POSC 1000 Introduction to Politics

Presidential Systems

Russell Alan Williams

Unit Eleven: Presidential Systems

Required Reading:Mintz, Chapter 15.

Outline:1. Introduction2. Legislative Institutions3. Executive Institutions4. “Semi Presidential” Systems5. Conclusions

1) Introduction – Presidential Systems:First developed in U.S.

“Separation of Powers”: Executive, legislative and judicial branches of government are separate from each other – each has different personnel and own source of authority – each is elected

“Checks and Balances”: Each of three branches of government is able to check the actions of others

No individual should become too powerfulNo “executive dominance”

2) Legislative Institutions:

“Congress”: Legislative branch of American governmentSame as ParliamentBicameral – upper and lower houses

i) “House of Representatives”: Lower house

“Congressmen” elected for two year terms from a local districtElectoral districts each have over ½ million voters

• Allocated based on populationE.g. -> California = 53 congressmen

-> Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming

= 1 congressman

“Senate”: Upper house“Senators” elected to six year termsTwo for each state (!)Only 1/3 of senators face election in each 2 year election cycle – better deal than congressmen(!)Must be over 30 years of age

Organization of Congress: Both houses have own “officers”:

House of Representatives = Speaker of the House (majority party leader)

Senate = Vice PresidentPresident Pro tempore

Committee Chairs (from majority party) – they matter!

Floor leadersMajority leader Minority leader

Functions of Congress:

A) Responsible for passing all legislation and budgets

Can initiate own legislation - Either house, requires coordination

Can also support or defeat presidential proposals • E.g. the budget, or declaration of war etc.

=High level of independence– President cannot call an election if bills are being

defeated– Congress cannot “defeat” the President’s cabinet

Result: Most activity requires negotiation or “gridlock sets in . . . .

E.g. Budgets and “log rolling”

Functions of Congress:

B) Oversight power

Hold hearingsCan conduct investigations into executive activities ->E.g. conduct of war in Iraq

Ratify presidential appointees -> Supreme Court Justices, Ambassadors, etc.

• Not a formality!

“Impeachment”: President and other executive officials can be removed from office for “illegal activities”

• Ultimately requires support of 2/3 of Senators– E.g. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky

Behavior of Congress:

Weak “party discipline”Committee chairs often very independentMembers “vote their own conscience”

Problems:• Influence of money on individual members

– E.g. . . . .

Table 3. Top 25 dual contributors of soft money ($), 2000 election cycle

Contributor Democratic Republican Total

Service Employees Intl Union (SEIU) 5,090,696 30,000 5,120,696

AT&T 1,457,469 2,302,451 3,759,920

AOL Time Warner 1,425,637 1,139,861 2,565,498

Freddie Mac 1,025,000 1,383,250 2,408,250

Philip Morris Cos Inc 296,663 2,098,922 2,395,585

Enron Corp 607,565 1,433,850 2,041,415

Thompson Medical Co Inc 1,882,000 20,000 1,902,000

Citigroup Inc 641,204 758,616 1,399,820

American Financial Group 622,000 685,000 1,307,000

MBNA Corp 200,000 1,035,905 1,235,905

BP Amoco 295,376 920,900 1,216,276

Source Common Cause (2001); Cited as FEC statistics.

Presidential Systems Cont.

B) Executive Institutions:

Presidency:

=Head of State

=Head of Government

Presidential power:

“Commander and Chief” of military forces

Appoints Supreme Court judges, Ambassadors and cabinet ministers

• Subject to congressional oversight . . . .

Can effectively decide to go to war or not . . . .

Presidential power cont. . . . .

“Veto”: Presidential power to prevent enactment of legislation

• Congressional bills can blocked if president does not like them

• However:– Veto can be overridden

by 2/3 votes in congress– Congress can retaliate

by not passing budget or putting “riders” in presidential legislation

=Negotiation, negotiation, more negotiation

3) Hybrid Systems:

“Semi-Presidential Systems”: A system in which an elected President shares power with an elected Prime Minster and Cabinet

Prime minister and cabinet elected from legislatureBorrows “best” of both systemsIn practice can result in very different dynamics . . . .

Examples= France and Russia

E.g. France has:

Elected head of stateSome “separation of powers”“Parliamentary government”

Neither President or Prime Minister has power of Canadian PM . . . .

Implications in practice:

France has:

Elected head of stateSome “separation of powers”“Parliamentary government”

Neither President or Prime Minister has power of Canadian PM . . . .

Governing may require American-style negotiation

• Depends on the “Party System”!

4) Conclusions on Presidential Systems:

Pure presidential systems relatively common and seem to be successful

Fewer demands for major institutional change in presidential systems than in parliamentary systems

Hybrid systems that incorporate parliamentary government have encountered difficulty

Often presidents end up abusing powers to overcome gridlock

• E.g. Russia – Vladimir Putin

Essays and the Final Exam:

1) Essay Discussion:Office hours – Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 12:00 to 1:00 in SN2031

Come and see me if you have questions.

Grading scribble definitions:“awk” or “awkward” – The sentence is grammatically incorrect and hard to read“source” or “cite” – you need a supporting citation to explain where the information you are providing came from“run on” – a run on-sentence

My comments are in red where I had further things to say from the Teaching Assistant

2) Final Exam:

See Handout . . .

Try:

http://wps.pearsoned.ca/ca_ph_mintz_polipower_3/