Introduction
The policy making and its environment issue are central to the governance process especially in the interactional affinity between the ruler and the ruled. Therefore it has attracted the attention of the scholars as well as the practitioners within the scholarship and world of political science, administration, among other policy sciences (Anderson, 2015). However, there has been tremendous maturation in policy making and its environment over the years. The policy makers and the society have been analyzed within different polities in the global political community. This research examines the concept of public policy controversy by incorporating the role of the president or ruler and how the executive branch demonstrated the ability to block the plan.
Public policy Controversy
Many presidents issue unilateral directives after entering the office by setting strategic priorities to differentiate their leadership from that of their predecessors. For instance, in the first months of office, the president of United Sates Obama reversed many policies made by President Bush, through the Executive Orders as well as Memoranda to the heads of the agency that provide important signals about his management techniques. He organized the white house in the manner that suggested that he was not addressing the issues facing the country. This clearly indicates that President Obama was attempting to impose the greater degree of centralized authority and management rather than being a democratic administrator.
The centralized regulatory conduct review by the Office of Management and Budget is one of the most controversial Presidential management aspects of the Executive Branch. However, President Bush did not revoke the Executive Order on the regulatory review of President Clinton. He achieved this by changing the substantial process by issuing supplemental executive orders that slashed the role of Vice President in the regulatory review process that required agencies to submit guidance for the State House review. The companies were also required to appoint the chief regulatory officers as well as identifying market failures that justified statutory provision. Further, President Obama issued an executive order that removed the Bush orders and reinstated the Clinton order. Obama also issued a memorandum to the Director of OMB to consult the regulatory agencies and respond within 100 days by submitting the recommendations for the innovative executive order on regulatory review.
Roles and Responsibilities of Presidency
President Obama was exercising his role of president by blocking the executive order on regulatory review of President Bush. Chief of state: this is the first role that President Obama used by blocking the order on regulatory review by Bush. The president is required to lead as the head of the government. He acts as the symbol of all people including the former presidents. However, the United States president is expected to rule over the state (Bettelheim, 2002).
Chief administrator: President Obama blocked the Bush order since he is in charge of the federal government executive branch, which employs over 2.7 million civilians. The president is the chief diplomat; this means that he is the author of all American foreign policy. Therefore, all orders made by the President are closely followed at home and also in foreign countries. The President is also the chief legislator; it is the duty of the president to shape public policy. He has the power to suggest, request or insist the Congress enact laws that he finds necessary for the administration. However, the Congress may fail to agree with the President and make its decision against the legislation. The president is also the leading citizen; this means that he presents all people in the United States. By blocking the order, President Obama demonstrated his ability to provide unique leadership moral and working for the interest of the citizens (Morone & Kersh, 2013).
Nevertheless, as the chief executive, the president has the responsibility to appoint individual to serve as a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) head. It is also a responsibility of the president to hold a cabinet meeting to discuss government policies and block or support the existing one. As a legislative leader, he has the responsibility to make laws and influence Congress in the law making process. He should also ensure that all national legislation are fulfilled, in other words, it is a responsibility of the President to carry out the legislation enacted by the Congress (Bettelheim, 2002). The president is perhaps empowered to veto or sign the bill sent by the Congress to his desk. The president also has the responsibility to set both home and foreign policies in line with the authority with Senate consent (Morone & Kersh, 2013).
Function of presidency
The President is expected to perform the above roles and responsibilities as part of the office work. The constitution mentions the duties, but some have evolved over time. The strategy that the President uses to carry out these functions depends on the personality and his presidency and role of government view. Currently, the presidents take the leadership approach to their work. The act as representatives of all people and change the policies that can disrupt their political agendas by use of inherent powers. The presidents who follow this model such as President Obama are highly praised by the scholars (Baltimore, 2014). The leaders consider themselves policymakers; this makes the impatient with the constitutional limitations on how they should exercise administrative activities. By blocking the administrative review order of Bush, President Obama was performing his duty as the chief executive and legislator (Morone & Kersh, 2013).
Executive Branch
The centralized regulatory review conduct of Management and Budget is one of the controversial administrative management aspects of the executive branch. President Obama revoked the executive order on regulatory review of Bush and reinstated Clinton’s order. This was achieved by issuing an accompanying memorandum that instructed the OMB director to consult all regulatory agencies and submit the recommendations for the new executive order on the regulatory review. This is explained by the initial management decisions of President Obama. For instance, many orders had detailed micro-implementation policies of the type that the presidents have reserved to the agencies. Specifically, the rules on the executive branch ethics, worker notification rights as well as non-displacement of the service servants contained detailed contractual provisions that the person seeking to work with the government should submit (American Presidency Project, 2014). However, the approach contract utilization enabled the statehouse to exert the power on the implementation while avoiding questions about the legal authority when imposing the provisions. However, the executive office of the president design has not changed since the creation of OMB in 1974. The initial preferences of Obama to appoint czars of the policy as well as downgrading White House offices shows that his policy making problems are wider and more complicated than that of his predecessors (Whisner, 2013).
Reasons for Revoking Executive order on Regulatory Review
The President George W. Bush amended Clinton’s executive order 13258 that concerned the regulatory review and planning, he also removed the references regarding the role of the Vice President and referenced the Director of Office of the Management and Budget (OMB). The order required each agency head to designate the presidential appointee to the regulatory policy officer position. President Obama revoked the order via Executive Order 13497. The order instructed the OMB Director as well as the heads of the executive departments and agencies to rescind rules, policies, laws, and guidelines the implemented Bush’s executive order. The reason for the revoking was the Obama’s intention to reaffirm and supplement the principles of the regulatory review. The order of Obama addressed public participation as well as agency coordination in harmonizing the regulations for all industries with specific regulatory requirements. Another reason for the issuing of the order was to ensure that agencies consider multidimensional approaches to regulation that require them to facilitate the objectivity of technical and scientific information (Heinzerling, 2014).
Conclusion
Policymaking, as well as its environment is central to the governance process. However, many controversies result when the presidents try to exercise their role in law making. The study begins by analyzing the public policy set by President Obama to differentiate his leadership from that of his predecessors. President Obama achieved this by reversing various policies that were made earlier by President Bush. The paper addressed the controversial revoking of executive order on regulatory review of Bush. President Obama revoked the order by exercising his power as the chief of state, among other duties and responsibilities (Heinzerling, 2014). The President is the chief administrator and legislator, and therefore he has the right to shape the public policy. The reason for blocking of Bush’s order was to ensure public participation in government decision-making.
Reference
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