‘The power of the President is limited to the power to persuade.’ Discuss
Many would argue that the President of the US is the most powerful man in the world, given that he heads the world’s foremost superpower. As world statesman and commander-in-chief there have been instances, particularly in the foreign affairs arena, where the president has been able to wield enormous power.
However, if we look closely, this claim is too simplistic given that the checks and balances principle inherent in the Constitution. This means that on a domestic level the President remains heavily constrained with the separation of powers ensuring that there exist many opportunities for the legislature to control the work of the President.
This has led people to claim that he ‘only has the power to persuade’ since without Congress’ support, he has relatively little power. This essay will examine the claim by investigating how powerful the American President really is.
As head of state, it is the President who represents his country on the international scene where traditionally in times of international relations, Congress shows the President huge amounts of deference. Indeed, this has been the area where at times the President has been able to wield enormous power with tactical decisions on the deployment of troops, the general running of a war, and international relations rested firmly in his hands. For example, Obama’s decision to deploy troops to Libya, without congressional consent. This suggests that the President is indeed powerful and appears to undermine the claim that he only has the power to persuade.
However, the extensive powers of the President in foreign affairs can be sharply constrained by the limits on his domestic powers. Constitutionally, the American political system favours a separation of powers with each branch of government being backed up by a system of checks and balances. As such, although the President has many powers, Congress are able to keep...