AQA Government and Politics Chapter 14 & 15 : The US Executive & Comparing Executives (Essay Plans)
Updated 2023/2024
This Resource includes 11 9-Mark Question Plans and 2 25-Mark Question Plans collectively for the ‘US ‘Executive’ and ‘Comparing Executives’ topics - also including ...
The Executive – Branch of government in the USA that carries out and enforces
laws
The President – Head of US Government, Head of State, and commander-in-
chief of the US Military, directly elected via Electoral College
Formal Powers – Powers given to the president by the Constitution or Congress
(split into Enumerated, Implied, and Inherent
Informal Powers – Powers that are political rather than Constitutional (e.g.,
party leader, setting out political agenda, and direct authority by stretching
implied powers)
Checks and Balances – Crucial feature of Constitution’s framework, each
branch is limited by the others and preventing too much concentration of power
to any one institution
Imperial Presidency – President has an imperial or ‘emperor-like’ character
Imperilled Presidency – Presidency is weak and its effectiveness is limited by
Congress
“Explain and Analyse three checks and balances on the
power of the President” / “Explain and Analyse three
,ways in which executive power can be constrained by
other branches of government”
Overturn a Presidential
- January 1st 2021 = Trump’s veto of the annual defence spending bill was
overridden by 81-13 in Congress despite having a Republican majority
- TISB this provides an element of ‘balance’ between the law-making
branches of government, as well as ensuring that acts with popular
support do not get repealed at the discretion of the president only – thus
serving as a significant check on the power of the President
‘Nuclear’ Option of Impeachment
- Trump was impeached twice in 2017 and 2019, for ‘high crimes and
misdemeanours’ as well as for facilitating the storming of the US Capitol
on January 6th 2021 and encouraging his supporters to “fight like hell”
respectively
- Concept of Impeachments = less significant, only three presidents have
ever been impeached (Johnson, Clinton, and Trump) and none of which
got convicted
- Yet threat of Impeachment = more significant, large media attention and
the consequential negative publicity serves as a check on the power of the
President
E.g., Nixon resigned in 1974 after threats of impeachment following
the Watergate Scandal
Reject, Amend, or Delay Legislation
- After the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting Obama
proposed stricter gun control legislation, yet Congress (divided at the
time) rejected it by 60-40
- TISB this demonstrates how a divided government with a subsequent
lack of unanimous agreement is able to serve as a check on the power of
the President
Yet this isn’t always the case as opposition can come from within –
e.g., Joe Biden’s 2022 Build Back Better Bill was forced to be amended
due to opposition and criticism from fellow Democrat Joe Manchin –
eventually being passed instead as the Inflation Reduction Act 2022
“Explain and Analyse three differences between formal
and informal presidential powers”
, Formal Powers are Constitutional whereas Informal Powers are Political
- Formal: Article II of the Constitution states that the President will be
commander-in-chief of the US military and can initiate military action (such
as the military action initiated against Libya by Obama in 2011)
- Informal: De Facto Party Leader, so can influence its membership which
proves highly beneficial if their party controls both houses of Congress
- Less significant, as the president’s formal constitutionally implied powers
have been stretched in recent years to give them the informal power of direct
authority, such as executive orders and executive agreements, thus
illustrating the potential for constitutional informal powers
Unlike Informal Powers, Formal Powers do not fluctuate depending on
Public Opinion
- Formal Powers are entrenched and set in stone, such as the President and
their Office of Management and Budget preparing the annual federal budget
(February 2020 = Trump’s budget took government spending to $4.8
trillion)
- Presidents can rely on Informal Powers such as agenda-setting and being a
‘world leader’ to make their views prevail – Roosevelt sent Japanese-
Americans into internment camps during WW2 due to public support
- TISB the public support for the wartime president influenced this decision to
utilise his informal powers – yet this also depends on whether the
government is united or divided as well as approval ratings
Formal Powers were designed to be limited by Checks and Balances
whereas many informal powers have been developed to expand the
power of the President
- Formal Power of Vetoing Bills is limited through Congress’s ability to
override a presidential veto - January 1 st 2021 = Trump’s veto of the annual
defence spending bill was overridden by 81-13 in Congress despite having a
Republican majority
- Informal Power of Direct Authority was able to be stretched – George W
Bush declared an international ‘war on terror’, which allowed the President
to bypass Congress when required in a way that their Formal Powers do not
- Less significant – presidents such as Roosevelt and George W Bush were
able to expand the scope of their formal powers during periods of
emergency too – thus formal powers can also be used to expand the scope of
the President, even if this was not the intention of the framers of the
Constitution
“Explain and Analyse three ways in which the relationship
between the presidency and other government institutions
varies from one president to another”
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