POTUS and the executive are the most significant FP branch

FORMAL CONSTITUTIONAL FP POWERS OF POTUS

POTUS has the power to:

o Commit military forces (Commander-in-Chief)

o Appoint key foreign policy officials (Ambassadors, trade reps, cabinet heads relevant to fp)

o Negotiate treaties

o Recognize foreign nations/receive ambassadors

INFORMAL FP POWERS OF POTUSPOTUS can:o Determine the fp agenda/priorities (Trade, war, alliances)o Make executive agreementso Hold summit meetings with world leaderso Build international coalitionso Access the bully pulpit in order to build support

ADVANTAGE: POTUSo POTUS’ ability to persuade the public (Bully Pulpit) to support

foreign policy initiatives gives him an advantage over Congress

o Popular Presidents can persuade members of Congress via horse-trading to support his initiatives

FORMAL CONSTITUTIONAL FP POWERS OF CONGRESSCongress has the power to:• Appropriate money (Power of the purse)• Regulate foreign commerce• Make laws/resolutions covering FP issues (Tariffs,

immigration)• Confirm ambassadors and key officials (S)• Ratify treaties (S)• Declare war

JUDICIAL BRANCHSCOTUS has a limited role in FPJurisdiction over cases involving:• Treaties• Admiralty Law (shipping)• Maritime Law• Cases involving foreign ambassadors• Disputes between foreign countries and U.S. citizens

Chaired by POTUSMembers include:• VP• SECDEF-Exercises command authority on behalf of POTUS• SECSTATE• Head of the CIA• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The goal is to present various perspectives, facilitate presidential decision making, and implement presidential decisions.

The public tends to support the president in crises (***Rally Round the Flag Effect***) provided they act in a decisive manner.

Since World War II, the public has generally felt the U.S. should play an important international role.

Elites feel more strongly and their views tend to change more rapidly about foreign affairs than the public due to their increased knowledge/awareness of foreign affairs.

The United States has traditionally maintained a small professional military, but the world wars and the Cold War convinced us that we needed to maintain a more powerful military.

Resulted in the ***MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX-An alliance between senior military commanders, the Department of Defense and the Defense Industry-one of the more powerful SIGs.

Twenty-percent of the federal budget.Personnel: The military has been a smaller, more effective, all-volunteer force since Vietnam

Big ticket items (Aircraft, ships, missile systems) may result in ***COST OVERRUNS***—the difference between actual costs and estimated costs.

Small ticket items: Expensive coffee makers

-Often preserved via iron triangles.

Readiness: (Training) Cut the most often because it doesn’t affect constituencies like cutting bases or big-ticket items.

Bases: Base closures don’t often take place because doing so means putting thousands of people out of work, hurting local businesses.

The military is under the command of the President (Commander-in-Chief), and financed by Congress-all elected officials

They can and are held responsible by their constituencies for their policy decisions.

Civilian control is essential in a constitutional republic, otherwise, the military makes policy decisions and people have no control over national policy