Presidential Power Institutional Sources of Presidential Power

Presidential Power • Institutional Sources of Presidential Power – Powers enumerated in Constitution • Behavioral or Individual Sources of Presidential Power – Power of Persuasion- Neustadt – Importance of Personality- Barber – Going Public- Kernell

Institutional Sources of Presidential Power • Chief of State (symbolic/ceremonial roles) • Chief Executive (appointment power, control over executive branch/executing laws) • Commander-in-Chief • Chief Diplomat • Chief Legislator (recommending legislation, executive orders, veto/signing legislation)

Individual Sources of Presidential Power • Power of Persuasion – Richard Neustadt - Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents • Importance of Personality – James Barber – Presidential Character • “Going Public” – Samuel Kernell – Going Public

Neustadt and Presidential Power • Way to persuade is to convince members of Congress that what the W. H. wants of them is what they ought to do for their own sake and on their authority • Power of persuasion is the power to bargain • Key is a bargaining game

Neustadt Continued • All of the players have different advantages: • President- status of office, public standing (if high), veto, appointments, budget • Bureaucracy- since also beholden to Congress, will not necessarily go along with what Executive wants • Congress- hold purse strings, approve appointments • Public- only important in approval of President and to prove that the actor cares about an issue

Barber – Presidential Character • Personality plays an important role in shaping presidential behavior • Will affect whether president has persuasion powers • Two Important dimensions: – Active/Passive- Energy towards Government or what Government should do – Negative/Positive- How feel about the job

Barber - Typology of 4 Types • Active-Positive – High self esteem, oriented towards results, adaptive – Examples- Kennedy, Truman, and FDR • Active-Negative – Intense effort with low emotional reward, motivated by personal ambition– Examples- Johnson and Nixon

Barber - Typology of 4 Types • Passive-Positive – – • Passive-Negative – – • Try to please others, compliant with decisions by others Example- Reagan Minimal Performance, low self esteem, work out of sense of duty Example- Washington, Eisenhower? Where would we place Clinton or George W. Bush?

Kernell – Going Public • Definition – Strategy of appealing to the public to get Congress to do what the President Wants • Examples – Clinton and Health Care Reform – George W. Bush and the Homeland Security Bill • Evidence for its Importance – Public addresses, travel, speeches

Going Public vs. Bargaining • Why does Going public violate bargaining model? – Rarely includes the kind of exchanges in bargaining theory – No benefits to members from complying with the President- only costs if don’t comply – Entails public posturing- makes compromise difficult – Undermines the legitimacy of other politicians

Why Growth of Going Public? • Growth of the welfare state – Constituencies outside of D. C. • Modern Communications – President in News everyday – Easier to mobilize public opinion • Decline of Political Parties- Divided Government – Hard to bargain with individual members, especially if different party

Implications of Going Public • Congress will only listen if the President has high levels of approval (50% at least) • Constant Campaign to Sway Voters • Every White House since Carter has had an in-house pollster – Constantly track public approval of President and opinion over the issues

Evaluation of Theories of Presidential Power • Presidents clearly have institutional power – However, the use of these powers have varied over time • Most political scientists think that Barber’s “presidential character/personality” measure is no good • Going public vs. Bargaining