Growth of Presidential Powers Technology has changed our lives in more ways than we can possibly write down. It has changed our lives more than we have even realized. The biggest impact that technology has had on the power of the presidency is the way the information spreads. Social media sites have made politics more accessible for many Americans to voice their own thoughts, whether negative or positive. The internet has had an huge impact on the presidential campaigns as well. The social networking sites have always played a powerful role in politics. The candidates can use social media sites as an advantage in order to speak to their voters by direct message. Social media tools including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and the television have dramatically changed how political campaigns are run and how Americans react to election offices. By clicking a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” icon on Facebook or other media, sites can give politicians an instant read on people’s opinions. A tool commonly used is fact-checking in which citizens use the internet to find past speeches and other information that can prove a politician wrong. The internet has made the …show more content…
President Obama not only was the first African American to be elected, but was also the first presidential candidate to effectively use social media as a major campaign strategy. In many ways the election of Barack Obama mimicked that of John F. Kennedy, both having changed politics forever. For John F. Kennedy it was the television and for Obama it was the internet. Barack Obama’s strategy of using the internet as a campaigning tool was a key to his victory in the election. He used the internet to organize his supporters. He had many more friends and followers on his Facebook and Twitter than his opponent John McCain did. The social media landscape looks a lot different now. There has been an increasing number of social media tools now than there were
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, presidential powers have been a massive controversy on whether the powers are expanding in the nation’s best interest or if the President is accumulating too much power in the government. In Christina Lyons article, Presidential Power, she develops a historical scope of past presidential powers, ranging from Reagan to Obama. Also, Lyons discusses the many issues arising of whether the President is in need of constrictions and restrictions on the executive powers or if Congress has put a big enough indentation on these powers since September 1st, 2001 terrorist attack against the United States of America. Lyons examines the reasons behind presidents expanding their powers throughout the past two centuries, which recent terrorists attacks and congressional gridlocking play a major role. She provides specific types of executive actions that recent presidents have used to exert their powers, like President Bush, President Obama, and President Clinton. Lyons stipulates arguments of those who are opposed to expanded presidential powers, for example, setting policy for the country. Lastly, the author observes the Constitutional provisions of checks and balances between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches in constraining presidential power.
Congress, 80% of our representatives use social media to engage with constituents. That has never been done before and is changing how politicians respond. We even see some votes in Congress made based on their Facebook feedback.”(The Economic) The Internet is like being there in the whole scene. Missing out information is impossible, a simply Google search, all the information is stored. When computers came out, it cost thousands, now it’s cheaper and faster. There’s tablets and phones with the opportunity to surf the web. More than half the candidates have some type of social media, either them or a fan.
November 4, 2008 marked a monumental moment in United States history. American presidential elections were revolutionized because of the 2008 presidential election between democratic candidate Barack Obama and republican candidate John McCain. After eight years, President George W. Bush., Americans were waiting for, what would be the key word of this election - change. The U.S. had the opportunity to witness history with either the first African-American president or first female vice president. It was a full year of pricey campaigning, nationally broadcasted debates, and party strategies, media controversies involving candidates and their families. It also was a year where America realized how the Internet can affect an election. In June
More and more people are getting their news from social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Tumbler and many more, and candidates are using this to their advantage. This election is probably one of the first were candidates have actually used social media sites as their direct communication line to potential voters. Social media today had gone from gossip and family pictures to a location for political strategy. Thanks largely to trumps regular social media first declarations and its actually working particularly with the younger voters. A study released last year from the Pew Research Center that Marissa Lang cited showed that “Among 18- to 29-year-olds, nearly two-thirds said social media is the most helpful means of learning new things about politics.” (Lang, 2016). Even if the candidate isn’t the one posting the video or message in the end it will still end up on social media. For example, Trump had announced his plan to ban all Muslims from entering the united states in South Carolina not on social media however it found its way there and spread like wild fire. This sent those who were outraged to respond in disgust and those who encouraged it to share it so that their friends could see and so on and so on. Even if those who shared it did it to
Imagine if the entire American government system was operated entire by the president. Every decision, law, and court ruling determined by only one person. There is no room for debate or questioning, ultimately leading to the abuse of power and authority. While this may seem completely absurd, many believe that this is not very far away from actual truth. Due to the uneven use of checks and balances among the three branches of government, it has resulted in the executive branch of the American government gaining too much power, therefore leaving the original intent of the constitution to be changed and unenforced.
I agree, that the president’s greatest powers are the informal powers, but the President is generally seen as the image of America and American government. At the point when an emergency occurs, when disaster strikes, when the country commands an incident or awesome accomplishment, the country listens to and watches the President, the country's "first subject" and "voice of the general population." The President has lots of different informal powers. They include: setting and authorizing an administrative plan, official requests, conveying troops without an assertion of war, and leading and directing outside arrangement activities, between others.
Obama also used social media effectively to win the election. Analysts have states that Barack Obama campaign mission was to involve people through empowerment. It is also said that his was the very first political campaign in history to ultimately harness the real power of social media to garner support spread the word and get people engaged and involved. Barack’s campaign succeeded in reaching five million supporters on fifteen different social networks during the campaign period (Heavey, 2012). He used social media to establish energy of participation as well as a sense of purpose in their supporters. He used the social media as the vehicle to connected real people in real time and enthusiasm as well as providing an easy and
Presidential power has been a intensely publicized issue throughout the history of the United States, but even more so in the last couple decades. Presidents have always been pushing the envelope when it comes to what they can and cannot do in office. However as terrorism has become more prevalent in the past twenty years, presidents are faced with more challenges than those of hundreds of years ago. In addition to the threats overseas, every year both parties are becoming more partisan. When the parties do this it creates a gridlock and this makes it hard for anything to get done in Washington. Congress has always been there to keep the president in check and make sure he is not overstepping his boundaries. However presidents often find ways to “get around” going to congress for approval. These sneaky actions by our presidents has created a lot of tension in Washington and is why Presidential Power is such a hot button issue.
Social media has given the human race an unprecedented amount of access to news and information. However, the validity and vetting of this information is often questionable at best. The emergence of websites such as Breitbart, Occupy Democrats, and TheBlaze have given way to a constant stream of partisan
In the admittedly short life time of the Presidential branch its occupants have taken massive strides in empowering and strengthening their office. At times a case could be made that the executive has aspired to too much; threating essential American political values, such is the case of President Franklin Roosevelt who secured a third term of office ignoring precedent and tradition. However, evidence would suggest that for any significant step a president takes towards increasing their power; often results in an equal and opposite reaction. That is not to say that our presidents are weak, in actuality we see that our presidents have significantly increased their power to wage war
In the past ten years the way we as a people communicate has changed greatly. No longer is it uncommon for conversations to not be face to face and now more so than ever conversations take place through text. As with any change there will be and is push back to it. The conflict over the consequences of the social media dependent society have now intensified as a result of social media playing ever greater roles in how politics is seen and even conducted. This has been a major societal question since the presidential election of 2008 and the debate has been written about, discussed, and argued by thousands of different politicians,
In today’s modern time, social media has a huge impact on political environment. How the World Changed Social Media claims, “ Such political activity as there is on social media is usually at a national level and is conducted mainly by supporters…” (Miller 142,143). Social media presents a national level bias. During the last ten years, politics has gained much traction on these sites. For example, campaigns for national
The President of the United States is considered to be one of, if not the most powerful positions on earth. The president of the United States is the leader of the federal government and the commander in chief of the most powerful military force in the world. The position of president came to be as a result of the Thirteen Colonies declaring their independency from Great Britain and the states coming together to form the constitution and the position of the President of the United States. The president is elected by the people of the United States through electoral colleges and is able to serve two four year terms if they are re-elected after their first four years of presidency. These electoral colleges contain a number of electoral votes
Social media has grown at phenomenal rates over the past decade, with its rise being easily visible in several fields such as publishing, business, and activism, among others. The rise of its use in the field of politics is well known by those who are on and off social media, as a result of increasing number of politicians using this global platform to their maximum advantage.
How presidential candidates present themselves in the media can be proven to impact election results dramatically. Political figure using social media did not start to become more common until after the 2008 election because Twitter and Facebook were just recently created, but by looking at data from the past two elections it shows that the news presidential candidates put on their social media can correlate with how people will decide to vote. After researching what topics political candidates post and how they present themselves in the media with election results it can be established that a candidate’s presence in social media can have an impact on how people might vote in an election. “By 2008 candidate websites were standard and campaigns