled president.

• 25th Amendment fixes this problem• Voluntary Disability (Sect. 3)– VP becomes acting president if

President informs congress in writing that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.

Presidential Disability• Involuntary Disability (Sect. 4)– VP becomes acting president if VP and a majority of the

members of the cabinet inform Congress in writing that the President is incapacitated.

• Disability disputes:– Under both sections, President gets his powers back once

he informs Congress that there is no disability.– But, if VP and Majority of Congress challenge this within

four days, President does not get powers back– Congress then has 21 days to decide. – Must be a 2/3 vote of both houses that President is unable

to discharge duties.

The Vice Presidency

• The VP has only three formal duties: – Preside over the senate– break ties, – help decide questions of

presidential disability.

Nominating Presidential Candidates Today

• Constitution does not provide a method of selecting candidates, because didn’t foresee parties.

• A number of methods have been used over the years.

• Congressional Caucus—1800-1824. – Both parties congressional delegations met and

chose a candidate. Was objected to because not democratic.

Conventions• A big meeting at which delegates from each

state vote to determine who the nominee will be.

• Mostly governed by party rules and a few state laws effecting the selecting of delegates.

• Summer before the presidential election. By tradition the party out of power goes first in July, then the party in power in August.

Conventions

• Usually in a major city with the facilities to handle. Also often in a city that is strategically important.

• Party tells each state how many delegates they will have.

• super-delegates

Selection of Delegates

• Delegates are selected in a number of ways. • In the early days of primaries, delegates came to the

convention as free agents; unclear who the candidate would be before the convention began.

• Now, delegates usually come to the convention pledged to a particular candidate, so that outcome of convention vote is well-known before-hand.

• Presidential Primaries: 3/4 of all delegates come from states that hold primary election where votes select delegates that will vote for a particular candidate.

• Rest pick delegates at caucuses

Primaries• Process varies greatly from state to state because

process controlled by state law.• States prefer to hold their primaries first. Why? • The primaries have come earlier and earlier to the

point that in 2004 the nominees were clear by mid-spring.

• Democrats prohibit winner-take-all primaries, so that delegates are divided based on vote totals to long as a candidate polls at least 15 percent.

• Now few winner-take-all primaries because state laws have accommodated the democratic requirement.

Evaluation of the Presidential Primary

• While complicated, are also vital and important. Help test the candidates to make sure that the one selected is able to handle the pressures of a campaign.

• Allow dark-horses, such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, to emerge.

• Becoming harder for unknowns to break through. Need more money and organization at the outset.

The Election

• The Electoral College Today• Voters don’t vote for the presidential candidates,

they vote for electors pledged to those candidates. • Presidential Election (for electors) is always on the

Tuesday after the first Monday in November. (Date is set by Congress.)

• Electors are winner take all in all states except Maine and Nebraska.

• In most states, the names of the electors do not even appear on the ballot.

The Election

• Electors meet in the state capitals on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December. Votes are cast, sealed and sent to Washington.

• Votes are opened and counted on January 6.• If no candidate has a majority (270 of 538) , the

House of representatives must select the president from the top three candidates.

• If the house fails to pick a President by January 20, under the 20th Amendment the newly elected Vice President shall act as President until it does.