Obama Administration : Presidential Power

Technology has changed our lives in more ways than we can possibly write down. It has changed our lives more than we have even realized. The biggest impact that technology has had on the power of the presidency is the way the information spreads. Social media sites have made politics more accessible for many Americans to voice their own thoughts, whether negative or positive. The internet has had an huge impact on the presidential campaigns as well. The social networking sites have always played a powerful role in politics. The candidates can use social media sites as an advantage in order to speak to their voters by direct message. Social media tools including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and the television have dramatically changed how political campaigns are run and how Americans react to election offices.

Another of these monumental changes would be the surrender of the control of power from the legislative branch to the executive branch. Over the twentieth century, this became an increasing reality as the focus shifted from Congress to the president (Cooper 2009, 388). While this development has many different advantages in the American government system, there are disadvantages as well, such as a decrease in stability (Cooper 2009, 379). The role of the president has become more important because of the changes that have led to the modern world (Cooper 2009, 388). This has occurred because of a number of reasons, such as “substantial increases in the responsibilities of the federal government, the stakes of politics, and the ease of communication and travel” (Cooper 2009, 388). Furthermore, in recent years, Congress has not worked hard in certain circumstances to protect their rights but have surrendered to the executive branch (Davidson, Oleszek, and Lee 2010, 498). It is

The president uses informal powers to set and enact a legislative agenda, to do executive orders, send out troops without a declaration of war, make executive agreements, create and use bureaucracy, and make legislative proposals. Out of all the informal powers presidents tend to use the executive power the most.

In the article, “Unilateral Action and Presidential Power: A Theory,” Terry M. Moe and William G. Howell, two political science instructors from Stanford University, investigate a source of presidential power, which is the president’s capability to act individually and make his own law, that has been unacknowledged yet essential to presidential leadership that it defines how the modern presidency is distinctively modern. The authors’ purpose in the article is to outline a theory of this feature of presidential power by arguing that the president’s powers of unilateral action, which is developed from the ambiguity of the contract, are strengths in American politics since they are not mentioned in the constitution. They also claim that presidents push the ambiguity of the contract to make their powers grow and that Congress and the courts would not be able to stop them (Moe and Howell, 1999, p. 1-3).

The position of president has evolved in the almost quarter millennium since the framers created the Constitution. The main issues facing the framers included the position’s structure, independence, and power. Although the modern presidency is different from the framers’ design, they would approve of it, since the concerns that the framers had with the executive still have been prevented. When creating the presidency, one issue the framers decided quickly was the structure, particularly having one president. This satisfied the needs of both the Conservative and Radical Republicans, by allowing for quick action, while still providing clear accountability.

As stated before, September 11th changed the setting of the presidency and congress, during this time. The patriot act enacted by congress, took the attitudes that have emerge from the attacks of September 11th and in cooperated these attitudes into the patriot act. “The enactment of this law gave George Bush full discretion and with the resolutions provide by congress, that the president can use power that is necessary and proper to wield power without repercussions from congress.”(Taylor Jr, 2006) Congress in essence, gave its authority to check the president away and allow the president to lead without a check from congress.

Max weber identified three types of authority found in social organizations. These three are traditional authority, legal- rational authority, and charismatic authority. The authority that I believe closely represents our president is legal- rational authority which is defined as “authority based on laws, rules, and procedures, not in the heredity or personality of any individual leader. Modern presidencies and parliaments are built upon this type of authority ” (Ferris, 2014). I believe President Obama is recognized mostly for this because what he does is based on what the laws say, his presidency is not based on his emotions. It’s built upon what the people want and what they believe he can do for the country.

In the admittedly short life time of the Presidential branch its occupants have taken massive strides in empowering and strengthening their office. At times a case could be made that the executive has aspired to too much; threating essential American political values, such is the case of President Franklin Roosevelt who secured a third term of office ignoring precedent and tradition. However, evidence would suggest that for any significant step a president takes towards increasing their power; often results in an equal and opposite reaction. That is not to say that our presidents are weak, in actuality we see that our presidents have significantly increased their power to wage war

In this paper we will compare the formal and informal powers if the President and we will explore how and why the Presidential powers have increased over time. The history of the Presidency is an account of aggrandizement; one envisions, today, a President with far reaching power, however, when looking at the Constitution alone we find a President with significant limits. Is the President of the United States the most powerful person in the world or merely a helpless giant?

The United States is in a perpetual state of national emergency. A state of emergency, is a situation of national danger or disaster, in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures in order to regain control. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terror attacks, Congress adopted a resolution on September 14, 2001, stipulating: “the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.” The broad interpretation of the law by the executive branch has provided it with unlimited authority to act not only against those responsible for 9/11, but any

The modern presidency has in a sense become a double-edged sword in that presidents have become beneficiaries of anything positive that can be attributed to government, but also can be blamed for anything bad occurring in society. Quite simply, the modern president has become the center of our political system (The Modern Presidency, 2004). The men who have dealt with this double-edged sword known as the modern presidency have often walked a very fine line between effectiveness and ineffectiveness, but all have attempted to use their power in one way or another.

The American Presidency is undoubtedly one of the most widely recognized popular icons throughout the world. Although to most foreigners or those who have never resided in the United States or know little of its history, the executive branch of government may seem to be as dull and unyielding as the rest of the American politics, for those few rare individuals who have taken the time to examine and closely scrutinize this office of the American political system and its recent history, quite the opposite will be said. Unlike Congressional or local elections where typically a number of individuals of the same ideological background must be elected in order for a particular issue to be

Presidential power has increased immensely over recent years and little is being done in an attempt to restore the original intent of the Constitution. There are multiple factors that affect this, including the executive orders of presidents, the Constitution giving an unequal distribution of power between the executive and legislative branch, the failure to use checks and balances, and the ineffectiveness of Congress. With the lack of congressional involvement in legislative decisions, the president has the ability to take matters in their own hands.

President Obama has made an assertive effort to address this epidemic. He tasked the Office of National HIV/AIDS Policy (ONAP) to develop and implement a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). The NHAS is has three goals. Firstly, to reduce HIV incidence, next to increase access to care and to optimize health outcomes, and lastly to reduce HIV related health disparities. In the opening page of the NHAS President Obama urges us all to get involved, the states, cities and local government, as well as businesses, churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples. In addition, he asks for the scientific, medical and educational communities to also get involved to work for the eradication of HIV. The President has indeed put his money where his mouth is. The President has allocated monies toward cash/housing assistance, prevention and research. $ 3.1 billion of the Fiscal year 2016 budget has been requested for cash/housing because people are living with HIV. This is the HOWPA, the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program. The request for Prevention of HIV is for the least amount, $940 million. However, the monies requested for research are $2.8 billion. The majority of research is conducted by the National Institutes of Health. In addition, another budget request is for the MAI the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative. It is a request of $54 million.

People were jumping excitedly around, pumping their fists as they chanted USA. Blue party streamers flew in the air as his supporters flooded the streets cheering. Millions were sitting on the edge of their couches as Wolf Blitz announces the predicted President Elect in 2008: Barack Obama. After an 8 year Republican-led presidency riddled with turmoil and heartbreaks, the people breathe a sigh of relief as they ready themselves to write the next chapter of their country’s history. The way in which power is obtained and maintained differs greatly depending on the country.  In our democratic America, political power can only be obtained and maintained through a perfect balance of pleasing both the general public and special interest groups, due to the fact that they both influence the decisions of political figures in separate ways. While Obama may have come into power through the support of Americans in 2008, it would be an uphill battle to maintain his power in an increasingly divisive country controlled by extreme special interest groups.