President

Date of Completion Spring 5-1-2019 Thesis Advisor(s) Jeffrey W. Ladewig Honors Major Political Science Disciplines American Politics | Political Science Abstract This thesis explores the extent to which a strong first lady correlates with a strong president, and if she impacts public perceptions of his success. To do this, I have run a cross-tabulation through STATA with comprehensive rankings on presidents and first ladies from C-SPAN and Siena College respectively. Both consist of 10 categories that factor into the overall rankings. I have also compiled brief case studies on statistically significant first ladies in order to discover why some of these women are ranked as such. The correlations between rankings are most prominent at the bottom of the rankings with low ranked presidents having low ranked first ladies but less so at the top of the rankings. The most statistically significant category of the first lady rankings was “Background”, with the least significant being “Accom...

В статі розглянуто еволюцію інституту президентства в політичній історії України. Визначено стадії становлення, повноваження, роль та місце інституту президентства в системі правління України на різних історичних етапах її політичного розвитку. Окреслено історіографію дослідження інституту президентства в Україні. Поетапно структуровано еволюцію політико-правової думки з приводу суті та призначення інституту президентства в Україні. Фактологічно окреслено повноваження, роль та місце інституту президентства у системі правління в Україні (на етнічних українських землях) в першій половині ХХ ст. Визначено вплив інституту президентства в СРСР на особливості становлення і роль інституту президентства в пострадянській Україні. Поетапно розкрито динаміку становлення інституту президентства в незалежній Україні впродовж 1991–2014 рр. З’ясовано проблематику інституційного наслідування інституту президентства, зокрема його повноважень, ролі та місця у системі правління, в контексті історичного впливу одних історичних віх становлення української державності на наступні. Аргументовано, що інститут президентства в Україні (зокрема та загалом у зрізі системи правління) потребує реформування з огляду на інституційну і політико-правову спадщину інституту президентства в Україні у минулому, а також з огляду на досвід застосування інституту президентства в державах Центрально-Східної Європи.

Ключові слова: президент, президентство, система правління, парламентаризм, президенталізм, напівпрезиденталізм.

Le président américain est souvent considéré comme l'homme le plus puissant du monde à la vue de la puissance des États-Unis, mais détient-il vraiment tous les pouvoirs ?
La France  bien que de moindre importance confère-t-elle plus ou moins de pouvoir à son président que les États-Unis ? Lequel dans son pays possède le plus de pouvoir et la plus grande liberté d'actions ?

Art and design are at a crossroads in higher education. The choices we make now will affect the future of our disciplines. How will we move forward, making productive changes that enhance our position as vital and valued contributors to the mission of our colleges and universities?

This study aims at exploring the possibility of enacting a three-term term of office of the President of Indonesia by taking into account the existing laws. Restrictions on Indonesian President to assume the term of office for the two periods is the effort of the people through the Assembly to prevent the President of Indonesia holds the power exceeding 10 years, in order to avoid the abuse of power or authorization of the parties in carrying out the task. This research is a descriptive study by collecting data from books, news media, previous research journals, and applicable laws. The results of the study found that if the people wanted, the law could be changed as needed.

Paper ini akan menjelaskan bagaimana sosok John Fitzgerald Kennedy (yang untuk selanjutnya akan disebut sebagai JFK) memimpin rakyat Amerika Serikat pada era Perang Dingin, sebuah momen penting dalam dunia internasional yang sangat menentukan nasib Amerika Serikat dan seluruh dunia. Fenomena internasional ini melibatkan dua negara adidaya yang memberikan pengaruh signifikan terhadap negara-negara lain. Selama masa jabatannya, JFK banyak mengambil alih peristiwa-peristiwa penting seperti invasi Teluk Babi yang dilakukan Amerika Serikat terhadap Kuba, krisis misil Kuba yang berbenturan dengan Fidel Castro, dan juga perang Vietnam. Banyak sekali kesimpulan yang dapat ditarik untuk menganalisa gaya kepemimpinan Presiden Amerika Serikat ke 35 ini dari kebijakan-kebijakan yang diterapkannya selama era tersebut.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN merupakan presiden Turki yang ke-12 yang sebelumnya telah menjabat sebagai walikota. Erdogan memiliki masa kecil hingga remaja yang cukup membanggakan. Dalam menjalankan perannya sebagai pemimpin, Erdogan menggunakan beberapa gaya diantaranya :
Gaya Kepemimpinan Independen Aktif
Gaya Kepemimpinan Suportif (Supportive Leadership)
Gaya Kepemimpinan Pelayan
Gaya Kepemimpinan Transforming
Gaya Kepemimpinan Situasional
Beberapa gaya ini terwujud dalam berbagai prestasi yang telah dicapai oleh Erdogan dalam melakukan perubahan drastis terhadap kehidupan rakyat Turki.

Many people today are “Woke” to the reality of the situation that the 99% had been born into. And that is that the world that we were born into had been rigged to work against us and to benefit the few who were born into the 1% and the Oligarchy. It is going to be a monumental task to change this. But it can and must be done. And that must begin by educating more people to this reality.

Happiness is one of the most precious goals that human beings need to reach. Farabi, who has a very important place in Islamic thought tradition, attaches special value to the concept of happiness. In his understanding of politics, man has a central position, and the center of political philosophy is how to establish virtuous city and virtuous state. Here, the connection of happiness with politics is inevitable. In this context, the virtuous city can only be reached by a political organization. The virtuous political organization needs a political system in the universe that will require others to reach happiness. Within this system, the president is the person who carries all virtues of humanity. According to Farabi, the aim of man is to reach supreme happiness. In this study, we will examine relationship between politics and happiness and ways to achieve happiness on Farabi’s View.

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Capitulo 2 O semipresidencialismo portugu€s revisitado : uma avaliagio do papel do presidente na politica nacional, lW6-2006 Octaaio Amorim Nen e Maina CostaLobo Capitulo 3 Entre o Futungo e a Assembleia: considerag6es sobre o sistema politicoangolano. .....'. Josd Reis Santos Capitulo 4 A infludncia do semipresidencialismo portugues no debate constitucional brasileiro: 1985-1993 79 Carbs Fredtrico Coelho Capitulo 5 O papel do chefe de Estado no semipresidencialismo cabo-verdiano,lggl-20D .... .... 105 Daniel Henique Cora Capitulo 6 O semipresidencialismo na Guin6-Bissau: inocente ou culpado dainstabilidade polftica?.... ..,.1.]9 lili,wltrlr Azntulo 49 Capitulo 7 O semipresidencialismo (?) em Moqambique (1986 a 2008). .. . ' I7l JosiJaime Macuane Capitulo 8 Instabilidade politica e revisSo constitucional: semipresidencialismo em SioTom6 e Principe ". ... .20I Gerbard Seibnt Capitulo 9 Semipresidencialismo em Timor: um equilibrio institucional dinAmico num contexto critico. . .23I

RESUMO
O texto mostra como o presidente de uma celebração vibra-mesmo sem saber-diversas vozes ao mesmo tempo, enquanto celebra: os elementos básicos da celebração eucarística, a gestualidade que se reveste sua própria voz e a voz da comunidade, a voz da Igreja, enquanto Magistério, a voz de Cristo e outras vozes não oficiais, inaugurando diálogos que continuam dentro e fora da celebração em si. A partir da visão bakhtiniana, o texto visa ler o desempenho litúrgico do celebrante com outra ótica, integrando olhares novos e colocando em perspectiva ângulos novos da persona do presidente. Não são olhares conflitantes, mas que podem ser sobrepostos e mostram em camadas os elementos diversos que compõe a persona de um presidente. Essa nova possibilidade de interpretação mostra o quanto é complexo e rico a presidência de uma assembleia celebrativa.
PALAVRAS-CHAVES: Celebração. Presidência. Vozes. Eucaristia. Bakhtin

ABSTRACT
The text showing how the president of Eucharistic celebration vibrate-in no conscientious way-performing many voices in the same time, when celebrating: basic elements of Eucharistic celebration, the gestural performance, the own voice and the community voice, the Official Catholic voice, the Christ's voice and other non-officially voices.This way inaugurates dialogues in and out celebration. From Bakhtin's view, the text aims to read the liturgical performance of the celebrant with another point of view, integrating new insights and putting in new angles perspectives of the persona of the president. They are not in conflict looks, but that can be layered and layered show the various elements that make up the persona of a president of the liturgical assembly. This new interpretation shows how complex and rich the presidency of a celebratory assembly.
KEYWORDS: Celebration. President. Voices. Eucharist. Bakhtin.

This article analyzes lawmaking in presidential systems where legislative roll call votes do not reflect policy or ideological stance, taking the Philippines as a case study. As an alternative to roll call analysis, this study suggests that the time from when a bill is filed until its passage can be a gauge not only of policy preferences but executive-legislative dynamics. This is tested through an event history analysis of bills filed in the Philippine House of Representatives from the 8th to the 14th Congress. The propensity for approval of a bill is modeled as a function of institutional and political resources available to both the chief executive and members of the House of Representatives.

While the United States owes its diversity and its very existence to a constant influx of immigrants from around the world, immigration policy over the past three decades has become increasingly controversial. Immigration reform have come and gone in response to policy challenges throughout American history. In recent years, such efforts have focused on the vast numbers of undocumented immigrants, the majority of whom entered the United States along its southern border, to find work or in hopes of participating in the American Dream.

This thesis deals primarily with those undocumented immigrants and the executive action announced by President Obama on November 20, 2014, which revised deportation policies and expanded programs for deferred removal action. These changes built upon earlier initiatives including the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented by the Obama Administration. In announcing this newest program, known as the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) President Obama argued that these changes in departmental practices would address pressing issues related to the high number of undocumented immigrants present in the United States. While the action did not constitute an amnesty program, it allowed certain undocumented individuals to come out of the shadows, apply for deferred action, and obtain work permits if they met the two programs’ requirements.

These executive actions came after years of failed congressional attempts to reform the country’s immigration system. The sweeping 2014 action was a direct response to congressional gridlock over a promising bipartisan immigration reform package (commonly referred to as the “Gang of Eight” bill). During the announcement of the latest program, the President reiterated his support for Congress to pass legislation, codifying his executive action and enacting more expansive immigration reforms, which could only occur through legislative action. Not surprisingly, some members of Congress opposed the President’s actions. Specifically, congressional Republicans were outraged and threatened to take retaliatory action against the President. This thesis examines the President’s executive action, the way it was received by Congress and questions of the action’s constitutionality.

The first chapter examines the Constitution and the provisions of power it grants the executive branch in Article II, finding that the constitutional provisions relating to the President’s executive authority are particularly broad. Chapter one will also examine two previous examples of presidential precedent, which are very similar to President Obama’s action: President Reagan’s Family Fairness doctrine of 1987 and President George H.W. Bush’s subsequent expansion of that program.

The second chapter examines and analyzes President Obama’s 2014 executive action, as well as the politics before and after the announcement. Specifically, chapter two describes House Republican’s rejection of the “Gang of Eight” bill, which significantly impacted the timing of the President’s announcement. The chapter also examines the scope of the expansion of DACA, the implementation of DAPA and the new deportation priorities. Finally, the chapter examines legal challenges to the action, which elucidates the opponents’ viewpoints on the executive action.

The third and final chapter analyzes the action and the political response through Stephen Skowronek’s theory of “structure and action,” which relates to political time. It concludes that President Obama served much of his presidency as a “reconstructive” president, similar to President Reagan’s tenure. The chapter also examines the role of political polarization and the opposition among congressional Republicans as evidenced through Pew Research Center data.

The thesis concludes that the President’s limited actions fit squarely within the Constitution’s original intent, operating within the parameters of the existing statutory
framework, and are similar to previous presidential actions taken by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. As such, the thesis concludes that President Obama’s action is constitutional, but that the final conclusion, which will be determined by the Supreme Court.

The United States of America through and by its appointed and employed government agents deprives the population of the Republic of the Marshall Islands since more than 30 years of the most basic guaranteed human rights, namely the right to competent national tribunals. It tolerates and covers up the fact that US Federal Judges Seabright and Kurren and US Assistant Attorney General Daniel N. Cadra deceive the Marshallese people with a non-existent Supreme Court, a veritable WANDERZIRKUS they run in US statutory agencies for their own personal and illicit financial profit. In addition to that, the United States through and by its Federal District Court of Seattle, Western District with its District Judge John C. Coughenour not only invades the sovereignty of the Republic of the Marshall Islands for personal profit, but subjugates and colonializes the judiciary of the Marshall Islands to accept the District Court as the superior court to which it has to transmit matters filed in the High Court, and likewise forces the High Court to accept an Order/Judgment as valid that is in fact and deed signed as: John C. Coughenour, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE.

Ketua, Pimpinan, dan Anggota Dewan yang saya hormati,

Pada tahun 2022, pemerintah merencanakan kebijakan fiskal yang tetap ekspansif guna mendukung percepatan pemulihan sosial-ekonomi, namun juga konsolidatif untuk menyehatkan APBN dengan penguatan reformasi struktural.

Karena itu, Pemerintah menyampaikan enam  fokus utama dalam kebijakan APBN 2022: Pertama, melanjutkan upaya pengendalian COVID-19 dengan tetap memprioritaskan sektor kesehatan. Kedua, menjaga keberlanjutan program perlindungan sosial bagi masyarakat miskin dan rentan. Ketiga, memperkuat agenda peningkatan SDM yang unggul, berintegritas, dan berdaya saing. Keempat, melanjutkan pembangunan infrastruktur dan meningkatkan kemampuan adaptasi teknologi. Kelima, penguatan desentralisasi fiskal untuk peningkatan dan pemerataan kesejahteraan antardaerah. Keenam, melanjutkan reformasi penganggaran dengan menerapkan zero-based budgeting untuk mendorong agar belanja lebih efisien, memperkuat sinergi pusat dan daerah, fokus terhadap program prioritas dan berbasis hasil, serta antisipatif terhadap kondisi ketidakpastian.

1 BAB I PENDAHULUAN Latar Belakang Pandangan yang lazim tentang pemberitaan Kitab Yunus adalah sebagai berikut: Kitab Yunus hendak mengatakan bahwa keselamatan yang dari Allah tidak boleh dibatasi kepada bangsa Israel saja, tetapi bahwa bangsa-bangsa lain pun dapat ambil bagian di dalamnya. Kitab Yunus menggaris bawahi bahwa keselamatan dari Tuhan ditujukan kepada seluruh dunia. Tuhan bukan saja mengasihi Israel, melainkan juga awak kapal dan penduduk Niniwe. Hal itu harus menjadi pelajaran bagi Yunus dan bangsa Israel. 1 Menurut Kramer, Kitab Yunus sama sekali tidak dikatakan bahwa nabi Yunus mewakili sikap bangsa Israel terhadap bangsa-bangsa (Niniwe). Tidak ada satu ayat pun dalam kitab Yunus yang mengatakan bahwa Yunus (atau Israel) tidak menghendaki bahwa bangsa-bangsa ambil bagian dalam keselamatan yang dari Tuhan. Pokok pemberitaan Kitab Yunus tidak terletak dalam hal bahwa Tuhan mengasihi semua bangsa dan bahwa Nabi Yunus menentang pandangan itu. Kitab Yunus tidak mengatakan bahwa nabi Yunus berkebaratan bahwa Allah mengasihi kota Niniwe. Tetapi bahwa Allah tidak melaksanakan rencana-Nya yang telah diberitahukan-Nya kepada Niniwe dengan perantaraan nabi Yunus. Yang menjadi masalah bagi Yunus, bukan penyelamatan Niniwe, melainkan Allah yang merubah rencana-Nya. Pokok pemberitaan kitab Yunus adalah hubungan antara Allah dengan nabi-Nya. 2 Berdasarkan permasalahan Yunus dalam hubungan dengan Allah kita akan mempelajari tentang panggilan pelayanan Yunus dimana Allah memanggil Yunus untuk memberitakan pertobatan kepada Niniwe dan respon Yunus terhadap panggilan Allah dalam sepanjang narasi Kitab Yunus. Dalam penulisan ini kami akan membahas panggilan pelayanan berdasarkan perspektif Kitab Yunus. Pokok Masalah Masalah yang akan dibahas dalam penulisan ini adalah: 1. Bagaimana ekposisi panggilan pelayanan berdasarkan perspektif Kitab Yunus? 2. Apa implikasi teologis biblika dan praktis dari suatu ekposisi panggilan pelayanan berdasarkan perspektif Kitab Yunus? Tujuan Penulisan Tujuan penulisan adalah: 1. Mengetahui ekposisi panggilan pelayanan berdasarkan perspektif Kitab Yunus. 2. Mengetahui implikasi teologis biblika dan praktis suatu ekposisi panggilan pelayanan

Mentoring students has become so much more important in higher education. But, the why, how, and what of mentoring is often unaddressed. I've written this guide to assist faculty.  If you don't want to read the guide, skip to page 53 and 60 for what to do.

Artykuł dotyczy uprawnień i działalności prezydenta jako zwierzchnika sił zbrojnych
w okresie obowiązywania Konstytucji z 1921 r. Pierwsza część artykułu poświęcona została
krótkiej charakterystyce relacji legislatywy i egzekutywy, a także pozycji sił zbrojnych
w Konstytucji z 1921 r. Druga część artykułu dotyczy szczegółowej analizy konstytucyjnych
i ustawowych kompetencji prezydenta jako zwierzchnika sił zbrojnych.
Charakter zwierzchnictwa prezydenta był trudny do określenia, gdyż nie wydano ustaw
określających organizację naczelnych władz wojskowych. Formalnie prezydent w czasie
pokoju realizował zwierzchnictwa nad siłami zbrojnymi poprzez MSW, który był odpowiedzialny
przed Sejmem.
Trzecia część artykułu stanowi analizę omawianych uprawnień po noweli konstytucyjnej
z dnia 2 sierpnia 1926 r. Zgodnie z jej postanowieniami prezydent otrzymał
uprawnienie do wydawania rozporządzeń z mocą ustawy, co miało istotny wpływ na
wzmocnienie jego pozycji ustrojowej, a w konsekwencji również wpłynęło na rozszerzenie
jego uprawnień w zakresie zwierzchnictwa nad siłami zbrojnymi. Ponadto podjęto
próbę dogmatycznej analizy przepisów dot. zwierzchnictwa z praktyką ustrojową.
The article concerns the rights and activities of the president as a superior of the armed
forces while the Constitution of 17th March 1921 was in force. The first part of the article
is dedicated to a short description of the relation between the legislature and the executive,
and the position of the armed forces in the Constitution of 17th March 1921. The
second part of the article relates to detailed analysis of the constitutional and the statutory
responsibilities of the President as a Superior of the Armed Forces. It was difficult
to determine the character of the supreme authority of the President because there was
no regulation defining the organization of general military authorities in the country.
Formally, in a time of peace, the armed forces were subordinate to the President through
the Minister of National Defense, who was liable to Sejm.
The third part of the article constitutes the analysis of discussed powers after the
constitutional amendment of 2nd August 1926. According to the provisions of the
amendment, the President received the rights to issue a regulation with force of statute.
His systemic position has strengthened, and as a consequence, it has a major impact on
the extension of his rights as far as his authority over the Armed Forces is concerned.
Furthermore, the author conducts dogmatic analysis of the regulations and constitutional
practice concerning the supreme authority.

This article explores how hegemonic masculinity forged discourses of modern statesmanship in the United States and Italy in the first three decades of the twentieth century. It unpacks the ‘presidential masculinity’ of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and compares these gendered performances of political leadership in the United States to Benito Mussolini's Fascist rule in Italy during the 1920s. In doing so, this article contends that the manliness of these three modern leaders rested on a contrasting of pairs: if Roosevelt embodied the hegemonic ideal of the ‘frontiersman-as-president’, Wilson personified its ‘unmanly’, bourgeois-liberal countertype and thereby engendered the initially hospitable view of Mussolini's Fascist masculinity in the United States during the Jazz Age. The article covers the publications in The Atlantic Monthly to reveal how the American disillusion with Wilson's liberal internationalism transformed the Duce into a Fascist surrogate for Roosevelt. In a decade of political, economic and social upheaval, the transatlantic ‘public relations state’ in both the United States and Italy discursively positioned Mussolini as the personification of the masculine ideals of acumen, willpower and virility for the American public; a ‘Doctor-Dictator’ who, akin to Roosevelt, became a symbol of modern manliness that signified stability, progress and reform. In the process, the Duce's Fascist manhood shaped hegemonic ideals of statesmanship across the Atlantic while hinting at the paltry support for the liberal democracies of the West.

: After September 11, 2001, Central Asia leapt into the vernacular of international politics. This forgotten region, where the "Great Game" was played, received new emphasis in the Global War on Terrorism. Analysts found a region brimming with both promise and concern. This thesis focuses on the future succession of two regional presidents, Nursultan Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan) and Islam Karimov (Uzbekistan), who are the only post-Soviet leaders their countries have known. These are also the only two Central Asian states not to experience a leadership transition since independence. These impending successions are potentially watershed events for Central Asia. Succession outcomes in these states will not only have ramifications throughout the region given its interconnectedness, but also have foreign policy and economic implications for the global powers. This thesis studies the neopatrimonial nature of the regimes, the clan politics permeating the societies, and trajectories l...

Story of Anton Neuman – Chief of the Office of the President of the Slovak Republic (1939–1945) Anton Neuman (1987–1971), born in Púchov, was the Chief of the President’s Office in the period of 1939–1945. The main agenda of that office was granting of so-called presidential exemptions from the provisions of anti-Jewish regulations and laws. The study tries to map the activities of Anton Neuman when he worked in that office, it presents correct information on e.g. his allegedly Jewish origin, used as the reason of his intentional impact on “the agenda of exemptions”. The study deals also with the escape of him and his family due to the events on the front line, imprisonment in American detention camps in the territories of Germany and Austria, his stay in a prison in Bratislava and his life after the war.

Aktualny ustrój Rzeczypospolitej opiera się na zasadzie podziału i równowagi władz. Zadaniem egzekutywy, w skład której wchodzą Prezydent i Rada Ministrów, jest realizacja dobra ogółu poprzez wykonywanie zadań państwowych. Wśród nich prym wiedzie kwestia związana z bezpieczeństwem państwa, zarówno zewnętrznym, jak i wewnętrznym. Prezydent stoi na straży bezpieczeństwa państwa oraz nienaruszalności i niepodzielności jego terytorium. Natomiast wśród zadań Rady Ministrów konstytucja wymienia zapewnianie bezpieczeństwa wewnętrznego oraz zewnętrznego państwa.
Bezpieczeństwo państwa powinno być równie istotne dla każdej jednostki. Każde jego naruszenie może bowiem bezpośrednio lub pośrednio ingerować w jej los. Aby zapewnić skuteczną ochronę bezpieczeństwa państwa, egzekutywa wyposażona została w instrumenty, które staram się szerzej omówić w mojej pracy. Moim zdaniem z tego wynika, że władza wykonawcza w Polsce posiada szczególną pozycję społeczno-ustrojową.

The current system of the Republic of Poland is based on the principle of division and balance of power. The task of the executive, composed of the President and the Council of Ministers, is the realization of the public good through the performance of state tasks. Foremost among them leads issue related to national security, both external and internal. The President safeguard the sovereignty and security of the State as well as the inviolability and integrity of its territory. On the other hand, among the tasks of the Council of Ministers, the Constitution lists the assurance of internal and external security.
State security should be equally relevant to each individual. Any breach thereof may in fact directly or indirectly interfere with their fate. In order to ensure the effective protection of the security of the state, the executive is equipped with instruments that I am trying to discuss more thoroughly in my paper. In my opinion, it follows that executive power in Poland has a special socio-political position.

Today we take it for granted that the President of the United States of America is clean shaven. For over a century our president has lacked facial hair, but there was a time when it was not only an accepted physical feature, but one to be admired. From those who decided to forgo the razor, we can learn much about the presidents as well as the period which they served. This paper will celebrate these men and divide them into three Presidential facial hair camps: The Dandy, the Warrior, and the Walrus.

Why do some countries redistribute more to poorer regions than others? This paper explores which factors explain variation in the degree of interregional redistribution among countries between 1983 and 2010. The main argument is that interregional redistribution increases with the need and capacity of strong presidents to build territorial coalitions with governors from poorer regions and, by implication, decreases with the ability of strong governors in rich districts to resist pressures to extract resources from their units. Using a multilevel structural equation model (the Generalized Linear Latent Multilevel Model, GLLAMM), the study analyzes these and competing claims on the determinants of interregional redistribution using original data from the subnational units of four types of cases, ranging from decentralized and federal to centralized, unitary countries. Empirical results indicate that the type of redistributive coalition between presidents and governors complement purely structural and institutional models to explain fiscal redistributive outcomes in the context of sharp regional inequality.

Pidato Presiden RI pada Sidang Tahunan MPR dan Sidang Bersama DPR dan DPD, 16 Agustus 2021

Krisis, resesi, dan pandemi itu seperti api. Kalau bisa, kita hindari, tetapi, jika hal itu tetap terjadi, banyak hal yang bisa kita pelajari. Api memang membakar, tetapi juga sekaligus menerangi. Kalau terkendali, dia menginspirasi dan memotivasi. Dia menyakitkan, tetapi sekaligus juga bisa menguatkan. Kita ingin pandemi ini menerangi kita untuk mawas diri, memperbaiki diri, dan menguatkan diri, dalam menghadapi tantangan masa depan.

(co-authored with Ferdinand Müller-Rommel) Executive power has been and will continue to be a prominent and widely used concept in political science. This chapter shows that executive power has mostly been examined in context with political power and political institutions. After providing an overview of different concepts under historical perspective, the chapter introduces various definitions of executive power and advocates that executive power should be studied in context with the functioning of political institutions. In a third step, we examine different forms of executive power in authoritarian and democratic regimes. Fourth, we study the internal structure of political executives in democratic regimes particularly in light of their linkage to political parties and legislative support. Fifth, we discuss the issue of gender representation in the context of executive power. Finally, we tackle the pressing debate on how to measure executive power. We conclude that executive power should be treated not as a rigid, but as a flexible concept for analysing the complex interaction of political actors in their institutional environment.

Every four years, the cry goes up to destroy the Electoral College, especially when a candidate is elected president who receives a minority of the popular vote. The criers ignore the benefits of the Electoral College but see its flaws in part because it now functions as a regional filter on the popular vote.  The College really should function nearer to its original design. Restoring elector independence would reduce the power of the political parties and renew the Constitutional commitment to an informed electorate.

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia intended the Electoral College to balance the interests of both small and large states and to give the chief executive independence from Congress.  Most of all the College insured the president should be selected by highly informed voters, who represent the diverse interests of the various states.
                                       
The Electoral College provides a constitutional check on democratic error, a mistake made by the polity even in its most solemn electoral task. Additionally, electoral voting requires a successful candidate for the presidency to carry the vote in at least two regions of the nation. More, the Electoral College places individuals with judgment and discretion in a position to exercise those talents. In some circumstances, the elector must have the discretion to choose a nominee as that elector understands “the best” or to reject a nominee if that elector understand the nominee to be unfit.  No state or other government should thwart such independence among electors,  and attempts to do so should be rejected by the courts.
                                                       
Such an approach to presidential elections has the benefit of hewing more closely to the original intent of Article II. Yet its more compelling rationale is that this republican system protects the democratic process from unfit candidates whose masks slip before the election is final. Interestingly, this approach is compatible with the law as it is written in the text of the Constitution, federal statutes, and precedents of the Supreme Court. The Electoral College should be retained.