Chapter 14 Reading Questions-The Presidency

  1. Describe the main differences between Presidents and Prime Ministers.
  2. Presidents are often Outsiders:
  3. Presidents choose Cabinet members from outside Congress:
  4. Presidents have no guaranteed majority in the Legislature:
  5. Presidents and Prime Ministers at War:
  6. What is divided government?What are some specific examples of times of divided government?
  7. What is unified government?
  8. What is gridlock?Summarize the answer to the question: “Does Gridlock Matter?”Summarize the answer to the questions: “Is Policy Gridlock Bad?”
  9. Summarize the major times of “evolution” (change) in the Presidency:
  10. Founders
  11. Electoral College
  12. President’s Term of Office
  13. The First Presidents
  14. The Jacksonians
  15. The Reemergence of Congress
  16. Where are the powers of the President found in the Constitution?Name the powers that belong solely to the President.Name the powers that the President shares with Congress.
  17. What are the formal qualifications to become President of the U.S.?What are some of the benefits to becoming President?
  18. What are the three ways in which a President may organize his personal staff? Describe each way. Give a specific example of how each way has been used.
  19. What are the five principal agencies in the Executive Office of President?Which agency of the EOP is the most important? Why?
  20. What is the Cabinet? Who created the idea of having a Cabinet? Which departments originally made up the Cabinet? How many departments are there today?
  21. Who does the President have the power to appoint?
  22. What are the three audiences to which the president’s power of persuasion is aimed?
  23. What is a bully pulpit?
  24. What do studies show about the effects of the president’s popularity and influence?
  25. What has research shown about the decline in presidential popularity?
  26. What are the differences between a veto message, pocket veto, and line-item veto? Which method has been declared unconstitutional?
  27. What are the two claims that the executive privilege of confidentiality is based on?
  28. How can the president refuse to spend money appropriated by Congress?
  29. What are the purposes of signing statements? Why does Congress dislike signing statements?
  30. What are the things that the president uses to develop his program?
  31. What are the two ways presidents have used to develop programs?
  32. What are the three constraints to the second method of program development?
  33. Which Amendment established the term limit for President?
  34. Summarize the criticisms of the position of Vice President.
  35. Besides a President’s death, what are the two problems with succession?
  36. Which Amendment deals with Presidential succession and disability?
  37. What is the only way (besides death, disability, or resignation) that a President may leave office?
  38. Which Presidents have been impeached? Why?