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Comparative Politics and Government

Notes automatically killed. Historical evidence shows that American Presidents have made use of this power
on many occasions, while his veto has been over-ridden by the action of the Congress in a few cases.
While referring to the judicial powers of the President, we find that he can grant reprieves and pardons
for offences against the United States except in cases of impeachment. His authority in this regard
does not apply in cases of violation of the State laws. A reprieve means postponement of the imposition
of penalty, while a pardon is a release from liability for punishment and may be absolute or conditional.
While an absolute or full pardon absolves the alleged offender of all charges and makes him innocent
as if he never committed the offence, a conditional or partial pardon is subject to certain terms and
may be withdrawn later if these are unfulfilled. The President may also grant pardon in the form of
commutation of the sentence resulting in the shortening of the period of imprisonment or substitution
of a big punishment with a lighter one. However, pardon may also take the form of amnesty granted
to a group of offenders as Jefferson did for all persons convicted under the Sedition Act of 1798.
The financial power of the President covers the area of budget-making. The Budgeting and Accounting
Act of 1921 abolished the executive office meant to assist the President in the discharge of his
responsibilities of a Manager with regard to the expenditure of administrative agencies and replaced
it with a Budget Bureau empowered to supervise the spending activities of various agencies and to
advise the President on steps to be taken to introduce greater economy and efficiency in administrative
services. The Bureau is headed by a Director who is appointed by the President and acts under his
direction and control.
Lastly, we refer to the powers of the President during wars and national emergencies. The Constitution
makes him the chief of the armed forces called into the service of the United States. He, thus, appoints
officers of the armed services (with the ratification of the Senate) but can remove them at his will
particularly during war times. The power to declare war lies with the Congress, but he can make a
situation in which adoption of a resolution by the Congress becomes inevitable. Presidents like
McKinley, Wilson and Roosevelt did so.
Allied with it is the case of national emergency. While the Constitution specifically provides nothing
about the existence of a state of emergency and even the Supreme Court has the view that such a
situation creates no new powers for the chief administrator, facts reveal that during times of emergency
his authority is immensely increased which suggests his position as a prelude to his dictatorship.
Keeping all such points in view, Laski has correctly emphasised that the range of President’s functions
is enormous. He is the ceremonial head of the State. He is a vital source of legislative suggestion. He
is the final source of all executive decisions. He is the authoritative exponent of nation’s foreign
policy.
American President Versus Brush Monarch and Prime Minister

While drawing a comparison between American President on the one side and British Monarch and
Prime Minister on the other, Prof. Harold J. Laski well commented that the former is both more or
less than the latter, and the more closely his office is studied, the more unique does its character
appear. It means that the American President is similar to as well as different from the British monarch
in several respects. A study of the resemblance between the two shows that both are the heads of
their respective States. As such, entire administration is carried on in their names; they perform
ceremonial functions, make high appointments, receive foreign dignitaries, issue important
proclamations, give assent to bills passed by the respective legislatures and possess prerogative of
mercy. One may say that these are just formal powers which the two heads possess, though a great
difference of kind exists in the way of their actual exercise. While the American President does it all
as per his individual judgement, the British monarch does it on the advice of his ministers. While the
British monarch is just the head of the State, the American President is the head of the State as well as
of the government and, for this reason, the ceremony in his case “is merely the decorative penumbra
of office.”
Apart from some formal features of resemblance between the American President and the British
monarch, the features of difference are many that may be boiled down to this essential point that
while the former is the real executive, the latter is the nominal head or the dignified executive. While

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