The ROLES and POWERS of the President [AP Gov Review Unit 2 Topic 4 (2.4)]
Summary
TLDRThis video by Heimler’s History explores the roles and powers of the U.S. President, focusing on how the president can implement a policy agenda despite not having direct legislative authority. It breaks down formal powers like the veto and commander-in-chief role, and informal powers such as bargaining, persuasion, executive orders, and signing statements. The video provides examples, including Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan and Trump’s border wall efforts. It explains how the president uses both constitutional powers and executive influence to push forward their agenda.
Takeaways
- 😀 The president implements a policy agenda through formal and informal powers, even though they cannot pass laws directly (that's Congress' job).
- 📝 The president's formal powers include the veto, allowing them to reject bills that do not align with their policy agenda.
- 💼 The pocket veto is a 'sneaky' way to veto a bill if Congress adjourns before the president's 10-day signing window.
- ⚔️ As commander-in-chief, the president can make significant military decisions, such as ending wars, which can be part of their policy agenda.
- 🎙️ Informal powers include bargaining and persuasion, where the president can influence public opinion and negotiate with Congress to pass favorable legislation.
- 📉 Presidential bargaining power often depends on approval ratings, as higher ratings give more leverage to push policies through Congress.
- 📜 The president can issue executive orders to direct the executive branch and execute policies without needing new laws from Congress.
- ⚖️ A signing statement allows the president to interpret how they will enforce a law, potentially differing from Congress' intent.
- 🤝 Executive agreements are informal agreements with other countries that bypass the need for Senate approval, but they are only binding while that president is in office.
- 🔄 Executive agreements can be reversed by subsequent presidents, as seen with U.S. involvement in the Paris Accord on climate change.
Q & A
What is a policy agenda?
-A policy agenda is a set of policies that a president campaigns on, essentially forming an informal contract with voters about the laws and changes they aim to implement if elected.
How can a president implement a policy agenda if they don't have the constitutional authority to pass laws?
-The president implements a policy agenda using formal and informal powers, such as vetoing legislation, issuing executive orders, and bargaining with Congress.
What is a veto, and how does it help the president in implementing their policy agenda?
-A veto is a formal power given to the president to reject bills passed by Congress. The president can use this power to prevent bills that are not aligned with their policy agenda from becoming law.
What is a pocket veto, and when can it be used?
-A pocket veto occurs when the president does not sign a bill within 10 days and Congress adjourns before the end of that period. In this case, the bill is effectively vetoed without a formal rejection.
What is the role of the president as commander-in-chief in shaping foreign policy?
-As commander-in-chief, the president has control over the U.S. Armed Forces and can make decisions that impact foreign policy, such as ending wars or deploying troops, even though Congress holds the formal power to declare war.
What are informal powers, and how do they assist the president in policy implementation?
-Informal powers are not explicitly stated in the Constitution but allow the president to influence policy through methods like bargaining, persuasion, and issuing executive orders.
How does the president use bargaining and persuasion to get legislation passed?
-The president can persuade the public to pressure their representatives or negotiate directly with Congress to shape bills in a way that aligns with the presidential policy agenda.
What is an executive order, and how does it differ from a law passed by Congress?
-An executive order is a directive issued by the president that has the force of federal law but is not an actual law passed by Congress. It is a tool the president uses to manage the executive branch and implement policies.
What is a signing statement, and how does it reflect the president's stance on a new law?
-A signing statement is issued by the president when signing a bill into law, explaining how they interpret the law and how they plan to enforce it. This interpretation may differ from Congressional intent.
What is an executive agreement, and how is it different from a treaty?
-An executive agreement is a politically binding agreement made between the president and a foreign leader without requiring Senate approval, unlike a treaty. It only lasts as long as the president is in office.
Outlines
🇺🇸 The President's Policy Agenda: Powers and Limitations
This section introduces the president’s role in implementing a policy agenda. Although the president does not have constitutional authority to pass laws, they can influence legislation through formal and informal powers. The 'policy agenda' refers to the campaign promises that a president seeks to enact once elected, even without direct legislative power.
🛑 The Power of the Veto
The president has the formal power to veto legislation, derived from Article 2 of the Constitution. This veto power allows the president to reject bills passed by Congress, preventing them from becoming law. Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds majority. Presidents often use the threat of a veto to influence legislation before it reaches their desk. Additionally, there’s the 'pocket veto,' where if Congress adjourns within 10 days of sending a bill, the president can effectively veto the bill by not signing it.
🪖 Commander-in-Chief: Foreign Policy and Military Power
The president serves as the commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces, a formal power that allows them to direct military actions. Although Congress has the authority to declare war, the president can make strategic decisions based on their policy agenda. For instance, President Joe Biden fulfilled his campaign promise to end the war in Afghanistan using this power, even though it led to complicated outcomes.
🗣️ Informal Powers: Bargaining and Persuasion
Beyond formal powers, the president can use informal means such as bargaining and persuasion to enact a policy agenda. The president has a unique ability to communicate directly with the nation, urging the public to pressure Congress. Approval ratings also play a crucial role in these negotiations. High approval ratings, like those of Lyndon Johnson, give the president more leverage, while lower ratings, as with Bill Clinton, weaken their influence in Congress.
📜 Executive Orders: Shaping Policy Without Congress
An executive order allows the president to direct federal agencies and the executive branch without passing a law. While these orders have the force of law, they are not legislative acts. For example, President Donald Trump rerouted funds via executive order to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall. One of the most famous historical examples is Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which used executive power to free enslaved people in the Confederacy as a wartime strategy.
🖊️ Signing Statements: Presidential Interpretations of Laws
Signing statements allow presidents to express their interpretation of laws as they sign them into effect, often differing from Congress’s original intent. A historical example includes Franklin Roosevelt, who signed a World War II-era law he disagreed with. He issued a signing statement to clarify that his administration would challenge parts of the law in court, which later proved unconstitutional.
🤝 Executive Agreements: Informal International Negotiations
Executive agreements are informal pacts between the president and other world leaders that don’t require Senate approval, unlike formal treaties. These agreements are politically binding, not legally binding, and only last as long as the president’s term. An example includes President Obama’s entrance into the Paris Climate Accord via executive agreement, which President Trump later withdrew from, only for President Biden to rejoin.
📚 Conclusion and Resources
The video concludes with an invitation to check out a review packet and additional videos on the AP Government curriculum. The presenter encourages viewers to subscribe to the channel for more content on the topic.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Policy Agenda
💡Veto
💡Pocket Veto
💡Commander-in-Chief
💡Bargaining and Persuasion
💡Executive Order
💡Signing Statement
💡Executive Agreement
💡Constitution
💡Presidential Approval Rating
Highlights
Introduction to the video's topic: the roles and powers of the President of the United States.
Explanation of the policy agenda and how the President campaigns on specific policies as an informal contract with voters.
Clarification that the President does not have constitutional authority to pass laws, which is the job of Congress.
Discussion of formal powers, including the President's power to veto any bill, explained with a humorous personal anecdote.
Description of how the threat of a veto can influence Congress to modify bills to align with the President's policy agenda.
Explanation of the pocket veto, where the President can indirectly veto a bill by not signing it if Congress adjourns within 10 days.
Highlight of the President's formal role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, with an example of Biden's decision to end the war in Afghanistan.
Introduction to informal powers, which are not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution but derive from executive authority.
Explanation of the President’s informal power of bargaining and persuasion, where approval ratings impact the President’s leverage over Congress.
Discussion of executive orders as an informal power, which allows the President to direct executive departments to achieve policy goals without passing a law.
Example of Trump's use of executive orders to reroute funds for the US-Mexico border wall when Congress did not pass related legislation.
Explanation of signing statements, where the President outlines how they interpret and intend to enforce a law when signing it.
Example of FDR using a signing statement during World War II to indicate disagreement with parts of a law he signed.
Introduction to executive agreements, a type of informal power where the President enters agreements with foreign leaders without requiring Senate approval.
Example of Obama entering the Paris Climate Accord through an executive agreement, and the subsequent reversal by Trump, followed by Biden rejoining the agreement.
Transcripts
well hey there and welcome back to
heimler's history in this video we're
going to continue working through unit 2
of the AP Government curriculum and that
means in this video it's time to talk
about the roles and powers of
everybody's favorite politician the
president of the United States the podus
with the modus so if you're ready to get
them brain cows milked well then let's
get to it okay here's what we're trying
to do in this video explain how the
president can Implement a policy agenda
so first what is a policy agenda well
every president has certain policies
that he or she campaigns on and this is
a kind of informal contract between the
candidate and the people who vote the
president in when the president outlines
a policy agenda just saying like if you
elect me here are the laws that I will
work to put into place but wait just a
dang second we're far enough along into
this Curriculum by now for you to know
that according to the Constitution the
president has precisely no authority to
pass laws that is the job of Congress so
without any constitutional power to pass
laws how does the president get a policy
agenda passed into law well the
president does that by means of formal
powers and informal powers and I reckon
we ought to talk about both the formal
powers of the president are those is
explicitly given to the executive in
Article 2 of The Constitution the first
formal power you should know is the veto
and in case it helps you to remember it
the veto is an old Latin word that means
I forbid just like when my six-year-old
asked to play with my Luke Skywalker
Legacy lightsaber veto but Dad why can't
I play with your toys it's not a toy
it's a collectible veto anyway the
president has the power to veto any bill
that comes across the presidential desk
and if that happens the bill will not
become a law unless of course Congress
overrides that veto with a 2/3 vote and
once the the bill arrives from Congress
on the president's desk the president
has 10 days to sign it into law now how
does the president decide which bill is
to sign and which to veto well the
answer is a lot more complicated than
what I'm about to say but for our
purposes you just need to know that the
president will veto a law if it is not
in line with the presidential policy
agenda now usually the veto is not a
surprise to anyone the president knows
what kind of legislation is being worked
on in Congress and Congress wants to
avoid that veto at all cost because if
legislation is vetoed it starts right
back over in Congress so in many cases
all the president has to do is threaten
to veto a bill and that motivates
Congressional representatives to try to
Fashion the bill into something that the
president will sign okay so a veto is an
executive power given to the president
by the Constitution but there's a
sneakier way to veto a bill and that is
called a pocket veto remember I told you
that the president has 10 days to sign a
bill well if Congress adjourns before
that 10-day period is up and the
president just doesn't sign the bill
it's effectively vetoed now another
formal power given to the president by
the Constitution has to do with foreign
policy namely the president is the
commander-in-chief of the United States
Army Armed Forces now even though the
president is the leader of the Armed
Forces don't forget that it's Congress
who has the power to declare war
according to Article 1 Section 8 even so
the president can use this formal power
to implement the presidential policy
agenda for example Joe Biden campaigned
on the promise to end the war in
Afghanistan and remove all American
troops and as the commander-in-chief he
has the authority to do that and he has
done that now I was turning into kind of
a mess but that's not the point of this
video the point is that was part of
Biden's policy agenda and he used his
formal powers to get it done okay so
those are two of the formal powers of
the president that you should know now
let's consider the informal Powers by
which the presidential policy agenda is
enacted informal powers are not
mentioned in the Constitution but they
exist because of the nature of executive
power the first example is bargaining
and persuasion and we'll talk more about
this in another video but here you
should just know that the president has
the ear of the nation in a way that no
other politician does and as such the
president can talk to the people and try
to persuade them to put pressure on
their representatives to pass
legislation in line with the
presidential policy agenda but the
president can also bargain with Congress
to get favorable legislation passed
usually the president's ability to
bargain is directly correlated with the
presidential approval ratings for
example in Lynden Johnson's first term
he had something like an 80% approval
rating which gave him a lot of Leverage
to get Congress to pass his Great
Society legislation but a few decades
later when President Clinton was trying
to get Healthcare legislation passed his
40% approval rating meant that Congress
really didn't need to listen to him and
spoiler alert they didn't another
informal power of the president is the
executive order this is a directive from
the president that has the force a
federal law but is not actually a law
and that could be very confusing at
first so let me explain it up real nice
for you as the executive the president
is the head of the entire bureaucracy of
the executive department so this would
include the Department of Agriculture
the Department of Defense the Department
of Education and so on all these
departments answered directly to the
president although they do depend on
Congress for their funding additionally
remember that the executive branch
exists to execute the laws passed by
Congress so an executive order is a way
for the president to direct the
bureaucracy or move money around or
whatever to accomplish his or her policy
agenda let me give you an example Donald
Trump was unable to persuade Congress to
pass legislation to build a wall on the
US Mexican border and so he rerouted
funds by executive order between his
executive departments to get it done and
probably the most famous example of an
executive order was Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation which freed
all enslaved people in the Confederacy
as the President Lincoln had no power to
make these enslaved people into citizens
that would have to wait for the 13th
Amendment but he did this as a military
strategy in concert with his formal
Powers as the commander Chief another
informal power you should know is the
signing statement when signing a bill
into law the president can offer a
signing statement that informs the
nation how the president interprets that
law and thus how he or she intends to
execute it needless to say the
presidential interpretation of the law
in this case will often be different
from the Congressional intent of the law
for example President Franklin Roosevelt
issued a signing statement when signing
a law during World War II he mentioned
that he disagreed with one of the
sections he thought it was
unconstitutional but he had no choice
but to sign the law since a veto would
delay us efforts on the warfront and so
in his signing statement he said that if
the law came before the courts his
lawyers would attack the section not
uphold it and that's exactly what
happened and the Court ruled that the
section was unconstitutional okay the
last informal power you should know is
the power of executive agreements and
these are just agreements between the
president and some other head of state
and it's not some formal treaty which
constitutionally would require Senate
approval rather it's an agreement that
the president makes on the president's
own authority for example I mentioned in
another video how President Obama
entered the Paris Accord on climate
change by means of executive agreement
and not by treaty which was an
impossibility since the Senate was
against this move but executive
agreements only exist as long as that
president is in power which is why
Donald Trump put the kabash on America's
involvement in that agreement and then
Joe Biden went right ahead and got us
back in so what you really need to
understand is that executive Agreements
are more politically binding than
legally binding all right thanks for
watching you can check out my review
packet right here if you want help
getting an A in your class and a five on
your exam in May and I've got more
videos on unit 2 right here and if you
want me to keep making these videos then
by all means subscribe and I shall
oblige himler out
浏览更多相关视频
Presidential Powers 2: Crash Course Government and Politics #12
Expansion of FEDERAL POWER [AP Gov Review Unit 2 Topic 6 (2.6)]
Article II for Dummies: The Executive Branch Explained
Article 2: The Executive Branch
Principles of AMERICAN GOVERNMENT [AP Government Review, Unit 1 Topic 6]
What Is the Legislative Branch of the U.S. Government? | History
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)