PRESIDENTIAL POWER

"Taken by and large, the history of the presidency is a history of aggrandizement, but the story is a highly discontinuous one. Of the ... individuals who have filled the office not more than one in three has contributed to the development of its powers; under other incumbents things have either stood still or gone backward. That is to say, what the presidency is at any particular moment depends in important measure on who is President..." Edward S. Corwin, The President: Office and Powers, 1957

"Though the powers of the office have sometimes been grossly abused, though the presidency has become almost impossible to manage, and though the caliber of the people who have served as chief executive has declined erratically but persistently from the day George Washington left office, the presidency has been responsible for less harm and more good, in the nation and the world, than perhaps any other secular institution in history". Forrest McDonald, The American Presidency: An Intellectual History, 1994

The term "power" has fascinated political scientists for thousands of years.

Who has power and how they have utilized it has been a subject of interest to Greek philosophers,

Italian political theorists, the Founding Fathers and a vast array of recent political scientists.

As utilized a term as power is, it is still subject to wide variations in definition

Is power the ability to exert brute force?

Perhaps, but what about resistence and the problem of diminishing returns?


-or-

Is power really the ability to influence?

What does the term mean?

What are the keys to being able to influence?

The "problem of power" is made even more difficult when the subject is presidential power.

As we have seen, the Constitution is, at best, nebulous in it determination of the power relationship

between one institution and the other. Rather than making one branch superior to the others,

the Founding Fathers sought to disperse power through

the notions of separation of powers and checks and balances.

In turn, this nebulous relationship of sharing powers may lead to instances

when presidents seek to expand their power by

claiming a prerogative to operate in a particular area.

While this approach may work during a crisis,

how do presidents exert power when there is no crisis?

Maybe it's a more sophisticated matter of attempting to influence others

to do what they might not otherwise do.

Sound like a political scientist's definition of the term power? It is!

Richard Neustadt's Presidential Power

According to Neustadt:

"Presidential power is the power to persuade
and the power to persuade is the ability to bargain"

1) power is dispersed in the American political system;
a president just can't command and expect things to happen

2) the other institutions of government have their own constituencies
with their own sources of power and they compete with the president

3) the president needs the cooperation of others
(or at minimum their acquiescence) to get things done

4) the president must persuade others that
what he wants is in their best interests as well

5) the President has tools or sources of power:

a) the Constitution

b) creating good will (personal relations/ interpersonal skill)

c) his personal popularity (the popular connection)
and reputation (an ancillary of the pendulum of power)

d) his ability to control the agenda (structuring skill)

e) his skill and willingness to use the tools