1.
Various political analysts, media and American citizens have categorized American presidents as heroic, imperial or post imperial on the basis of their actions and decisions. American presidents have received such tagging because of their relation with the US congress and their way of decision takings. Many Americans consider President Obama as imperial because of his actions and decisions that he has taken after being the president of the United States of America. One of the biggest reasons of Obama’s image is because he has ignored the US congress while taking a number of crucial decisions (Bardes et al.).
One main reason why Obama is imperial is because President Obama exercises his power of issuing executive orders excessively and ignores the congress either willingly or unwillingly. Obama has been using his power of issuing executive orders for changing laws, as well as, for amending legislation. Such practice is against the feelings of founders of the, American constitution. Executive orders have been exercised by a number of US presidents previously in order to manipulate power without creating a storm about the same (Cruz).
Executive orders are not illegal, and they are equipped with the power of law but when presidents start using them excessively, it starts interfering with the constitution. Obama has used executive orders as many times as George Bush did in his first presidential term. It does not matter how many times executive orders are used, but it matters how these orders are used and in what contexts. President Obama has used executive orders in extraordinarily significant matters that should have been discussed in the US congress (Hinkle).
President Obama used executive orders in issues of federal immigration laws, federal defense laws, federal welfare laws, marriage act, Affordable healthcare Act and Deferred action for Childhood arrivals (DACA). Obama used executive orders in various other subjects of national and international importance (Strassel). Obama sent troops on various missions in different countries without discussing the same in the US congress. Without involving the congress, Obama issued executive orders on issues that involved huge amount of finance. Such practices by the president Obama suggested Americans that their president did not believe in sharing the power nor does he want any kind of interference from anybody in running the administration of the country (Feldmann).
Many eminent scholars, politicians and people criticize him for his behavior and find president Obama’s behavior unconstitutional. Elizabeth Price Foley, a law professor, indicates towards the threats of exercising executive orders. Foley says, “directly contrary to what the law says. You can have 10,000 executive orders and every one of them can be perfectly constitutional or conversely you can have two that are totally unconstitutional. Which presidential action is worse? Of course, the latter” (Cooper).
Having observed the succinct overview of the abovementioned discussion, it appears that US President Obama is an imperial. He believes in exercising the power without any kind of interference. Various politicians, scholars and people from different sects of the society have criticized Obama’s arbitrary decisions. Obama is accused of being imperial, and his various decisions corroborate the same. Obama has constantly ignored the US congress and avoided discussion on various significant issues in the US congress (Powers).
2.
US government consists of US president, Congress and the Judiciary. US president is the chief executive of the American government. Americans see US president as the most powerful entity among all these components, but the reality is different and US constitution has made a balance among all of these components. US president has the power to take various decisions at his own and execute these decisions but at the same time, the US congress has been the authority to monitor the decisions of US president (McMahon).
Instead of establishing a master-servant relationship between US president and congress, the American constitution makes provisions for balance of powers between the president and congress. There are a number of checks and balances between president and congress. US constitution makers did not to confer too many powers to US president because they feared enormous power may corrupt presidents. Framers of the US constitution arranged more specific powers to the US congress in order to keep a check on US presidents (Goldmacher).
US president, on the other hand, has been given certain specific powers by framers of the US so that Congress could not create unnecessary hindrances in his working. US president has been given the power of veto that he can use in case if he thinks necessary using it. US president also has the authority to issue executive orders for a quicker action on specific issues. These executive orders are very effective tool in hands of US presidents and are often criticized by opposition (Briggs).
There is a very dynamic relationship between US president and the Congress. US president and congress share cordial relation on certain issues while they appear to be very co-operative on certain issues. Presidents and congress also share mix relationship on certain issues. The struggle for power between these two institutions is inevitable yet they are interconnected. These disputes are a necessary part of a democratic setup. In fact, our framers intended some disputes so that the better opinion could come on the surface after a wide discussion between these two components of the American democracy (Shull and Shaw).
The relationship of president, and congress depends on various things. The role and attitude of US president matters a lot. There are several presidents who managed very amicable relationship with the congress and avoided disputes. They took opinion of congress on crucial issues and gave them the importance that they deserve and expect while there are certain presidents who shared very bitter relationship with congress and used various optional tricks to exercise their power (Bond).
These presidents use executive orders and also did not hesitate from vetoing congress decisions. Thomas Jefferson, George W. Bush or current president Obama are known for issuing excessive number of executive orders to exercise uninterrupted power. Obama administration is criticized for ignoring the US congress on various issues of utmost significance (Thurber). President Obama issued a huge number of executive orders and tried to keep the congress aside which is why he is accused of being imperial. Having observed the checks and balance of power between US presidents and US congress, it is clear that framers of US constitution intended an amicable and cooperative relationship between the president and the congress. Both of these institutions have their checks and balances, and none of them is given the power to exercise their rights arbitrarily.
Works Cited
Bardes, B., Shelley, M., and Schmidt, S. American Government and Politics Today: Essentials 2011 - 2012 Edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2012.
Bond, Jon R. The President in the Legislative Arena. London: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Briggs, Philip J. Making American Foreign Policy: President-Congress Relations from the Second World War to the Post Cold War Era . Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1994.
Cooper, Elise. "Obama as Imperial President." 18 March 2014. American Thinker. Online. 31 October 2014.
Cruz, Ted. "The Imperial Presidency of Barack Obama." 28 January 2014. The Wall Street Journal. Online. 30 October 2014.
Goldmacher, Shane. "Americans See Little Chance of Better Obama-Congress Relationship in 2014." 4 December 2013. National Journal. 31 October 2014 <http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressional-connection/coverage/americans-see-little-chance-of-better-obama-congress-relationship-in-2014-20131204>.
Feldmann, Linda. "Is Barack Obama an imperial president?" 26 January 2014. The Christian Science Monitor. Online. 31 October 2014.
Hinkle, A. Barton. "Barack Obama, Imperial President." 22 September 2014. Reasons.com. Online. 31 October 2014.
McMahon, Robert. "Balance of War Powers: The U.S. President and Congress." 1 September 2013. Council on Foreign Relations. 31 October 2014 <http://www.cfr.org/united-states/balance-war-powers-us-president-congress/p13092>.
Powers, Kirsten. "Obama's imperial overreach." 6 July 2014. USA Today. Online. 31 October 2014.
Shull, S.A., and Shaw, T.C. Explaining Congressional-Presidential Relations: A Multiple Perspective Approach. New York: SUNY Press, 1999.
Strassel, K. A. "Obama's Imperial Presidency." 5 July 2012. The Wall Street Journal. Online. 31 October 2014.
