Pol 252 executives

1. POL 252
Fall 2014

3. INSTRUCTIONS
Answer these questions:
What would you do if you were president for a month?
What factors might prevent you from doing what you wanted?
Share your thoughts with a neighbor.

4.  Who are executives?
 How do executives govern?
 What powers do executives have?
 How are governing coalitions built?
 Is one type of executive better than another?

6.  Executives responsible for executing laws
following passage by a national legislature
(e.g. Parliament, Congress)

8.  Parliamentarism
 Presidentialism
 Semi-Presidentialism

10.  Nature of Executive Office
 Electoral Mechanism
 Continuance in Office
 Executive-Legislative Relationship

12. HEAD OF STATE
 Symbolic representative
 Ceremonial functions
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
 Implements national laws
and policies
Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan cuts a
ribbon at Bayat Media Centre in Kabul.
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe
signs a constitutional bill into law.

13. PARLIAMENTARISM
 Head of State
 Head of Government
 Collegial Executive
PRESIDENTIALISM
 Both Head of State
and Head of Government
 Non-Collegial Executive
Gathering of U.S. Presidents,
January 2009
Queen Elizabeth II
Margaret Thatcher

15. PARLIAMENTARISM
 Selected by majority party
in national legislature
PRESIDENTIALISM
 Direct election through
popular vote
 Indirect election through
Electoral College

18. PARLIAMENTARISM
 Dependent on legislature
confidence in abilities
 Vote of No Confidence
 PM may call for
Vote of Confidence
 “Snap Election”
 Why would you do this?
PRESIDENTIALISM
 Constitution places limit
 Case Studies:
 United States
▪ Two Four-Year terms (10 years)
▪ 22ndAmendment (FDR)
 Mexico
▪ One Six-Year Term (Diaz)
 Other Countries

20. PARLIAMENTARISM
 Service in both branches
 Dependent on legislature
 Centralized decision-making
 Can dissolve legislature
PRESIDENTIALISM
 Separation of Powers
and Checks and Balances
 Independent executive
 Cannot serve in legislature
 Decentralized decisions
 Cannot dissolve legislature

23.  Splits executive power
 President: Head of State; Direct Election
 Prime Minister: Head of Govt.; Presidential Appt.
 Passage of legislation requires both officials
 Roles and functions spelled out in constitution

24.  Works if both officials from same party
 What happens if officials from different parties?
▪ “Cohabitation”
▪ Compromise
 Can President remove Prime Minister?
 Case Study: Russia

25.  Putin replaced officeholders
after election; control of State
 2008 Switch
 Medvedev is President
 Putin is Prime Minister
 2012 Switch
 Putin wins presidency
 Medvedev PM again
▪ Weak power
Vladimir Putin
and Dimitri Medvedev

28. Formal Powers Informal Powers Unilateral Powers Partisan Powers

30.  Based in constitution or national laws
 Examples:
 Veto
 Dissolving Legislature

32.  Ability to influence public opinion / debate
 “Bully Pulpit” in U.S.
 “The Power to Persuade”

34.  Executive acting alone without others
 Includes:
 Decrees
 Executive Orders
 States of Emergency
▪ Case Study: India

35.  Periodic Elections
 Constitutional Limitations
 Protection of Individual Rights (e.g. Bill of Rights)
 Impeachment
 Term Limits
 Separation of Powers / Checks and Balances

40.  Executive Leverage
 Party Legislators
▪ Example: The “Johnson Treatment”
 Parties in Governing Coalition
 What does power balance depend on?
 Individual and Institutional Factors
Lyndon Johnson with
Sen. Richard Russell (D-GA)

43. Party Far Left Left Moderate Right Far Right
Seats 30 7 21 27 15

44.  Minimum Winning – No “surplus” parties
 Minimum Connected Winning - Parties “connected”
 Minimum Size – Closest to threshold (50% +1)
 Minimum Number of Parties – Fewest parties preferred
 Median Party – Party with “middle seat” in legislature
 Minimum Range – Few “spaces” between parties
 Grand –Two or more parties over half of electorate

48.  Accountability
 Direct election by citizens
 Identifiability
 President is head of national party
 Clear choice about direction of country
 Mutual Checks
 Checks and Balances
 Consensus in government
 “Arbiter-in-Chief”
 “Power to Persuade”
 Can president be non-partisan?

49.  Temporal Rigidity
 Fixed Tenure in Office
 Unpopular and Popular Presidents
 Executive-Legislative Relations
 Dual Democratic Legitimacy
 Separate Elections  Popular Mandate
 “Outsiders” as Presidential Candidates