Presidential Power Midterm

Study Guide:

Lyn Ragsdale's reasons for arguing presidents need political scientists

• Political scientists offer insights into how institutions like Congress, the courts, and the bureaucracy helping presidents craft strategies to navigate institution

• Political scientists study voter behavior and polling trends, which can help presidents maintain and grow support

• Political scientists can come up with informed policy-making choices that don’t rely solely on partisan advice

• Political scientists research and study past presidencies, meaning they can identify pitfalls of past presidencies 

• Crisis decisions can be handled better with political scientists analyzing how to formulate strategies and responses. 

What it means when presidents claim mandates

• It usually means that they are weak and want to seem strong, or that they want to expand executive power

Why the Trump 2024 transition was so chaotic, and what that suggests about his current term

• Crazy first term (impeached twice, refused to admit he lost)

• Conflict within the Trump team/cabinet (ex. Musk vs. Rubio)

• Flurry of action, much of which was questionably legal

  • Outgoing Biden Admin trying to Trump-proof as much as possible (pardoning, last-minute Ukraine aid etc.)

  • Incoming Trump Admin issuing many executive orders and firing loads of people, even on day 1 (immigration laws, two genders etc)

The arguments Hamilton makes about the presidency, why it will safeguard and not threaten Americans' rights, how it should be structured, and how it will be checked.

• Federalist 67 - Hamilton dismantles narratives about the President being a king by comparing the Kings power to the president 

• Federalist 68 - Hamilton introduces the electoral college due to fears of direct democracy.

• Federalist 69 - Asserts the powers of the presidency and its limits, such as pardons, adjourn the legislature, and execute laws

Critiques of the presidency made by Anti-Federalists like the Old Whig

• Anti-Federalists wanted a more decentralized government

• Old Whigs (one group of Anti-Federalists) based their politics around preventing another king

• Anti-Federalists feared that the President would become too powerful and crush the sovereignty of the states and the liberties of the people

What Jeffrey Tulis means by "two constitutional presidencies"

• The constitutional presidency -  Reflecting the vision of the framers, exercising power through the authority of congress, while also maintaining a restrained public role. 

• The modern presidency - The president plays an active role using persuasion to mobilize support for programs. They leverage executive orders and national emergencies to gain power. 

How presidents throughout American history have located the source of their power, legitimacy, and authority both in formal institutions of government as well as in sources beyond such institutions

• Presidents have used many ways to justify their authority

  • They have pointed out that they are the only nationally-elected official

  • They have claimed to be the best and most direct representative of the people

  • Unitary Executive Theory - Article II states that the President is vested with “the Executive Power”, so some (Trump) say that the President has complete control over the Executive branch

What Rutledge argues about Donald Trump's opportunity in his first term, and how that worked out for him

• Trump entered office with Republican majorities 

• Trump defined himself as an outsider and was seeking to redefine the presidency 

• The economy was strong when he was president allowing for tax cuts and deregulation.

• How it worked out 

  • Trump's tax cuts and the affordable care act failed due to internal party decisions 

  • Trump relied heavily on executive orders instead of legislation and then Biden reversed them

  • He alienated his political allies, the media, and the intellectual community.

  • Trump was impeached twice 

The various models of presidential competence proposed by Neustadt, Barber, and Skowronek, and how they might be applied to recent presidencies

• Neustadt

  • Government of separated institutions sharing powers

  • Presidential success is determined by a President’s ability to persuade and use political skill

• Barber

  • Success relies on Presidential character

  • Does the President have high self-esteem?

  • Does the President have good mental health?

  • Active vs. Passive, Positive vs. Negative

• Skowronek

  • Success relies on circumstances and timing

  • There is always a dominant political “regime”

  • Success depends on how the current regime is doing, and what the President’s relationship is with it

How the presidential nominating process has evolved over time, and why, and how it affects the people who become presidents

• First, party members in Congress controlled the process, selecting nominees who would let Congress lead

• Then, led by Andrew Jackson, the nominee began to be selected by state-level party officials. This decentralized the process and allowed for more independent Presidents

• After the chaos and controversy of the 1968 Democratic Convention, the parties shifted to allowing primaries and caucasus to decide the nominee. This meant that Presidents now had to appeal to the general membership of the party, not its leadership.

How general elections for president work, and the impact the modern general election process has on the way we choose presidents and the way would-be presidents run for office

• Presidential elections today are more about ensuring that your base turns out to vote than winning over swing voters

• More expensive than ever

• Candidates for president have to focus on staying in the media spotlight, elections are more of a media circus than ever

How Donald Trump's campaign in 2016 did and did not fit in with what we already knew (or thought we knew) about presidential election campaigns

• He was seen as unique (rude, attacking, extremist views)

• Also didn’t have experience in politics, was on a tv show 

• “Make America Great Again” - slogan

• A lot of men thought he was relatable and his anti-establishment populism appealed to blue-collar workers, traditionally a Democratic-leaning group

How presidents relate to political parties, and why there has often been tension between the two

• Presidents sometimes get along with their party, sometimes not

  • This relationship often determines if a President can get their agenda through Congress

• With the post-1968 nomination process, some Presidential candidates can win the nominations without the support of the party elite (ex. Jimmy Carter)

How Democratic presidents tend to relate to their party

• Modern Democrats tend to appeal to ideals and policy goals

• Democratic Presidents tend to neglect the party apparatus once in office

How Republican presidents tend to relate to their party

• Work better with party and along with their structure

• Generally more cooperative with the party

• Often appeal to public emotion and sense of morality

How Donald Trump's relationship to the Republican Party has and has not differed from those of past Republican presidents to their party

• Very weird relationship with his supporters (cult-like)

• “Religious”

• Appeals much more to blue-collar workers than past Republicans

• Minority groups (Gays for Trump, Blacks for Trump, Women for Trump, Hispanics for Trump)