The US Presidency

What The US Presidency covers

Where presidential power comes from, formally and informally, the checks that hold it back, the cabinet that does not decide policy, and the argument over an imperial presidency.

The 6 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The Sources of Presidential PowerRecall questions on the Article that creates the presidency and on the difference between formal, enumerated powers and informal ones.Open →
• Signing Statements, Pardons and Informal PowersRecall questions on signing statements, executive privilege and the pardon power, and on the president's informal powers as party leader, agenda-setter and persuader, from Roosevelt and the Cuban missile crisis to executive agreements.Open →
• Congressional Checks on the PresidentRecall questions on the formal checks Congress holds, why refusal to fund bites hardest, the practical weakness of impeachment and the Court's role.Open →
• Term Limits, the Press and Other ConstraintsRecall questions on the constraints on a president, from lame-duck status and the Twenty-Second Amendment to the media, approval ratings, federalism, the bureaucracy, the Senate, pressure groups and divided government.Open →
• The US Cabinet, EXOP and the BureaucracyRecall questions on the Executive Office of the President and the chief of staff, the composition and role of the cabinet, tensions with White House staff, the federal bureaucracy and iron triangles, and styles of presidential management.Open →
• The Imperial and Imperilled PresidencyRecall questions on what the imperial presidency means, who coined it and when, the evidence cited, and the opposite charge of an imperilled presidency.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take The US Presidency further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Executive order vs Act of Congress

  Executive order: presidential directive managing executive action. Act of Congress: statute approved through the legislature.

• Veto vs Pocket veto

  Veto: formal rejection of legislation. Pocket veto: bill expires unsigned when the legislature adjourns.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Which Article of the Constitution creates the presidency and sets out its powers?

   Model answer

   Article II.

2. 2

   Define a president's formal powers.

   Model answer

   They are the enumerated powers granted by Article II of the Constitution, such as the veto, the pardon and command of the armed forces.

3. 3

   Define a president's informal powers.

   Model answer

   They are powers derived from the office's political standing rather than the constitutional text, such as leading the party, setting the national agenda and acting as world leader.

4. 4

   Name four enumerated powers of the president.

   Model answer

   Vetoing legislation, commanding the armed forces, granting pardons and nominating federal judges and senior officials.

5. 5

   What are inherent powers?

   Model answer

   They are powers implied by the office itself, especially the vesting of executive authority and the duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed, which presidents invoke in emergencies.

6. 6

   What is an executive order?

   Model answer

   It is a directive from the president to the federal bureaucracy that has the force of law without needing congressional approval.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

The US Presidency revision questions

What does The US Presidency cover in AQA A-Level Politics?

6 subtopics: the sources of presidential power, signing statements, pardons and informal powers, congressional checks on the president, term limits, the press and other constraints, the us cabinet, exop and the bureaucracy and the imperial and imperilled presidency. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is The US Presidency organised?

By the AQA 7152 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.