POSC 1000 Introduction to Politics

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POSC 1000 Introduction to Politics

• Formal Political Institutions
• Russell Alan Williams

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Unit Five Formal Political InstitutionsPreside
ntial Systems

• Required Reading
• MacLean and Wood, Chapter 5.
• Outline
• Introduction
• Presidential Systems
• Legislative Institutions
• Executive Institutions
• Hybrid Systems - France
• Conclusions

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1) Introduction Presidential Systems

• First developed in U.S.
• Context Response to royal authority
• Need to limit the power of any branch of
  government
• Separation of PowersDivision of power amongst
  several branches of government to avoid a
  concentration of power.
• E.g. Checks and balances No executive
  dominance

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• However . . . . Also a need for state strong
  enough to fight off British etc.
• Need for clear leader
• Framers of constitution thought about
• a constitutional monarchy, but . . -gt
• Opted for a President to head
• executive and armed forces chosen by
  electoral college
• Implication Negotiation and compromise needed
  between branches of gov to get things done
• Modern complaints about political
  gridlockLack of political progress because of
  partisanship and differing opinions

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2) Presidential Systems

• A) 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 congressional district
• Electoral districts each have over ½ million
  voters
• Allocated based on population
• E.g. -gt California 53 congressmen
• -gt Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota,
• South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming
• 1 congressman

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• 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(!)
• 2008 election
• Must be over 30 years of age

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• 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)
• Floor leaders
• Majority leader
• Minority leader

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• 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 Presidents cabinet
• Result Most activity requires
• compromise or Political gridlock
• E.g. Budgets and log rolling

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• Functions of Congress
• B) Oversight power
• Can conduct investigations into executive
  activities -gtE.g. conduct of war in Iraq
• Hold hearings
• Ratify presidential appointees -gt Supreme Court
  Justices, Ambassadors, etc.
• Not a formality! E.g. George Bush Sr. . . .
• Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill

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• Behavior of Congress
• Independence Congress often pursues policy
  irrespective of who is president
• Weak Party discipline ?????
• Committee chairs often very independent
• Members vote their own conscience
• Problems
• Influence of money on individual members
• E.g. . . . .

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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
ATT 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.
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• Behavior of Congress
• Other Problems
• Accountability of parties to voters
• What does the party label mean?
• President cannot always rely on his own party
• E.g. Obama and democratic congressional congress

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• Presidential Systems Cont.
• B) Executive Institutions
• Presidency
• Head of State
• Head of Government
• Presidents cabinet manages the executive branch
  of government
• Budgets and administration
• A.K.A. the decider

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• 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 . . .
  .
• E.g. Gulf of Tonkin Incidents (1964)
• Vietnam War

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• Presidential power cont. . . . .
• Veto Act of blocking a decision In U.S.
  the Presidential power to prevent enactment of
  legislation
• Congressional bills can be blocked if president
  does not like them
• E.g. Stem Cell Research Bush Vetoed 2X
• However
• Veto can be overridden by 2/3 votes in congress
• Congress can retaliate by not passing budget or
  putting riders in presidential legislation

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• Presidential System
• Separation of Powers Presidents may often have
  less power than prime ministers in parliamentary
  system this was the intention!
• However, this can lead to political gridlock if
  parties are ideologically divided and control
  different branches of government.

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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
  . . . .
• Example France

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• Legislative institutions
• Parliament Bicameral - Makes legislation and
  passes budget
• National Assembly House of Commons
• 577 Deputies elected in majoritarian system
• Runoff ballot of leading candidates
• Has often failed to produce parliamentary
  majorities
• Senate Indirectly elected (powers are limited)
• Chosen by local governments

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• Executive Institutions
• President elected (through a majoritarian
  runoff electoral system)
• President has always received at least 50 of
  votes
• Gets five year term and can run again and again .
  . . .
• President selects Prime Minster from National
  Assembly
• Prime Minster selects cabinet Government
• Should be leader of most popular party
• PMs cabinet must enjoy the support of the
  legislature
• Cabinet can be defeated
• -Result President must select a new PM

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• Implications in practice
• France has
• Elected head of state
• Some separation of powers
• Some fusion of powers
• Neither President or Prime Minister has power of
  Canadian PM . . . .

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• Implications in practice
• France has
• Elected head of state
• Some separation of powers
• Some fusion of powers
• Neither President or Prime Minister has power of
  Canadian PM . . . .
• Governing may require American-style negotiation
• Depends on the Party System!

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• When Presidents party controls legislature
  (National Assembly), the president has
  considerable power
• E.g. Prime Minster effectively works for the
  president

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• When Presidents party does not control the
  National Assembly . . . things more complicated
• If Presidents party does not have majority
• negotiation and compromise with other parties
• If another party has majority
• Cohabitation Sharing of power between French
  President and Prime Ministers of different
  parties
• E.g. Francois Mitterrand and
• his conservative Prime
• Ministers . . . .

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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
• Institutions are more unstable less
  legitimacy
• E.g. Russia Vladimir Putin

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For next time

• Midterm Exam Covers all of Units 1 5.
• Focus on learning the key terms