Presidential Accountability

Report Outline
Concern Over Acccount Ability Question
Accountability and Separation of Powers
Restraints on Presidential Absolutism
Special Focus

Concern Over Acccount Ability Question

Conflict with Congress Over Exersice of Power

At the heart of the current contest between the President and Congress is the question of accountability—specifically the accountability of those who govern to those who are governed in a democratic society. Critics of Richard M. Nixon contend that he is assuming powers that rightfully belong to the legislative branch of government, the branch most open to public scrutiny in its day-to-day deliberations and hence most accountable to the voter in its actions.

The decisions of Congress are reached by a protracted process involving public hearings and debates that keep the channels of popular pressure open for many weeks and months while proposed legislation is being considered. Final determination of policy is usually the product of a consensus after all shades of opinion have been heard. This process contrasts with the solitary decision-making of a President, who is only rarely under any constitutional obligation to consult with anyone or even to give out advance signals before taking actions of momentous import to the nation.

Presidents are accountable in the sense that they usually cannot succeed for long in the exercise of power unless they can count on the support of a wide majority of the citizenry. Normally, the instrument of popular restraint on an overreaching President is Congress, whose members tend to be jealous of legislative prerogatives. But a daring or determined President may be undaunted by outcries from Congress. He may acquire massive support by appealing to the nation over the head of Congress on an issue. Or he may build up so much trust in his leadership that he can rely on public acceptance of his actions, however arbitrary and even discomfiting, and thus overcome any resistance that might be manifested in Congress.