Introduction to American politics
Q1. The power of the president relative to Congress changed in 1930.
Q2. Difference between President’s roles of “head of state” and “head of government”
The roles of Presidents as the head of state
As the head of state, the American president does perform various functions such as by representing the American nation and also performs duties that are ceremonial. When the American president is elected, it depicts a living symbol of American and the leadership of the nation. Some of the duties that the American president performs as the head of state are: hand out the awards and the medals, performing the compulsory duty of giving a speech on every 4th July of every year, be the host of the leaders who are visiting from foreign governments, throw the starting pitch for the World Series, the president also represents America at international functions. The president also enhances communications between the government and its citizens, participates during national rallies at the times of needs or predicaments.
When it comes to being the head of government, most evidently the president has the role of being the prime spokesman for the American’s policies or the ones that are enacted by the government, and also plays a vital role in making decisions regarding the governments both policies and actions. The president participates in the appointment of the people who will perform the rest of the governmental duties and representing the government both internationally and in the country.
There is minimal difference between the roles of the American president as being the head of state and as the head of government since the duties are almost similar. However, one distinguishing difference is that as being the head of state, the president represents the state affairs and duties while being the head of government, the president perform governmental duties such as selection of the government leaders.
Q3. The resources of presidential power
The resources of presidential power are inclusive of the powers to bargain that are all got from his governmental position, the public reputation and self reputation.
The reputation of the president is according to the way the rest looks up to him. This comes with an added expectation from the others regarding how will try to achieve it. Even if he can’t be in a position to prove to them that he will certainly win, he needs to persuade them that it won’t cross him easily.
The public reputation is how people expect the president to react, of course outside Washington and with prestige expect the voters’ reactions. Lastly, has got the personal duty to safeguard his personal power as no one else can do it for him.
The presidential power prestige that I find most important is the president’s reputation of reacting according to how he is expected by the others. This is because they will pressure the president to achieve (live up to the expectations) and they can correct him by criticizing him. The president also strives hard to achieve the expectations even if can’t persuade them that he will win and therefore since the president is pressured, he will strive hard to achieve so as to achieve their confidence.
Q4. What are the general characteristics and functions of bureaucracy?
A bureaucracy can be defined as an intricate structure defining offices and rules whereby the workers have particular duties and work in an authority hierarchy. The general characteristics of bureaucracy are: wide use of written documents, command unity, structure of administration and subordination, teach in the requirements of the job and the skills, recruitment of experienced competent personnel, appliance of dependable rules, and identification of jobs with specified privileges, responsibilities and range of authority. The bureaucracy has got three main functions: in creating law whereby the bureaucrats write detailed rules that determine the way they will be implemented; in the implementation of the laws; and adjudication of the laws.
Q5. How various branches of government try to control bureaucracy?
Some of the government branches that have attempted to control bureaucracies are courts. They have tried to control the actions of them. However, the bureaucracies win in most cases. The Congress can also control bureaucracy since they have the power to legislate agencies out of existence. The presidents also control bureaucracy by influencing it through appointments. The federal courts also control the activities of the bureaucracy by setting detailed rules and procedures. It is usually difficult to control it since the bureaucrat can oppose even a strong person like the president.
Q6. Book
Q7.Book
Q8. (a) A kitchen cabinet: this term was first coined by the Andrew Jackson, United States president. It was used to refer to the unofficial personnel who advised him after he purged his cabinet in 1831. Among those termed as his “kitchen cabinet” were Francis Blair, William Lewis, Martin Buren and John Overton.
(b) Implementation is the method by which a particular order is carried out, accomplished or any plan for carrying out a particular thing while interpretation is the performance of the semantic constituent of a legal text such as the one contained in a constitution.
(c) Line item veto can be defined as the authority of an executive organization to terminate particular bill provisions while a pocket veto is the process by either a president or a governor of not signing a bill if the legislation session is not over.
Written Assignment 7
Q1. Marbury v. Madison case
In the Marbury v. Madison case, the court decided that Marbury possessed the commission right but since the Judiciary Act of 1789 wasn’t as per the constitution, it didn’t possess the power grant him the commission and couldn’t force both Madison and Jefferson in appointing Marbury. In the case, Chief Justice Marshall reasoned that the Judiciary Act of 1789 that ruled out practices of bringing commissions like those for judges wasn’t constitutional since the Supreme Court was given power denied by the constitution’s Article III (Thomas, 2006). It ended being ruled out that the 1789 Judicial Act wasn’t legal and thus not fit for being followed. The Court’s decision became an important factor in American politics because it gave the court the right for reviewing not only the acts of the Congress but also those of the president.
Q2. Describe the judicial philosophy of Rehnquist Court.
The philosophy points out that law judges need to determine the meaning of the law and different judges agree differently and those varying differences result from their varying perspectives, varying values and varying nature perspectives. The Rehnquist’s philosophy opined that the Supreme Court was a political institution and used made their decisions based on discretion. The philosophy supposed that the determinations of the judges’ were influenced by their personality, background and their training.
Reference
Thomas, H. (2006). The Rehnquist court: justices, rulings, and legacy. California: ABC-CLIO.
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