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Similarities Between Congress And The President

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Congress and the President share a set of goals that are extremely similar. Both seek to produce public policy and maintain their electoral constituencies, so they often behave in anticipation of what they expect the other to do. One can characterize their strategies as a game-theoretic model in which Congress and the President take turns exercising partial agenda control and typically arrive at policy that is acceptable to both sides. The President has a powerful advantage in this model because his or her sources of power impart an increased ability to persuade others through: vantage points in government, veto bargaining, and the power to set the agenda. Just as they do in the real world, these tools allow the simulated President to influence …show more content…

Even the president, whose legislative abilities are somewhat limited, must rely on the powers of persuasion and bargaining to influence congressional policy outcomes. However, given that politicians often need favors from the President, this gives him or her an advantage. In Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan by Richard E. Neustadt, Neustadt identifies three primary sources of effective influence. Neustadt writes: “In short, his [the President’s] power is the product of his vantage points in government...his reputation in the Washington community and his prestige outside” (Neustadt 150). Because the simulated presidency arguably lacks professional reputation and public prestige, focusing on vantage points in government is the most fruitful for our analysis as this feature exists in simulated …show more content…

I will discuss veto bargaining and appropriations decisions as a means of bargaining in order to illustrate the advantage the President has in simulated Congress. Below is a tentative outline. Introduction and thesis: The President has a powerful advantage in this model because his or her sources of power impart an increased ability to persuade others through: vantage points in government, veto bargaining, and appropriations decisions as a means of bilateral bargaining Main point #1: Because the simulated presidency arguably lacks professional reputation and public prestige, focusing on vantage points in government is the most fruitful for our analysis as this feature exists in simulated

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