Although different in nature, congress and the President of the United States both hold positions of upmost power and unequivocally important decision-making for the American people. However, the argument always stands: who has more power? The power problem as it stands “...is the need to grant government enough power to effectively address the problems that people expect government to solve, while also limiting power so that it can be held accountable” (Katznelson, Kesselman, Draper, p.42). Far from perfect, the political system in place attempts to grant both Congress and The President exclusive and shared responsibilities to provide an equal spread of power. Upon founding of the United States government, not all three branches were to share the same amount of power.
To What Extent Are Backbench MPs Lobby Fodder? We’re led to believe that the MPs we elect to form Parliament actively participate in the governing of our country. Yet in reality, most of the power lies with the executive and the influence of a backbencher is thus lessened. Are they a loyal party drone? Do they represent the constituents effectively?
Therefore this large influence was causing the SPD’s to grow considerably in the Reichstag, consuming the majority of seats in the parliament. Therefore the Reichstag was in left-wing position. This posed a threat to the right-wing position that the government was currently in. Therefore this implies political parties were becoming more influential in the parliament as the Kaiser could not overlook such a dominant party in the Reichstag. However it could be argued that Wilhelm II’s aims to crush socialism in response to Caprivi’s tolerance for Socialism in his years as chancellor disagree with this view as it suggests he is aiming for more of an autocratic state where he holds state control.
Due to the increasing presidential style of recent prime ministers and the party loyalty of the executive one can consider Parliament’s control of executive power minimal. However, due to the development of independent bodies surrounding Select Committees and the delaying of legislation by the House of Lords it can still be argued to be effective. The government usually has an overall majority. This is due to our voting system of FPTP which gives preference to the two main parties, normally giving them majorities (and increasingly large ones) as opposed to coalitions and minority governments which are produced through other voting systems such as AV in Scotland and Wales. Although we are currently in a coalition the government still has a majority through the combination of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
Or simply more popular ones? The most important information in this chapter is the American Presidency how it has evolved and what role it plays in American politics and government, expanding presidency, the powers and roles of the president, the President’s staff cabinet, the President and Congress: Perpetual Tug of War and The president and the people an evolving relationship. The main inference in this chapter are Structure, Political Linkage Government, and Government Action. The key concepts we need to understand in this chapter are Framework, Mapping America Politics, and Using the Democracy Standard. The main assumption underlying the author’s thinking is the special
Practice of liberal democracy ------------------------------------------------- “In the USA the executive dominates foreign policy but is powerless on the domestic front. In the UK, the executive dominates everything” Explain and discuss. The executive branch of any government is generally seen as the most important and dominant branch in most existing societies, the USA and the UK included. The executives take important decisions, represent the nation on a global scale and are responsible for the legislative process. However the executive power can and has to be constrained to ensure a more democratic system of governance.
Overtime, the role of the cabinet may have increasingly been seen to be less and this may have changed peoples’ perception on the system of government used in the UK. The fact that a Prime Minister can dominate parliamentary proceedings gives him/her great power, and this has been linked to the concept of an ‘elective dictatorship’. Prime Minister dominance has occurred in recent years, with the leadership styles of Thatcher and Blair being of particular significance. Blair as prime minister used bilateral meetings with ministers, to discuss important policy decisions. This led to dominance over the cabinet and Blair being seen more as a ‘President’ than a Prime Minister.
Indecisive people can pass on their responsibilities and “pass the buck,” and advisory people can propose their concepts and lobby for acceptance, but the President can ultimately turn to nobody else. Presidents must make the hard decisions. It is a heavy mantle to bear on those presidential shoulders. It is lonely at the top. President Johnson’s “wise men” possessed depth in their areas of expertise beyond that of the President, who was a master mover of legislation to accomplish domestic social programs but very much out of his league in military matters and international relations.
Chapter 13- Congress A. Introduction * Congress can expand or contract the appellate jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court. * Congress is considered to be a broken branch, and has ben the object of more mass public mistrust and more elite reform proposals than the presidency or the federal judiciary. B. Congress Versus Parliament * The U.S. along has a congress, while Great Britain has a parliament.
The disadvantages are the recurrent gridlock seen in Congress, even if the a House passes a bill it still has to go to the Senate. The issue complacency among American voters that allows representative to be