POSC 1000 Introduction to Politics Presidential Systems Russell Alan Williams.
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Transcript of POSC 1000 Introduction to Politics Presidential Systems Russell Alan Williams.
POSC 1000 Introduction to Politics
Presidential Systems
Russell Alan Williams
Unit Eleven: Presidential Systems
Required Reading:Mintz, Chapter 15.
Outline:1. Introduction2. Legislative Institutions3. Executive Institutions4. “Semi Presidential” Systems5. Conclusions
1) Introduction – Presidential Systems:First developed in U.S.
“Separation of Powers”: Executive, legislative and judicial branches of government are separate from each other – each has different personnel and own source of authority – each is elected
“Checks and Balances”: Each of three branches of government is able to check the actions of others
No individual should become too powerfulNo “executive dominance”
2) Legislative Institutions:
“Congress”: Legislative branch of American governmentSame as ParliamentBicameral – upper and lower houses
i) “House of Representatives”: Lower house
“Congressmen” elected for two year terms from a local districtElectoral districts each have over ½ million voters
• Allocated based on populationE.g. -> California = 53 congressmen
-> Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming
= 1 congressman
“Senate”: Upper house“Senators” elected to six year termsTwo for each state (!)Only 1/3 of senators face election in each 2 year election cycle – better deal than congressmen(!)Must be over 30 years of age
Organization of Congress: Both houses have own “officers”:
House of Representatives = Speaker of the House (majority party leader)
Senate = Vice PresidentPresident Pro tempore
Committee Chairs (from majority party) – they matter!
Floor leadersMajority leader Minority leader
Functions of Congress:
A) Responsible for passing all legislation and budgets
Can initiate own legislation - Either house, requires coordination
Can also support or defeat presidential proposals • E.g. the budget, or declaration of war etc.
=High level of independence– President cannot call an election if bills are being
defeated– Congress cannot “defeat” the President’s cabinet
Result: Most activity requires negotiation or “gridlock sets in . . . .
E.g. Budgets and “log rolling”
Functions of Congress:
B) Oversight power
Hold hearingsCan conduct investigations into executive activities ->E.g. conduct of war in Iraq
Ratify presidential appointees -> Supreme Court Justices, Ambassadors, etc.
• Not a formality!
“Impeachment”: President and other executive officials can be removed from office for “illegal activities”
• Ultimately requires support of 2/3 of Senators– E.g. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky
Behavior of Congress:
Weak “party discipline”Committee chairs often very independentMembers “vote their own conscience”
Problems:• Influence of money on individual members
– E.g. . . . .
Table 3. Top 25 dual contributors of soft money ($), 2000 election cycle
Contributor Democratic Republican Total
Service Employees Intl Union (SEIU) 5,090,696 30,000 5,120,696
AT&T 1,457,469 2,302,451 3,759,920
AOL Time Warner 1,425,637 1,139,861 2,565,498
Freddie Mac 1,025,000 1,383,250 2,408,250
Philip Morris Cos Inc 296,663 2,098,922 2,395,585
Enron Corp 607,565 1,433,850 2,041,415
Thompson Medical Co Inc 1,882,000 20,000 1,902,000
Citigroup Inc 641,204 758,616 1,399,820
American Financial Group 622,000 685,000 1,307,000
MBNA Corp 200,000 1,035,905 1,235,905
BP Amoco 295,376 920,900 1,216,276
Source Common Cause (2001); Cited as FEC statistics.
Presidential Systems Cont.
B) Executive Institutions:
Presidency:
=Head of State
=Head of Government
Presidential power:
“Commander and Chief” of military forces
Appoints Supreme Court judges, Ambassadors and cabinet ministers
• Subject to congressional oversight . . . .
Can effectively decide to go to war or not . . . .
Presidential power cont. . . . .
“Veto”: Presidential power to prevent enactment of legislation
• Congressional bills can blocked if president does not like them
• However:– Veto can be overridden
by 2/3 votes in congress– Congress can retaliate
by not passing budget or putting “riders” in presidential legislation
=Negotiation, negotiation, more negotiation
3) Hybrid Systems:
“Semi-Presidential Systems”: A system in which an elected President shares power with an elected Prime Minster and Cabinet
Prime minister and cabinet elected from legislatureBorrows “best” of both systemsIn practice can result in very different dynamics . . . .
Examples= France and Russia
E.g. France has:
Elected head of stateSome “separation of powers”“Parliamentary government”
Neither President or Prime Minister has power of Canadian PM . . . .
Implications in practice:
France has:
Elected head of stateSome “separation of powers”“Parliamentary government”
Neither President or Prime Minister has power of Canadian PM . . . .
Governing may require American-style negotiation
• Depends on the “Party System”!
4) Conclusions on Presidential Systems:
Pure presidential systems relatively common and seem to be successful
Fewer demands for major institutional change in presidential systems than in parliamentary systems
Hybrid systems that incorporate parliamentary government have encountered difficulty
Often presidents end up abusing powers to overcome gridlock
• E.g. Russia – Vladimir Putin
Essays and the Final Exam:
1) Essay Discussion:Office hours – Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 12:00 to 1:00 in SN2031
Come and see me if you have questions.
Grading scribble definitions:“awk” or “awkward” – The sentence is grammatically incorrect and hard to read“source” or “cite” – you need a supporting citation to explain where the information you are providing came from“run on” – a run on-sentence
My comments are in red where I had further things to say from the Teaching Assistant
2) Final Exam:
See Handout . . .
Try:
http://wps.pearsoned.ca/ca_ph_mintz_polipower_3/