A number of people believe that US president have too much power and having so much power is not in the interest of a democratic setup. It has been one of most debated issues in United States of America for last few decades. Numerous people including some eminent scholars believe that a state head should be given power but giving so much power to an individual may create untoward situations. This paper intends to discuss the presidential powers of United States of America and also discusses other related aspects of the subject matter.
American constitution was written centuries ago and that time it was not foreseeable for our constitution makers that president will be so much powerful. Our constitution makers could not even assume what technology will create in future. They were completely unaware of nuclear weapons, missiles, satellites and several other things that empower people in modern day America (Krent).
It was a bit difficult for our constitution makers to foresee that America will be richest country of the world some day and whole world will follow America. They were probably not aware that America can become a super economic as well as a military power and can lead the world. They failed to presume that American president will command an army and weapon system that can destroy nations in seconds. In the era when people are so powerful how their president will not be super powerful but considering this issue with democratic perspective, raises some questions that are very important for the United States of America.
Modern US president holds the capacity to destroy cities and even nations in minutes as he commands thousands of missiles that carry nuclear weapons. Us president alone has the power to launch these missiles. US president is recognized as the source of power as he travels with well trained armed forces by his special fleet of jets. Today America is super economic power and American economic policies affect the economic policies of the world. US president is in position to pressurize the congress to pass the bills of his choice (Krent). Now the US president enjoys and exercises additional powers than what is actually bestowed to him by the American constitution.
Obama care is an excellent example that shows how today president can uses his power in bringing bill that is unacceptable by common people and large part of society. This bill created several problems in healthcare system that is very difficult to resolve. None of the stakeholder involves in healthcare system including doctors and patients are happy with Obama care. This bill decreased quality of healthcare services, reduced their availability and created payment process related challenges.
US constitution, since its inception, gives same powers to every president but after observing all the American presidents, it becomes evident that all of them were not same powerful. Different presidents exercised their powers in a different way. Earlier American presidents were not that powerful and they did not intervene in the international affairs as modern presidents do.
After observing the list and deeds of all US presidents, it becomes clear that there are two categories of US presidents. First category used to believe that they are given limited powers by the American constitution while presidents, belonging to another category used to think that they were given ample powers to act like strong president by the American constitution and they can exercise these powers without any limit from the constitution.
Presidents like Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt used to act in a bold way and took some very firm decisions that pronounced their firmness and made strong appearance of America across the world. These presidents acted in such a way that people who advocated, for more rights for US presidents after seeing an era and a series of weak presidents, became mute. Now people believe that the tendency has gone far away and American president has become too much powerful.
American presidents have different types of power such as executive powers, legislation powers, power to appoint someone, executive clemency, power to handle foreign affairs, emergency powers and special executive privilege. President is provided with tremendous power to handle national as well as foreign affairs (Presidential Power and Limitations). He can issue regulations and orders that do not require other approvals. President is also Chief in Commander hence he can call arm forces.
American president was initially provided with the power to handle issues related with national security and declare war without approval of congress. In 1973when Vietnam War was going on, War Powers Acts was passed on that allowed president to declare war with approval of Congress. However President can send arm forces to other countries in case of any hostile situation. President George W. Bush exercised his power when declaring war against Iraq. He took the decision of war despite of strong opposition and severs criticism.
Vietnam War and Iraq War are best examples that depict how President takes advantage of his immense power just to fulfill their own ambitions without considering the greater good. Innocent people were got killed in these wars of ambition. These War received criticism from different parts of world and within America itself. However sometime such power it required when Country’s safety is on stake or when any emergency situation such as flood and hurricane are taking place (Berlatsky). In these situations President takes decisions that are best of interest of all Americans and necessary for safety of common people.
American president has wide array of responsibilities and duties to play. He is responsible to handle different national and international issues with full efficiency thus his role requires different types of powers. Political analyst claims that President requires more power in order to do justice to his role. According to them there are various decisions that are good for the country and its people cannot be executed because of political interest of opposition and interference of different offices.
American president is an influential role that may have limited power on some front but certainly very important for country. Decisions taken by president impact all people of the country and touché their lives. Congress holds immense power that limit the power of President. Various decisions, laws and bills are required approval of Congress thus limit the power of President. President also holds limited power when it comes to defense and protection of country from external threats (Berlatsky).
American President has limited power when it comes to taking decisions related with war & national security. Though he is allow to executes foreign policy and exercise his power in sending American troops to different countries but requires approval of Congress for taking military actions. President can send limited troops for limited days. Such limited power could be danger in case of any emergency situation or sudden attack.
Policy makers designed policies and laws keeping in mind the democracy and rights of individuals in mind. No person should be given this much of power that it creates danger for citizens. Excessive power to one person can change the true meaning of democracy because than one person can control thing as per his own wish. Immense power to one person i.e. American President could result in situation like dictatorship and will certainly damage the true sense of freedom & democracy (Berlatsky).
American president is allowed to appoint federal authorities but their appointment needs approval from Senate. President holds authority to initiate any bill or reject it but all bills requires Congress approval before they get implemented. If President rejects any bill it sent back for consideration of Congress (Presidential Power and Limitations). Congress is provided with highest power which is right also to maintain true sense of democracy and avoid any situation or decision that is derived by personal interest.
Shared power is essential to maintain transparency in all processes, keeping interest of common public alive, keep check & balances, avoid any conflict situation and maintain processes free from political or personal ambitions. It is commonly known that dictatorship is not good for people as it limits freedom of common man, limited power to President is also good keeping in mind the interest of common man. Decisions taken by a group i.e. Congress is always better than decisions taken by single person i.e. President because it represent common voice not the voice of one person.
Works Cited
Berlatsky, Noah. Presidential Powers. USA: Cengage Gale, 2010.
Krent, Harold J. Presidential Powers. New York: NYU Press, 2005.
"Presidential Power and Limitations." 2012. presidentsusa. 25 November 2013 <http://www.presidentsusa.net/presidential_powers.html>.
