Curriculum Portal

neurologyYou need to know

• The executive branch is led by the President, who is both head of state and head of government. The President is elected separately from Congress and is not a member of the legislature. Article II of the Constitution sets out the presidency, but over time the office has grown in power and significance.
• The President has a range of formal powers. These are the constitutional powers of the office, including acting as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, negotiating treaties, appointing federal judges, ambassadors and senior officials, granting pardons, calling Congress into special session, and approving or vetoing legislation. Some of these powers are enumerated powers, clearly listed in the Constitution, while others are inherent powers, which are understood to flow from the nature of the office.
• The President also has important informal powers, which have developed through practice rather than being explicitly stated in the Constitution. These include acting as de facto party leader, setting the national political agenda, leading public debate, influencing Congress through persuasion, and playing a major role as a world leader in foreign affairs. The growth of the Executive Office of the President (EXOP) has strengthened the President's capacity to lead, manage policy and control information.
• Presidential power comes from several sources. These include the authority of the Constitution, the visibility of the office, control of the executive branch, media access, public expectation of leadership, party leadership and a dominant role in foreign policy. However, these sources vary in importance depending on the President's skill, political context and national circumstances.
• The President is constrained by checks and balances. Congress can reject appointments, refuse to ratify treaties, override vetoes, investigate the executive branch, control spending and use impeachment. The Supreme Court can rule presidential actions unconstitutional. These checks mean that the President is powerful, but not all-powerful.
• Other important constraints include the level of party support in Congress, the ideological position of the Supreme Court, the size and complexity of the federal bureaucracy, and the influence of the media and public opinion. Presidents often find it easier to act when their party controls Congress and harder to govern during divided government.
• The President works with a range of executive institutions, including the Cabinet, the EXOP, the federal bureaucracy and federal agencies. The importance of each varies from one President to another. Some rely heavily on close White House advisers in the EXOP, while others place more emphasis on Cabinet government or agency expertise.
• There is an important debate about whether the modern presidency is imperial or imperilled. The idea of the imperial presidency suggests that presidential power has expanded too far, especially in war-making, executive action and control of foreign policy. The idea of the imperilled presidency argues that modern Presidents face so many constitutional, political and media constraints that they often struggle to govern effectively.
• Examples of the waxing and waning of presidential power include Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose presidency expanded executive government and helped establish the EXOP, and more recent presidents whose success or failure has depended heavily on Congress, crisis and political support.

• Students should be able to define and use accurately the key terms: the executive, the President, formal powers, informal powers, checks and balances, imperial presidency and imperilled presidency.
• Students should be able to describe the constitutional position of the President and explain why the office is central to the executive branch.
• Students should be able to distinguish clearly between formal and informal powers, including the difference between enumerated and inherent powers.
• Students should be able to explain the sources of presidential power and use two relevant examples to show how different presidents have used those sources in different ways.
• Students should be able to analyse the factors that constrain presidential power, including Congress, the Supreme Court, party control, public opinion and the media.
• Students should be able to explain the relationship between the President and other executive institutions, including the Cabinet, EXOP, the federal bureaucracy and federal agencies, and show why this relationship differs between presidencies.
• Students should be able to assess the effectiveness of checks and balances in limiting the President's actions.
• Students should be able to evaluate one example of the expansion or decline of presidential power, such as FDR and the growth of the executive office, or a president limited by Congress or the courts.
• Students should be able to debate whether the modern presidency is better described as imperial or imperilled, using constitutional evidence and contemporary examples.
• Students should be able to support analysis with relevant examples, such as vetoes, executive orders, treaty disputes, military action, judicial challenges and conflicts with Congress.