- Identify and explain the organization of the Executive. The executive branch is led by the President of the United States in which many staff members work to assist him in many situations. some of these staff members include the chief of staff, national security advisors, and the economic advisors. The President usually chooses his staff according to what he personally thinks is most important to him so that he focuses more on that particular area. The Executive branch is also broken up into many different departments and agencies.
- Identify and provide an example of the powers of the Executive, both formal and informal. The formal powers of the Executive is that the President can veto any bill that is passed fourth to him, grant pardons to people who have committed crimes against the constitution, he addresses the State of The Union, and he also acts as the Commander and Chief of the United States military. The informal powers are the powers that are not implied in the constitution like the executive order, which allows the president to make any necessary decision to help the country/nation out of a crisis. An example of this informal power is when the stock market crashed and FDR responded by closing all the banks to come up with a solution to the problem. An example of the formal powers is that President Barack Obama issued the troops in Afghanistan pull back and come home.
- Identify and explain how Executive shares powers with the Congress, Judiciary, and bureaucracy. The way that the president works with congress is that they review each others bills and decide to approve them or turn them down(veto). The president can veto congressional bills but congress can then override the veto by casting a 2/3 vote. The way the President works with the judiciary branch is very simple because the he gets to choose the judges. In this case the judges usually share the Presidents views and ideologies which makes it easier for him to get things done in government. There is always a slight chance that once he chooses the judges they don't always have to agree with him. The way the bureaucracy works with the President is that they directly report the him and congress. They have control over these departments and agencies because they can regulate the rules that these agencies make.
- Discuss the implications of Executive sharing powers with each of the following: Congress, Judiciary, and bureaucracy. The President of the United States is nearly suppressed by congress, the bureaucracy, and the Judiciary branch. As the president shares powers with congress they limit his actions because they can turn down any of the bills he tries to pass. This can cripple the President when he is trying to pass necessary bills. The President and the bureaucracy seem to have some friction because event though they report directly him and congress it still seem to him that he doesn't have much power over them. The Executive and the Judiciary would be something that helps the president because the president gets to appoint the judges. Majority of the Judiciary branch are going to have the same ideologies and views as the president. The President has to represent a key icon for the nation and in turn govern them while under the check of the other branches and laws that are stated in the constitution.
- Discuss the functions that Executive performs. The President can veto any bill sent by congress if he/she does not approve or he could send the bill back for further revision of the bill, he acts as a diplomat because he can negotiate treaties with other countries, he acts as a Jurist on his own behalf of being able to pardon and appoint judges for the Judiciary branch, he acts as an economist because he gradually comes up with bills/laws that help develop the state budget, he is the leader of his party(in this case Democrat), he acts as the commander and chief of the United States military, he is the leader of the free world, and he is the chief of state in which he is the symbol/icon of the people. The President acts as the executive in which he handles court decisions, passes laws, and treaties with other countries.
- Identify how the power of the Executive has/may evolve gradually. The power of the executive may evolve gradually because the nations needs a leader who could actually lead the nation without being suppressed by all kinds of laws, other branches of government, and separate institutions. We developed the idea of checks and balance in order to make sure that no branch of government could rise above the other two. The power of the president is understood by many that the executive branch shouldn't be suppressed/checked to drastically.
- Identify how the power of the Executive has/may changes dramatically as a result of crisis. In a time of a crisis we need to act fast and impose laws or actions that will quickly resolve the situation. Usually in a crisis we look to the Executive branch because they work fast and can get things done more efficiently than congress. For example in the 1929 stock market crash president Hoover issued the Reconstruction Finance Corps which granted federal aid to the banks to help and recover the economy. This is because of an informal power called the executive order with allows the President to make all necessary decisions to resolve any crisis that threatens our nation.
- Identify and discuss the ties between the Executive and political parties. The President is strongly connected with his/her political party. Once in office they can choose to change their views or remain loyal to their party affiliation. It is very important that the President in relation to his/her political party because he is the head of the party and must demonstrate a devastating influence of his true color in government.
- Identify and discuss the ties between the Executive and interest groups. The President must show some kind of positive response to the interest groups as they are the ones who helped him come to power. The interest groups helped support the president before he came to office by campaigning, polling, and voting in the Presidential election. The President must stay connected to the interest groups because they help him create the political agenda. The interest groups assist the President and inform him on whats happening in the world so that he could become more aware of those issues and act on them.
- Identify and discuss the ties between the Executive and media. The media does not act so kindly to the president because they focus more on what the President isn't doing to help the nation and what he needs to do. The media consistently tries to influence the views of the people by giving them information that is altered or stretched. The media watches over the Presidents actions to make sure he/she isn't following the laws of the constitution. The media is also a good thing for the president because it helps the president during election/re-election by the promotion of themselves on national television, radio, and internet. These will help them get re-elected and promoted their cause for the nation.
- Identify and discuss the ties between the Executive and state and local governments. The executive branch in relation to state and local governments is that it could fund money to the states by the executive called block grants. The states can do with it as they please. They usually spend the block grants on programs that they might need to help their state/government. The executive branch is in charge of the federal government directly. State and local governments have their own prerogatives according to their agenda, as the executive branch does not have direct control over them.