The Power of the American Presidency

The Power of the American Presidency
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Institution
The Power of the American Presidency
Presidential powers can be viewed through many prisms. Political scientists, for instance, have catalogued presidential actions to gain a picture of the authorities that prior presidents have in fact exercised (Watts, 2010). Some presidents earn higher marks for administration, some for leadership, and some for vision. Such descriptions of presidential powers are incredibly important. In recent years, there have been major changes in the problems facing the presidency. At the same time, the study of the presidency has shown signs of intellectual maturity and continuing innovative analysis. Presidential scholarship has stretched back historically and comparatively across multiple presidencies, for example, in the study of presidential rhetoric and the institutional presidency; it has elaborated upon the presidency’s relationships with other institutions, including presidential-congressional relations, the presidency and the press, and the presidency and organized interests (Watts, 2010). One thing is clear though, the American presidency in the twenty first century is in power ascendancy.
The American presidency remains one of the most fascinating institutions in history, and the powers and intricacies of the office seem to defy comparison to anything before or since. Individual presents have come and gone, serving their county with varying degrees of success, but the presidency as an institution remains a focal point of political power, nationally and internationally. The presidency of the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries may seem weak to the powers that have emerged with the office throughout the twenty first century, but the essential characteristics of the American presidency are as recognizable today as they were 200 years ago (Shapiro, 2000). Despite wars, scandals, economic turbulence, and even assassinations, the presidency has endured is one of the most resilient political structures ever created. According to presidential scholar Louis Koenig, the history of the presidency can be divided into three principle eras: the traditional presidency, the modern presidency, and the post modern residency (Shapiro, 2000). The powers of the traditional and modern presidency were limited. However, the powers of the post modern president of the twenty first century have increased significantly giving the president a bigger mandate than his predecessors.
Perhaps the best known dictum of regarding the American presidency is that “presidential power is the power to persuade” (Charles, 2009, p.34). According to Neustadt, the study of the presidency can be contrasted with legal, institutional, psychological, and other approaches. Neustadt’s perspective highlights the president’s operational problem of self help in thinking about influence strategically. The political power approach has led to many consequences for analyzing the presidency. “Neustadt sees the presidency as operating in a pluralistic environment in which there are numerous actors with independent power bases and perspectives different from his” (Charles, 2009, p.34). Thus, “the president must marshal resources to persuade others to do as he wishes” (Charles, 2009, p.36). A president can only rely on expanding the institution’s legal authority or adjusting its support mechanism. Neustadt argues that ‘powers’ do not guarantee power and the probabilities of power do not derive form the literary theory of the constitution (Charles, 2009). Power, then, is a function of power politics rather than a formal authority or position.
Isaac’s first law, the law of inertia, states that “an object once in motion will continue in motion unless acted upon by external forces” (Charles, 2009, p.34). In 1787, when the founders of the United States set presidential power in motion, they created a force far more powerful than their intentions. Now for 225 years the momentum of presidential power has gradually accelerated. An as its power has increased, so, too, have the public’s expectations. The combination of rising expectations and increasing power has generated friction as outside forces have acted to limit presidential power. However, the presidential power continues to evolve to counter the outside forces which try to limit it. “The American presidency, a magnetically powerful attraction for presidents, presidential candidates, press corps, and the public, is simultaneously potent and impotent” (Charles, 2009, p.39). Although presidents are assured of their power but frustrated by their weaknesses, presidents perform a tight role in the center ring of American politics.
Although today a more clear view of the role of legislative skills has been formulated and accepted, there was a substantial barrier of conventional wisdom to overcome. It would be irrelevant to think that Neustadt erected an impediment to understanding the broader patterns of presidential influence; however, his emphasis on the person in office certainly discouraged it, especially among his less discerning leaders (Charles, 2009). Similarly, “many scholars and commentators of the presidency have fallen prey to the personalization of politics and have uncritically accepted, for example, an exaggerated concept of the potential for using the bully pulpit to go public” (Charles, 2009, p.34). The idea of a dominant president who move the government and the country my means of strong, effective leadership has deep roots in the political culture.
Although outside forces have acted to check presidential power, notably during the scandals of the Nixon and Clinton presidencies, presidents remain preeminent in American politics. Presidents more than anyone else determine the national agenda, setting priorities and proposing policies. Most modern Americans, who can hardly imagine their president as anything less than the preeminent leader of their nation and the world, have lost sight of the presidency’s constitutional origins. The executive article illustrates flexibility, America’s widely acclaimed constitutional virtue. Accommodating myriad demands and many interpretations, the executive article has allowed presidential power numerous opportunities for expansion. Aside from its unclear and imprecise limits, this article, together with the legislative and judicial articles, instituted a doctrine not so much of separation of powers as of fusion of powers. A doctrine of strict...