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POSC 1000
Introduction to Politics
Presidential Systems
Russell Alan Williams
Unit Eleven: Presidential Systems
Required Reading:
Mintz, Chapter 15.
Outline:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Introduction
Legislative Institutions
Executive Institutions
“Semi Presidential” Systems
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 powerful
No “executive dominance”
2) Legislative Institutions:
“Congress”: Legislative branch of American government
Same as Parliament
Bicameral – upper and lower houses
i) “House of Representatives”:Lower house
“Congressmen” elected for two year terms from a local district
Electoral districts each have over ½ million voters
• Allocated based on population
E.g.
-> California
= 53 congressmen
-> Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming
= 1 congressman
“Senate”: Upper house
“Senators” elected to six year terms
Two 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 President
President Pro tempore
Committee Chairs (from majority party) – they matter!
Floor leaders
Majority 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 hearings
Can 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 independent
Members “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 legislature
Borrows “best” of both systems
In practice can result in very different dynamics . . . .
Examples= France and Russia
E.g. France has:
Elected head of state
Some “separation of powers”
“Parliamentary government”
Neither President or Prime Minister has power of Canadian
PM . . . .
Implications in practice:
France has:
Elected head of state
Some “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/