explaining the american political system in simple terms
People often say there are three things you should never talk about — money, politics, and religion. But, in a world where seemingly everything is being wrapped up in politics, it is important to cover the basics, and debunk misinformation online. So, this section aims to explain presidential power and the american political system through events of COVID-19.
“When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total.”
From the outsiders’ point of view, this could seem legitimate. We are in a crisis and Trump has made headlines for his decisions during COVID-19 that seem outrageous.
However, what Trump has said that has drawn the most attention is that at one point, he wanted the U.S. ‘Opened Up’ by Easter. This is where he states that “the president of the United States calls the shots.”
QUESTION 1: Is President Trump's Authority Total?
The short answer to that question is no.
Liz Cheney, United States Representative of Wyoming, House Republican Conference Chair (the third highest position in the GOP house leadership), and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Steve Vladek is a professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin.
The long answer:
Even President Trump himself has backed off from his own statement. But, let’s break down why the president does not have “total authority.”
This longer answer requires a discussion of how the United States Government operates. This boils down to two types of separation of powers: federalism and the system of checks and balances. So, using the events of COVID-19 as a guide, let’s get started!
1 - Federalism
fed·er·al·ism: the separation of powers between the states and the national government.
Way back in 1787 when the leaders of the United States met to create the Constitution, there was trouble with how the government was created. Since the United States had just broken away from England, they were afraid of a strong national government. So, they resorted to a confederation, where all power resides at the local level (or in this case, the states). However, there were several issues with this — states were printing their own money, had their own armies, and ultimately, the United States were’t united. So, the founding fathers created federalism as a way to share and balance powers between the national government and the states. This is what we follow today. This separation is shown in the following infographic (click to enlarge).
So, connecting this back to COVID-19, let’s revisit Trump’s statement that he wanted the United States open by Easter. Trump does not have the authority to do this. The federal government (also known as Congress) can restrict travel between states and across national borders but it cannot regulate what happens in these states. Therefore, Trump does not have the power to “call the shots” here.
2 - Checks and Balances
checks and bal·an·ces: the idea that no one person holds all of the power in government. Powers are separated and each section of power regulates the other in some way.
Also defined by the constitution, not only are powers separated and balanced by the local, state government and the federal government, the federal government (Congress) itself is part of a larger chain of powers. Congress, also known as the legislative branch is one of three branches of government.
1- Legislative (makes laws): Includes Congress, which consists of the Senate and the House. Seats in the house and senate are voted in by the people.
2- Executive (carries out laws): The president, his cabinet, and the vice president. The president is elected by United States voters. He chooses his cabinet (which is approved by the senate) and his vice president.
3- Judicial (evaluates laws): The supreme court and other federal courts. Supreme justices are appointed by the president, and approved by the senate.
Each of these branches of government work together to ensure that laws are created and are fair. This is done through a system of checks and balances. This means that each branch of government has certain powers to limit the other branches so that branches need to work together to make change. Each one of the powers that each branch has is limited in some way by another branch. For example, some of the powers of the Executive branch have the purpose of limiting the power of the Judicial Branch, while the rest of the powers are for limiting the power of the Legislative branch. Let’s look into this in the following infographic:
Click to enlarge. Note that when reading the infographic, E:L stands for the powers of the Executive Branch that limit the Legislative branch, and so on.
Donald Trump (the president), his cabinet, and Mike Pence (the vice president) make up the executive branch. Notice that all of the powers listed in the federalism section above refer to the legislative branch. So, going back to COVID, Trump really does not have the authority to close or open the country. If he were to make such a law, and if such a law were allowed, he would need approval by Congress, and the Supreme Court.
Trump is just one piece of the American Political System and so he definitely does not have total authority. When looking for leaders in this time of crisis, turn towards your representatives and governors, as well as the president. They each have a say in any of the changes that will affect your life.
Interested in getting in contact with your representative?
Find them here!
QUESTION 2: Is the Trump administration undermining the system of checks and balances?
As we showed in the previous question, the US government consists of separation of powers through the system of checks and balances and federalism. Even though Trump does not have total authority, there are a few more article headlines we haven’t discussed that make it seem like he has a lot more power than he should. In particular, during COVID-19, Trump has fired several watchdogs (independent panels whose job it is to make sure that the president is doing what he says he is), without there being any repercussions. For example, he fired the federal watchdog panel charged with overseeing disbursement of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act funds and hired a new one, which theoretically means that he could theoretically do whatever he wants with the money. This is not a role that should be appointed by the president.
So, how is this happening? We have a system in place to make sure that the president does not have that much power. This is a complicated topic, so a short answer won’t suffice like in the previous section.First, we’ll need some background information on what else goes into our system of government: political parties.
Political Parties
Po·lit·i·cal par·ty: a group of people who have the same ideology, who organize together to exercise political power.
Today, the United States is dominated by two political parties: The Republican Party and The Democratic Party. You can see how the two parties differ in the following infographic. (Click to enlarge).
From the infographic above, notice how, below stances, the political parties have opposing ideas. In reality, people’s political beliefs lie on a spectrum from left wing (liberal) to right wing (converative). In fact, people can be on different ends of the spectrum depending on the issue. So, those who are more conservative and right-learning tend to be members of the Republican Party while those who are on the other side of the political spectrum are left leaning and tend to be members of the Democratic Party.
If you are curious to see where you stand on the political spectrum, take this quiz.
President Trump is a member of the Republican party and follows conservative ideologies. However, because of the bi-partisan (two party) nature of politics, what ultimately happens is that instead of looking at things as a spectrum, people tend to identify with one political party or another. Even though some Americans claim that they are independent (or are not affiliated with a political party), these independents may lean (although marginally) one way or another and so they tend to vote for candidates in a certain political party. And so, since the president of the United States belongs to either the Republican or Democratic party, he will have the support of his party behind him, even if he is overstepping his power. This is what is currently happening in American politics and has been happening even since the Bush Administration.
Political Parties + Checks and Balances
Now it’s time to bring everything back together: how does this connect with the system of checks and balances? We will try to illustrate how this affects using a similar graphic to the checks and balances above. Click through the gallery to see how a certain branch of government leans can affect how the country is run.
Looking at the diagram, we can see that the “run the country” center part of the venn diagram ultimately shows if the country is being run with more of a left-leaning (blue) or right-leaning (red) ideology. This is how changes are ultimately being made in the country — with the three branches working together so that they agree on one thing. However, when the colors of the other branches match the color of the president, there is more leeway on what things can be done, since they will have the same goal moving forward. This is why political party leaders want the president’s color (or direction they lean) to match that of the other branch when it plays in their favor. In addition, it is much easier to change which way the executive branch leads, since it’s one position, rather than the many seats that make up the other branches.
Currently, the branches look like this.
(Note: To take a closer look at the supreme court, check out this infographic by scholastic. Notice how each justice leans corresponds to the president that appointed them. (Ie: Barack Obama and left-leaning, and Bush and right-leaning) So, the executive branch has the power to affect how the supreme court lies on the political spectrum.)
Bringing this back to what is happening during COVID-19, Trump is allowed to get away with a lot more, than if he was in an opposing party. And, since he is able to do unprecedented things (like fire watchdogs), he is setting an example for future presidents, and thus, in a way, strengthening the executive branch.
In summary, the Trump Administration/the Republican Party is undermining the system of checks and balances by strengthening the executive branch. However, this is not new. This has also happened during the Obama and Bush administrations. Ultimately, people who agree with the president, want the executive branch to be strengthened so that things can move more quickly. In order to move back to the system of checks and balances the founders imagined, Congress and the Supreme Court must reflect the opinions of the people, and not that of the president.
Do you want to have a say in future policies?
Make sure you are registered to vote. This was you can help elect who you believe should be the legistlative branch.
Hopefully, this has explained a bit of the American political system and the system of leadership. This, of course, is a simplification. The hope is that it has made American politics a little bit more digestible during this confusing time.
Tiffany Madruga is a Computer Science and Media Studies double major from Harvey Mudd College. She is primarily interested in the intersection of technology and design and hopes to use the two, in combination with human-centered design, to help increase accessibility in education, combat climate change, and contribute to a more empathetic and understanding world.