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The Pros And Cons Of An Imperial Presidency

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“I can go into my office and pick up the telephone, and in 25 minutes 70 million people will be dead” (Nixon, NY Times). This is what former President, Richard Nixon, said in 1974 about the ease of firing nukes, which if done, sets off alarms about an imperial presidency. An imperial presidency is dangerous because it gives one person the unequivocal power to rule over a country. In the year 2012, Harvard Law professor Jack Goldsmith published a novel called Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 about whether or not an imperial presidency is achievable. He states that due to the accountability checks we have on government and the democratic process a 21st-century imperial president could not exist. Fast forward up to Donald Trump’s presidency, many people have questioned whether if what he said during the campaign trail or through his executive orders look to be that of an imperial one. On one hand, Goldsmith is right about how accountability checks will keep the president from acting unconstitutionally. However, his rationalization of the democratic process is slightly …show more content…

As Americans begin to realize that the government is not doing enough for the country, candidates will follow President Trump’s formula and run as an outsider, but still stand by one of the two major parties. In the meantime, in order to ensure the presidency does not become one of imperialism and unilateral ruling the accountability checks that Goldsmith talks about must stay in place. Before that, however, the American people must show out at the polling booths and ensure they elect as close as possible what Publius called “enlightened statesman” (Publius, Federalist 10). Together, we can prevent America from having an imperial president and make America truly the land of the

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In The Rise of the Plebiscitary Presidency, Professor Craig Rimmerman argues against the “plebiscitary presidency”, where the president governs through the direct support of the American people. Rimmerman argues that the Framers of the Constitution assumed that the legislative branch would serve as the central policymaking role. The modern plebiscitary presidency has been shaped by the tremendous amount of personal power drawn from the people through the Supreme Court and Congress. Rimmerman argues that the consequence of a presidentially-centered form of government that Neustadt and other scholars failed to recognize is that presidents will strive to meet the expectations that come with the new presidency to the extreme, where they will exert

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However, with a weak executive, the country had a very powerless government. Sabato describes how the country required a strong, unifying leader – specifically George Washington. This status of unifying leader continued until the twentieth century, where many wars required the president to make many important decisions and be at the front of attention for most Americans. Although this “imperial presidency” took a dip for a while with Nixon, Ford, and Carter, the presidency once again gained power with Reagan and the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Because of this, Sabato reinforces the fact that the Presidency has gained much more power than initially envisioned and should be

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1278 Words | 6 Pages

“I can go into my office and pick up the telephone, and in 25 minutes 70 million people will be dead” (Nixon, NY Times). This is what former President, Richard Nixon, said in 1974 about the ease of firing nukes, which if done, sends off alarms about an imperial presidency. An imperial presidency is scary and enormously dangerous because it gives one person the unequivocal power to rule over a country. For a long time across many different political science fields, people have studied whether or not an imperial presidency is achievable, including most recently Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith. In the year 2012, Goldsmith published a novel called Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11.

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There are many theories connecting current and past presidents to imperial presidencies. The definition of an imperial presidency is a president who drifts from the written rules of the constitution. The various remarks and opinions accusing presidents of being imperialistic are generally from these who are conservative. This shows the occasional biasness that people occasionally show. There are many presidents who have perhaps taken their powers too far; Richard Nixon, Harry Truman, and Theodore Roosevelt were all accused of various imperialistic acts.

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President Andrew Jackson was an influential, “common man” of the people. And though Jackson’s opponents, the National Republicans and the Whig party, have accused him of being despotic through his use of vetoes, expansion of presidential power, and neglect of constitution, it was clear to Jackson and the public that he had merely sought to follow the will of the people. Therefore his presidency had, indeed, reflected an era of democracy. President Jackson himself was a symbol of democracy of the Egalitarian Age. This is clear in his election in 1828.

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In Bernie Sanders book, The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class, he states on the issue of how a tax break in favor of millionaires will only continue the decline of middle class families, poverty to increase and for there to only be a great gap between the wealthy and middle class. On December 10, 2010, Bernie Sanders brought to the attention to the House of Senate how President Obama’s and the Republicans agreement on a tax break for millionaires would not be the greatest of plans. He brings to light how unjust it would be that millionaires would receive tax breaks while the lower and middle class continue to get higher tax rates. Ultimately what Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to clarify is, that this tax agreement will only cause damage to future generations. In his point of view, if this were to occur, this will only cause American citizens to believe that the political system is declining the progress of the middle class but

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As America became a great power, it has continued its legacy of territorial expansionism through neo-imperialist policies. Aside from acquiring land and expanding American territory, the United States has established policies that have allowed direct and often indirect military and political control, economic exploitation, and the introduction of American ideals. The U.S. has justified this form of colonialism by claiming that it is for mutual economic pursuits, the spreading of democracy, and the establishment of stable governments in developing countries. Despite America’s noble causes, American imperialism has caused many repercussions. The United States should cease to be an imperialist power as it is economically damaging to countries under its rule, costly to America, violates the fundamental American principle of self-governance, and exacerbates social and political situations in countries America has tampered with.

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Most Americans view the Constitution as a sacred document that created the world’s greatest democracy but, in actuality, the American Constitution has many highly undemocratic aspects that prove this judgement to be mistaken. This is brought to light in Dahl’s analysis of the American Constitution.

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Bush, William McKinley, and Lyndon B Johnson have all exhibited examples of imperial presidency. George W. Bush can be counted as one of the numerous presidents that had a hand in imperial presidency for many reasons. According to George Carey, a professor of Government at Georgetown University, said, “Specifically, particularly since 9/11, it has been widely reported that one of the major goals of the administration of George W. Bush is the restoration of the presidential prerogatives and powers that were diminished or preempted principally during the Nixon and Reagan administrations.” George Carey was trying to point out George W. Bush and his strong and prominent want for more power. William McKinley contributed to imperial presidency by implementing a war on Spain.

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Justice Thurgood Marshall Response Justice Thurgood Marshall said in his “Reflections on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution”, “I do not believe the meaning of the Constitution was forever ‘fixed’ at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, that we hold as fundamental as today” (Marshall). In this passage of his essay, Judge Marshall is critical of the government that is

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Foundations of The Political System There are five foundations of America’s political system. These foundations are Popular Sovereignty, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Federation, and Individual Rights. The first of the foundations is Popular Sovereignty, where,“the people possess the superior power over their political community, and can alter their government or amend the constitution.” (Ahmed Ehab,”Foundations of the American Political System”).

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In Imperial Presidency, imperial presidency is defined as constitutional power is upset in favor of presidential power and at the expense of presidential accountability, the presidency can be said to become imperial (Schelesinger 1). Imperial presidency is completely tyrannical and makes this country an authortian state. It goes against what our constiutition intended us to be. There is no longer a checks in power; let alone a democracy. I don’t agree with one sole person having power over this country

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“The president 's power is felt all over the world.” No nation is so remote from the U.S. that they can avoid the repercussions of American diplomacy. The president can abuse their powers and it will affect the U.S as well as other countries that associate with us. “The formal powers as listed in the Constitution say little about a modern president 's real power.” Modern presidents have way more power than was is listed in the constitution, they do not have to follow the guidelines completely like past presidents would have had to.

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In the United States, people always talk about freedom and equality. Especially they want elections could be more democratic. In American Democracy in Peril, Hudson’s main argument regarding chapter five “Election Without the People’s Voice,” is if elections want to be democratic, they must meet three essential criteria, which are to provide equal representation of all citizens, to be mechanisms for deliberation about public policy issues, and to control what government does. Unfortunately, those points that Hudson mentions are what American elections do not have. American elections do not provide equal representation to everyone in the country.

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