Seven Roles of Chief Legislator: Barack Obama

When a president is sworn into office, he or she takes on a multitude of titles. One of the many titles the president is issued is the role of Chief in Legislator. This means that the president plays a crucial part in the legislative process or lawmaking. This title holds much authority in the eyes of Americans (Hoffman & Howard, 1317). Though this title does not give the president absolute authority, it does grant him or her strong jurisdiction in the legislature. The framers of the Constitution did not want America to be a monarchy the way they were when under the rule of England. As a result, the framers purposefully outlined the president’s limited power in the constitution, creating a democratic

Is congress a dysfunctional institution? Columnist Ezra Klein contends that institutional deadlock and partisan rancor have paralyzed congress, causing it to lose power to the president and the bureaucracy. Former Massachusetts Senator Mo Cowan describes he has to come view the work of congress along with fellow members after fulfilling the remainder of John Kerry’s term upon the nomination of Governor Deval Patrick.

Another example of congressional gridlock preventing a bill becoming law is when President Obama was still in the Oval Office. In 2014, Congress was gridlocked over Immigration Reform. Republicans in the Senate were indecisive on a $2.7 billion dollar bill to help with Central Americans crossing the border illegally. While it may not seem as serious, many politicians deemed this as a “national crisis”. President Obama also fought for it to be passed in Congress but it ended up making Congress delay for another day. The House also got a bill suspended that would make the deportation process much more efficient.

There is a laundry list of other roles the American President has including; Chief Diplomate, Chief Legislator, Head of Party, Chief Economist, Chief Citizen, Chief Executive, and Chief Administrator. The position of Head of State is more structural-like but being Commander-in-Chief and the Chief Diplomat are institutional and Constitutionally elucidated, Art. II, § 2, cl. 1 and cl. 2 respectively. Conversely, the delivery of the State of the Union address is as Chief Citizen is more procedural like.

In “Congressional Government”, Woodrow Wilson tries to explain the system of Congress and in it he thoroughly discusses the predominance of Congressional Committees in the legislative body. He argues that our legislature is more analogous to a conglomerate, not a homogenous body and that “we are ruled by a score and a half of ‘little legislatures’”(Wilson p. 323). There is little unity in the House and party organization is not strong according to Wilson. The many distinct, disconnected committees has leads Congress to have weak leadership and therefore decreases decision making. Also Wilson shows how multiple committee jurisdictions creates a system where there is no clear voice on the issue and since committees differ in political ideology broad questions of policy suffer. Lawrence C. Dodd also discusses the committee system in “Congress and the Quest for Power”. In it, he argues that the solution to congressmen’s need for power is a decentralized congress with a committee system that allows members to gain considerable power in their small committees. “Each member wants to exercise power, to make the key policy decisions. … Given this widespread power motive, an obvious way to resolve the conflict is to disperse power”(Dodd p. 335). Dodd argues that the solution to member Congress constantly seeking power is the current

For instance, the Speaker of the House must set the agenda, appoint chairs of committees and, have an impact over what gets voted on in the legislature (Champagne et al., 2017, p.209). Another important persona in the state legislature is the lieutenant governor; the president of the state senate. He is held accountable for setting the legislative agenda and appointing committee chairs (Champagne et al., 2017, p.210). Moreover, the committee system of the state legislature must work together to perform more common governmental tasks. Such as, when the Texas Senate and House members work together to pass a new law (Champagne et al., 2017, p. 211-212).

Congress is the national legislative body of a country. The main functions of Congress are lawmaking, representing the people, performing oversight, helping constituents, and educating the public. However, Congress is said to do not do much lately. Nonetheless, they still pass important bills every now and then. The United States uses bicameral legislature, which there are House of Representatives and a Senate with Republicans with majorities. Usually, they do not agree on policy. Yet, recently, President Barack Obama just signed a bill to law, which is H.R.3700, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act.

The President of the United States is often considered the most powerful elected official in the world. The President leads a nation of great wealth and military strength. Presidents have often provided decisive leadership in times of crisis, and they have shaped many important events in history. The President has many roles and performs many duties. As chief executive, the President makes sure that federal laws are enforced. As commander in chief of the nation's armed forces, the President is responsible for national defense. As foreign policy director, the President determines United States relation with other nations. As legislative leader, the President recommends new laws and works to win their passage. As

Today our Congress isn’t working on any major problems in the U.S. The U.S. Congress is weak, which it shouldn’t be, it should be strong, and be able to make decisions, but from it being weak, it results in Congress being unable to make major decisions. Of course the are some who the the very opposite or differently of one’s thinking. Many would say that Congress is strong, because Congress is united. This would be true on some very rare occasions.

A President's first key responsibility is to serve as chief diplomat of the U.S. This includes deciding what American diplomats shall say to foreign governments, and making the foreign policy for the U.S. Some examples of the job are traveling to London

First role of the president is Chief of State, where they represent the country. Next, Chief Executive, which enforces federal laws and the president also has to appoint members of the cabinet and the other head officials for the executive branch. Then Chief Legislator, vetoing laws and proposing new laws. Chief Diplomat visits other countries or welcomes other leaders and negotiates deals/ treaties. Commander in Chief is in charge of all of the armed forces, Chief of Party is the leader of their political party and lastly, Chief Jurist can appoint judges to supreme court.

During our lecture we went over four different roles of the president. The first one is Commander-in-Chief. This role takes care of all the military situations that may occur while he is in office. When president Reagan was in office he was concerned about the Soviets and Cuba. In 1983, the government of Grenada was overthrown and the island’s military assumed control. Reagan ordered the American troops to invade ensuring the Americans safety that were on the island. More recently, in March of 2008 President Obama ordered his soldiers to end the war in Iraq and finish the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Presidential Leadership The President has 8 roles as being the leader of this country. 1. Chief of State - The president serves as being the head of the government and rules over the government. - Example: The president makes a speech on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Obama has the flexibility to operate either mutually or competitively in his negotiating with members of Congress, depending on his perception of which strategy will determine most effective in achieving the desired result. However, his conciliatory tendency gives him somewhat conflict averse, which promotes a proclivity to stay somewhat aloof and beyond the fray in intense, highly divisive debates. In negotiating with the media, Obama is predisposed to remain cordial press relations, notably if he feels he can persuade the press to do his bidding. However, should the press become combative, he is likely to become respectively uncooperative, avoidant, or aloof. In relating to the public, confident leaders such as Obama generally are involved and operative, expressing and defending their policies in person rather than depending on proxies. However, if matters become combative, Obama combat aversion that may induce him to delegate that role to surrogates. In relating to the public, confident leaders such as Obama typically are involved and active, articulating and defending their policies in person rather than relying on

The root of the problem is political gridlock between the republicans and the democrats. Both