1. Presidents and Executives Last time: Interpreting legislative intent Today: Presidentialism vs. Parliamentarism

2. Prez tools for shaping interpretation of legislative intent Signing statements: rhetorical device to interpret legislative intent –they take place after the president signs a bill written and shaped by legislators who took prez prefs. into account in order to avoid a veto –cheap talk statement Executive orders: quasi-legislative statements about leg. intent or decree-like, policy-making devices –interpretation of incomplete contract (filling in the blanks) –extension of incomplete contracts (applying a delegated authority to a new problem)

3. Deering & Maltzman executive orders have impact of law when not contradicted by statutory language Prez can use e.o. to extend the scope of a legislative delegation, but not so easily to restrict that scope Prez. can use implied powers to issue quasi-legislative proclamations, –such e.o.’s are hard to defend against legislative opposition –but if Cong. is internally divided, prez can take initiative When Cong. majority and prez agree on goals, Cong. delegates broader discretion and leaves room for prez. interpretation of the details When Cong. maj. and prez disagree on goals, Cong. should be more specific in legislation and/or impose greater procedural requirements to limit room for prez interpretation

4. Presidentialism vs Parliamentarism What is the better way to organize a representative democracy? –presidentialism: “chief executive” not elected by legislators, and terms of office for both are fixed –parliamentarism: everything else, although emphasis on legislative selection/retention of the chief executive (e.g., prime minister) and endogenous terms of office Where does legitimacy lie? Can it be divided? How responsive is the political system? Can holders identify responsibility for outcomes? How tolerant is the system of policy disagreement?

5. Mainwaring and Shugart how much initiative power does the president have? how internally cohesive are legislative parties? how many effective parties are represented?