The Presidency

President vs. Prime Minister

• President often an outsider

• PM is the definition of an insider

• Presidential Cabinet members come from outside of Congress

President vs. Prime Minister

• Parliamentary Cabinet members come from the legislature

• President has no guaranteed majority in Congress

• Even when all of the same party, the branches work at cross purposes

Powers of the President

• We know the biggies but where do other powers come from?

• “Take care that the laws be faithfully executed”- very elastic

• Politics and public opinion

• Congressional delegation of legislative power

Presidential Staff

• Has grown greatly in recent years

• The power of the staff is directly related to ones proximity, political and physical to the president

Presidential Staff

• Closest assistants have offices in the West Wing

• Don’t have to be confirmed by the Senate

• Look out for political and policy interests of the President

• 2001- Bush had 400 staff and a WH budget of $35.4 million

Presidential Staff Organization• Pyramid- report to the

Chief of Staff who then reports to the President

• Circular- Cabinet secretaries and assistants report to the President

• Ad Hoc- task forces, committees, and informal groups of friends and advisors deal directly with the president

• Presidents mix and match

Presidential Staff Organization• How staff access the

President has a huge impact on policy

• E.G.- do memos go directly to the President or do they go through political advisors first?

Presidential Staff• The Executive Office

of the President– OMB, DNI, CEA, US

Trade Representative– Must be confirmed by

the Senate– Office of Management

and Budget most important- help create the President’s budget and push policy

Presidential Staff• The Cabinet:

– Cabinet officers are heads of the 15 executive agencies

– Presidents appoint the heads and many officials in the departments

– These are huge departments though and secretaries spend more time running them than advising the President

Presidential Staff• Independent

Agencies:– Federal Reserve– President appoints

heads but cannot remove

• With all of these appointments, it is difficult to get them done in a timely manner

Presidential Popularity• Three audiences:

Washington, party activists, the public

• Presidents often sound equivocal because they are trying to reach multiple audiences

Presidential Popularity• Presidents want to

translate popularity to Congressional support for an agenda

• Presidents can do little for Congress though- little evidence of “coattails”

• Still, Congressmen are reluctant to oppose the policies of a popular President

Presidential Popularity• Popularity tends to be

high at the beginning of a term and fall over time

• Must push agenda while he is popular

Executive Privilege• The ability to keep

information from the public/ other branches

• Based on Separation of Powers and principles of prudent administration

• Presidents need to be able to get candid advice