Objective: Explain how presidents have interpreted and justified their use of informal powers.
Starter: How much does the President impact Congressional elections?
1.How accurate was your prediction?
2.What story does the data tell?
3.Why do you think that presidential approval ratings impact congressional elections?
4.Evaluate the following statement by explaining what is incorrect about it. "When I vote in a midterm election, I am voting for a member of congress, not the president."
5.According to the chart above, what year had the biggest midterm election loss for the president's party?
6.What is a midterm election and why do we have midterm elections?
7.Imagine there is a proposal to hold US elections every four years. The term of the POTUS would remain at 4 years, the term of the US House would be 4 years, and the Senate term would be 8 years. Explain whether you think this would be a good idea.
8.How much of an influence do you think Donald Trump had on the 2018 midterm elections?
9.Some critics refer to America as perpetually voting. Is that true?
10.Is that good?
11.Donald Trump's approval ratings have remained basically constant (low 40s). How does that affect his ability to pass legislation in a Democratic House and Republican Senate?
12.Regardless of approval ratings, what tends to happen to the party of the POTUS in midterm elections?
13.What are some aspects of the US electoral system that will keep a president’s unpopularity from hurting their party too much in the midterm elections?
Review: Respond to each of the following. Provide 2 specific examples for each prompt.
- Describe the different structures, powers, and functions of each house of Congress.
- Explain how the structures, powers, and functions of both houses of Congress affect the policymaking process.
- Explain how congressional behavior is influenced by election processes, partisanship, and divided government.
- Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda.
- Explain how the president's agenda can create tension and frequent confrontations with Congress.
Practice Questions
Quiz Today: Presidential Powers!
Federalist No. 70
Critics of the proposed Constitution questioned Article II and the creation of the presidency. A single person, the Anti-Federalists argued, in charge of the administration of government and the executive branch would be dangerous. In the 85 essays the Federalists penned, 25 of them address Article II, and 42 different passages across the collection of these essays make points about the chief executive, his powers, term, relationship to the other branches, and the method of elections. In No. 70, Alexander Hamilton, writing as Publius, foreshadows the “ingredients” of the presidency--
(1) unity,
(2) duration,
(3) an adequate provision for its support,
(4) competent powers
In the passage below, he addresses his first point, focusing on the value of the unity of a single executive to avoid conflicts and ensure accountability.
Excerpt:
[“The framers] have declared in favor of a single executive and a numerous legislature. They have with great propriety, considered energy as the most necessary qualification of the former, and have regarded this as most applicable to power in a single hand…Wherever two or more persons are engaged in any common enterprise or pursuit, there is always danger of difference of opinion…And what is still worse, they might split the community into the most violent and irreconcilable factions, adhering differently to the different individuals who composed the magistracy….
“But the multiplication of the executive adds to the difficulty of detection in either case. It often becomes impossible, amidst mutual accusations, to determine on whom the blame or the punishment of a pernicious measure, or series of pernicious measures, ought really to fall. It is shifted from one to another with so much dexterity, and under such plausible appearances, that the public opinion is left in suspense about the real author….
“When power, therefore, is placed in the hands of so small a number of men as to admit of their interests and views being easily combined in a common enterprise, by an artful leader, it becomes more liable to abuse and more dangerous when abused, than if it be lodged in the hands of one man, who, from the very circumstance of his being alone, will be more narrowly watched and more readily suspected, and who cannot unite so great a mass of influence as when he is associated with others.”
(1) unity,
(2) duration,
(3) an adequate provision for its support,
(4) competent powers
In the passage below, he addresses his first point, focusing on the value of the unity of a single executive to avoid conflicts and ensure accountability.
Excerpt:
[“The framers] have declared in favor of a single executive and a numerous legislature. They have with great propriety, considered energy as the most necessary qualification of the former, and have regarded this as most applicable to power in a single hand…Wherever two or more persons are engaged in any common enterprise or pursuit, there is always danger of difference of opinion…And what is still worse, they might split the community into the most violent and irreconcilable factions, adhering differently to the different individuals who composed the magistracy….
“But the multiplication of the executive adds to the difficulty of detection in either case. It often becomes impossible, amidst mutual accusations, to determine on whom the blame or the punishment of a pernicious measure, or series of pernicious measures, ought really to fall. It is shifted from one to another with so much dexterity, and under such plausible appearances, that the public opinion is left in suspense about the real author….
“When power, therefore, is placed in the hands of so small a number of men as to admit of their interests and views being easily combined in a common enterprise, by an artful leader, it becomes more liable to abuse and more dangerous when abused, than if it be lodged in the hands of one man, who, from the very circumstance of his being alone, will be more narrowly watched and more readily suspected, and who cannot unite so great a mass of influence as when he is associated with others.”
- Describe the author’s central claim about a chief executive.
- Explain how the author’s argument for that claim ensures a better government.
- Explain how the implications of the author’s argument may affect the behavior of the chief executive (president).
Expansion of Presidential Power
Using your knowledge of U.S. history and your reasoning abilities, describe how each of the following has represented an expansion of presidential power:
- The U.S. Civil War
- The Progressive Movement
- The First and Second World Wars
- The New Deal
- The War on Terror
Analyzing Presidential Decisions
With your group, for each scenario, determine and explain:
- whether the president is using a formal or informal power
- whether the action is constitutional
- whether you agree with the decision
Scenario #1
The president issues an order that women in the armed forces may now serve in a direct combat capacity during wartime.
Scenario #2
The president authorizes a drone strike against a known terrorist without consulting Congress.
Scenario #3
The president and the Secretary of State negotiate an agreement with North Korea to ends its designs on building a nuclear weapon. In exchange, the U.S. will commit $15 billion in humanitarian aid to the North Korean people suffering from mass starvation and forgive up to $25 billion in loans by the North Korean government to U.S. banks. The president consulted Congress but did not request a treaty.
Scenario #4
After a state passes a law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, the president instructs the attorney general not to enforce federal anti-drug laws in that state.
Scenario #5
A major earthquake hits 80 miles south of San Francisco incurring enormous damage with hundreds feared dead or missing, and billions of dollars in property damage. The president mobilizes the National Guard as well as regular army units to assist in the rescue effort and to help maintain order. He instructs agencies of the federal government (FEMA, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security) to send aid. After visiting the quake zone, the president addresses a joint session of Congress and requests short term and long term financial assistance for the affected areas.
Scenario #6
In his State of the Union Address, the president outlines a comprehensive plan to overhaul the Social Security system including an option to privatize Social Security accounts. He expects Congress to pass his plan in its entirety.
Scenario #7
In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down an Oklahoma state law requiring the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. As an act of defiance of the decision, the governor of Oklahoma orders the closing of several public schools which had heretofore refused to teach the intelligent design curriculum. The president of the United States commits National Guard troops to forcibly open the public schools and restore order.
Scenario #8
The president unilaterally delays mandates on businesses to provide health insurance to their employees from a law passed by Congress.
Scenario #9
For several months there have been credible reports that there is mass genocide being carried out on the part of the government against ethnic minorities in a small African nation. Amnesty International estimates that more than 500,000 have been murdered thus far. In a speech to a joint session of Congress, the president of the United States declares that he will commit 25,000 American troops to assist the United Nations in an effort to stop the violence against civilians and restore peace to the country. In his speech, the president contends “as the last remaining superpower, the United States has a moral obligation and the means to stop the murders of countless innocent men, women, and children.”
Scenario #10
Research an executive order from history and do the same thing as above.
The president issues an order that women in the armed forces may now serve in a direct combat capacity during wartime.
Scenario #2
The president authorizes a drone strike against a known terrorist without consulting Congress.
Scenario #3
The president and the Secretary of State negotiate an agreement with North Korea to ends its designs on building a nuclear weapon. In exchange, the U.S. will commit $15 billion in humanitarian aid to the North Korean people suffering from mass starvation and forgive up to $25 billion in loans by the North Korean government to U.S. banks. The president consulted Congress but did not request a treaty.
Scenario #4
After a state passes a law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, the president instructs the attorney general not to enforce federal anti-drug laws in that state.
Scenario #5
A major earthquake hits 80 miles south of San Francisco incurring enormous damage with hundreds feared dead or missing, and billions of dollars in property damage. The president mobilizes the National Guard as well as regular army units to assist in the rescue effort and to help maintain order. He instructs agencies of the federal government (FEMA, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security) to send aid. After visiting the quake zone, the president addresses a joint session of Congress and requests short term and long term financial assistance for the affected areas.
Scenario #6
In his State of the Union Address, the president outlines a comprehensive plan to overhaul the Social Security system including an option to privatize Social Security accounts. He expects Congress to pass his plan in its entirety.
Scenario #7
In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down an Oklahoma state law requiring the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. As an act of defiance of the decision, the governor of Oklahoma orders the closing of several public schools which had heretofore refused to teach the intelligent design curriculum. The president of the United States commits National Guard troops to forcibly open the public schools and restore order.
Scenario #8
The president unilaterally delays mandates on businesses to provide health insurance to their employees from a law passed by Congress.
Scenario #9
For several months there have been credible reports that there is mass genocide being carried out on the part of the government against ethnic minorities in a small African nation. Amnesty International estimates that more than 500,000 have been murdered thus far. In a speech to a joint session of Congress, the president of the United States declares that he will commit 25,000 American troops to assist the United Nations in an effort to stop the violence against civilians and restore peace to the country. In his speech, the president contends “as the last remaining superpower, the United States has a moral obligation and the means to stop the murders of countless innocent men, women, and children.”
Scenario #10
Research an executive order from history and do the same thing as above.
Presidential Administration
We are going to examine the different positions that work with or for POTUS. Find what they do, who the important people are, and create an analogy of the key players that we all would understand. For example, the president is Luke Skywalker and his senior adviser is Obi-Wan Kenobi (or, if you're feeling pessimistic, Darth Vader and Palpatine).
Foreign Policy: Treaties vs. Executive Agreements
Like executive orders, POTUS can bypass the Senate's advice and consent requirement by creating an executive agreement with another head of state. In your notebook, compare and contrast the two.
Closer: Explain how presidents have interpreted and justified their use of informal powers.
On Deck
Next Topic: Presidential Communication
Textbook: Read sections 12.7-12.8 (pp.374-378) or finish chapter 12 if you haven't already
28th Amendment Project due November 1!
Textbook: Read sections 12.7-12.8 (pp.374-378) or finish chapter 12 if you haven't already
28th Amendment Project due November 1!