Chapter 12: The Presidency I. Presidents and prime ministers A. Characteristics of parliaments 1. Parliamentary system twice as common 2. Chief executive chosen by legislature 3. Cabinet ministers chosen from among members of parliament 4. Prime minister remains in power as long as his or her party or coalition maintains a majority in the legislature B. Differences 5. Presidents are often outsiders; prime ministers are always insiders, chosen by party members in parliament 6. Presidents choose their cabinet from outside Congress; prime ministers choose members of parliament 7. Presidents have no guaranteed majority in the legislature; prime ministers …show more content…
Constraints p. Public reaction may be adverse q. Limited time and attention span r. Unexpected crises s. Programs can be changed only marginally 79. Need for president to be selective about what he wants 80. Heavy reliance on opinion polls 81. Impact of dramatic events and prolonged crises i. Attempts to reorganize the executive branch 82. An item on presidential agendas since the administration of Herbert Hoover 83. Bush and the Department of Homeland Defense t. White House Office of Homeland Security created in aftermath of terrorist attack of September 11 1. Small staff 2. Little budgetary authority 3. No ability to enforce decisions u. Bush's call for a reorganization 4. Creation of third largest cabinet department encompassing twenty-two federal agencies 5. 170,000 employees and an annual budget of almost $40 million v. Fate of proposal is pending, but it is neither the first of its kind nor the largest 84. Reasons for reorganizing w. Large number of agencies