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During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of American politics, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges. This blog is on the open Internet, so post nothing that you would not want a potential employer to see. Syllabus: http://gov20h.blogspot.com/2023/08/draft-introduction-to-american-politics.html

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Congress and the Executive III

LBJ orders some pants.

Nixon gets drunk and calls the chief of staff who just quit.

Writing:
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The Constitution and Federalist
Congress checking the president: NAIL:
  • Nominations
  • Appropriations
  • Investigations
  • Legislation
Gates:
I came to believe that virtually all members of Congress carried what I called a “wallet list," ” a list they carried with them at all times so that if, by chance, they might run into me or talk with me on the phone, they had a handy list of local projects and programs to push forward.
The presidency and national security:
  • Federalist 8: "It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority."
  • Democracy in America: "If executive power is weaker in America than in France, the reason for this lies perhaps more in circumstances than in the laws. It is generally in its relations with foreign powers that the executive power of a nation has the chance to display skill and strength. If the Union’s existence were constantly menaced, and if its great interests were continually interwoven with those of other powerful nations, one would see the prestige of the executive growing, because of what was expected from it and of what it did."

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