The Legislative-Executive Balance of Power

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In order to understand more completely the job of the presidency and the nature of presidential leadership in the United States, one must also understand the president’s relationship with Congress. This can be done by examining challenges that presidents face and the actions they take to address them. There are five challenges this paper will focus on: the “disappearing center” and polarization, the president’s use of unilateral executive powers and signing statements, shared constitutional powers, who is a better representative of the people, and the different “patterns of inter-branch control” between the two branches. Within these five challenges will be why they are important, and recommendations that presidents can use to overcome them. The first challenge president’s face is in regard to “the disappearing center” and the polarization between the two political parties that most often determines how successful their relationship will be with Congress. In order for the political process to work, accommodation and cooperation between the parties is a must in order to bring about change at the federal level of government. The American public wish for cross-party public policymaking in general and this is why the center is deemed to be extremely important. Without a political center there is sure to be greater partisanship and ideological polarization between those elected to Congress and the Office of the President. The outcome from this can lead to increased distrust by the public and aversion to the political process and politicians. Sarah Binder states, “The movement away from the center has been accompanied by a coarsening of politics and bitter partisanship—leaving voters increasingly disenchanted with Washington politics” ... ... middle of paper ... ...parties could get elected. Works Cited Binder, Sarah A. "The Disappearing Political Center." Understanding the Presidency. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 277-81. Print. Davidson, Roger H. "Presidential Relations with Congress." Understanding the Presidency. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 256-75. Print. Ellis, Richard J., and Marc J. Hetherington. "Resolved, the President Is a More Authentic Representative of the American People than Is Congress." Debating the Presidency: Conflicting Perspectives on the American Executive. Washington, DC: CQ, 2010. 82-99. Print. Rottinghaus, Brandon. "The Presidency and Congress." New Directions in the American Presidency. New York: Routledge, 2011. 81-97. Print. Waterman, Richard W. "The Administrative Presidency, Unilateral Power, and the Unitary Executive Theory." Understanding the Presidency. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 248-52. Print.

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