PSCI 1040 004 Jim Battista University of North Texas The Executive Branch Jim Battista Executive The President in the Constitution Qualifications Thirty five years of age Natural born citizen Chester Arthur 1881 1885 may have been born in Canada Resident in U S for 14 years Term limit Jim Battista Executive Powers of the President Art I sec 7 Veto pocket veto powers Art II sec 1 The executive Power shall be vested in a President Art II sec 2 Commander in Chief of the armed forces incl state militia when called into service Art II sec 2 May grant pardons and reprieves except for impeachment Art II sec 2 May make treaties with advice and consent of Senate 2 3 vote Art II sec 2 May appoint with advice and consent of the Senate ambassadors public Ministers and Consuls judges and all other officers of the U S Art II sec 3 Must deliver information on the state of the union to Congress Art II sec 3 May convene either or both houses of Congress Art II sec 3 May adjourn Congress if the House and Senate cannot agree on an adjournment date Art II sec 3 May receive foreign ambassadors and other ministers Art II sec 3 Must take care that the laws be faithfully executed Jim Battista Executive Four kinds of presidential power 1 Enumerated powers 2 Implied powers 3 Informal powers 4 Statutory powers Jim Battista Executive Presidential powers Enumerated powers Expressly granted to the President in the Constitution You can cite article section and clause for each and every one They are certain Include Pardons Commander in Chief Making treaties Jim Battista Executive Presidential powers Implied powers Not explicitly granted in the Constitution Arguably necessary in order to make an enumerated power effective Generally little argument about them Include Executive order Executive agreement Jim Battista Executive Presidential powers Informal powers Not granted in the Constitution Not implied Powers of persuasion that go along with being President Informal but very real Include Use of presidential status as bargaining chip Meeting w Pres Trip on Air Force 1 Jim Battista Executive Presidential powers Statutory powers Congressional powers passed on to the President Must be tightly canalized Sometimes struck down by courts Include Budgeting power Control of tariffs Jim Battista Executive Presidential elections in the Constitution Election Election is by electors Electors are appointed in a manner directed by state legislatures 14th Amendment states that if a state denies N of the adult male population the vote for elector it will have its representation in the House reduced by N Never enforced Jim Battista Executive Presidential selection the electoral college Each state has a number of electoral votes equal to its number of representatives plus senators D C has three The number varies from 3 DC VT MT WY AK DE to 54 CA Every state except NE and ME awards all electoral votes to highest vote getter Jim Battista Executive Presidential selection the electoral college What do NE and ME do Divide by Congressional district Each US House district elects its own elector Overall state winner gets both electors representing US Senators Why not elsewhere Arguably makes NE ME less of a prize for candidates Therefore campaigning concentrated elsewhere States try to attract promised from candidates by making themselves big all or nothing prizes Jim Battista Executive Presidential selection the electoral college Candidate with majority of electoral votes is President If nobody has majority Thrown to Congress House picks President from top 3 candidates Each state gets one vote CA TX DE WY What if still no majority Senate picks VP from top 2 candidates for VP Some suggestion that framers thought this would be the normal course of events Jim Battista Executive The electoral college consequences Possible to win Presidency but to not have the most popular votes 1888 Harrison beats Cleveland 2000 Possible to win Presidency on plurality only most people voted for someone else 1992 1996 Bias in campaigning Candidates concentrate on biggest closest states Not to very small states DE Not to states that are fairly certain CA TX NY The states where the most electoral votes are up for grabs Jim Battista Executive The electoral college alternatives Alternative 1 Constitutional amendment to jettison it Straightforward popular vote Why would DE WY MT etc agree to this Alternative 2 Everyone does what NE ME do Good Doesn t require amending Constitution Just state law Who wants to be the only state that does this Collective action problem Small states still have disproportionate influence Jim Battista Executive The electoral college alternatives Alternative 3 Conditional plan States can assign their votes however they want 14th Amendment State can maybe assign its state votes to the winner of the national popular vote Conditional only would go into effect if states with a majority of electoral votes pass identical similar laws Then winner of national popular vote automatically wins Electoral College Downside If this had been in place in TX in 2000 All of TX s electoral votes would have gone to Gore But 61 of TX voters supported Bush Jim Battista Executive The presidential selection process 1 Declare candidacy Why declare Who runs Why 2 Obtain party nomination OR be George Washington How By what process What strategies should one use What are primary voters like 3 Run the general election campaign What strategies What is the electorate like How do they decide Jim Battista Executive Historical methods of nomination None King Caucus candidates nominated by Congressional caucuses Conventions with emphasis on party leaders and activists Smoke filled rooms wheeling and dealing Often many ballots esp for Democrats Jim Battista Executive Methods of nomination Growing role of mass primaries Humphrey s 1968 nomination is last gasp of old system Nomination system changes in 1972 to MOL current scheme Great reduction in the influence of party leaders Superdelegates Growth of candidate centered campaigns resources are candidate s and not party s Public airing of intra party disputes limits success in general election Jim Battista Executive Nomination strategies dynamics Nomination politics is a dynamic process what happens when is important Resources used as investments using resources to do well now helps you get the resources to do well later Success rewarded and failure punished both relative to expectations This results in candidates either