Presidential Power

PERIOD 6

1. The Constitutional Indeterminacy of the Presidency

• The key parts of Article 2 in the constitution grant authority to the president with very vague titles such as “executive power” and the “commander in chief.”

• The president has significant powers that are not specifically listed in the constitution. This gives him leeway that he could abuse.

• It is also never mentioned that the president needs to be in charge during times of crisis, but over time he has assumed that role

2. The Precedential Effects of Executive Branch Action

• Actions by previous presidents act as an example for current and future presidents to act in similar ways.

• One president’s use of power expands on the future president’s power to do the same and/or more.

3. The Role of Executive Branch Lawyering

• The executive branch is essentially the final judge of its own powers (the President polices himself), which is handled by the Department of Justice (DOJ). This leads to a broad interpretation of the powers of the executive branch

• The president can fire people in the DOJ if they don’t share his views on presidential power.

4. The Growth of the Executive Branch

• Congress has passed laws to give the President the power to set pollution standards, regulate labor relations, create food and product standards, manage nation’s lands and natural resources, enforce federal criminal laws, oversee the banking industry, and govern a host of other activities.

• Enforcing these laws requires millions of people, and the president is at the head of all of them.

5. Presidential Access to and Control of Information

• Other than being the Commander-in-Chief of the United States military he is also in control of arguable the CIA and the FBI. The president can use these agencies for good like when Obama used the CIA to help find and execute Osama Bin-laden.

• He can also use them for things they were not intended for. One of the most infamous was when president Nixon used the FBI to investigate his political enemies, (Watergate Scandal).

• The executive branch has greater access to information than the co-branches of government.

• Congress cannot determine when there is a threat to National Security but they must rely on the executive to approve of it and to negotiate with the President.

6. Media and the Presidency

• When the president is addressing the nation the agenda changes for everyone because they all want to know what he is going to say and how it will affect the nation.

• The president has the demand to use the media.• The president is seen as the speaker of the nation.• Media seems to magnify the presidents powers.

7. Military and Intelligence Capabilities

• The President is Commander-in-Chief and he controls the most powerful military in the world.

• As technological advances in surveillance increases so does the power of the President.

8. The Need for Government to Act Quickly

• The presidential power has increased because of the requirements/demands of decision making in the modern world. Now since things can happen so quickly, we give all the power to one person. Since there's so many people in congress, it would be harder to make a decision. So leave it up to the president to make the decision faster.