America's founding fathers designed the Constitution as a malleable contract for governance, envisioning a republic with a struggle among co-equal actors that would serve to constrain and channel the struggle for power. The problem this study was designed to address is that presidents have used executive orders (EOs) when legislation is too difficult to pass due to divided party government, or when making sweeping changes to executive departments or agencies that historically required congressional approval. The purpose of this analysis was to explore whether a contemporary Democratic president are more likely than a Republican to use the EO as a unilateral strategy to pursue domestic/economic policy objectives during times of divided party government. This study compared the use of executive orders under divided government by Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic President Barack Obama, examining three EOs issued by each. Reagan and Obama viewed government differently. President Obama saw government as a solution to problems and President Reagan saw government as a source of problems. From this, I inferred that Democrats would be more likely than Republicans to favor federal government intervention in domestic/economic policy. Yet, though both presidents had different agendas and approaches, they both used the EO as a unilateral strategy under divided government. This may reflect that presidents understand that many in the public hold the president accountable for the economic performance of the United States, and economic wellbeing may lead to reelection of a president. / Master of Arts / America's founding fathers designed the Constitution as a flexible contract for control, imagining a republic with a struggle among co-equal actors that would serve to limit and guide the struggle for power. The problem this study was designed to address is that presidents have used executive orders (EOs) when laws were too difficult to pass due to divided party government, or when making far-reaching changes to departments or agencies that usually need congressional approval. The purpose of this study was to gain more insight as to whether a Democratic president was more likely than a Republican president to use executive orders to pursue domestic/economic policy goals when different parties controlled Congress and the presidency. The study examined the use of executive orders by Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic President Barack Obama under divided government, looking in depth at three executive orders each President issued. Reagan saw government as a source of problems and Obama saw government as a source of solutions. This led to the expectation that Democratic President Obama might use domestic/economic intervention by the federal government more often than Republican President Reagan would. Yet, although both presidents had different plans and methods, they used the executive order similarly during times of divided government. This likely reflects that presidents -- regardless of party -- understand that many in the public hold the president accountable for the economic performance of the United States, and economic wellbeing may lead to reelection of a president.

In the last two decades of his life, Harry S. Truman formally established the office of the ex-presidency in the public eye. The goals he wanted to accomplish and the legislation passed to help Truman achieve these aims led the way for Truman and other former presidents to play a significant role in American public life. Men who had occupied the nation's highest office had a great deal to offer their country, and Truman saw to it that he and other former presidents had the financial and the institutional support to continue serving their nation in productive ways. Although out of the White House, Harry S. Truman wanted to continue to play an active role in the affairs of the nation and the Democratic party. In pursuing this goal, he found that he was limited by a lack of financial support and was forced to turn to the federal government for assistance. While Truman was active for more than a decade after he left Washington, his two most important legacies were helping push for federal legislation to provide financial support for ex-presidents and to organize and maintain presidential libraries. Truman believed that these endeavors were a small price for the nation to pay to support thee former occupants of the nation's highest office. Furthermore, Truman believed that presidential libraries were essential in preserving and disseminating the history of the nation's highest office. Truman's other activities including heavy involvement in partisan affairs. While he tried unsuccessfully to determine the party's presidential candidates, his involvement in the Democratic party and attendance at partisan events displayed his level of commitment to the party and his determination to play a role in its activities.

- Direct presidential election in the Czech Republic: reasons, conditions, consequences This diploma thesis is concerned with different aspects of implementation of the direct presidential election in the Czech Republic. It is aimed to discover the actual reasons for passing the Constitutional Act No. 71/2012 Coll., which introduces this institute into the Czech constitutional system. For the purpose of doing so, the thesis is divided into three parts. The first one presents and evaluates particular arguments (historical, political, constitutional, legal etc.), which were used by the proponents of this institute on one hand and by its opponents on the other. The content of the second part is the most extensive as it follows up the comparison of bills attempting to implement the direct presidential election into the Constitutional Act since 2001 up to the present. Therefore this part contains thirteen bills in total, including the one, which later becomes the Act No. 71/2012 Coll. Individual bills are compared and contrasted. The pertinent political and social circumstances accompanying their origin are also briefly mentioned. As the result of this comparison the author comes to the conclusion that the true motive to pass the Constitutional Act No. 71/2012 Coll does not lie in its content or its...

The direct election of the president is political, politological and also constitutional-legal topic which has already accompanied for many years. It appears always in connection with the presidential elections, but also as a part of the parliamentary election campaign. February 2012 interrupted the regularity and direct presidential election was approved. What this step will have impact on functioning of the Czech political system, will turn up in 2013 when the authority will take the first Czech president elected in direct elections. But the majority of constitutional lawyers and political scientists agree that the introduction of direct elections in the Czech Republic is not solving the existing problems, and therefore they express fears how the chase will affect the functioning of the system as a whole. Keywords: direct presidential elections, powers, legitimacy, political system, presidential campaign

Zusammenfassung Die Diplomarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Problematik der Nomination und Registration der Kandidaten für die tschechische Präsidentenwahl. Im Jahre 2012 genehmigte das Parlament eine Änderung der Verfassung, die die Wahl des tschechischen Präsidenten auf die direkte Wahl änderte. Im Zusammenhang damit kamen viele Fragen über die Nomination und Registration der Kandidaten für die Funktion des Präsidenten. Diese Fragen musste man nicht lösen, weil das Recht auf die Nomination des Kandidaten neu die Bürger bekamen, die eine Petition mit den Unterschriften mindestens 50.000 Bürger mit dem Wahlrecht vorlegen. Die Diplomarbeit bemüht sich diese Probleme zu analysieren und ihre Lösung vorzuschlagen. Nach dem Einführungsteil über die Geschichte der Anträge auf die direkte Wahl im tschechischen Verfassungssystem und nach der Rekapitulation der anderen Rechtsvorschriften, laut den man in einigen Fällen (Kandidatur der unabhängigen Kandidaten in den Komunal- oder Senatwahlen, bzw. Gründung einer neuen politischen Partei) eine Petition mit einer bestimmten Anzahl der Unterschriften vorlegen muss, folgt gerade dieser analytischer Anteil. In dieser Diplomarbeit beschäftigt sich der Autor z.B. damit, auf welche Art und Weise bei der ersten tschechischen Präsidentenwahl das Innenministerium die...

(English) Brazil is not gifted by greatest conditions for its existence - president do have strong legislative powers, which allow him to dominate politics, and he is confronted by severely fragmented legislature. This kind of political constellation should cause strong political crises and should be responsible for unstability of political regime. In this paper, we are trying to describe reasons why it is not so. Thanks to the change of international ideological and political context (i.e. end of Cold War) democracy has been internalized by various political actors and army returned back to barracks. Parliament and president were left alone to face their own fate. Even though president dominates legislative process (thanks to his strong powers) and can structure parliament's choices, constitution (de facto) forces him to seek support in parliament and create wider coalitions. On the other hand parliament has strong tools how to offer president alternative proposals and de facto decides if president's policy will be permanent or not. In extreme cases (i.e. political crises) is parliament proactive actor, which controls presidents survival.

The thesis Anti-immigrant Rhetoric and the Concept of National Identity in the French Presidential Campaign in 2012 is focused on the political discourse of three main candidates of the French presidential campaign in 2012 (Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande). The aim of the research is to analyze the image of immigration and immigrants and on the other hand French and national identity in the discourse of the politicians. As methodological basis for the research critical discourse analysis was selected, completed by analysis of metaphors. The thesis is based on the theoretical framework composed of the following concepts: 1/ discursive reproduction of the racism by so called symbolic elites, 2/ new racism and 3/ construction of national identity. The thesis also presents the social and political context of the election. The main objective of the research is to answer the following research questions: How does the political discourse of presidential candidates deepen the gap between positive self-presentation and negative presentation of the others? And to which extent in the discourse of individual candidates can it be seen? The thesis describes specific topics, topoi and discursive strategies which are used by the candidates.

Political climates are undoubtedly changing across the nation and creating volatile fluctuations of attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. In a more entertaining season of presidential primaries, both parties – Democratic and Republican – have nominees that will once again be scrutinized by many across the country. I argue the levels of scrutiny will more likely than not be enhanced to new proportions. Since a consistent reliance on media involvement and attack ads have grown immensely amongst presidential candidates, this will translate into a wider gap in party polarization and subsequently tie into the trust of American citizens. Previous scholars have shown consistent data that political trust has no bearing on the actual turnout of presidential elections (Citrin 1974). But, historic distrustful ratings between major-party candidates may prove to alter political cultures for subsequent years. In this study, I thoroughly examine the growing significance of political trust on presidential voting in the United States.

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This dissertation examines the political and business career of H. R. “Bob” Haldeman. Scholars studying Richard M. Nixon’s presidency and administration have given very little attention to Haldeman’s career before and after his time as chief of staff. This dissertation argues that in order to understand Haldeman’s actions as chief of staff one needs to have a firm understanding of his career before he entered Nixon’s White House. In contrast to what many have argued, an overt interest in politics and overriding ambition to serve Nixon did not solely drive Haldeman. Instead, the development of Haldeman’s career is best understood through his consistent search for opportunities and activities in which he could alter, reform, or improve existing processes and organizations. Only a study of his entire career brings this motivation to the forefront. Using Haldeman’s recollections, his White House diaries, archival records relating to his business and political career, assessments of the Nixon presidency, and the recently published memoir of his wife, this dissertation provides an in-depth study of his career as a manager in business and politics. This study answers important questions regarding Haldeman’s background, intellectual makeup, and the trajectory of his career by reexamining Haldeman’s work for Nixon and his career in the advertising industry and analyzing how each of these experiences informed his life, skillset, and his managerial behavior. Providing the scholarship with a more complete picture of Haldeman’s life and career augments the understanding of Richard Nixon’s political career and presidency, by filling a critical void with a more comprehensive overview of a close aide and a major figure at the center of the Watergate scandal. An examination of Haldeman’s entire career, moreover, illuminates how significant developments in twentieth century United States political and business history impacted one individual.