What are various ways in which the legislative branch of government has sought to constrain the unilateral actions of presidents?How successful hasit been in its efforts? Provide specific examples

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ideal answer should:
a. Discuss how the checks-and-balances feature of American institutions prevents presidents from doing whatever they want to advance their policy agenda, noting that presidents try to do as much unilaterally as they think they can get away with and that often they will not act if they think they will not succeed. Examplescould include George Bush's decision not to privatize Social Security and Barack Obama's inaction on comprehensive immigration reform.
b.Explain how Congress has passed legislation such as the Federal Register Act, the Case Act, andthe War Powers Resolution in an effort to correct what was perceived as an imbalance in power between the legislative and executive branches.
c. Assess how presidents' ability to control information—for example, through executive privilege, their influence on the nature of the policy agenda, andin the deployment of troops abroad—and their ability to bypass key aspects of the congressional appropriations process—for example, Kennedy's funding of the Peace Corps—have effectively reduced the formidability of the institutional constraints of checks and balances.