About this Blog

During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of the presidency, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges.

The course syllabus is at
http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/pages/faculty/JPitney/gov102-14.html

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Monday, December 8, 2014

Presidential overreach or a go for it push that fits the times?

Two RCP articles today discussed President Obama's recent actions and their legitimacy. The first one (here) looks at the unilateral actions taken by the White House as possibly the only realistic ones, while acknowledging that these sorts of decisions are far less successful during implementation than thorough legislation passed through Congress. The second (here) discusses the constitutional legitimacy of Obamas's executive action regarding immigration, or rather, the lack of legitimacy.

Obama's course of action seems to be a refusal to accept some of the difficulties of being a second term president. His actions, while largely unpopular and lacking support, may in fact have been the only way for him to implement any sort of change. With this in mind, what would be the most successful way to address the adversity of being a second term president without overstepping perceived jurisdiction? Is there potential for domestic reform, or is the president too often forced to focus on foreign policy issues if he wants to do anything of significant value?

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