The Power of the American Presidency

The Power of the American Presidency
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Institution
The Power of the American Presidency
Presidential powers can be viewed through many prisms. Political scientists, for instance, have catalogued presidential actions to gain a picture of the authorities that prior presidents have in fact exercised (Watts, 2010). Some presidents earn higher marks for administration, some for leadership, and some for vision. Such descriptions of presidential powers are incredibly important. In recent years, there have been major changes in the problems facing the presidency. At the same time, the study of the presidency has shown signs of intellectual maturity and continuing innovative analysis. Presidential scholarship has stretched back historically and comparatively across multiple presidencies, for example, in the study of presidential rhetoric and the institutional presidency; it has elaborated upon the presidency’s relationships with other institutions, including presidential-congressional relations, the presidency and the press, and the presidency and organized interests (Watts, 2010). One thing is clear though, the American presidency in the twenty first century is in power ascendancy.
The American presidency remains one of the most fascinating institutions in history, and the powers and intricacies of the office seem to defy comparison to anything before or since. Individual presents have come and gone, serving their county with varying degrees of success, but the presidency as an institution remains a focal point of political power, nationally and internationally. The presidency of the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries may seem weak to the powers that have emerged with the office throughout the twenty first century, but the essential characteristics of the American presidency are as recognizable today as they were 200 years ago (Shapiro, 2000). Despite wars, scandals, economic turbulence, and even assassinations, the presidency has endured is one of the most resilient political structures ever created. According to presidential scholar Louis Koenig, the history of the presidency can be divided into three principle eras: the traditional presidency, the modern presidency, and the post modern residency (Shapiro, 2000). The powers of the traditional and modern presidency were limited. However, the powers of the post modern president of the twenty first century have increased significantly giving the president a bigger mandate than his predecessors.
Perhaps the best known dictum of regarding the American presidency is that “presidential power is the power to persuade” (Charles, 2009, p.34). According to Neustadt, the study of the presidency can be contrasted with legal, institutional, psychological, and other approaches. Neustadt’s perspective highlights the president’s operational problem of self help in thinking about influence strategically. The political power approach has led to many consequences for analyzing the ...