Political Science 1100, Introduction to American Politics, March 18, 2015

 

 

Current events

 

 

 

Congress: From the Institution's Point of View

 

3. Committees And Subcommittees

 

    a) Most of Congress's work is divided up and given to
        Committees And Subcommittees

 

    b) Committees And Subcommittees therefore
       are Central to The Law-Making Process

 

   c) Standing Committees

  

   d) Other Committees

 

 

   e) Committees And Subcommittees Decentralize Congress

      often make cooperation very difficult because they resist control  
 
 

4. Rules

    a) Rules Make It Easy To Obstruct The Law-Making Process

        Examples: Senate Filibusters

    b) Rules That Overcome Congressional Obstacles Are Hard To Use

        Examples: Cloture
 
    c) Political Polarization makes things worse because members don't have to cooperate with leaders

 

 

5. Conclusions About Congress from both points of view (individuals & the institution)

    A. Policy-Making Biases

          1) Parochialism

          2) Symbolism

          3) Delay and crisis-driven action

     B. Is Congress full of Bad People, or just Normal People In A Peculiar Institution?

 

                    Normal people who behave the way the institution encourages them to behave
 

We Distrust Congress, But We Tend To Like Our Individual Representatives


    D. These biases can be overcome  -- with Leadership And Public Support

 

 

A Detour from Political Science:
An Anthropological Standpoint, or How we look to others

 

 

Presidents and the Presidency

 

1. We expect the president to be our mythical Hero

 

        Americans expect the president  to

            - Protect us

            - Solve national problems

            - Be a moral guide
 

 

    Why has the Mythical Presidency developed?

   

       - Every country elevates its leader

      

       - The U.S. leader is commander in chief and most active government leader

       - The president is a media celebrity


        

 

2. The Reality of the Presidency: Who are the Presidents?

 

 

 

 

 

 

A. Presidents are only Human

 

 

 

 

 

    1). Presidents’ Personalities are different

 

 

 

 

 

    2). Presidents' Political & Administrative Skills are different

-Presidential Leadership Requires Management and Sales Skills

 

 Presidential Leadership

Selling Skills:

Strong


 

Weak

Management Skills
 

Strong

Charismatic
Presidents

Lincoln, 
Franklin Roosevelt

Administrative 
Presidents

Nixon, Bush

Weak

Political
Presidents

Reagan, Clinton 

Mediocre
Presidents

Carter 


 

3. The Reality of Presidential Powers: Using the Presidency is Difficult

 

a). Emergency Powers / Military Leadership

Powers:
- Can accomplish goals directly and quickly

 

Limits:
- must use these powers briefly and successfully, or risk
substantial loss of support
 
 

 

b). Appointment

Powers:
Can appoint 2500 top administrators
when the President takes office

 

Limits:
- the Senate must approve these appointments
- the President appoints only 1% of federal employees
- 2500 loyal and competent appointees are hard to find in three months
 
 

c). Reorganizing Government

Powers
- Can try to improve bureaus' performance

 

Limits:

- Congress must approve major reorganizations
- Reorganization may not change bureaus at all
 
 

d). The Power to Issue Executive Orders

Powers:
- Can make some policy choices without having to go through Congress  

 

Limits:

- Congress can pass laws that reverse them

- the next president can reverse them

 

 

d). The Power to Set The Legislative Agenda

Powers:
- To determine some of Congress's priorities

 

Limits:
- Congress can change or ignore Presidential proposals
 

 
 

e). Party Leadership:

Powers:
- To rally the "party-in-government" and end gridlock

 

Limits:
- American government was designed to make this difficult
- Legislators who now can "go it alone"
 
 

f). The Veto

Powers:
- To stop Congressional actions
- To change laws by threatening a veto
- Only 4% of Presidential vetoes are overridden

 

Limits:
- The veto can only stop something from happening -
it is only a negative power


   
 

h). Publicity

 

Powers:
- To build personal popularity

 

Limits:
-Popularity can swing widely
 

4. The Presidency as An Temptation for Tragedy

 

- We expect Presidents to Use the Presidency Actively, but

   the Presidency is hard to Use
- there are lots of constraints on Presidential Power

 

Presidents battle to use the tools that are easiest to use.

 

 

  Presidents can most easily control National Security and Publicity, so ... 
 

We tend to get

 

1). The Permanent Campaign:

- Presidents are tempted to manage their image
instead of improving public policy

 

2). The Covert Presidency:

- Presidents are tempted to abuse "national security"
to achieve their goals

 

Wategate was the logical result of these temptations.