Quote:
|
Like it or not, the American system is designed for the President to drive policy, subject to the approval of the other branches.
|
Are you sure about that? My (admittedly basic) understanding of US civics is that the legislative branch (House and Senate) drive policy and create bills while the executive branch oversees the administration of the government and ensures that the laws passed by Congress are carried out.
IIRC, the US Constitution limits the president's legislative power to only the act of signing or vetoing bills passed by Congress (the president's veto power can, in turn, be overturned by a super-majority vote by legislators). The executive branch doesn't have the ability to create legislation.
[Edit]
From the wikipedia article on Presidential Systems (although not the US in particular):
Quote:
The president does not propose bills. However, the president has the power to veto acts of the legislature and, in turn, a supermajority of legislators may act to override the veto.
[...]
In a presidential system, the president usually has special privileges in the enactment of legislation, namely the possession of a power of veto over legislation of bills, in some cases subject to the power of the legislature by weighed majority to override the veto. However, it is extremely rare for the president to have the power to directly propose laws, or cast a vote on legislation. The legislature and the president are thus expected to serve as checks and balances on each other's powers.
|
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_system