The balance of power in the U.S. foreign policy making procedure has created a lot of tensions and has shifted responsibility to many individuals since the constitution was written. This system of checks and balances was put in place to assure Americans that no section of government is tyrannical and can dominate the political process. Some believe that the balance of power has shifted since it was first established, and that has caused some tensions in U.S. foreign policy.
At the foundation, the legislative branch was intended to be the most powerful branch, but today many argue that the executive branch is the more dominant branch. “One of the most widely held myths about the American constitution system is the idea that our Founding Fathers intended foreign policy to be the province of presidents, with Congress related to a decidedly secondary role” (Snow and Brown, 95).
The past two centuries have not gone as the Founding Fathers had planned. The President since World War II has had more of an ability to affect foreign policy than before. “That dominance has been challenged by the most recent phase of congressional assertiveness, which began in the 1970’s “ (Snow and Brown, 96).
The President is, essentially, the head of our government. He is the one everyone looks to in a time of crisis, historically, now and other war times, and to develop policy. For example, Bush’s stem cell decision, or his proposition on tax cuts. In earlier years, the legislative branch had more say in foreign policy matters, or polices in general. There are six formal powers of the Presidency. “Constitutionally the president is the (1) chief executive, (2) chief of state, and (3) commander inn chief of the United States; he is also granted enumerated powers in regard to (4) treaty making, (5) appointment of key personal and (6) the recognition of foreign regimes” (Snow and Brown, 96).
The Term Paper on Us Foreign Policy After The War In Vietnam
U.S. Foreign Policy After the War in Vietnam The direction of U.S. foreign policy was affected further by the onset of the Cold War, the post-1945 struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. In March 1947, when President Harry S. Truman announced that the United States would lead a global effort to combat Communism, both Congress and the American public rallied to his support. Trumans ...
With these powers, the President is able to control and dominate foreign policy.
As chief executive, the president is in charge of agencies such as the State Department, the Pentagon, the CIA, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which houses a large portion of the experienced and intelligence in foreign policy making. The President can develop his own objectives, and try to get the backing of the executive agencies. For example, President Clinton did not have the backing for his heath care plan that did not pass. The second of the six power’s, is the president is the Chief of State. This implies that the president is the symbolic personification of the United States. He is treated with “extraordinary deference… Both symbolically and emotionally, the public regards the president as the country’s leader, and not mearly as the head of one branch of the federal government. Because if his exhaulted symbolic stature, he is the one political leader that everyone knows” (Snow and Brown, 97).
Some presidents are seen as taking the role as more ceremonial than seriously. Jimmy Carter is cited as one who was more like the American people, but after a while, they found that uncomfortable. Taking the Presidency as a causal job was not acceptable. The U.S President is a ceremonial status, but there is a fine line that presidents should be careful to cross.
The third power is Commander in Chief of the country armed forces. This is where the Founding Fathers were unclear, for congress has the ability to declare war, and only congress, the President has the ability to send troops into an area without formal declaration of a war. “Truman’s commitment of large-scale forces to resist communist aggression on Korea in 1950, Johnson’s invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965, Reagan invasion of Grenada in 1983, and Bush’s invasion of Panama in 1989 are all examples of presidents relying on their capacious definition of their power as commander in chief to commit the countries armed forces to combat their operations abroad” (Snow and Brown, 99).
The Term Paper on Foreign Policy Analysis : Compare and Contrast Nigeria’s Relationship with the U.S.A.
INTRODUCTION: A country’s foreign policy is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and militarily, and to a lesser extent how the country will interact with non-state actors. The aforementioned interaction is evaluated and monitored in attempts to maximize benefits of multi-lateral international cooperation. Foreign policies ...
In 1973 The War Powers Resolution was passed over presidential veto. This was to attempt a balance between the president’s need for troops and the congressional design of the distribution of power. This helps to keep strong-minded presidents in check and to keep the powers somewhat balanced.
As a treaty negotiator, the president has the ability to legally bind the U.S. to international commitments. The president has to seek 2/3 of the Senates approval, so even though the president can negotiate these treaties, he still needs the approval of the senate. The president also has the power to appoint senior executive official and ambassadors with the consent of the senate also. The president is given much leeway, but congress has been quick in the past to make sure to monitor who the president chooses.
The Congress has its own set of powers. Constitutionally, they have the ability to “affect American foreign policy through (1) lawmaking power, (2) power of the purse, (3) confirmation power (4) oversight power, (5) war power and (6) treaty power. The first of these power, the lawmaking power is the ability to “create legal authority for certain actions and to forbid others altogether” (Snow and Brown, 165).
Even though the president can veto a bill, it can be overridden by a 2/3 vote of the House and Senate, giving congress the last say. As far as foreign policy, it can adopt or refuse policies and laws that effect U.S. Policy. For example, giving china most favored nation status is subject to congress approval. “The Power of the Purse is two powers I one: legislative control over revenue raised by the federal government and congressional control over how much money is spent” (Snow and Brown, 167).
The Term Paper on Air Power And The Gulf War
An acknowledged aerospace historian, Mr. Richard P. Hallion is an associate for the Smithsonian Institution employed in the research division. A former Charles A. Lindbergh Professor of Aerospace History, Mr. Hallion has written or edited thirteen other books, including The Wright Brothers: Heirs of Prometheus (1978), Test Pilots: The Frontiersmen of Flight (1988), and The History of Battlefield ...
This means that congress has the ability to spend money where they see fit. The Congress indicates the U.S. contribution to the UN. For example, “In 1961, congress passed the landmark Foreign Aide Authorization Act which created the Agency for International Development (AID) to administer general development assistance and establish framework that has guided American aid efforts ever since” (Snow and Brown 168).
Since the cold war, foreign aid has dropped significantly. Confirmation power is a power given only to the Senate. This states that they have the power to approve or disapprove of the appointment of ambassadors, the secretary of defense, and the secretary of state. All presidential nominees have to win the approval of the senate, and failure to approve is considered a major setback. Oversight power is the only power not “specifically enumerated in the Constitution, the power to retrieve how new laws are implemented by the executive branch and to examine the actual effects of new policies follows logically from the constitutional grant of lawmaking authority” (snow and brown 171), this is done by congressional hearings, and investigations. The Iran-contra scandal is an example of oversight hearings. When this was exposed, the Senate and the House agreed to conduct a joint investigation through investigation committees. “311 subpoenas were issued, over 20,000 documents were examined, and witnessed presented about 250 hours of public testimony during 40 days of open hearings” (Snow and Brown 173).
In the end, the system of checks and balances that the founding fathers agreed upon proved its place in the government. The War Power gives congress the ability to declare war. And it bestows the president as the commander in chief of the U.S. military. Since the declaration was in place, only five sanctions of the declaration of war have been put in place. The Treaty power gives the senate the ability to vote down any treaty that the president makes. Since it is highly impossible to get 2/3 of the Senate to agree on anything, this creates a challenge.
The tensions that seem to be effecting today’s U.S Foreign Policy is that while the president is not suppose to be able to dictate that much of foreign policy matter, he indeed plays a major role. Johnson, Nixon, Reagen, Bush Sr. Clinton and Bush jr. were all able the end troops where they wanted them, and war was never declared. Because they have the ability to send troops under the formal powers of the presidency, they do not need the approval of congress or the legislative branch. The president is seen as a major symbol of the United States and his appearance and trips to other countries can effect our relationships with other heads of state. This creates major tensions between the executive and legislative branches. I think that the balance is appropriate now, because our president is seen as a symbol of our country. He dopes have the ability to send troops, but not to declare war. The legislative branch is there to make sure, like they did in the Iran-contra scandal that his powers are not abused, and that the executive branch is kept in check. As long as the legislative branch has the power to ratify treaties and maintains its say in executive decisions, the power seems to remain somewhat balanced. The responsibility may have changed since the founding fathers drafted the constitution but since then, the president has become so much more to the rest of the world. He has become a symbol of our nation; they may not have realized the power that is behind that alone. As long as the system of checks and balances is in place, then there can be some kind of order and equality maintained.
The Term Paper on Politics, Presidents and War
... States. The War Powers Act theoretically reserved the right to make war to the U. S. Congress. An increasingly long line of Presidents have ... The war marked an increase in the assertion of Presidential power. It also marked an increase in the ability of that branch to ... use the media, public opinion and internationalism to increase that power. It was a ...
Bibliography
Snow, Donald M., Brown Eugene, United States Foreign Policy Politics Beyond the Water’s Edge. Second edition. New York: Bedfords/St. Martins. 2000. Pages: 95-100, 165-177.
