The Constitutional and the Legal Basis of the Presidents Power - Article Example

Final Exam Constitution The legal approach to the study of the presidency explores the constitutional and the legal basis of the president’s power – whether informal or formal. The advantages of this approach include that it traces the constitutional and the legal bases of presidential power (Harris & Milkis, 1989). Secondly, it explores the historical evolution of the president’s office, taking into account, the provisions of laws, the constitution, legal precedents, treaties and the customs related to the formal and the informal powers of the president (Bowles, 1999). This implies that the approach offers a more holistic outlook of the presidency, noting that it takes different variables into account. The third advantage is that it explicates the historical changes in the boundaries of presidential power. The fourth advantage is that it explicates what the president is mandated to do – according to customs and law. The disadvantage of this approach is that the approach does not explain the activities and the roles that the president engages in, irrespective of the fact that it defines the roles that the president does not take. Secondly, this approach has little explanation of the reasons behind the roles of the president and the importance of the roles he takes – within the specified boundaries. This implies that the rationales underlying presidential duties are not explored under the model; therefore it limits the understanding of its audience. The psychological approach focuses on the psychological qualities of a president and the relationship between these qualities to his responsibilities. The advantages of this approach include that it explains what presidents do and the reasons behind these actions; it explains presidential conduct, decision-making; organization of staffs and outcomes, which expresses the importance of certain psychological qualities (Bowles, 1999). The second advantage is that it compels the audience to evaluate presidential candidates and office holders, on the basis of many areas, including their personal and personality attributes; this outlook offers a micro-perspective conception to the study of the presidency (Robert & Zeckhauser, 2011). The disadvantages of this approach include that it emphasizes the personality traits of presidents and does not offer attention to any other factors. The second disadvantage is that the approach does not pay any attention to the laws, the constitution, the customs and other significant sets of values and provisions, which are instrumental in the performance of presidential roles. The institutional approach focuses on the institutional nature of the presidency, and the way in which the president is an active participant in the processes and the structures of the office. The advantages of this approach include that the institutional outlook enables one to understand the role of the president, in sustaining the processes and the structures of the presidential institution (Hammitt, 2013). Secondly, it allows for the conception of the presidency as an institution and a component of an adaptive organization, which are helpful in political concepts (Friedman, 1995). Thirdly, it is useful in explaining the duties of presidents (Hart, 1998). The disadvantages of the approach include that its conceptual outlook is limited, in that it disregards critical concepts – which are hard to compute – including ideology, political skills, personality and power (Lewis, 2008). The political power approach explores the people in the institution, and the ways in which they exercise power. The advantages of this approach include that it offers a more expansive outlook of presidential politics, which explores the scope beyond the roles of the president (Hart, 1998). The second advantage is that the approach covers further prerequisites like public support, interest groups, and coalitions of actors, and their importance in the duties of presidents. The third advantage of the approach is that it explores the people that hold power within the political institutions and who is answerable to whom, within the framework (Hammitt, 2013). The disadvantages of this approach include that it presents the president as all powerful, when in the real sense; so many others play a major role in the power structure (Myers, 2002). 2. The most significant changes that took place in congress after the election of the Watergate babies include their revolt of southern leadership, which led to the removal of three committee members from office (Zelizer, 2005). In December of 1974, the coming into power for the Watergate babies changed the outlook of the committee from a “way and mean” outlook to one of “steering and policy” committee outlook, in the effort to dissolve the oligarchic leadership of the house. This was especially the case, because many of the younger generation leaders from the liberal side were affiliates of the Steering committee; the changes offered them the platform needed to removal of the three chairmen, among them Wright Patman from the banking committee (Hazan & Longley, 2000). The second was Eddie Hebert from the Armed Services Committee and W. Poage from the Agriculture committee. These changes reaffirmed the change from the more conservative outlook, Southern-inclined system of administration, which had characterized the composition during the past years (Hazan & Longley, 2000, 164). The different changes were among the forces that forced the senate – during the coming year – to implement the “sunshine rules” of the house, which paved way for the legislative mark-up sessions to the scrutiny of the public (Dewhirst & Rausch, 2007). That change was desirable, because it allowed for more effective debating, amending and the rewriting of proposed legislation, which led to the formulation of highly thought-out policies. Further, the change made the deliberations made before the endorsement of significant legislative matters increase within the American political environment; the widened scope of deliberations has made it possible for different sides to a contagious issue to be heard, prior to the endorsement of action recommendations (Menzel & White, 2011). Through the opening up of deliberations to public scrutiny, the policy-making system has grown more responsive to the desires of citizens (Zald & McCarthy, 1987). The changes that took place after the election of the Watergate babies led to the republican revolution of 1994, which pushed the Republican Party to become the majority party in the different chambers of congress, after the elections of 1952 (Mack, 2001). The revolutionary shift came due to the changes made during and after the era of the Watergate babies, which included the change of eight rules regarding the proceedings of congress, which were implemented to a varied extent. Some of the changes that drove the revolution included the banning of proxy votes, the requirement that all laws had to apply to congress, limiting the contractual terms for chairs of committees to 6 years and the three-fifths majority requirement for making tax increments (Mack, 2001). The changes were highly desirable, because they placed more checks to the policy making system and the outlook of policy-makers, so that the process could reflect more public interest. In 2006, there was the democrat’s bid to rein in the corruption, after gaining the majority share at the different congress houses, following the wave of frustration that resulted from the allegations of corruption in the institution (Mann, Binder, and Reynolds 2007). In response, the congress started the pay-as-you-go provisions to the budget, which required the future expenditures of Congress were to be served using spending reductions or revenue expansions (Mann, Binder, and Reynolds 2007). These changes were very desirable to the administration of budget processes as well as the implementation of administrative changes, because it demonstrated the importance of having a checked administrative system (Mann, Binder, and Reynolds 2007). In 2010, there was widespread frustration with congressional conflict, leading the republicans to gain the majority of the house, primarily due to the backing of the Tea Party (Anon, N.D). Following the change of majority rule in the houses, the republicans issued a range of rule reforms, including the switch from PayGo to the CutGo system, where expenditure increments should correspond to budget cuts from other programs (Anon, N.D). 3. The politics-administration dichotomy model is an accurate model for American politics, mainly because it offers the foundations for the norms to be observed by officials (Fry, 1989). The model offers the rubric for studies on the behaviors to be expected and appreciated from elected administrators and officials, especially those working in local government circles (Shafritz & Hyde, 2007). Irrespective of the fact that it has been disputed on empirical standards, it is regarded the model statement for the relations of public officials (Hughes, 2003). These standards that define the conduct and the values expected from public officials can be retraced to the initiators of politics in the filed, as well as the starters of the council-manager government style (Appleby, 1947). The validity of the model can also be justified using orthodox public administration systems and models, which peaked during the 1930s until the 1960s (Svara, 1998). The validity and the accuracy of the model can also be justified using the outlook that, its fundamental ideas were a well-thought-out reinterpretation of the ideologies of the previous era, with the aim of making its values more relevant to the modern political environment (Dubois & Fattore, 2009). During the previous era, the US had been characterized by an increase in immigration, urbanization, corruption and the loss of traditional values, which led to the pressing demand for an administrative change. The era allowed that only the loyal supporters of the victorious party would be appointed to administrative offices, which blocked the way for more qualified and capable people from taking office, due to their lack of allegiance to the party (Svara, 1998). The consequences of the traditional outlook of politics and the administration of duties, non-qualified and less qualified people were offered offices within the public administration system, which increased the inefficiencies of the political system in an uncontrolled manner. Noting the erratic outlook of the political and the administrative model that was pushed out by the politics-administration dichotomy, the new system offered the solutions to the inefficiencies of the previous political system and framework (Svara, 1998). For that reason, the fact that the new model corrected the errors of the previous one, can be used as evidence, to demonstrate the fact that it was an accurate one. The identification of the new model by the progressive movement was a necessary aspect of the importance of reforming the government, which would improve the efficiency of administration. Apart from the improvement of the political administration of public administration, the model led to the birth of the field of public administration, which sought to correct the inefficiencies and the corrupt nature of the then administration (Svara, 1998). Noting the fact that the roots of public administration can be traced to the new model, it is evidence that it offered the solutions to the unsuccessful models of the past era, proving the accuracy of the model. Further, the outlook of the model is applicable and can lead to the effective execution of public duties during the current time. The acknowledgement of the interdependence that exists between elected officers and administrators, as complementary, shows that the model is accommodative and future-looking than previous ones (Svara, 1998). The accuracy of the system can also be proved from the operational outlook of the model, which is inclined towards a technically competent and a politically neutral system which guarantees democratic rule. Due to the values of the model, the separation of public administration from the political system will offer the solution to the interference of politics in the administration of public duties (Svara, 1998). The accurate nature of the new model can be proven from the outcomes of the era that came after the change of the model, where the previous problems of corruption and service inefficiencies were addressed. Reference List Anon. (N.D). House Republicans Release Proposed 112th Congress Rules Package. Committee on Rules - Republicans. Appleby, P. (1947). Toward Better Public Administration. Public Administration Review, 7(2), 93-99. Bowles, N. (1999). Studying the Presidency. Annual Review of Political Science, 2, 1-23. Dewhirst, R., & Rausch, J. (2007). 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