Political science course work

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Some of the constitutional presidential duties of the U. S. President are: the Head of State and his activities include meeting with leaders of other countries and he can make treaties with them. However this is subject to the Senate’s approval. The president is also the Chief Legislator (Beckmann, 2010, p. 55). Here his activities involve approving laws that the Congress makes by signing bills into law. He can also refuse to sign a bill; this is known as veto. He is Commander in Chief of the Army and the Navy of the U. S. which means that he has the power to authorize soldiers to go overseas and subject to approval by the Congress he can declare war on another state. As the Commander-in-Chief the president can also appoint top-level military officers (Record, 2002, p. 89).

The inherent powers of the president are the powers inherent to him or her as the chief of the executive branch. They include: Emergency Power mostly used in times of national crisis and times of war an example is when the U. S. Supreme Court imposed this law in the case of United States vs. Curtis-Wright Export Corporation in 1936 (Schwarz & Huq, 2011, p. 13). Another inherent power is the Executive Order. This is a rule or regulation that is issued by the president that has the force of law. The executive order is used to enforce the constitution or treaties, to enforce statutes and to outline and govern how executive agencies are to operate. The executive orders have to be published in the Federal Register. The other inherent power is the Executive Privilege which gives members of the executive branch the right to refuse to disclose certain information to the public or other government agencies. A case in point is where the Supreme Court ruled out the use of the executive privilege to prevent the use of evidence in a proceeding against the president in 1974 (Galvan, 2009, p. 91). Presidential powers are ever increasing with presidents seeking to expand their turf by use of veto, executive privilege, so as not to divulge certain information and also being the commander in chief of the armed forces and navy they can decide for how long a war can go on as long as congress approved invasion requests (Ginsberg & Crenson, 2007, p. 109).

The office of the presidency as established under article II of the constitution provides that the President of the U. S. shall have Executive Powers. Both the president and their vice president shall be in office for a term of four years and can hold the office for a maximum of two terms. For a person to qualify as a presidential candidate they have to be a citizen by birth or a citizen at the time of the adoption of the constitution, they have to be at least thirty five years and to have lived in the U. S. for not less than fourteen years (Lewis, 2008, p. 72). The reason why all the presidents have been white male is because the women, African-Americans and also Hispanics are considered the minority. There is also a lot of skepticism about a black president and stereotypes that women can’t be strong leaders especially for a super power from many citizens and local as well as national leaders.

The president has the power to nominate members of the executive branch and make treaties, though the Supreme Court has to agree and the Senate’s two thirds have to give consent before such a nomination can take effect. Even if the president decides to veto a bill congress can pass the bill by a majority of two thirds vote (Howell & Pevehouse, 2007, p. 135). The president as the commander in chief has the power to pardon.

Three priorities of the President of the United States should be security for the citizens of the country, improved health and living conditions including creating job opportunities and improving foreign relations with other states such as Iran, Russia and South Korea (Kernell, 2006, p. 48). The presidential powers that will allow the president to do these are the fact that they are the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy to ensure both internal and external security, they are also the Head of State and Head of Government where relevant policies are made, and lastly they are the Chief Diplomat who receives foreign dignitaries and who also makes foreign visits to other nations.

President Obama recently used his recess appointment powers to go around congressional hearings and floor vote as he went on to call up Dr. Berwick Donald to head the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services as the administrator (Pear, 2011, para. 3). The president also involved the U. S. military in the crisis in Libya on grounds of not being able to turn a blind eye to the ongoing atrocities being waged by Gadhafi on his people sighting that the American values and interests were at stake.

References

Beckmann, M. (2010). Pushing the Agenda: Presidential Leadership in US Lawmaking, 1953-
2004. New York: Cambridge University Press
Howell, G. & Pevehouse, J. (2007). While dangers gather: Congressional Checks on
Presidential War Powers. New Jersey: Princeton University Press
Record, J. (2002). Making War, Thinking History: Munich, Vietnam, and Presidential Uses of
force from Korea to Kosovo. Michigan: US Naval Institute
Galvan, W. (2009). Presidential Advisers and Claims of Executive Privilege. Washington: Nova
Science.
Kernell, S. (2006). Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership, 4th Ed. Illinois: CQ
Press.
Ginsberg, B. & Crenson, M. (2007). Presidential Power: Unchecked & Unbalanced. New York:
W. W. Norton & Company
Lewis, D. (2008). The Politics of Presidential Appointments. New Jersey: Princeton University
Press
Pear, R. (2011). Rising Calls to Replace Top Man at Medicare. New York Times. Retrieved from

Schwarz, F. & Huq, A. (2011). Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of
Terror. New York: OUP