Informal Powers History Research Coursework Paper Essay

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July 21, 2020
Informal Powers of the President
The President of the United States is deemed by most as one of the most powerful persons in the planet. He has, not only the responsibility, but also the capacity to administer the resources and the military of the whole United States, thereby giving him power over billions of dollars in resource. Accordingly, due to the immense power of his position, the framers of the Constitution decided that certain checks and balances must be put in place to prevent (or mitigate) possible abuse. However, while these laws might be effective in deterring the ill-use of presidential powers, the variety and number of these safeguards could somehow hinder the president from acting efficiently and effectively in times of crisis.
In this paper, I would discuss some of the ‘informal powers’ of the US President. This includes previous examples of the use of these informal powers as well as cases of abuse. Nonetheless, I believe that despite the inherent risks of abuse in these informal powers, each of these are crucial for the nation’s success, because it allows the President to efficiently mobilize its immense resources which would otherwise be difficult through bureaucratic methods.
The Informal Powers of the President
As compared to the formal powers of President, his ‘informal powers’ are those authorities given to him, which are not vested by the Constitution. Some examples of these powers include the (1) ability to enact a legislative agenda and (2) sending out troops without declaration of war, among others CITATION Guind \l 1033 (Guier). In the following section, I would discuss each of these in greater detail.
Enacting a Legislative Agenda
Although the President’s power to enact a legislative agenda can violate the separation of powers, this is also important for him to move forward with his own political reforms.
The President’s power to set legislative agenda could endanger the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. It is a well-known fact that the President is limited to providing ‘suggestions’ in aid of legislation rather than dictating the laws that must be followed by the nation. However, due to the role and the influence of the President, the chance wherein these legislative agenda would be passed greatly increases, which could be interpreted as an encroachment to the legislative powers of the Congress. One good example of this possible abuse is the legislative agenda of building the billion dollar US-Mexico Wall. In the case at hand, it could be seen that even though a significant number of policy makers have unanswered questions about the development of the wall, Trump’s influence was able to get funding a $1 billion funding from the Congress for use CITATION BBC19 \l 1033 (BBC.com).
Despite the possible abuses on the President’s power to prioritize legislative agenda, a closer look would show that it has made progress faster and more ef...