• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Executive Power and Political Accountability

Review

1. As the text recounts, the Bush administration reacted to the 2006 congressional bill prohibiting torture by signing the bill along with the following "signing statement" that said, "The executive branch shall construe [the law] in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President as Commander in Chief". What do you think about this scenario? Do you think the President is justified in overruling laws that are signed by Congress? What does this say about executive power? What would our Founders say about the Bush administration's signing statement? Do you believe that they too would justify such actions if they were briefed on our current "war on terrorism" or do you think they would be horrified by the blatant disregard for the Constitution?


2. Describe the "paradox of oversight". What do you think about it? Should congressional members make oversight a bigger priority or should it stay the same? If you agree it should become a bigger priority, how would you deal with the fact that congressional leaders want to be reelected and oversight does not generally translate to voters back home? In general, is congressional micromanagement a danger or does it add to increased accountability?


3. What are the purposes of congressional oversight? How important is it that congressional leaders perform these functions in order to keep government accountable? Finally, since many consider Congress to be the "most democratic" of all the branches because its leaders are elected by district and there are so many congressional leaders who have to act together for something to happen, how does American democracy benefit and/or suffer from congressional oversight?


4. Discuss the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Do you think it is an important office or do you think it is redundant? Does it have a legitimate role to play or is its role overrated? In your opinion, during which historical period was the GAO doing its job the "right" way (and define what you mean by the "right" way)?


5. The text states that the most important question in public administration is how to give administrators enough power to accomplish the work that policymakers want done, without having them exercise that power in a way that threatens democracy and liberty. In essence, effectiveness exists alongside of accountability and, according to the text, accountability becomes a matter of "balancing internal norms with external processes". The way this is done is through a combination of "independence" and "redundancy". Describe exactly what this means and evaluate it. Is this the best way to keep government systems accountable? Can you think of a better way? How can politics play a part in muddying the waters of government accountability?