Frq #4

FRQ #4

           The Chief Justice has often been called the “first among equals” because he holds one of the most powerful positions in the United States and also controls one of the most powerful organizations in the
United States.  The Chief Justice has many special roles and many powers that are used to influence and affect the Supreme Court, and in turn, the entire
United States, and which make him the “first among equals”.  There are many roles that the Chief Justice plays including, preceding over impeachment, delivering the oath of office to the president, and head of the Supreme Court and of Federal Courts.  Along with the many roles the Chief Justice plays, he/she also has many powers including, influence, controlling discussions, and directing court conferences.

            The Chief Justice has many roles it plays in the Supreme Court, which affects the whole
United States government.  One of the major roles that the Chief Justice plays is proceeding over impeachment trials.  The Chief Justice is the one who basically runs the impeachment trial, and also impeachment trials are a huge ordeal in the
United States government and need to be done right.  The Chief Justice also administers the oath of office to the election winner so that he can formally become president.  The Chief Justice is also head of the Supreme Court, Federal Courts and also Judicial Conference of the entire
United States. 

            Along with the many roles the Chief Justice plays, he/she also has many powers that they hold.  One of the major powers is the power to influence socially, intellectually, and also politically.  The Chief Justice is obviously the social leader since they control the discussion, and also they generate solidarity in the group.  The Chief Justice must also be an intellectual leader since they hold such an important position, and also hold “seniority” of the other justices, and supposedly when a person gets older, they get wiser too.  Political leadership is another role the Chief Justice plays since they have a general policy position.  Most independent minded judges will not acquiesce the Chief Justice’s views, since they hold the most power in the Supreme Court.  It has been said that John Marshall, one of the most influential Chief Justices in history, had all three of those characteristics, making him an excellent Chief Justice.  The Chief Justice also controls all discussion in the Supreme Court, and also they control the gavel.  The Chief Justice also directs the court conferences.  Another major power the Chief Justice Plays is to appoint members to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).  The FISC helps agencies like the FBI gain surveillance warrants to help catch terrorists in the country or anyone else trying to hurt the
United States.

            The Chief Justice holds a majority amount of power, since he is the authority figures of the United States Supreme Court.  He holds many roles including, proceeding officer over impeachment, administers the oath for presidency, and head of Judicial Conference of the
US.  Some of the powers that the Chief Justice holds includes:  appointing members to the FISC, influence over many of the issues and justices, and controlling the discussion and gavel.

FRQ 4

The Question is:  Richard Neustadt claimed that presidential power is the power to persuade.  How might this be interpreted as a reasonable defintional of presidental power?  In what way is this definition incorrect?

 Presidents are the most recognizable authority figure of the United States Government.  One of the president’s main powers is to persuade the public, although there are other powers and duties that the president has.  Almost every president has persuaded the public in some way or another on different issues, but this definition is incorrect in some aspects because a president cannot rule on just persuasion alone.

The president has media coverage on his every move, the public, which can be very harsh on the president, his staff, and the other branches of government, so persuasion is a must for the president.  Presidents have more persuasion when they have a better public rating and opinion ecause than that president has the support of the public to help him.  President Bush would not seem  like a persuasive president, and could not be a persuasive president because his approval rating is so low due mostly because of the War in Iraq.  Typically presidents involved in war with heavy casulties have a low approval rating like LBJ during Vietnam.   Although they are some factors that contribute to how much a persuasion a president has, either way that president has at least some sort of persuasion, after all he is the leader of our country.  There many examples of persuasion in the government.  FDR having Congress pass all of his Alphabet Agencies took persuasion to convince Cogress to pass them.   Another example (given from the text) would be when LBJ called House Appropriations chair George Mahon to help support him on an issue, and he talked to him and got him to approve of his item.  If a president called a person up, it would be hard for that person to refuse because he’s the president; he has a huge amount of power. 

The president cannot rule on persuasion alone, it is not possible.  When the president issues the executive orders, or presidental directives that carry the force of the law, that requires no persuasion what so ever.  It is impossible to complete all the tasks as president with just persuasion, the president also needs to lead and enforce the laws.

One of the President’s main powers is the power to persuade, although he/she cannot rule on persuasion alone.  There are many examples of persuasion in our government because all presidents use persuasion at some point in their political careers, and there are also factors that affect the ability of the president to persuade, like public approval rating.  The President also has jobs like executive orders, which require no persuasion at all.

I saw something about bird flu on Kyle’s site and I remembered this skit I watched on MadTV a while back.  It’s a spoof of Sesame Street, with Big Bird having Bird Flu.  I watch MadTV relgiously, and I thought it was funny.  Enjoy!

Five Traits of a Good President

1)  A good education.  He/She must have education to be a good leader, that’s common sense.

2)  Open to other ideas.  He/She cannot think that his plan is superior to all.

3)  Working more for the people than for himself.  We need a president to help our government and not just himself/herself.

4)  Pride in our nation.  If he doesn’t have pride in our nation, why is he/she our president?

5)  Straightfoward and honest.  People will find out eventually what is going on, be honest from the start.

 Those are mostly what I believe a good president should have.

Hi, my name is Roxanne and this is my AP American Government blog, exciting right?  Well, I guess I should tell you how I feel “politically” right?  Well I really do not know if I am a democrat or a republican, but I consider myself more liberal than conservative.  I am pro-choice, pro-stem cell research, and pro-gay marriage.  I am also taking AP US History and AP Biology this year as well, and I am a junior.