United states president vs canadian prime minister

1160 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: 8 roles of the President

The US president wields a lot of power both domestically and in the international scene. These powers are granted by a number of statutes, amendments, the Constitution, congressional acts, and numerous influences and soft power by virtue of his position as the leader. On the other hand, Canada does not have a president and is instead led by a prime minister. Although the two countries are almost equal in size, their leaders exhibit vast differences in the amount of power they hold domestically (Dickerson et al., 2009: 47). General knowledge alone appears to affirm that the US president is the most powerful person among the world’s democratically ruled nations as he is the commander-in-chief of the world’s most modern and most powerful military by any standards and heads the world’s largest economy. However, does he exert the same level of power domestically? The Canadian Prime Minister, on the other hand, is not easily recognizable due to the little role Canada plays in international affairs. Even though the role of the PM is not explained by any legislation or legal document, it is easily the most influential position in Canada’s political system. The President of the US makes several appointments by virtue of his position (Charlton 1998: 22). Prior to being sworn in, the elected president is mandated with making more than 6,000 appointments ranging from top officials at national agencies, senior employees at the White House, and top-level ambassadors. In a number of these appointments, he consults with the US Senate. The President is also accorded the power to nominate judges at all levels of the judiciary system. However, the nominees must first be confirmed by Senate, and this can be an obstacle if the Presidents wants to w... ... middle of paper ... ...an politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Charlton, Paul Barker. 1998. In Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, eds. Contemporary Political Issues, 6th ed. Toronto: Thompson- Nelson. Dahl, Robert Allan. 2005. Who governs?: Democracy and power in an American city, Connecticut: Yale University Press. Dickerson, Mark O., Flanagan, Thomas, and O‘Neill, Brenda. 2009. An Introduction to Government and Politics: A Conceptual Approach, 8th ed. Toronto: Thompson- Nelson. Neustadt, Richard E. 1991. Presidential power and the modern presidents: the politics of leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan, NY: Free Press. Savoie, Donald. 1999. Governing from the Centre: The Concentration of Power in Canadian Politics, Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Zernike, Kate. 2012. “In Act of Defiance, Democrat Stalls Obama Choice for Court.” The New York Times, January 5, 2012. Web.

Show More
Related

  • John Marshall's Effect on the American Judicial System

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dye, Thomas R. , L. Tucker Gibson Jr., and Clay Robinson. Politics In America. Brief Texas Edition ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2005.

    Read More

  • Canadian Leader: Pierre Elliot Trudeau

    1677 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pierre Elliot Trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic Prime Ministers Canada has ever seen. He wore capes, dated celebrities and always wore a red rose boutonniere. He looked like a superhero, and often acted like one too. Some of the landmark occurrences in Canadian history all happened during the Trudeau era, such as patriating the constitution, creating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1980 Quebec Referendum. However, it is Trudeau’s 1969 “white paper” and the Calder legal challenge which many consider to be one of his most influential contributions to Canadian history.

    Read More

  • Comparing Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    Theodore Roosevelt stepped into head of office on September 19, 1901 when President William McKinley was assassinated. He was the youngest man to become president. His motto was “speak softly but carry a big stick.” President Roosevelt would come into power offering America the square deal. He would take the power away from the industrialists as he controlled big business from the White House. He would soon become known as a TrustBuster. Roosevelt used American power for American interests and was quoted as saying, “I am an American first and last. “ Although some historians argue that Roosevelt acted like a six-year-old throughout his presidency and that he didn’t think things through, ie “he thought with his hips”, one can admire the tremendous leadership qualities that Teddy Roosevelt had. First, he was a very bold man who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. The average citizen was aware of what a “positive, warm and tough, authoritative and funny” president that they had leading them. His leadership qualities stemmed from his time as a New York state Assembly man, a deputy sheriff, a ...

    Read More

  • Neustadt's Argument On Presidential Power

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    I will start with explaining Neustadt’s arguments about presidential power in his book. Then further my answer to the extent in which compare other political scholars, Skowronek, Howell and Edwards in response to Neustadt’s points of view about American presidency.

    Read More

  • Limitations of the Canadian Prime Minister

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    Canada’s parliamentary system is designed to preclude the formation of absolute power. Critics and followers of Canadian politics argue that the Prime Minister of Canada stands alone from the rest of the government. The powers vested in the prime minister, along with the persistent media attention given to the position, reinforce the Prime Minister of Canada’s superior role both in the House of Commons and in the public. The result has led to concerns regarding the power of the prime minister. Hugh Mellon argues that the prime minister of Canada is indeed too powerful. Mellon refers to the prime minister’s control over Canada a prime-ministerial government, where the prime minister encounters few constraints on the usage of his powers. Contrary to Mellon’s view, Paul Barker disagrees with the idea of a prime-ministerial government in Canada. Both perspectives bring up solid points, but the idea of a prime-ministerial government leading to too much power in the hands of the prime minister is an exaggeration. Canada is a country that is too large and complex to be dominated by a single individual. The reality is, the Prime Minister of Canada has limitations from several venues. The Canadian Prime Minister is restricted internally by his other ministers, externally by the other levels of government, the media and globalization.

    Read More

  • Greatest Canadian: Pierre Trudeau

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pierre Trudeau is the greatest Canadian of the twentieth century due to the fact that he declared Canada’s independence from Great Britain, he abolished the death penalty, and he created the Official Languages Act, making our nation entirely bilingual.

    Read More

  • Canada, A Rising Middle Power

    1642 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pearson, Lester B. Mike; the Memoirs of the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson. Vol. 1. Toronto:

    Read More

  • The Second Challenge: Imperial Judiciary

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Palmer, Elizabeth A. "The Court and Public Opinion." CQ Weekly 2 Dec. 2000. CQ Weekly. SAGE Publications. Web. 1 Mar. 2000. .

    Read More

  • The US Constitution

    1697 Words  | 4 Pages

    Government by the People by James Burns, J.W. Peltason, and Thomas Cronin (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984)

    Read More

  • Presidential Power: The Power of Persuasion

    1923 Words  | 4 Pages

    The approach focused on in this analysis will be the Neustadtian approach; a theory presented in Neustadt’s seminal work entitled Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents. Also up for analysis is an article by Matthew Kerbel, a follower of the Neustadtian approach who provides empirical analysis that substantiates Neustadt’s work.

    Read More

  • New National Holiday: Implementing Election Day as a Holiday

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ken Kollman, The American Political System, (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2012), 25, 322-323, 330, 449.

    Read More

  • Democratic Deficit in Canada

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    Heath, Joseph. "The democracy deficit in Canada." University of Toronto. homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~jheath/democracy.pdf (accessed October 17, 2013)

    Read More

  • Presidential Power

    450 Words  | 1 Pages

    Neustagt begins with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom he believes is the one president that knew how best to yield his power. He uses other examples throughout the book of Presidents from FDR to Reagan and endeavors to show the reader the ways in which power and persuasion was used in order for the presidents too perform at the best of their ability and still retain the power to persuade in order to govern the country and appease the public. Neustadt points out to the reader his opinion of the ways the president power is seen by others and how affective it is when certain strategies are applied correctly.

    Read More

  • The Prime Minister of Canada

    1908 Words  | 4 Pages

    This essay has argued that there are many limitations that the Prime Minister is subjected too. The three most important are federalism in Canadian society, the role of the Governor General, and the charter of rights and freedoms. I used two different views of federalism and illustrated how both of them put boundaries on the Prime Minister’s power. Next I explain the powers of the governor general, and explained the ability to dissolve parliament in greater detail. Last I analyzed how the charter of rights of freedoms has limited the Prime Minister’s power with respect to policy-making, interests groups and the courts. The Prime Minister does not have absolute power in Canadian society, there are many infringements on the power that they have to respect.

    Read More

  • How Power Corrupts in Macbeth

    2635 Words  | 6 Pages

    Domhoff, G. W. (1990). The power elite and the state: How policy Is made in America. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Read More

More about United states president vs canadian prime minister

Open Document