The US system of government

We started a little series about the American politics in our last newsletter already. We will now continue with the office of president.

The President of the US

The US president does not a "cabinet" with heads of different departments in the European sense, he rather has to rely on "secretaries" which he can appoint and dismiss as he likes. He has a presidential staff of persons from economy and the establishment of political consulting. Often they gain so much power that the authority to establish guidelines will almost be handed over completely to the advisor - Henry Kissinger is a good example of that. Quite often, advisors are also later secretaries. Kissinger once said he could have become anything in the US, except president, his German origin wouldn't have allowed that.

The president, as the head of the administration, has a great administrative staff. He fills the top positions with people close to him in a way unknown to Europeans, even though many positions start resembling the German civil service system more and more.

The burden that comes with the office is best demonstrated by the power over nuclear weapons of the US. As the highest diplomat he is also supposed to represent the role of decision maker for foreign policy. In this area especially, he has to rely on an expert advisor, the position Colin Powell is filling quite expertly at the moment, even though he had rather filled positions in the field of military policy in the past. However, he has already proved great diplomatic skills in many conflicts worldwide.

Especially well-known is his state of the union message in which he is supposed to formulate his political goals and tries to convince Congress of his wishes for new legislation. Presidents in the past have also liked to use this in pre-election times, especially impressively so Bill Clinton, who could point out his fantastic economic results which brought him many points. Not less well-known will be the veto competence, which he can use to refer acts of law back to Congress to make them vote again. No law can be passed without his consent anyway.

By the way, that was also the reason the green card lottery couldn't take place as usual but only in spring some years ago, the US had an unbalanced budget at that time. An obstacle that prevented the National Visa Center from setting to work.

Instruments of power How can a president meet the ever increasing demands for his job? Often by referring to the unique quality of his authorization that he has by being elected by the entire nation. It often helps him through disagreements with Congress or pushy lobbyists. Close contact with the public may increase the prestige and influence of the office. Persuasiveness and the wise use of his powers increase his influence, just as Machiavelli described in his works. However, what it finally all comes down to is how well he works with Congress, how well he has his party under control and his talent for finding suitable staff members and coordinate the many offices, authorities and commissions centered around the White House.

A little ‘state within the state' is the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and the presidential staff that has more or less ministerial function. The latter has developed into a super-coordination and surveillance apparatus for the entire government system and has already more than 500 staff members today.

US Congress The legendary US Congress is the legislative power of the US political system. It has two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the 50 states sends two senators to the Senate. In order to ensure continuous work, the Senate is never re-elected in its entirety. During each election, only a third of the Senators will be reelected.

Two houses Directly elected by the people, the House of Representatives represents the democratic sovereignty of the people. Encouraged to always be in direct contact with the people, it represents the country's current opinion.

The Senate is also supposed to the single states' interests into federal policy. The indirect elections and the longer term in office, the Senators are supposed to be competent representatives of the people, or a balance to the House of Representatives that is directly connected to the people.

The legislative power is defined by its many competencies. While in Europe the budget decisions have been transferred almost completely from the parliament to the government, Congress has defended its ‘power of purse.'

Even in the areas of foreign and staff policy, Congress has partial decision-making powers and partial participation powers. International treaties, for example, still need to be confirmed by parliament, with a two-thirds majority.

Immigration policy and the resulting laws as well are being pre-decided in Congress as well, they also have the power to influence bills and amendments.

Congress has received an especially large amount of attention in the past through the so-called ‘impeachment,' against a US president. This can even lead to removal from office for a president. However, most impeachments go against federal judges, after that, they are also excluded from other key positions in the country.

Congress and president American policy has always been characterized by the rivalry between Capitol (Congress) and White House (president). This rivalry was mostly based on the unclear definition of their respective powers. It was a regular incentive for government and parliament to fight about control over policy, especially foreign policy. To this day there are arguments about competencies over war power and treaty power, e.g. during the times of the Vietnam war.

Constitutionally unclear to this day is the right of Congress to decide about war and peace and maintenance of the armed forces, while the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces. The War Power Resolution of 1973 that stated that parliament had to be consulted before sending armed forces into war, also gives them the right to end unauthorized war activities.

Contrary to all efforts, the president's power over foreign policy has increased a lot since World War II as is generally shown by the necessity for strict leadership and quick decisions for the superpower of the US that is active around the world.

What disagreements between government and parliament can lead to was shown to the Americans around the end of 1995/the beginning of 1996 when both couldn't agree on a budget for 1996 and brought the US close to being unable to pay.

That was also the year the green card lottery couldn't take place before spring.

The gap between standards of performance and capacities of performance has been growing ever wider. On the one hand, the TV-oriented election system gives the impression that the White House was ruling and the federal administration controlling. On the other hand, reality shows a dogged bargaining with Congress that often leads only to a standstill and the general inability of the president to meet the administrative performance and political leadership requirements of the office.

In our next newsletter: Democrats and Republicans, the political parties as instruments of formation of political objectives.